Researching "intelligence", Can you help?

[green_acorn]

Hi all,

As many would have guessed from my use of the corps colour and radio appointment title as my nickname, I have an interest in the way 'intelligence" developed and was exploited during the Great War (as well as before and after!), particularly from an Australian perspective. I am honest enough to know that the "Australian perspective" was simply part of the broader processes and experiences of the the British "Empire" Army as a whole (including the Indian Army) and drew a lot of experience from our Allies, in the main the French.

I would be very interested to hear from any Pals, who could help me in my quest. I have managed to collect some tremendous texts from the period, but am always looking for more information and publications.

As with all these things a small start causes many different quesitons to be raised. For example why during the 1909 Imperial Defence Conference was Australia tasked with supplying an "Intelligence Corps" to an Imperial Force, yet disbanded their Militia Intelligence Corps in Sep 1914.

I look forward to your thoughts, guidance, tips and input.

cheers,

Chris

[Hoplophile]

While I don't have any specific information to offer, the one useful observation I can provide is that the meaning of the word 'intelligence'changes considerably during the period you are looking at.

To a soldier of the British Empire in 1909 or so, 'intelligence' was more a matter of scouting than of the systematic processing of lots of little bits of information. Thus, I suspect that the 'intelligence corps' discussed in 1909 would have looked more like the organisation that Baden-Powell ran during the Boer War than the intelligence apparatus set up by the BEF during World War I. In other words, it would have been guys in the bush with binoculars rather than guys in offices with magnifying glasses.

[green_acorn]

You are right that the term changed quite a bit during the period leading up to the war, in fact it had been used as a term to denote what we would now call government "tourism bureaus" where you could go and find the railway timetables and make bookings for somewhere distant.

Yes Baden-Powell was an intelligence officer at Mafeking, I don't think he ever commanded the Department though, though I do believe he quite specifically started the Boy Scouts to prepare and develop boys for military scouting and selection as Intelligence Officers.

Yes to most soldiers "intelligence" would have been scouting and guides, given the paucity of maps for many areas of the Empire. But there had been quite a revolution in the years previous regarding intellignece as a process and component of an Army.

During the Boer War a fairly extensive Field Intelligence Department had been formed which brought all of the Scouts and Guides under the umbrella of the Department, along with Intelligence Officers, those conducting Secret Service and an allowance for "Intelligence Policeman" to enforce counterespionage and civil and military security controls. FID's had been raised before this, including in the Soudan and India's North West Frontier (Pakistan) on an as required basis when forces were raised for campaigns. But none had the influence on the future that the Boer War FID had.

LTCOL David Henderson, who was the last commander of the FID in South Africa during that war wrote a quite extensive guide on the requirements for Field Intelligence in 1904 which was amended and put out as a War Office direction in 1905.

It was about this time that the War Office was becoming concerned about events in Europe and the expansion of Germany. The British military planners in the major Dominions, along with the national governments started looking at the expansion needs of their Army's as part of any whole of Empire force. Canada raised a militia Corps of Guides and on the 6 Dec 1907 Australia raised a militia Intelligence Corps. The Australian Corps had many responsibilities, including mapping and collecting and maintaining data needed for War planning, but it also had quite clear responsibilities for intelligence.

What I haven't been able to figure out is how they were going to integrate this "colonial" Corps into an Empire Army and noting that the latter MAGEN Henderson was identifying and 'shadow posting" officers for a British Intelligence Corps that would be raised with the start of war. And that's just the start of my quest!

cheers,

Chris

[green_acorn]

In the early days of the war it became practice that the IO or Scouting Officer would go out with 2 ofr 3 scouts to gather information on German defences whilst observers were further back plotting the extent of the defensive area and what ever hearddress they saw briefley, and you wondered why "Field Sketching" was in the pamphlet. I am guessing that the Scouts rotated through the BN "Int Section" as they were the ones being given specific int training and it was an opportunity to manage their use, to preserve a vital capablility. Any thoughts or opinion? No a document that would prove or disprove my thoughts?

cheers,

Chris

By the WAY Does anyone know where "Jock Bruce" is, he hasn't logged on since mid last year, I don't want to think the worse without an opportunity for thanking him

[Guest Tarkwa]

Something for you guys to chew on. These are rough notes and any gaps that you can fill will or corrections you can make be appreciated. These notes have a SA flavour and start a wee bit before the war (the Boer War experience had a direct impact on WW1, and subsequent practices). There is plenty to debate / explore / clarify here and I make no claims to great accuracy.

