HUSBAND & WIFE'S MEDAL GROUPS TO THE LUBIN-SILVERSTONS, H.A.C. & BRITISH INTELLIGENCE

U.S. Legion of Merit awarded at the American Embassy, London, 18 July 1946:

Theodore Lubin Silverston lived at 58 Iverna Court, Kensington and was educated at Charterhouse School, joining Honourable Artillery Company Anti-Aircraft Regiment as 2nd Lieutenant on 26 May 1939. He was a member of the London Stock Exchange and married Lettice Lubin Vivian on 5 April 1938.

O.B.E. (Civil Division) Gazetted 30 May 1952.

Lettice Lubin Vivian Silverston was the daughter of Sylvanus Percival Vivian, C.B. and served with the British Security Services during WWII, recruited by the MI6 and attached to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York, under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover and Mickey Ladd.

Silverston was working under Bill Stephenson, Director of British Security Coordination, and directly under Colonel “Freckles” Wren of MI6, who oversaw famous WWII agents such as Dušan "Duško" Popov (Codename TRICYLE, whom some credit as the real James Bond), amongst others.

Silverston was subsequently stationed in Bermuda where the trail of agents in Lisbon often ended with debrief, and Silverston was part of the Bureau’s German counter-espionage on the island, overseeing German double-agents such as Hellmuth Siegfried Goldschmidt (Codename PEASANT).

The following is an extract from 'The Guy Liddell Diaries: MI5's Director of Counter-Intelligence':

"I rang up Bill Stephenson's office. Stephenson was away but John Pepper came down to the hotel and took me up to 630 Fifth Avenue, where S.I.S. and S.O.E. officers are situated on the 35th and 36th Floors. I saw Stephenson later in the day and was introduced to Freckles Wren and others. I spent the next few days talking with Wren and looking at various files. Wren has in his section Gavin Young, a Canadian who is more or less new to the game, Ronnie Sinclair, Mrs Silverston (Sylvanus Vivian's daughter) and Mrs Montagu, the wife of Ewen Montagu of the Naval Intelligence Division.

J. Edgar Hoover sent a memorandum to Mickey Ladd with the following reference to Silverston:

“Helmuts Siegfried Goldschmidt Espionage – In connection with the operation of the above individual as a notional agent of this country, a communication was mailed to his principles in Europe. This has been cleared through the United States Censorship at Bermuda, but I have received no reply from the British to our memorandum dated 1 and 25 Feb 1944. I called Mrs Silverston, who, after checking on the matter on the matter called back and stated that the letter had been released from Bermuda on 23 Jan 1944.”

With the end of war, J. Edgar Hoover sent personal thanks from himself and Mickey Ladd, a signed photograph with personal message and Christmas Greetings card. Silverston also received a Certificate of Service from the British Security Coordination, signed by Bill Stephenson, for her service from 1940 to 1945, and a personal invitation to lunch from F.B.I. Special Agent, John Cimperman.