Following World War I, Conrad was summoned to Whitehall in December 1918 to meet then Colonel Stewart Menzies, who recruited Conrad into MI6.
At the time, Menzies reported to Captain Mansfield Smith-Cumming, the first head of the British Secret Service, who was called "C", a designation that remains to the present day.
He was posted to the British Legation in Stockholm as Assistant Military Attaché under the command of Major Dymoke Scale.
While a POW, Conrad had learned fluent Russian, and was now tasked with gathering information from Russian refugees fleeing the aftermath of the 1917 revolution.

In 1920, Conrad was assigned to escort Russian diplomat Leonid Krasin through countries hostile to the new Communist government to meet with Prime Minister Lloyd George in London for secret talks about the restoration of trade with the West.
Dispatches from Lord Acton, British Minister Plenipotentiary to the newly independent Finland, confirmed arrangements for a special train to meet the delegation and under heavy guard they traveled to Turku, Finland, then Sweden to reunite with Krasin's family, en route for England.
This event, the first face-to-face meeting between Russian Communist leadership and the outside world, led to the Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement of March 1921.

Subsequently, the postwar depression and easing Soviet-British relations caused cutbacks to the Secret Service, and Conrad resigned from the service and returned to England.
Following World War I, Conrad was summoned to Whitehall in December 1918 to meet then Colonel Stewart Menzies, who recruited Conrad into MI6. At the time, Menzies reported to Captain Mansfield Smith-Cumming, the first head of the British Secret Service, who was called "C", a designation that remains to the present day. He was posted to the British Legation in Stockholm as Assistant Military Attaché under the command of Major Dymoke Scale. While a POW, Conrad had learned fluent Russian, and was now tasked with gathering information from Russian refugees fleeing the aftermath of the 1917 revolution.
In 1920, Conrad was assigned to escort Russian diplomat Leonid Krasin through countries hostile to the new Communist government to meet with Prime Minister Lloyd George in London for secret talks about the restoration of trade with the West. Dispatches from Lord Acton, British Minister Plenipotentiary to the newly independent Finland, confirmed arrangements for a special train to meet the delegation and under heavy guard they traveled to Turku, Finland, then Sweden to reunite with Krasin's family, en route for England. This event, the first face-to-face meeting between Russian Communist leadership and the outside world, led to the Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement of March 1921.
Subsequently, the postwar depression and easing Soviet-British relations caused cutbacks to the Secret Service, and Conrad resigned from the service and returned to England.
Conrad O'Brien-ffrench