George Ronald Richards

George Ronald Richards (27 November 1905 – 25 September 1985) was a British-born Australian police officer and intelligence operative. In 1953 he was closely involved in Operation Cabin 12, arranging the defection of Vladimir Petrov from the Soviet Union to Australia. In 1954, he was appointed Deputy Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), roughly equivalent to the FBI and MI5. He received the Order of the British Empire in 1957.

Early life and career Richards was born on 27 November 1905, in Nottingham, England.

At this point, the planning for Petrov's defection was called Operation Cabin 11 (possible defectors were called "Cabin Candidates"). In January 1954 the plan was redesignated Operation Cabin 12. In all, Richards met with Petrov twelve times, frequently recording him and negotiating the terms of the defection, particularly aiming to make sure Petrov brought with him valuable documents to share with the Australian government.

Later career

As a result of the Petrov affair, a Royal Commission on espionage was convened in May 1954. Richards was appointed deputy director-general of ASIO under Spry, in which role he had charge of ASIO's commission unit. He arranged for the Petrovs to appear before the commission and submitted ASIO documents to it, but Richards was not in the end questioned.