Oswald Rayner
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Oswald Theodore Rayner (29 November 1888, in
Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before bei ...
, Staffordshire, England – 6 March 1961, in
Botley, Oxfordshire Botley is a residential area in the civil parish of Botley and North Hinksey, in the Vale of White Horse district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England, just west of the Oxford city boundary. Historically part of Berkshire, it stands on the S ...
, England)England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966 was a British
Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (MI numbers, Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of Human i ...
(MI6)
field agent In espionage, a field agent or field operative is an agent who works in the field as opposed to one who operates at the office or headquarters. A field agent can work alone or in a group but usually has a case officer who is in charge. Field agen ...
who operated covertly in the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
during the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. He is believed by some to have been involved in the final murder plot against
Grigori Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin ( – ) was a Russian Mysticism, mystic and faith healer. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II of Russia, Nicholas II, the last Emperor of all the Russias, Emperor of Russia, th ...
, but "the archives of the British intelligence service (MI6) do not hold a single document linking Rayner, Hoare, or any other British agent or diplomat to the murder."


Life

Oswald Theodore Rayner was born in
Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before bei ...
, the son of Thomas Rayner, a draper in Soho Street and his wife Florence. 1891 Census of Kings Norton, RG12/2363, Folio 42, Page 27, Oswald Theodore Rayner, aged two, 89 Soho Street, Smethwick. Between 1907 and 1910, Rayner studied modern languages at
Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...
. During his time at Oxford, Rayner formed a close relationship with
Felix Yusupov Knyaz Felix Felixovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston (; – 27 September 1967) was a Russian aristocrat from the House of Yusupov who is best known for participating in the assassination of Grigori Rasputin and for marrying Princess Irina ...
, who was also enrolled at the university. In 1910 Rayner became a
solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...
at the
HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...
. Rayner was highly proficient in French, German, and Russian, and in December 1915 he was recruited by MI6 as an intelligence officer under Sir Samuel Hoare, head of the British Intelligence Service in Russia. He was living at Hotel Astoria. In 1918 he was sent to Stockholm; in 1919 to Vladivostok. In 1920 he left the secret service and became Foreign Correspondent for the ''
Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...
'' in Finland.


SIS

British intelligence reports, sent between London and Petrograd in 1916, indicate that the British were not only extremely concerned about Rasputin's displacement of pro-British ministers in the Russian government but, even more importantly, his apparent insistence on withdrawing Russian troops from the war. This withdrawal would have allowed the Germans to transfer their Eastern Front troops to the Western Front, leading to a massive outnumbering of the Allies and threatening their defeat. Whether this was actually Rasputin's intent or whether he was simply concerned about the huge number of Russian casualties (as the Empress's letters indicate) is in dispute, but it is clear that the British perceived him as a real threat to the war effort. Neither
Vladimir Purishkevich Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich (, ; – 1 February 1920) was a Russian politician and right-wing extremist known for his monarchist, ultra-nationalist, antisemitic and anticommunist views. He helped lead the paramilitary Black Hundreds duri ...
nor Yusupov mention the close-quarter shot to the forehead. The only account of what went on in that basement room comes from Yusupov, and he changed his story several times. Purishkevich came down the stairs and fired in the courtyard at Rasputin from behind at a distance of twenty paces. He hit Rasputin in the back of the head. However, there is no photo of the rear of Rasputin's head."To Kill Rasputin: The Life and Death of Grigori Rasputin" by Andrew Cook
Rulit.net.
According to Andrew Cook, Rayner is supposed to have been the person who fired the third shot on the forehead that actually killed Rasputin. The calibre of the weapon that was used cannot be determined. "The hypothesis that the gunshot to the head was caused by an unjacketed bullet (of British origin) is not supported by the forensic findings or police forensic photographs." Nelipa thinks it is not very likely a Webley .455-inch and an unjacketed bullet was used, because its impact would have been different.


