Intelligence in Britain
The Second World War occurred between 1939 and 1942 and involved the world superpowers who had formed alliances as well as the rest of the world. Britain just like any other country saw the need to enhance security at a time when the war threatened it. The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) is the British intelligence service responsible for the overseas collection and thorough analysis of human intelligence regarding the country’s security. SIS was formed in 1909 as a secret service and mainly operated during World War 1. However, the role of SIS greatly manifested during the Second World War. The paper will focus on exploring the role that the British intelligence service played during the Second World War.
Origin of SIS
Before SIS was formed, Britain collected intelligence information regarding her security in an ad hoc manner. From the 17th century, the English secretaries used to approve parliament funding for spies who were appointed to collect information about Britain’s enemies. By the end of the 19th century, the army and the navy had established their intelligent groups. The military mainly utilized intelligent information acquired by attachés in different foreign countries. From the 20th century, Britain had more rivals Germany being the main threat to her security.[1] Thus, the government officials sought to form a more organized intelligence service as compared to what previously existed.
The Secret Service Bureau and the Secret Intelligence Service operated for many years without the public knowledge. However, the Intelligence Services Act of 1994 commissioned the service such that it functioned on a legal basis.[2]I feel that the commissioning of the Secret Intelligence Service was an unexpected move from the British government which is known to uphold secrecy in its intelligent operations. For instance, since intelligent groups started to be formed in the 17th century, the information and the existence of spies did not get to public the domain.
The Secret Intelligence Service was originally half of the Secret Service Bureau while the other half was the Home Section at Nascent Security Service, M15. As such, the reasons and justifications for the formation of SSB were similar to those that led to the establishment of SIS. It would, therefore beat logic to discuss SIS without prior knowledge of the existence and functioning of SSB. I will, therefore, dedicate the next section of the paper to discussing the origins and operations of the Secret Service Bureau.
Secret Service Bureau
There are claims that the British intelligence service was mainly founded on false information especially when it came to Germany. For instance, when Germany started expanding their naval and military bases, the British also started fueling the rumor that they were also responding in kind. The false of the intelligent information collected in my view is what fueled and heightened the tension between Britain and Germany. The ‘spy fever’ gripped the British government to the extent that citizens were requested to offer any information of suspected German spies in their region. Many people wrote letters claiming to have seen German spies in their territory. However, in 1909, Britain conducted an investigation and found out that there existed no German spies in the country and the tension was uncalled for since there was no threat. Nonetheless, Britain went ahead and created an intelligence agency to counter the threat supposedly posed by Germany. The agency was formed despite the fact that there was no distinction between facts and propaganda.[3] Hence, the Secret Service Bureau was formed.
From its inception, the Secret Service Bureau was intended to function in collaboration with the Admiralty and the War Offices. The bureau was also to work hand in hand with the foreign affairs office where all the work of spying was conducted from the outside world.[4]The main concern for creating the SSB was to create an institutional cut out between all departments of the state that required the use of intelligence and any operations in the spying field that were likely to be identified and exposed.
The first leader of the Secret Service Bureau was 50 years old Mansfield Cumming who was a navy officer. Cumming resumed office in 1909 despite his lack of expertise and communication skills to conduct intelligence operations. It is said that on his first day in office, he entered in his diary that there was no one to see or anything to do. Previously, the Foreign Affairs office and the Home Sections shared an office. However, in the year 1910, Cumming decided to set up his office on Vauxhall Road.[5]Cumming then set up an address to which all letters directed to the intelligence office were sent.
During the First World War, the role of the Secret Service Bureau increased which forced the bureau to expand into other offices. Also, more officers were vetted and interviewed to fit different positions in the bureau. In November 1914, Germany’s former naval officer Karl Kruger approved the British intelligence service in Holland and offered information regarding how a navy should be constructed and how fleets should be disposed of during war. Kruger also gave secrets of how Germany had lost in previous battles as well as insights on how to proceed with World War 1. Kruger was even willing to share more information but for a fee. The intelligent information from Karl Kruger was insightful to Britain, and the country was more determined to improve their intelligence service.
After the World War 1, Cumming felt that there was need to reduce the costs of operation at the department. Hence, he opted for the department to move to cheaper premises. Cumming was also keen on preserving secrecy in his department to the extent that one had to go through a process before acquiring the bureau’s address. Cumming was even reluctant in giving the military intelligence officer the address.[6] It is clear that Cumming was a very secretive man and am assuming that is one of the reasons why he was selected to head the department which highly valued secrecy.
