Gordon Philo

Philo was born in London on 8 January 1920. He was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's School in Hampstead, from where he was awarded the Methuen Scholarship in Modern History at Wadham College, Oxford. He went up in 1938 and took an ordinary B.A. before being called up into the Army. ==Military career==

Philo joined the Army in 1940 but proved not to be a natural soldier and had to repeat his basic training before being commissioned in 1941 into the Royal Army Service Corps. For his actions on 6 June 1944 he was awarded the Military Cross on 19 October 1944. Philo led his Field Ambulance troops, which had been parachuted around Varaville and were dispersed, to safety through enemy lines. He then, with four other soldiers, captured 63 German soldiers and five vehicles, which allowed the evacuation of 64 allied wounded men. The award citation concluded "At all times has shewn outstanding qualities of leadership and set a high example of courage and devotion to duty to the men under his command." Philo completed his military service in Europe and India in 1945–1946. ==Academic career==

After returning from his war service in 1946, Philo attempted to pursue an academic career. He gained his B.A. (Hons.) in 1947 but only received a 2nd class degree. He then went on to study French and Russian at the Sorbonne in 1947–1948. He became a lecturer in Modern History at Wadham College, Oxford in 1948–1949, and then was a foundation member of St Antony's College, Oxford in 1950 but was unable to gain a permanent academic position. Philo wrote a paper on Alexis de Tocqueville in 1952. ==Intelligence and diplomatic career==

Philo was recommended to the SIS by William Deakin, the Warden of St Antony's College. In London in 1961–1963 Philo assisted with the processing and circulating of material from the Russian double agent Oleg Penkovsky. He was Consul-General at Hanoi, North Vietnam 1968–1969. Britain's Consulate-General did not have diplomatic status, since Britain did not officially recognise the Democratic Republic of North Vietnam, instead the office was accredited to the Hanoi local authorities. The post was an exceptional case in the service because it was a hardship post and the consul-general was the only consular officer in the mission. For his service in Hanoi Philo was awarded the CMG. After returning to London headquarters, Philo held a series of posts in the security and personnel fields. He was Principal Staff Officer to the Head of the Secret Intelligence Service 1973–75. The Times obituary said: "His career in the SIS was notable for the consistency with which he maintained standards of intellectual rigour, absolute integrity and kindness to his colleagues ... He was, perhaps, too nice and too self-effacing a man to reach the top of his profession. But his career was not without distinction." ==Retirement==

Philo retired from the SIS in 1978. In the period 1978-1983 Philo wrote a post-1945 history of the Secret Intelligence Service, which is described as "a work of formidable scale and scholarship" Philo carried out a wide variety of activities in his retirement. • Extended Interview Assessor on a part-time basis in the Home Office Unit of the Civil Service Selection Board between 1978 and 1990. • Wrote articles for The Dickensian between 1980 and 2001. Tony Williams, in his obituary of Philo, stated: "A man of great intelligence, integrity, loyalty, an inspirational colleague and friend, Gordon Philo's was a life of service to his country, and his enthusiasms." • Member of the Athenaeum Club, London which he joined in 1976, and in 2001 wrote an article about an aspect of its history connected to Charles Dickens. • Philo left a legacy of £350,000 to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and an unstated amount to the British Library. ==Publications==

Charles Forsyte was the joint pen name of the husband-and-wife writing team of Gordon Philo and Vicky Galsworthy Philo. Together they wrote a series of "splendidly readable whodunnits": • Diplomatic Death (1961) using background from their diplomatic posting in Istanbul • Diving Death (US Title: Dive Into Danger) (1962) • Double Death (1965) • Murder with Minarets (1968) also set in Turkey • The decoding of Edwin Drood (1980) – an analysis and completion of Charles Dickens's unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The book received a positive review in The New York Times from Angus Wilson who referred to "Mr. Forsyte's brilliant analysis of the Drood problems". Leon Garfield also wrote a positive review in The Dickensian. An academic commented "Forsyte’s [approach] belongs to a tradition of completions which are much more closely affiliated with speculations, setting out to solve the mystery and complete the plot in a plausible fashion." ==References==