Author(s): Kit Bennetts

Spies, intelligence and cold war

In 1975 the author was the youngest ever officer to serve in the SIS. Not long after he finished his training, he was on surveillance duty one night, followed a big Russian Mercedes from the Soviet embassy, and witnessed a meeting between a (then) unknown elderly man and another man known to be a KGB agent. That man turned out to be Dr William Sutch, one of New Zealand's most eminent economists. Four months later, after more surveillance and a major sting in the Aro Valley, Sutch was arrested and charged with passing information to the Russians. A spectacular trial ensued at which Sutch was acquitted. He died a year later. Thirty years on, fascination with the case and speculation about whether Sutch was a KGB mole endures. This book marks the first time an SIS officer has ever gone public. It's written in a fast-paced, humorous style, and is full of spycraft secrets. The author, after whom Operation Kitbag, the operation to track Sutch, was named, has had a colourful career and is now a policeman in Queensland. He details how he and his fellow surveillance officer came upon Sutch that night, how the SIS followed Sutch and the KGB over a period of months and how they got their man, only to lose the case against him in court. Wellington is the star of this book: a city of dark alleys, winding streets, shadowy rendezvous points, through which the Russians raced in their big European cars, followed by the SIS in hot pursuit. First published October 2006.