Throughout the First World War, the bureau adopted the use of different names such as ‘the Secret Service’, ‘Foreign Secret Service’ and ‘MI1(c)’. However, from the year 1920, the bureau adopted the name Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) which has been in use since then. During the Second World War, the officers also used the term MI6 as a convenience for SIS and to create a distinction between SIS and MI5.[7]In my opinion, it is evident that the Secret Intelligence Service has had great transformations from its inception. The agency started as a simple organization meant to collect information from within and also outside Britain. The SIS then grew into a massive department with many officers and more roles depicting the high need for intelligence in Britain at the time.
SIS and the Second World War
In 1938, the Secret Intelligence Service had started preparing for any possibilities of war. For instance, the service established another department titled ‘Section D’ under the leadership of Laurence Grand. The section was tasked with the role of planning, preparing and when necessary carry out attacks as opposed to the role of collecting intelligent information. Grand laid out solid plans to sabotage Germany’s electric power, communication infrastructure, and agriculture. He also crafted a plan of protecting Britain from attack by safeguarding her electricity, communication, and agriculture.[8]It is wise to note that during the second world war, the focus of the Secret Intelligence Service has changed to not only collect intelligence information but to also prepare and plan attacks during the war.
Role of Secret Intelligence Service during World War II
During the Second World War, the Secret Intelligence Service played a key role in sabotaging enemies. The secret service intercepted Germany’s communication system and also fed German spies with false information. The Secret Intelligence Service achieved a lot especially in unearthing spies from enemy countries such as Germany. The service also succeeded in turning the enemy spies to their side such that they would give false feedback to Germany. The strategy worked well for the British because they managed to distract their main enemy Germany with fake information. When the United States joined the war, the Secret Intelligence Service helped to train their personnel from the Department of Strategic Services. The USA also assisted Britain to fight Nazi regime and its sympathizers.
The success of the secret service only came after many incidents of confusion during the war. The confusion was especially because the agency lacked the required level of expertise and number of officers to handle the workload which had increased tremendously. When the war was declared, the intelligence officers were faced with problems of having to deal with numerous vetting requests, a lot of suspect information and dealing with Nazi sympathizers who were preparing the ground for German invasion in Britain. The challenge heightened when within the first six months of the war about 64,000 foreign citizens from Germany and Austria were imprisoned without trial.[9]The secret service hence had to conduct interviews with all foreigners to ensure that none was a German ally and that none was a cause for the threat of domestic rebellion.
It is evident that it is during World War II that British Secret Intelligence Service was tasked with a series of responsibilities. The responsibilities as earlier stated did not come without some level of hitches. Just like any organization, more responsibilities often create pressure on the employees, and until they adjust to the volume of work expected from them, then success is not guaranteed. However, the British secret service quickly reorganized themselves to handle the difficult task of combating enemies.
Intelligence and its Impact on Military and Political Actions
Intelligence in Britain just like any other government is used to collect information regarding foreign countries. The targeted information is often about the country’s capabilities and probable courses action by those countries. Rarely do nations gather intelligent information regarding their allies; it is mostly about their enemies or perceived threats. Intelligence is fundamental in enabling countries to make decisions regarding their security, defense systems, and foreign affairs.
Intelligence is conducted on national, tactical and counterintelligence levels. National intelligence commonly referred to as tactical is the broadest of the three levels and involves country collecting information regarding their enemies’ strengths and likely causes of action. Tactical or combat intelligence is mainly used to obtain information which is then used by military commanders. Military operations are often guided by knowledge because activities for combat may require information from different levels of intelligence to ensure countries do not entangle themselves in modern wars. Modern wars would be detrimental especially because nations have devised dangerous and more effective weaponry.
Counterintelligence, on the other hand, is a level of intelligence that involves a country working to maintain and protect the secrecy of its intelligence operations. The purpose of counterintelligence is to prevent agents from enemy countries from gaining access to the government, security agencies or intelligent information. Counterintelligence is also involved with operations aimed at combating terrorism, drug trafficking and cyber-attacks emanating from advanced technologies. Counterintelligence often involves countries interfering with their enemies’ intelligence system through the placement of moles and converting the enemies’ spies to offer them the required information.
