A beautiful Polish refugee who married a lord in 1938 - three years after arriving in the UK - was suspected of being a German spy, documents reveal.
National Archives show that MI5 thought Malwina Gertler - who became Lady Howard of Effingham - charmed secrets out of officers and diplomats.
Her marriage to Lord Howard allowed her to mix in the right circles, MI5 said.
She was jailed in Holloway Prison in 1941 over the allegations but was released five months later.
"She had made the acquaintance of a number of well-to-do people, attended cocktail parties and kept very late hours"
Lady Howard, who arrived in the UK on 10 November 1935, first came to the attention of the authorities in June 1936 when writer Norman Weiss complained that his wife was "under the influence of Manci Gertler who was said to be leading an immoral life".
A report by a Special Branch officer reported she had "made the acquaintance of a number of well-to-do people, attended cocktail parties and kept very late hours".
A secret service document suggested that, in June 1938, she had been "noticed perusing a secret report" at an exclusive hairdressing salon.
By this time, she was reported to be the mistress of wealthy gun-runner Edward Weisblatt who "was supposed on reasonable evidence to have been in touch" with the Gestapo and the Russians.
It was through this association that MI5 really began to take note of her movements.
'Contact woman'
Following her marriage to Lord Howard, who was said to have fallen on hard times, MI5 reported that the marriage's "object, of course, was to provide Gertler with British nationality and at the same time a title which she can make use of on behalf of Weisblatt".
"Her own interests would usually be permanent, I consider, as she would utilise, if necessary, every charm to further them"
MI5 also wrote that "Weisblatt produced £500 in cash for Lord Howard and guaranteed an annuity of £7 a week".
It was suggested, from then on, that she was working as Weisblatt's "contact woman", forming relationships with "young soldiers - asking them about operations", as well as with diplomats and staff at the War Office.
A statement from Lord Cottenham, taken on 18 September 1939, a day after he had met Lady Howard at a party, described her as "a not unattractive gipsy gamin type - highly sexed, I should say".
"Her own interests would usually be permanent, I consider, as she would utilise, if necessary, every charm to further them," Lord Cottenham added.
'Prejudicial action'
In July 1940, the MI5's chief agent-runner Captain Maxwell Knight said Lady Howard was "genuinely devoted to Weisblatt and would go to any lengths to serve his interests".
MI5's information showed that "she may well be employed directly or indirectly by the Germans".
A distinct lack of hard evidence - despite her mail being intercepted and her phone calls tapped - meant the secret service was frustrated in its quest to imprison Lady Howard.
But in 1941, she was finally jailed in Holloway Prison when she was deemed to be "concerned in action prejudicial to the public safety" of the country.
She was, nevertheless, released after five months thanks largely to a lack of evidence.
Lady Howard had always said she was puzzled by the accusations.
A frustrated MI5 officer complained that the appeals panel had placed "undue credence in Lady Howard's own unreliable testimony".
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