Giffey joined SIS (MI6) in 1928.Tamman, p 83 His first appointment was to Tallinn, Estonia, as passport control officer, who ostensibly issued passports and visas while actually also watching the Soviets and establishing links with Russian émigrés. His relationship with his regiment continued while seconded to the Foreign Office and in 1931 he was promoted to a major.London Gazette, The Times, 23.12.1931, p 13; Nigel West, MI6. British Secret Intelligence Service Operations 1909-1945, London, 1987, p 21 The writer Graham Greene saw the night-life of Tallinn in Maj Giffey's company and described him as "the standing joke here, as the hearty fellow, hard drinker, man-about-Tallinn."Richard Greene (ed), Graham Greene: A Life in Letters, London, 2007, p 62 Giffey must have impressed Greene, if not necessarily in a positive way, since he included him as Capt Gullie in his next novel, England Made Me.Anthony Mockler, Graham Greene: Three Lives, Angus, 1994, p 94. In 1940 Giffey, being a foreigner, was forced to leave Estonia as the Soviets overran the country. Little is known about Giffey’s work in Tallinn but he was promoted to section chief on arrival in London in 1941. As specialist in all things Russian, he was given the charge of the Soviet Union and some Scandinavian countries. At the end of 1942 he was appointed to Baghdad as station head. This is where he stayed until 1944 when he was unexpectedly dismissed from the secret service.Nigel West, 1987, pp 24, 216; Tamman, pp 175-76