The Anglo Boer Wars

1900. Shortly after Black Week, Major Lord Lovett began recruiting a special unit of scouts for service in SA. The +- 240 men were mostly Scottish Highland stalkers with great tracking experience. In SA they were attached to the Highland Brigade where they served as scouts and the advanced guard. They proved so valuable that Lord Kitchener ordered Lord Lovat to return to Scotland to raise a second unit of such scouts.

1900. Danie Theron forms “Wielrijders Rapportgangers Corps”.

1900. 3 March. “Theron Verkenners Korps” formed. Includes Dutchmen, Germans, a Turk, a Greek, an Arab and a Bulgar.

1900. July. “Field Intelligence Department” formally constituted from a multitude of locally raised units, the “Adjuncts to the Intelligence Staff”.

1900. Col Henderson writes detailed report on formation, functions and operations of FID. This work is continued and expanded by Col Hume DMI (SA) and this publication could be called the founding document of the current UK Intelligence Corps.

1900. Summer. Col George Henderson becomes gravely ill and is invalided back to UK. Col Hume adopts title “Director of Military Intelligence (South Africa).

1900. Canadian scouts serve in SA. Units include “Intelligence Corps (Militia Order)”, “Intelligence Mounted Corps”, “Land Surveyor Scouts” and “Dominion Land Surveyors”.

1901. Feb. Lt Col.David Henderson appointed DMI – SA. Writes the first approved intelligence handbook “Field Intelligence, its Principles and Practice”. In this he defines the ideal characteristics of an IO. “The ideal Intelligence Officer must be cool, courageous and adroit, patient and imperturbable, discreet and trustworthy. He must be able to inspire the confidence of his general, and to inspire confidence in his subordinates”. (Ed’s note: no change necessary, even 100+ years later!). He later also published “Intelligence Organisation and Administration (SA), Revised Instructions”.

1901. By the end of the war the FID consisted of 132 Offs, 2321 white soldiers and a host of native scouts. It was rapidly scaled down after the War, leaving Britain again with a minimal intelligence infrastructure.

1903. Commission into SA War. Ardagh and DMI “exonerated”. Previously he had been accused of a “lack of preparation that was almost treasonable”. The Royal Commission on the War in South Africa was told that, in the three years before the war, the ZAR had spent 286,000 pounds on 'secret service' at a time when the total British Intelligence Division budget was only 20,000 pounds a year, of which about 2,000 pounds was spent on South Africa. Specifically, the charges against the Intelligence Division were that 1) It failed to assess correctly the numerical strength of the Boers; 2) It was ignorant of their armament, especially their artillery; 3) It failed to fathom the Boers’ offensive designs on Natal; 4) It failed to supply the troops with sufficient topographical information and maps.

Peace! And the run-up to the “Great War”.

1903. Somaliland Burgher Corps formed, probably the first SA troops to serve outside Southern Africa.

1906 Natal Rebellion

1907. Autralian Intelligence Corps birthday, raised via Military Order No 305 of 1907. The Australian Intelligence Corps is, by age, the senior intelligence corps in the Commonwealth

1909 Imperial Defence Conference in London

1910 Union of South Africa created. Transvaal Intelligence Corps gazetted 20 Oct 1910 (50 members).

1911. "Memorandum Explanatory of the South African Defence Bill" published in November setting out the principles for the formation of the UDF.

1912 South Africa Defence Act (Act No 13 of 1912) enacted on 14 June 1912, brought the Union Defence Force (UDF) into existence on 1 July 1912. Defence Act 13 of 1913. General Smuts states "The Defence Act...is a very complicated Act, and there are possibly few people who understand it...That is probably one of the reasons why I got it through Parliament so quickly."

