Oswald in London

Finally got around to reading Ernst Titovets' Oswald: Russian Episode. Tolstoy it ain't, but it does offer some intriguing snippets. 

One is Titovets recalling Oswald mentioning 'Regent' or 'Regent's' with respect to his visit to London en route to Helsinki. Later in the book this is expanded to 'Regent's House.' 

I thought I'd check this out via Ancestry's London phone directory cache. The 1959 edition includes two options: Regent's House Hotel, 36 Bernard Street, nr Russell Square, and Regent's House, a private hotel close by at 28 Bloomsbury Street, adjacent to the British Museum. RHH is now a block of apartments; Regent's House is an annexe to the Gresham Hotel further up the street at no.36. It seems plausible - even likely - to me that Oswald overnighted at one or other of these. 

Do we know what time on the 9th he arrived in Southampton? I've read '7 or 8 pm' by tug from another passenger liner; others suggest an overnight ferry from Le Havre, arriving early morning. 

If he did arrive some time on the morning of the 9th, he would have been in London two or three hours later, depending on train schedules. Plenty of time to check in to his hotel and squeeze in some sight-seeing, or, who knows, meet up for a pre-arranged spy vs spy-type rendezvous. The 007 in me would certainly like to think so.

Worth noting that both Regent hotels are close to Russell Square underground station, which is on the Piccadilly Line, the line you need if you're heading out to what was then London Airport (Heathrow since 1966). 

All of this does make you wonder how was it organised, and who did the organising. Not easy to arrange from the far side of the Atlantic in the pre-internet era. Given the time frames he would have had to have detailed knowledge of train schedules, not to mention convenient hotel locations. Or was it a looser arrangement? Get yourself to the Regent Hotel, phone a specific number and someone will show up with plane tickets and/or further instructions?

Worth noting that in 1959, getting to London Airport was not straightforward. The Piccadilly Line terminated at Hatton Cross, several miles from the airport. You then had to take a bus, making the overall journey time 90 mins to two hours. Or maybe someone gave him a ride? You can imagine the scenario: 'Here's your tickets, kid, and good luck. You're on your own, now ...'