The Defence of the Realm (161 page)

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Authors: Christopher Andrew

5
 J. Regan (June 1911) and H. I. Fitzgerald (November 1912).

6
 J. R. Westmacott (March 1910), Miss D. Westmacott (January 1911), Corporal F. S. Strong (September 1911), Miss H. M. Newport (October 1911), Miss S. Holmes (February 1913) and Miss D. Bowie (January 1914).

7
 Mrs Sumner.

8
 Churchill,
My Early Life
,
p. 355
.

9
 Ewart to Churchill, 27 April 1910, CCAC Churchill MSS, CHAR 13/1/25.

10
 E. Marsh (Home Office) to Chief Constables of England and Wales, 28 April 1910, CCAC Churchill MSS CHAR 13/1/25.

11
 Kell diary, 8 June 1910, TNA KV 1/10.

12
 Kell, [Second Progress Report], April 1910–October 1910, TNA KV 1/9.

13
 Security Service Archives.

14
 On the
Meldewesen
before 1914, see the first-hand assessment by a US police official in Fosdick,
European Police Systems
,
pp. 349
–
51
. On policing in imperial Germany, see Evans, ‘Police and Society from Absolutism to Dictatorship'.

15
 ‘Office instructions to preparation of possible suspects list', Holt-Wilson papers, Security Service Archives.

16
 See above,
p. 3
.

17
 Kell, First Progress Report, 25 March 1910, TNA KV 1/9. G Branch History,
p. 22
, TNA KV 1/39.

18
 See above,
p. 20
.

19
 Kell diary, 6 June 1910, TNA KV 1/10.

20
 Ibid., 28 July, 5 Aug. 1910.

21
 Seligmann,
Spies in Uniform
,
pp. 61
–
2
,
69
–
70
,
170
–
71
. Copies of despatches from Colonel Trench, 24 June, 15 Dec. 1910, TNA KV 3/1. Kell diary, 29 Aug. 1910, KV 1/10.

22
 Andrew,
Secret Service
,
pp. 130
–
31
. Judd,
Quest for C
,
pp. 178
–
82
.

23
 Kell diary, 30 Aug. 1910, TNA KV 1/10.

24
 Ibid., 5 Sept. 1910.

25
 Andrew,
Secret Service
,
pp. 104
–
5
. Boghardt,
Spies of the Kaiser
,
pp. 48
–
9
.

26
 Kell diary, 6 Sept. 1910, TNA KV 1/10. Since Helm was the second German officer to become her lover, Miss Wodehouse's explanation does not carry complete conviction.

27
 Andrew,
Secret Service
,
pp. 104
–
5
. Boghardt,
Spies of the Kaiser
,
pp. 50
–
51
.

28
 
The Times
, 22, 23 Dec. 1910. Brandon and Trench were released in 1913.

29
 Correspondence between German Foreign Ministry and Prussian War Ministry, 12 Sept. 1910, 7 Dec. 1910, Politisches Archiv des Auswàrtigen Amtes, Berlin; cited by Boghardt,
Spies of the Kaiser
,
p. 50
.

30
 Kell diary, 14 Nov. 1910, TNA KV 1/10. Boghardt,
Spies of the Kaiser
,
p. 51
.

31
 Kell described the appointment of Thwaites as DMI in 1918 as ‘a very good choice too – a fortunate one for us, as he knows us all so well and appreciates our work'. Kell to Holt-Wilson, 7 Sept 1918, Holt-Wilson papers, Security Service Archives.

32
 Kell diary, 18 Nov. 1910, TNA KV 1/10.

33
 The report seems to have been related to the belief by Thwaites's sister that the Germans had ‘insulted her'. Kell diary, 24 Nov. 1910, TNA KV 1/10.

34
 Kell, [Second Progress Report], April 1910–October 1910, TNA KV 1/9.

35
 Kell diary, 15 Nov. 1910, TNA KV 1/10.

36
 According to Security Service records, Clarke left MO5, for unexplained reasons, on 30 November 1912. (Within the War Office, the cover name for Kell's Bureau was MO5(g).)

37
 Kell, ‘Progress during the quarter ending 31st March, 1911', TNA KV 1/9. Kell diary, 17 March 1911, TNA KV 1/10.

38
 Kell diary, 3 March 1911, TNA KV 1/10.

39
 Recent research shows that Melville was born in 1850 (Cook,
M: MI5's First Spymaster
,
p. 14
). Kell's Bureau, however, did not know his birth-date. An interwar career summary in Security Service Archives gives the date as ‘about 1847'.