1912. The African National Congress (ANC) was formed.

1912. August. Commandant General of the CF is invited by the British MOD to attend manoeuvres in the UK and Europe. In particular he was impressed with the use of aeroplanes in a reconnaissance role. On his return it was decided to form a Flying Corps and on the 13 May 1913 and advert appeared in the Government Gazette calling for candidates to join the newly formed SAFC for flight training.

1912. J. G. W. Leipoldt (who previously had served with the Republican forces on the Natal front during the Second Anglo-Boer War) joins the UDF as instructor at the SA Military School. Later to become head of Intelligence.

1913. 13 April. UDF Permanent Force created.

First World War

1914. 6 August. SA Cabinet decides to support Britain in the war against Germany.

1914. Armed Boer rebellion against decision of SA to declare war on Germany. Estimates suggest that between 11 and 12 thousand rebels took up arms against the government (+- 32000 troops). After the rebellion was quelled some 190 rebels and 132 government troops had been killed.

1914. “Helgard’s Scouts” raised for service in SWA. Naude’s Scouts and Uys’s Scouts serve in SWA.

1914. “Formation of Intelligence Units” authorised by the “Administration of South African Defence Act 1914. (18th and 21st Intelligence)

1915 SA invades SWA. 50 man scouting unit deployed to Walvis Bay under Maj. Langbaard Grobler. UDF deployed to combat Germans in Tanganyika. Orbat includes the following int units: Belfiels’s Scouts, Grobler’s Scouts, Botha’s Scouts (21 Intelligence). Hunt’s Scouts serve in Swakopmund in int. support of 3rd Bde.

1915. 9 July. Germans surrender in SWA. 266 UDF casualties and 4740 Germans captured as POW.

1915. November. 1 SA Brigade (5,800 strong) - arrived in Britain in 1915 and was almost immediately diverted to Egypt to assist the British forces defending the Suez Canal. Shortly after landing at Alexandria early in January 1916, the South African battalions were engaged in a pitched battle at Agagia, which ended in a complete rout of the Turkish-Sanussi forces.

1915. In East Africa, more than 20,000 South African troops fought under General Smuts's command when he directed the British campaign against the Germans.

191?. Major Abe Bailey (ex Jamison raider) serves as IO to SA Brigades in France. Is mentioned in dispatches twice. Later becomes mining magnate

1915. May. After the outbreak of the First World War, Leipoldt acted as Censor in the Censor's Office in Cape Town, before succeding Wyndham as Chief Intelligence Officer in May 1915. Leipoldt saw service in German South West Africa and later German East Africa, and after a short spell in Saldanha Bay, he was commissioned to inaugurate a Military Intelligence branch in Pretoria. He remained head of Intelligence until the end of the war.

1915. SA Intelligence Officer Pretorious (a big game hunter) plays an active part in the location and destruction of the German light cruiser the Koenigsberg, blockaded in the Rufigi river delta after raiding shipping in the Indian Ocean.

1916. May. Frederick Joubert Duquesne flees the British for New York. A native of South Africa, he was a deeply Anglophobic Boer, who spent much of his life attempting to take revenge upon the British Empire for its actions in his homeland during the Boer wars. This hatred had caused him to offer his services as spy and saboteur to Imperial Germany during the First World War. There is solid evidence that Fritz and a group of saboteurs were responsible for the destruction of a British merchant ship in 1916 that caused the death of three crewmembers. There is inferential evidence that he was the prime leader in other acts of German espionage and sabotage against English assets in South America from 1914 to 1916. British Intelligence tried hard to capture Duquesne, under a death sentence for his actions. In order to elude the British, he fled to the United States in May of 1916. The United States at that time was still neutral, and Fritz believed he would have a better chance in American courts of escaping extradition if he were discovered. He was later arrested by New York’s metropolitan police masquerading as an Australian Captain lecturing on the Great War. He was successful in escaping extradition to England by faking insanity, then paralysis, and finally escaping from Bellevue Hospital.