Intelligence services are used by countries in situations where diplomatic means alone are not likely to yield the desired results. A country may require different types of intelligence at different times. For instance, a government may need political knowledge to guide their political activities. Other sectors of the state may require a combination of different types of intelligent information to make decisions. Civic intelligence is among the most used and at the same time the most useless form of intelligence. Political intelligence is collected by analysts who in most cases make predictions about political situations based on past occurrences. Political trends and patterns are difficult to predict, and hence political intelligence collected in such a manner is not likely to yield results. In fact, decisions made from political intelligence in most cases are misleading to the users and ultimately the whole country.
Military intelligence is often collected from military diplomats whose primary responsibility is to obtain original information from open sources near them. Military intelligence also makes use of space satellites to gather information and track the movement of missiles and other weapons of mass destruction. Military intelligence enables the decision makers to know the formation, numbers, organization and the sophistication of weapons used by the enemy countries. Such information is then used by a country to organize their military operations such that they match or even surpass in capability those of the enemy.
It is clear that most governments make use of intelligent information to inform decisions regarding politics and military actions. It would be detrimental for a nation to make any political or military decision ad hoc without making use of intelligence. It is crucial that countries utilize intelligent information in decision making otherwise, their decisions are likely to be misinformed.
Britain profoundly made use of intelligence to inform their political and military decisions. For instance, the country collected information regarding their enemies such as Germany and used it to determine their course of action. The intelligence gathered was also used by the military to expand their weapon base and unit size such that in case of any attack they would be in a position to counter effectively.
Sources of Intelligence
It is often thought that intelligence is only collected through spies and secret groups. However, in modern times, intelligence is obtained through open means such as radio and other publications. Intelligence agents also sieve critical information from diplomats, military officers, businesspeople and other observers. Intelligence can be collected from high and space sources or electronic eavesdropping and code-breaking. The other method of obtaining intelligence is the use of secret spies.
Countries such as Britain mainly made use of the human intelligence where secret spies were deployed at various destinations. The purpose of spies is the most common method of collecting intelligent information. However, countries have evolved, and they now use a combination of both human and non-human intelligence to achieve efficiency. Times have changed, and the level of intelligence has also gone a notch higher. Hence, countries need to upgrade their standards of intelligence.
Evolution of intelligence Practice and Technology
Evolution of intelligence in Britain did not occur as a vacuum but it has taken time, experience and changes within the secret service unit. At the end of 19th century, military intelligence in Britain was still at its early stages of conception as a military function. The British army had a bias against intelligence as they thought that intelligence in the military was only necessary for officers who were not fully qualified for their roles. In addition, the intelligent services and agencies were formed in an ad hoc manner and were in most cases disbanded when an operation was complete.[10]At this time, intelligence was not fully embraced and lacked enough support in the country.
The lack of priority for intelligence in Britain was also prevalent during and after World War 1. The secret services were rendered useless after the war. During the war, the agency was also deprived off funding and lacked enough personnel to carry out their operations. However, military intelligence continued to be highly useful during the war as it informed the decisions made by the military commanders. During World War 2, the need for intelligence was felt by Britain especially as the only way to combat threat that was posed by Germany. The Secret Intelligence Service was then formed and it operated via spies.[11]The Secret Intelligence Service mainly operated on an alarmist mode regarding an assumed Germany threat.
The secret service began without any professionalism or expertise on how to handle and collect intelligent information. The Second World War came with a lot of expansion and success for the intelligence unit in Britain. During the First World War, British intelligence was not in a position to crack coded messages. However, at the onset of the Second World War, British agents were able to crack the German Enigma Cipher Machine and managed to listen to messages.
Artificial intelligence has also evolved in form of technology. Artificial intelligence is the ability of advanced technologies to use machines to complete highly complex tasks. Some of the useful ways in which technology is applicable is through computer language communications and use of robotic systems when collecting and utilizing intelligent information. Use of technology is crucial for the operations of the Secret Intelligence Service because the agency has to operate at a step higher to ensure no piece of information goes unnoticed. For instance, the United Kingdom has continuously eavesdropped information from some of the world’s largest communication companies since 2010.[12]Over the years Britain has had access to intelligent information obtained from the communication companies.
