Major Mike Shearer and Helen Fry
The Middle East and Russia: A Military Perspective

Mike Shearer is a former career cavalry soldier who saw service during the ‘Cold War’ in Germany and active service in the Gulf, Cyprus, Bosnia and Northern Ireland. In 2007, Mike was the Director of the Press Information Centre and later, Head of Strategic Influence and Communications for the British Military, working from the American Embassy in Baghdad. After leaving the Army, Mike worked in the Defence Directorate for Communications in the Ministry of Defence as the principal plans officer for Afghanistan and the ministry communications lead for the NATO Summit. In 2016, Mike returned to Iraq to join the battle against Islamic State, running influence operations out of Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan.

Helen Fry has authored and edited over 25 books covering the social history of the Second World War, including British Intelligence and the secret war, espionage, and spies, as well as MI9 escape and evasion. She is the foremost authority on the “secret listeners” who worked at special eavesdropping sites operated by British Intelligence during WWII. Helen is the official biographer of MI6 spymaster, Colonel Thomas Joseph Kendrick. She has also extensively written about the 10,000 Germans who fought for Britain during WWII. Helen has appeared in a number of documentaries and has provided advisory services for TV and drama. She also appears regularly in media interviews and podcasts. Helen is an ambassador for the National Centre for Military Intelligence (NCMI) and serves as a trustee of both the Friends of the Intelligence Corps Museum and the Medmenham Collection. She works in London.