1916 July 1 SA Bde. took part in the Somme offensive and, in particular, the fighting for Trones Wood, Bernafey Wood, Longueval and Delville Wood. In these battles, which lasted from 5 to 20 July 1916, the South African Brigade was almost wiped out, emerging from the carnage with a strength of just 29 officers and 751 men out of a total of nearly 4,000 who had entered the battle.

1917 Schroeder appointed as Smuts's Chief of Military Intelligence for the 1917 German East Africa Campaign in spite of offers of a British staff.

1917. 7 Aug. Lt MERCER (MERVYN LOUIS EMERSON) Lieutenant South African Intelligence Corps. Aged 26 yrs. Died of wounds Son of Walter Louis Mercer, of 222, Turf Rd., La Rochelle, Johannesburg, South Africa, and the late Edith Isabel Mercer. Buried. Tanzania DAR ES SALAAM WAR CEMETERY. Location: 6. J. 10.

1917. SA Heavy Artillery and Cape Corps deployed in Palestine campaign.

1918 By the end of World War I, 12,452 South Africans had died--more than 4,600 in the European theatre alone.

[Guest Tarkwa]

Something for you guys to chew on. These are rough notes and any gaps that you can fill will or corrections you can make be appreciated. These notes have a SA flavour and start a wee bit before the war (the Boer War experience had a direct impact on WW1, and subsequent practices). There is plenty to debate / explore / clarify here and I make no claims to great accuracy.

More material may be found on this website:

Saffer.pbwiki.com

Password: Callup

Use the search box in the top right hand corner. The site is a general S African one but does have a fair bit of WW1 material.

[rbrauerei]

Nothing really exciting here, but thought I'd give you the link anyway (never know).

http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cdm4/item_viewer.p...R=32&REC=10

[green_acorn]

Tarkwa, Thank you. I think you will find the whole FID idea predates the AngloBoers War quite a bit. There is a book that would have influenced henderson quite a bit written in 1895 by Fuge on collecting information. The British Army used to Form an FID for campaiging as required, certainly as far back as te Sudan and Crimean War. I think the biggest prewar influence, other than David Hendersons experience, was the adoption of the German General Staff System, which meant a commander always had a staff officer with responsibility for int, not just someone who turned up on the day.

Irish Gunner - Thank you, that will lead me to a number of USCGSC sources one day!

cheers,

Chris

[rbrauerei]

Irish Gunner - Thank you, that will lead me to a number of USCGSC sources one day!

cheers,

Chris

Chris; I hope it yields something worthwhile. Have you seen this:

http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/cont...f52256wh4dql51/

[green_acorn]

Irish, The USCGSC site popped up a few things straight away, including a copy of the Notes on Counter Espionage from 1918. As you probably know The US Army Corps of Int Police received most of their specialist training in this from members of the UK Int Corps (Ib) at le Havre. It just so happens one of the officers who gave the training was also an Australian LT G.F. Priestley. So those notes will be invaluable as they would be essentially the UK doctrine of the time, with minor adaption for 1st US Army needs.

And thank you I have taken a note on the Int and National Sy Article.

cheers,

Chris

[Borden Battery]

Here is a website which might have some information of use to you. Borden Battery

Interplay between Technology, Tactics and Organisation in the First AIF

MA (Hons) Thesis, Australian Defence Force Academy, 1999

The Australian perspective looks at progress of tactical, technological and organisational developments that ultimately supplied the solutions to trench warfare but how new technologies and military thinking were introduced and developed. The thesis chapters include: Going to War, Gallipoli, The Western Front, Semi Open Warfare, Messines and Third Ypres, Sinai and Palestine, The German Offensives and The Final Offensives. [Note: There are sections which discuss the Canadian Engineers][CEF Study Group - April 2006]

http://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/~rmallett/Thesis/

[green_acorn]

Borden Bty, Thank you for bringing his work back to my attention, it will help a lot. And most importantly the seminal book on the Canadian Intelligence Service of the Canadian Corps has to be a template!

