Charles Spry

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title: "Charles Spry" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1910-births", "1994-deaths", "military-personnel-from-brisbane", "duke-of-wellington's-regiment-officers", "directors-general-of-security", "australian-army-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "australian-knights-bachelor", "australian-commanders-of-the-order-of-the-british-empire", "australian-companions-of-the-distinguished-service-order", "royal-military-college,-duntroon-graduates", "people-educated-at-brisbane-grammar-school", "australian-anti-communists", "australian-brigadiers", "20th-century-british-army-personnel"] description: "Australian soldier and public servant" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Spry" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Australian soldier and public servant ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
honorific-prefix	Brigadier Sir
name	Charles Spry
honorific-suffix
image	Sir Charles Spry.jpg
caption	Charles Spry in 1950
order	2nd
office	Director-General of Security
term_start	6 July 1950
term_end	21 January 1970
primeminister	Robert Menzies
succeeding
predecessor	Geoffrey Reed
successor	Peter Barbour
birth_date
birth_place	Brisbane, Queensland
death_date
death_place	Melbourne, Victoria
birthname	Charles Chambers Fowell Spry
nationality	Australian
spouse	Kathleen Edith Hull
alma_mater	Royal Military College, Duntroon
occupation	Army officer
nickname	"Silent Charles"
allegiance	Australia
branch	Australian Army
serviceyears	1929–1954
rank	Brigadier
unit	6th Division
battles	North-West Frontier
Second World War
mawards	Knight Bachelor
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order
::

|honorific-prefix = Brigadier Sir |name = Charles Spry |honorific-suffix = |image = Sir Charles Spry.jpg |imagesize = |alt = |caption = Charles Spry in 1950 |order = 2nd |office = Director-General of Security |term_start = 6 July 1950 |term_end = 21 January 1970 |deputy = |lieutenant = |monarch = |president = |primeminister = Robert Menzies |succeeding =
|predecessor = Geoffrey Reed |successor = Peter Barbour |birth_date = |birth_place = Brisbane, Queensland |death_date = |death_place = Melbourne, Victoria |restingplace = |birthname = Charles Chambers Fowell Spry |nationality = Australian |spouse = Kathleen Edith Hull |relations = |children = |alma_mater = Royal Military College, Duntroon |occupation = Army officer |profession = |religion = |signature = |nickname = "Silent Charles" |allegiance = Australia |branch = Australian Army |serviceyears = 1929–1954 |rank = Brigadier |unit = 6th Division |commands = |battles = North-West Frontier Second World War |mawards = Knight Bachelor Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Brigadier Sir Charles Chambers Fowell Spry (26 June 1910 – 28 May 1994) was an Australian soldier and public servant. From 1950 to 1970 he was the second Director-General of Security, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).

Early life

Charles Spry was born on 26 June 1910 in Brisbane. He attended local state schools and then Brisbane Grammar School. At the age of 18, he enrolled in the Royal Military College, Duntroon, from which he graduated in 1931.

Military career

After graduating from Duntroon, Spry served as an infantry officer in Hobart and Sydney, where he earned the nickname "Silent Charles" while adjutant of the Sydney University Regiment. From 1935 to 1936, he served in the British Army in India, where he joined in operations with the Duke of Wellington's Regiment in the Northwest Frontier.

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

ASIO's first Director-General, Geoffrey Reed, had been due to retire in February 1950, but his appointment was extended until the Menzies Government could find a suitable replacement. At the time, Spry was the Director of Military Intelligence in the army, and was seconded to ASIO on 6 July 1950, with an option to remain in, and return to, the army if he so desired. He was discharged from the army on 15 June 1954, and his secondment ceased on 20 August, with Spry appointed solely to ASIO.

Spry was head of ASIO during the Petrov affair when Vladimir Petrov, Third Secretary of the Soviet Embassy in Canberra, defected to Australia in 1954. Spry authorised the payment of £5,000 to Petrov to encourage his defection and as payment for documents he obtained from the Soviet embassy. Spry also instructed ASIO officers to seize Petrov's wife, Evdokia Petrova (also a Soviet intelligence officer), from a plane at Darwin Airport, where she was in the custody of Soviet Interior Ministry (MVD) officials being transported back to Moscow.

In October 1968, Spry wrote to CIA director Richard Helms recommending against public disclosure of an investigation into anonymous phone calls to the Canberra Embassy before and after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, which was held by the Warren Commission.

Spry remained Director-General for nearly twenty years, only deciding to retire in 1969 on medical grounds after a heart attack, and doubts about serving under Prime Minister John Gorton.

Honours

Spry was made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 23 December 1943, for his actions in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II, specifically for maintaining the flow of supplies in Papua New Guinea.

He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on 31 May 1956, and knighted on 1 January 1964. The citations for both these honours simply stated "Public service". Barrister and academic Ian "Sam" Spry QC, was Sir Charles's son.

Legacy

In July 2015, a documentary film about Spry entitled I, Spry - The rise and fall of a master spy aired on ABC Television in Australia.

References

before=Geoffrey Reed| title=Director-General of Security | years=1950–1970| after=Peter Barbour|

References

1. Cain, Frank. (1994). "The Australian Security Intelligence Organization: an unofficial history". Routledge.
2. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18480565 They Call Him "Silent Charles"], ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 16 July 1950.
3. link. (4 March 2016 , ''WW2 Nominal Roll'', Commonwealth of Australia, 2002.)
4. [http://moadoph.gov.au/exhibitions/online/petrov/content-55353.html The Petrov Affair Exhibition] {{webarchive. link. (3 September 2010 , Museum of Australian Democracy.)
5. "Australian spy boss wanted CIA to keep Canberra link to JFK murder probe secret".
6. Manne, Robert: "Spy Chief In Dark Days Of Cold War", ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 2 June 1994.
7. [https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1072702 SPRY, Charles Chambers Fowell], ''It's an Honour''.
8. [https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1065507 SPRY, Charles Chambers], ''It's an Honour''.
9. [https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1083141 SPRY, Charles Chambers Fowell], ''It's an Honour''.
10. "I, Spry: The Rise And Fall Of A Master Spy".

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