40
 ‘IIIrd Report of the work done by the Counter-espionage Section of the Secret Service Bureau from October 1910 to May 1911', TNA KV 1/9.

41
 Security Service staff registers (one of which is reproduced in Cook,
M: MI5's First Spymaster
,
p. 259
).

42
 On 16 December 1910, Kell noted in his diary: ‘Lt J. Ohlson of P & O offered job as marine assistant at £350 per annum with £10 per annum rise to £400. Will try for a year leave of absence in the first instance.' TNA KV 1/10.

43
 ‘IIIrd Report of the work done by the Counter-espionage Section of the Secret Service Bureau from October 1910 to May 1911', TNA KV 1/9.

44
 Kell, ‘Progress Report for the Quarter ending 30th June, 1911', TNA KV 1/9.

45
 ‘Steinhauer, Gustav', ‘Game Book', vol. 1: 1909–1915, TNA KV 4/112. ‘Information Obtained by Chance', G Branch History,
p. 33
, TNA KV 1/39. Holt-Wilson, ‘Security Intelligence in War', 1934, IWM Kell MSS. The earliest surviving reference to this episode appears in Kell's ‘Progress report for the quarter ending 30th September 1911' (filed with his diary for 1911 in TNA KV 1/10): ‘The Leith case investigations are in hand, due to information received from Leith, that have led to the discovery of the name and address of a genuine German agent abroad, and the name and addresses of several of his correspondents in this country. The matter is being very carefully investigated.' Kell's progress reports never mentioned the name of the recipient of the letter (in this case Holstein). None of the surviving accounts explains how Clarke (about whom little is known) found himself in the same railway carriage as Holstein. He had originally joined a Scottish regiment and may have been visiting family and friends. Or, which is perhaps more likely, Clarke had gone to investigate reports of suspicious Germans in Leith, the port for Edinburgh.

46
 See below,
pp. 37
–
8
.

47
 Boghardt,
Spies of the Kaiser
,
p. 71
.

48
 Ibid.,
p. 54
.

49
 
Security Service
,
p. 68
.

50
 Churchill to Sir Edward Grey, 22 Nov. 1911, CCAC Churchill MSS, CHAR 13/1/25.

51
 KV 1/48 ‘Rough Draft Summary of G-Branch',
p. 36
.

52
 
The Times
, 6 Aug. 1913, 14 Nov. 1914.

53
 ‘Steinhauer, Gustav', ‘Game Book', vol. 1: 1909–1915, TNA KV 4/112.
The Times
, 6 Aug. 1913, 14 Nov. 1914. Andrew,
Secret Service
,
pp. 116
–
18
.

54
 ‘Steinhauer, Gustav', ‘Game Book', vol. 1: 1909–1915, TNA KV 4/112.

55
 ‘G' Report, Part 1, ch. 3, TNA KV 1/39. Andrew,
Secret Service
,
pp. 105
–
6
. Boghardt,
Spies of the Kaiser
,
pp. 54
–
6
.

56
 
Parl. Deb. (Lords)
, 25 July 1911, col. 642.

57
 Williams,
Not in the Public Interest
,
pp. 24
–
8
.

58
 
Parl. Deb. (Commons)
, 18 Aug. 1911, cols. 2252ff.

59
 Kell, ‘Progress Report for the Quarter ending 30th September 1911', TNA KV 1/9.

60
 Kell, ‘Report on Counter-Espionage from December 1911 to 31 July 1912', TNA KV 1/9. ‘Espionage in Portsmouth',
The Times
, 10 Feb. 1912. Boghardt,
Spies of the Kaiser
,
pp. 56
–
9
. Andrew,
Secret Service
,
p. 64
.

61
 Graves,
The Secrets of the German War Office
,
p. 136
.

62
 Boghardt,
Spies of the Kaiser
,
pp. 60
–
61
.

63
 Kell had become a second lieutenant in the South Staffordshire Regiment in 1894; Drake, three years younger than Kell, became a second lieutenant in the North Staffordshire Regiment in 1896.

64
 Security Service Archives.

65
 Lady Kell, ‘Secret Well Kept', IWM.

66
 Security Service Archives.

67
 Security Service Archives. Information on Clarke's career from Gloucestershire County Archives, GBR/L6/23/B715.

68
 Cook,
M: MI5's First Spymaster
,
p. 220
.

69
 Lady Kell, ‘Secret Well Kept',
p. 222
, IWM. Andrew,
Secret Service
,
p. 102
. On Holt- Wilson's resignation, see below,
p. 227
.