By the way have you hear of Jock Bruce this year.

cheer,

Chris

[green_acorn]

Would any Pal no the process for newly captured weapons previously not seen. I have a picture of a A7 being loaded for the trip to UK for evaluation and our Museum in Australia has a report on the weak spots/aiming points. Do any of you know the technical intelligence path and the schools and workshops inolved in the assessment?

cheers,

Chris

[green_acorn]

Hi all this is the picture of the A7 I mentioned, the caption says "Shipping captured German tank to England for intelligence examination". Would any Pal know which tank this is "Mephisto" possibly? And who is the Officer, MAJ Bruce the SO Int in Paris perhaps?

So many questions!

By the way would any one have heard from Jock Bruce in the last year?

cheers,

Chris

[Chris Henschke]

In the early days of the war it became practice that the IO or Scouting Officer would go out with 2 ofr 3 scouts to gather information on German defences whilst observers were further back plotting the extent of the defensive area and what ever hearddress they saw briefley, and you wondered why "Field Sketching" was in the pamphlet. I am guessing that the Scouts rotated through the BN "Int Section" as they were the ones being given specific int training and it was an opportunity to manage their use, to preserve a vital capablility. Any thoughts or opinion? No a document that would prove or disprove my thoughts?

Each Division within the AIF, had slightly different arrangements at different times but the organization of an ‘Intelligence Section’ at Battalion Headquarters (in the contempory sense) did not always exist. At some stages, a dedicated Battalion Intelligence officer did not exist.

Here are some examples from different time periods.

April 1916

The organization of snipers, scouts, observers and intelligence officers in 1st Australian Division was as follows;

At battalion level :

1. There was a platoon of observers, snipers and scouts in each battalion. It was commanded by the Battalion IO, and consisted of 1 x Officer and 30 ORs. It was in addition to the 16 platoons within the battalion. The observers and snipers worked in pairs and there was about 6 scouts or ‘patrol men.’

At Brigade level:

1. There was a scout section attached to Brigade Headquarters (the section made up with men from the battalions) under a Scout Sergeant. In the section were 8 trained observers, working in pairs. The section also included a draughtsman. It worked under direction of the Brigade IO, to whom they submitted daily reports.

2. The Brigade IO was attached to Bde from one of the battalions. He received and checked reports from the Bn scout officers and the Bde observers.

3. From them, he compiled the Bde Intelligence Summary IAW ‘2nd Army instructions for intelligence duties, appendix II.’

4. He kept a running record of enemy works (such as a loose leaf book or small card index system) regarding enemy MG emplacements, wire, etc.

5. Another of his duties was to ensure that all prismatic compasses within the Bde were periodically checked by sights and bearings from a large scale map.

6. Trench log books were issued on the scale of 7 per Bde. One was in the possession of every company commander in the front line, who kept a running record of known or suspected MG positions, Observation Posts, etc. It was given to the relieving Company commander at the handover.

At Division level:

1. In addition to the battalion scouts, there were 3 special observers attached to Division HQ, who were issued passes covering the AO.

October 1916

3rd Australian Division had the same arrangement for the Bde IO (a subaltern attached from a Bn).

At Battalion level:

The scout platoon was supervised by the Bn Scout Officer. There was also a Bn Sniping Officer who commanded a platoon. The 2IC of the battalions acted as the IO.

1. The scout platoon consisted of 1 x Sergeant, 1 x Corporal and 48 ORs. It was a Headquarters unit, under Bn HQ.

At company level:

1. Each Company had at least 6 snipers, under instruction from the Bn Sniping officer.

June 1917

In 5th Australian Division, the arrangement for snipers, observers and scouts was this. Each Bde had a section consisting of 1 x officer, 12 x ORs, and 1 x policeman.

Each Bn had 1 x officer and 32 x ORs, (including 2 NCOs). Of those 32 ORs, 4 per company were the Company snipers, and the balance were trained as observers and scouts.

In an advance, the Intelligence Policeman (attached to a Bn HQ) supervised search parties who systematically searched suspected enemy HQs, dugouts, gunpits, villages, etc. and enemy dead. At the Advanced Bn HQ, he would establish the enemy unit identification and pass this onto Bde. He also ensured that no other questions were asked until the prisoners reached Bde HQ.

