History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

Recently, the National Archives released a new batch of secret documents. Most of the press headlines concerned the MI5 files on Aneurin Bevan, the deputy leader of the Labour Party who was followed for more than 20 years. But looking through the other files, I found an interesting one involving a local woman, (Ref KV2/4858).    Sylvia Matthews On 8 September 1939, just after the declaration of War, Sylvia Matthews with her friend Arnold Ridley, called at a police station in London to make a statement. She said that in Christmas 1936 she had met a German Socialist refugee called Werner Emil Schmidt, then living in 72 Adelaide Road. ‘I fell in love with Schmidt and lived with him at 35 Boundary Road NW8. He was deported on 23 April 1937, and police escorted him to Newhaven and saw him onto the boat. Schmidt confessed to being a Trotskyist. During this time, I was followed by Special Branch officers. After he was deported, in May 1937, I followed him to France where I lived wi...