70
 Holt-Wilson diary,
p. 9
, CUL Holt-Wilson papers. I owe this reference to Dr Victor Madeira.

71
 Letter to Kell from Holt-Wilson, Security Service Archives.

72
 ‘G' Report, Part 1, ch. 4, TNA KV 1/40.

73
 Though Fitzgerald, about whom very little is known, officially joined Kell's Bureau as a detective on 1 November 1912, according to the Staff Register, it is possible that, as in the case of some other early recruits, he had worked informally for the Bureau before that date.

74
 ‘G' Report, Part 1, ch. 4, TNA KV 1/40.

75
 ‘Graves, Armgaard Karl', ‘Game Book', vol. 1: 1909–1915, TNA KV 4/112.

76
 Boghardt,
Spies of the Kaiser
,
pp. 61
–
3
.

77
 ‘Rough Draft of G-Branch History',
p. 7
, TNA KV 1/48. Andrew,
Secret Service
,
p. 68
. Boghardt,
Spies of the Kaiser
,
pp. 63
–
7
.

78
 ‘Hentschel, Karl Paul Gustav', ‘Game Book', vol. 1: 1909–1915, TNA KV 4/112.

79
 ‘Parrott, George Charles', ‘Game Book', vol. 1: 1909–1915, TNA KV 4/112.

80
 ‘Hentschel, Karl Paul Gustav', ‘Game Book', vol. 1: 1909–1915, TNA KV 4/112.

81
 See above,
p. 35
.

82
 Boghardt,
Spies of the Kaiser
,
pp. 64
–
5
.

83
 ‘Parrott, George Charles', ‘Game Book', vol. 1: 1909–1915, TNA KV 4/112.

84
 On Otto Kruger, see below,
p. 874
.

85
 ‘Ireland, Frederick James R.N.', ‘Game Book', vol. 1: 1909–1915, TNA KV 4/112.

86
 ‘Hattrick, John James @ Devlin, Walter John', ‘Game Book', vol. 1: 1909–1915, TNA KV 4/112.

87
 ‘Parrott, George Charles', ‘Game Book', vol. 1: 1909–1915, TNA KV 4/112.

88
 
The Times
, 17 Jan. 1913.

89
 Boghardt,
Spies of the Kaiser
,
p. 66
.

90
 
The Times
, 10, 19 Nov. 1913. Andrew,
Secret Service
,
p. 113
.

91
 
The Times
, 7, 14, 21 March 1913. ‘Klare, William', ‘Game Book', vol. 1: 1909–1915, TNA KV 4/112.

92
 Boghardt,
Spies of the Kaiser
,
p. 67
.

93
 Andrew,
Secret Service
,
p. 115
.

94
 Boghardt,
Spies of the Kaiser
,
p. 68
.

95
 ‘Gould, Frederick Adolphus (real name: Schroeder)', ‘Game Book', vol. 1: 1909–1915, TNA KV 4/112.

96
 Andrew,
Secret Service
,
p. 115
.

97
 Kell to Troup (Home Office), 11 Dec. 1913, TNA HO 48/10629/199699.

98
 
Security Service
,
p. 69
.

99
 The list consisted of Austro-Hungarians, Belgians, Danes, Germans, Dutch, Norwegians, Swedes and Swiss. It also included naturalized British formerly citizens of these countries. Although allied to the Central Powers, Italians were excluded, as were the small number of resident Turks. ‘General Staff Policy in connection with Enemy Alien Civilians during war'. This document formed part of a wartime ‘Summary of the work and duties of Branch F of MO5', Security Service Archives. According to Constance Kell, ‘naturalised Englishmen, originally Germans, were especially under suspicion'. Lady Kell ‘Secret Well Kept',
p. 125
, IWM.

100
 The British licensee of the US Roneo Company was established in 1909, making Kell one of its earliest customers. One of the founding directors and investors of Roneo was Edmund
Trevor Lloyd Williams, the founding chairman of another equally modern high-tech business, the Gramophone Company Ltd. For additional details see ‘General Staff Policy in connection with Enemy Alien Civilians during war' in ‘Summary of the work and duties of Branch F of MO5', n.d., Holt-Wilson papers, Security Service Archives, and was evidently added to in the course of the war. The first round of aliens registration was evidently complete by the first anniversary of the Bureau, for on 3 November 1910 Kell noted: ‘The Home Secretary approved the Aliens Return. I ordered 1500 copies to be printed by Mr C. Harrison.' Kell diary, TNA KV 1/10.

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