[…] Islamic Fighting Group, our former enemy’s enemy, is our enemy. Libya’s new status as ‘friend’ is visible elsewhere. Con Coughlin, often a guide to the thinking within SIS, commented in The Sunday Telegraph, ‘Ratcheting up to the next war’ on 9 October, on the British policy of ‘kow-towing to the Iranians’. Wrote Coughlin: ‘As […]
[…] I’d seen something like this in Anthony Verrier’s book. There it is on p. 255. Describing the British ‘attempt to sustain counter-revolution in Arabia’, Verrier notes that SIS opposed it ‘because, all other factors apart, it degenerated into a matter of bribes to the wrong people – 30 million, to be exact, laundered through […]
A Channel 4 SOE mystery In January and February this year Channel 4 broadcast a history of the war-time Special Operations Executive, SOE, written and presented by the novelist Sebastian Faulks, called Churchill’s Secret Army. It was an interesting series with some excellent first-hand material and footage. But there were two mysteries. The first, and […]
[…] Baldwin and Chamberlain allowed him access to the intelligence product of Desmond Morton, head of the Industrial Intelligence Centre, and of Group Captain Frederick Winterbotham of the SIS Air Section.’ (15) Other sources were less formal. John Baker White, for example, the Director of the Economic League from 1926 til the end of the […]
[…] result is very interesting indeed: part biography, part autobiography, part history, and part historical travelogue through the countries of Central Europe in which Elliott’s father worked for SIS and SOE before, during and after the war. Almost incidentally there are interesting snippets about SIS people and operations – but that isn’t the focus of […]
[…] he would be likely to express them.”‘ In fact there is a quite an interesting account here, not only of the business of being an agent for SIS – presumably it is SIS, though other agencies are possible; and the author never quite resolves this – but also of the University of Aberystwyth, its […]
[…] more rationally – better for the bottom line. They work very hard, attending sessions from dawn to nearly midnight, but expect the standards of intelligence and analy sis to be the best available in the entire world. They are impatient. They have a hard time reconciling long term issues (global warming, AIDS pandemic, resource […]
[…] work of its Analysis Bureau, headed by Hugh Trevor-Roper. This included the production of reports on Axis intelligence activities and resulted in its eventual independence from the SIS as the Radio Intelligence Service.(14) ‘Nation shall speak peace unto Nation’ The role of the BBC during the Cold War is examined in detail in a […]
[…] with Michelle Sindona; and also with some of the Vatican ratlines running from Croatia to Argentina through which money to support Nazi war criminals had been laundered. SIS had had a hand in these lines before the US intelligence services had taken them over. 6 It was originally meant to protect a Euro-MP against […]
[…] for his service to the State.’ (1) During the Penkovsky operation Wynne played a ‘brave and essential part … acting as the cut-out for verbal communication with SIS.’ (2) Another writer with what appear to be good contacts is Gordon Brook-Shepherd. His evidence suggests that Penkovsky chose Wynne as his contact man and not […]