Intelligence operations at these modern times cannot be conducted without the use of sophisticated and up to date technology systems. Britain has over the years made use of technology to crack coded languages as well as monitor their enemies’ weaponry. Since World War 1, the secret service in Britain has evolved in their use of technology. At first, the operations of the agency only involved collection of information through word of mouth and then utilizing it against the enemies. However, as the country engaged in World War II, there was found need to improve on the ways used to collect and utilize intelligent informationotherwise, it was bound to mislead decision makers. Even after the Second World War and the cold war, the Secret Intelligence Service has continually improved on its technology to help in tackling modern challenges such as terrorism, cyber-attacks and narcotic trafficking. Today, intelligence units make use of technologies such as space satellites to monitor weapon bases of their foes.
The Secret Intelligence Service and the Germans
Intelligence against enemies such as Germany required deception. The British intelligence agency combined deception with use of double agents who would collect information about Germany and disseminate false information to the German authorities. The British officials offered a very strong support system for the double agents without which the double cross system would not have been successful.[13]Deception by the British security agencies was fueled by the fact that the country had all the means to mislead their enemies and utilize information collected from the acts.
I feel the British use of deception to mislead the Germans was a move to enable the United Kingdom room to utilize the information they had to their advantage. It is possible that Britain made use of deception in situations that they could not control such as aerial patrol of their land by the Germans. The British intelligence services upon realizing that then made use of the information they had to mislead the German spies.
One of the double agents used by Britain and Germany was known as Snow in the United Kingdom and Johnny in Germany. The agent was traveling on a Canadian passport and settled in Britain in the year 1933. The spy did not let the Germans know that he was in any way involved with the British. He seemed more loyal to Britain as compared to Germany. Snow even turned in a transmitter that had been given to him by the German authorities to the British secret service. During the Second World War, Snow was more useful to the British intelligence because he even informed them that he had been appointed as the senior spy on British land by the Germans.[14]Other than Snow, Britain continued adding more double agents to their workforce and who by far eased the operations of the intelligence department.
It is evident that despite the use of deception, the British intelligence services also applied the use of double agents. The British secret service is seen to make use of luring tricks to attract spies from the Germany to their side.
Another renowned spy was Pujol, he was determined to destroy Germany and the Nazi regime. Pujol was not an experienced spy but he was determined to succeed in his mission. As such, he decided to train himself. The Germans accepted his willingness to work for them as a spy. The German intelligence unit also came to trust him to an extent that they would deploy fighters in attacks he imagined. The British and her allies were impressed by his deceptive skills and wanted to use him to the downfall of the Nazi movement.[15]However, his appointment as a British informer did not come easy, he had to convince them that he was really worth the risk.
Eventually when Pujol was recruited as a double agent by the British, he was used to devise the most historical deception that had ever occurred. Pujol was used to deceive Hitler who was the leader in Germany at the time. Pujol crafted a plan to tell Hitler that there was a likely attack at Calais by the British and her allies.[16]However, in reality, the attack was meant to be carried out at Normandy.
Deception between the British Secret Intelligence Service and the German intelligence department was successful. Britain succeeded in its mission to use double agents to their advantage. The double agents would then give wrong information to the German intelligence. No wonder, Britain remained a strong super power even after the Second World War. The Germans on the other hand, mainly operated on falsified intelligent information which they collected from the double agents who were loyal to the British. The Germans made decisions based on false information as seen above in the case of Hitler. Decisions made on false premises thus led to the downfall of Germany during the Second World War.
Domestic and Foreign Events
The Secret Intelligence Service conducted different intelligence activities both domestically and internationally. Domestically, the agency collected information regarding intelligence that was likely to affect internal affairs in Britain.[17]For instance, the army and the navy had formulated their intelligence groups to inform on their internal decisions. The Secret Intelligence Service also conducted intelligence on foreign nations whom they perceived as a threat to their security. Such an event includes the deception on Hitler and his Nazi movement through manipulation of intelligence obtained by double agents. Another foreign event would be that of the Britain intelligence unit making use of intelligent information and technology to crack onto Germany’s communication system enabling them to listen to some messages. More recently, the British government has involved in working some of the known communication networks in the world to enable her listen to information from her perceived enemies.
In summary, Britain has made use of intelligence since the beginning of First World War. However, the intelligence department became more established and recognized during the Second World War. The agency that collects intelligence in Britain is the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and was formed in 1909 under the name Secret Service Bureau. Intelligent information is used by countries to inform political and military decisions. Britain mostly used intelligence to explore the capabilities and courses of action by their enemies. The country that posed a major threat to the British was Germany. Britain collected intelligence regarding the capabilities of German through the use of unorthodox ways and deception. Deception was mainly carried out by use of double agents who would inform on the actions of Germany to the British intelligence.