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Krystyna Skarbek

“Churchill’s favourite spy” to be immortalised in WWII thriller

Starring Morgane Polański, filming is underway on a WWII espionage thriller based on the life of the Polish spy Krystyna Skarbek. Screen Daily/Twitter

Starring Morgane Polański and the legendary Malcolm McDowell, the film will tell extraordinary story of Krystyna Skarbek, an agent recruited by Britain after fleeing Poland in 1939.

Fascinating new book reveals true life story of the Polish forgers who helped fool Hitler

Entitled ‘The Secrets of Station 14: Briggens House, SOE’s Forgery and Polish Elite Agent Training Station’, the book tells the history of Briggens House in Roydon, Essex, and the team of forgers established there in 1941 by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) on the orders of Churchill to “set Europe ablaze”.

Greatest female spy of WWII

Churchill’s favourite spy? An inspiration for Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale? Britain’s longest serving WWI Special Agent, male or female, and the first British female agent to serve in the field was a Polish agent called Krystyna Skarbek, aka Christine Granville. Coming to be known for her daring exploits, she was once described as “the bravest of the brave”. In this episode of Heart of Poland, author, historian and biographer of Krystyna Skarbek, Clare Mulley, talks about Skarbek’s remarkable life story and why she should be seen as much more than just a Bond girl.

UK honours daring Polish agent who became Churchill’s favourite spy

Dropped into enemy-occupied Europe and with a price on her head, Skarbek once persuaded the Gestapo to release a resistance leader and two fellow agents.

Pilot, spy and decorated underground officer who was later jailed by the Soviets, Kazimierz Leski died 20 years ago today

Born in Warsaw in 1912, the life of Kazimierz Leski who went on to head up the counter-espionage activities of the ultra secretive Musketeers resistance group, is still relatively unknown.

Hotel refuses to honour WWII Polish spy who inspired James Bond’s Vesper Lynd because she was murdered in lobby

Described as Churchill’s favourite spy, Krystyna Skarbek was one of Britain’s longest-serving female agents during WWII. English Heritage, the Polish Embassy and author Clare Mulley have been campaigning for the boutique hotel in London’s Kensington where she was knifed to death by a jealous lover to install a blue plaque in her memory.

Top 5 articles:

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  • The systematic massacre of all children under 10 will forever be a stain on humanity, says TFN’s Stuart Dowell
  • Mayor offers reward to first couple to have a boy in village where only girls are born
  • Beaten, starved and tortured: The horrifying story of Hitler’s concentration camp for children
  • It’s official! Kraków is the best place in Europe for food, says European Academy of Gastronomy
History | Life

Most expensive coin ever sold in Poland is auctioned for jaw-dropping PLN 3.24 million in just one minute

Considered one of the rarest royal coins in the world, the legendary 50-ducat coin of Zygmunt III Vaza minted at the Crown Mint in Bydgoszcz went for a staggering PLN 3.24 million in the lightning-fast audition at the Raffles Hotel in Warsaw.

The first report:

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  • Poland needs its new weapons to strengthen security says Duda
  • Duda says he will talk with Zelensky whenever he has the opportunity
  • Westinghouse, Bechtel partner for Poland's first nuclear power plant
  • Ukrainian agriculture minister ready for talks, says Telus

Exclusive

Warsaw’s secret war against Moscow’s spies: Poland’s intelligence services have gone into overdrive to combat Putin’s covert assault

The arrest last week of a ‘dangerous’ spy network in Poland is the latest in the country’s secret war against Russian intelligence since Putin’s troops attacked Ukraine.

The Debrief
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