Chris Henschke

[green_acorn]

Chris,

Thank you very much. I also note your response in another thread about capture material, could I bother you for some source references. You are right about the title and function of IO, it, as it always was and is a prerogative of the CO where his prioroties lay and which functions he thought could best be done by one or another of his personal staff.

One of the function at Bn level of the IO was to layout the Form Up Place and more importantly the Lines of Departure and Axis of Assault tapes with the asistance of the scouts. The observers at this point were all engaged as they provided much of the "commentary" of battle to the CO and therefore Bde.

Experience suggests that though there may not have been a formal establishment for an Int Sect at Bn, the "resting" scouts, observers and snipers assisted where and when necessary. In the case of bdes, the men were primarily observers and all would appear to have attended the intelligence schools. Again it is logical that they would have been soldiers rotated from Battalions as part of the broader "Left-Out-of-Battle" procedure.

In the case of officers there was a selection process that saw them move out of Battalion's, though they often nominally stayed on the Bn Roll Books, if they also had language skills (As "educated gentleman" just about all of them spoke French and or German anyway) they would progress thorugh the intelligence training process to the UK and became involved in higher level intelligence operations (Priestley and Boccard for example). You also mention the "intelligence policeman" a very interesting group, all were soliders who could speak German and at least at 1 Aust Corps were an eclestic group including a Russian!

I very much look forward to your response!

Chris Henderson

PS: I am assuming you are the Chris Henschke at RMIT I found on Google!

[Chris Henschke]

In late March, 1917 the Divisional Commander (Walker), 1st Australian Division ‘decided to revive the Intelligence Section as part of Battalion Headquarters.’

This seems to imply that it had existed previously at this level. This ‘revival’ took place just after there was a general reorganization in order to standardize battalions within the AIF. There had been a great deal of discussion at command level within the AIF regarding sub-unit organization during the late winter of 1916 and into early 1917. By way of example (in relation to the scouting/sniping/intelligence subject), one proposal, by the commander of 11th Australian infantry Brigade (Cannan), was for each platoon of four sections to have a Lewis Gun section, a bomber section, and a rifle section. The fourth section was to have been of scouts, containing a proportion of snipers, range takers and wire cutters (all of whom were trained scouts).

Around late February, 1917 the battalions were formally standardized, IAW OB/1919.

The section was organized with an Intelligence Officer in command. (Up until at least January, 1917 the IO had commanded the scout and snipers platoon of 30 ORs – in 3rd Australian Infantry Brigade it had been known as either a scout or intelligence platoon).

The section consisted of four observers (one of them an NCO), two Patrol and Search Party, two snipers, one draughtsman and one batman. All were to be trained to the standard of 1st Class Scouts.

The observers were carefully selected for their powers of observation and scouting and were to be capable of fulfilling the role of guides and runners in open warfare.

The patrol and search men were chosen for their efficiency in patrol work, and if qualified men were available, the ideal was to have one who could speak German and another French.

Chris Henschke

[green_acorn]

Chris,

Again thank you. Much of MAJGEN Walkers decision about reestablishing the Bn Int Sect would have been influenced by Corps, Army and ultimately the War Office, probably as part of the lessons from 1916. It was about this time that I ANZACorps was the first Corps of the BEF (not just the AIF) to have a "Corps" Int Branch placed on establishment. The British officer a CAPT Tate, UK Int Corps, remained in the position until I and II ANZAC amalgamated.

You obviously have some fine references, care to share the titles?

regards,

Chris Henderson

[Chris Henschke]

The sources are all from primary documents held at the PRO in Kew and the Australian War Memorial.

Chris Henschke

[green_acorn]

Chris,

Thank you, I have to go back to the PRO, probably next year and spend more time in the WO, BEF and 2nd and 5th Army files. After going through the Minutes of the 1909 Imperial Conference I could bear another day there on my last trip in 2005.

Hopefully the AWM's Research Centre will be back to normal soon and I can tie in a trip to the NAA Nth Melbourne later this year.

regards,

Chris Henderson

www.austintcorps.asn.au

[green_acorn]

Could any of our English contributors put a Colonial from the Antipodes on the right and true tracks regarding intelligence? I would very much be greatful in my quest!

kindest regards,

Chris Henderson