Linn Markley Farrish (October 3, 1901 – September 11, 1944) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

rugby union player and alleged spy.

Rugby

Farrish competed in the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

. He was a member of the American rugby union team, which won the gold medal.

Espionage

Farrish was a member of the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...

(OSS) during the Second World War. While acting as the OSS liaison officer to Josip Tito's Yugoslav Partisans, as part of

Maclean Mission (Macmis) The Maclean Mission (MACMIS) was a World War II British mission to Yugoslav partisans HQ and Marshall Tito organised by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in September 1943. Its aim was to assess the value of the partisans contribution to t ...

, he submitted a one-sided assessment of anti-Nazi resistance, grossly exaggerating the effectiveness of the Communist Partisans and denigrating the anti-Communist Chetniks as collaborators. He was also allegedly serving Soviet intelligence. Farrish is referenced in the following Venona project decryption: 1397 KGB New York to Moscow, 4 October 1944. His code name in Soviet intelligence, as deciphered in the Venona project, was "Attila". He died in an aircraft crash in the Balkans in September 1944. Biographer Mark Ryan states "Patriotic Farrish would never do anything to harm his beloved USA."For The Glory – Mark Ryan (JR Books) Fitzroy Maclean jocularly referred to him in his memoir ''

Eastern Approaches ''Eastern Approaches'' (1949) is a memoir of the early career of Fitzroy Maclean. It is divided into three parts: his life as a junior diplomat in Moscow and his travels in the Soviet Union, especially the forbidden zones of Central Asia; his e ...

'' as "my American chief of staff". Farrish was also referred to as "Lawrence of Yugoslavia" (as was

William M. Jones Major William M. Jones (August 23, 1895 – 1969) was a Canadian soldier of World War I and World War II who served with distinction with the Yugoslav Partisans. Biography Jones was born in Bear River, Nova Scotia. His code name was "Lawrence ...

Sources

*John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America,'' Yale University Press (1999), pp. 194-195. *M. Stanton Evans, ''Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies'', Random House (2007), pp. 95-97.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrish, Linn 1901 births 1944 deaths American rugby union players Rugby union players at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in rugby United States international rugby union players People of the Office of Strategic Services American spies for the Soviet Union American people in the Venona papers World War II spies for the Soviet Union Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1944 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Yugoslavia Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics American civilians killed in World War II