Speculations

There were two officers of the British
Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (MI numbers, Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of Human i ...
(SIS) in Petrograd at the time, Oswald Rayner and
Stephen Alley Captain Stephen Alley (14 February 1876 – 1969) was a British mechanical engineer and Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) agent in pre-revolutionary Russia who may have had an involvement in the murder of Rasputin in 1916 and in a plan to try to ...
. They may have offered advice, but it is unclear if they were present at the Moika palace. Rayner had visited the Sandro's palace on the day of the murder. This account is further supported by an audience between the British Ambassador, Sir
George Buchanan George Buchanan (; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth-century Scotland produced." His ideology of re ...
, who knew about an assassination attempt before it happened, and the Emperor
Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until Abdication of Nicholas II, hi ...
, when Nicholas stated that he suspected "a young Englishman who had been a college friend of Prince Felix Yusupov, of having been concerned in Rasputin's murder ...". The second SIS officer in Petrograd at the time was Captain Stephen Alley, born at
Arkhangelskoye Estate Arkhangelskoye () is a historical estate in Krasnogorsky District, Moscow Oblast, Russia, located around 20 km to the west of Moscow and 2 km southwest of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Krasnogorsk. History From 1703 to 1810, Arkhangelsk ...
near Moscow in 1876, where his father was one of the prince's tutors. The archives of the
MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
do not hold a single document linking Rayner, Hoare, or any other British agent or diplomat to the murder. The only account of what went on in that basement room comes from Yusupov, and he changed his story several times. Perhaps some women were invited but Yusupov did not mention their names. Confirmation that Rayner met with Yusupov (along with another officer, Captain John Scale) in the weeks leading up to the killing can be found in the diary of their chauffeur, William Compton, who recorded all visits. The last entry was made on the night after the murder. Compton said that "it is a little-known fact that Rasputin was shot not by a Russian but by an Englishman" and indicated that the
culprit A culprit, under English law properly the prisoner at the bar, is one accused of a crime. The term is used, generally, of one guilty of an offence. In origin the word is a combination of two Anglo-French legal words: "culpable" (guilty), and " ...
was a lawyer from the same part of the country as Compton himself. There is little doubt that Rayner was born some ten miles from Compton's hometown. Evidence that the attempt had not gone quite according to plan is hinted at in a letter which Alley wrote to Scale eight days after the murder: "Although matters here have not proceeded entirely to plan, our objective has clearly been achieved. ... a few awkward questions have already been asked about wider involvement. Rayner is attending to loose ends and will no doubt brief you." On his return to England, Oswald Rayner not only confided to his cousin, Rose Jones, that he had been present at Rasputin's murder but also showed family members a bullet which he claimed to have acquired at the murder scene. "Additionally, Oswald Rayner translated Yusupov’s first book on the murder of the peasant, sparking an interesting possibility that the pair may have shaped the story to suit their own ends." Newspaper reporter Michael Smith suggested that British Secret Intelligence Bureau head Mansfield Cumming ordered three of his agents in Russia to eliminate Rasputin in December 1916. Hoare sent a cable to inform him about the matter. No list of any Scotland Yard agents operating in Russia was forthcoming, for there had never been any. According to Sir Samuel Hoare: "If MI6 had a part in the killing of Rasputin, I would have expected to have found some trace of that". "Hoare later came to the realization that in the days after the murder, Russian "rightists" had been trying to frame the British for the crime, and him, in particular. Hoare, Rayner, and presumably the rest of the mission, knew of the plot ...
Smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...
, p. 630
In 1934 he compiled an English translation of Yusupov's book, ''Rasputin; His Malignant Influence and His Assassination''.''Rasputin; His Malignant Influence and His Assassination'' by Youssoupoff, Prince. (Translated from the Russian by Oswald Rayner) Florin books series. Publisher: Cape repr 1934 He named his only son, John Felix Rayner, after Yusupov. Conclusive evidence is unattainable, however, as Rayner burned all his papers before he died in 1961 and his only son also died four years later.


References


Sources

* * * * Nelipa, Margarita (2010). ''The Murder of Grigorii Rasputin: A Conspiracy That Brought Down the Russian Empire.'' Gilbert's Books. . * Smith, Douglas (2016). ''Rasputin''. MacMillan, London. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rayner, Oswald 1888 births 1961 deaths World War I spies for the United Kingdom British reporters and correspondents Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford People from Smethwick MI6 personnel