THE BRITISH SECRET SERVICE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 162, 3 April 1919, Page 5

THE BRITISH SECRET SERVICE

GREAT WAR RECORD

COUNTERING ENEMY SPIES

A story of absorbing interest is told by Brigadier-General George K. Cockerill, CM. (now ill', for Keigate, Surrey), in the following farewell message to (lie staff of the late directorate of Special Intelligence, of which ho has been head during the war:— The Directorate of Special Intelligence, to sive it the title by which it is best known to you, grow from small lieginnings. When the war broke out it consisted of three General. Staff officers (all of whom at once joined the Staff of tho British Expeditionary Force) and a special bureau of four officers, winch, in the five years preceding the war, had been instrumental in tracing and exposing many of tho activities of (he German Secret Service in Great Britain and in bringing a number of its agents to trial. As soon as war was seen to be inevitable, a scheme for the, censorship of British cables was put into operation. This scheme was prepared with such remarkable prevision that it has never been found necessary to modify its principles in any important 'particular. These two services—viz., the counterespionage service and the cable censorship, were nlaced under tho direction of the same officer—mv predecessor—because they were designed to safeguard our naval and military secrets and to discover those of the enemy; and every new organisation intended to assist in-defeat-ing tho enemy's spy system naturally came under his control. When I succeeded him in September, 1914. he was , engaged in creating the postal censorship, and later the permit and port control services .were inaugurated. So rapidly did the work ejetend, and the neces' s'ary staff expand, (hat in March, 191j, tliu' branch was reorganised as tho Directorate of Special Intelligence, whose function it has since bpen to expose and frustrate the clandestine activities of enemy agents, under whatever form they might be encountered. Being thus charged with duties of supreme national importance, the Directorate has gradually attained a siza never contemplated in peace, and actually numbers to-day over 61)00' persons. It is, in point of mere size, the sixth largest Department of the Government. But so silently and unobtrusively, has it worked that its very existence is almost unknown to the general public., ..

Enemy Spies Promptly Caught. Tho detection and conviction of enemy spies has been your primary business. It is satisfactory to note that in most cases .the arrest of the spy has followed quickly upon his onto , into the crfuntry. You have been, in., point of tact, the chief agency in preventing tne leakage of naval and military information. To mention but a few instances, of your success, the withdrawal from Gallipoii, the construction of "Tanlts," the preparations for the offensive at Cambrai, and also for the recent counter-offensives which destroyed the German armies, were all known to numbers of ptiuple in England, but were concealed from the enemy. There is, 1 am informed on the best authority, no evidence that enemy submarines "have ever received information of the departure of shipping lrom British ports. Thanks' largely to your efforts, no act of destruction or incendiarism has been committed by enemy agents in this country. This is the more remarkable when the number of enemy aliens at large is considered. You hare obtained information of incalculable value to the Naval Intelligence, the Military Intelligence, and the War Trade Intelligence Departments. In the opinion of the Minister of Blockade, your work has contributed hi a very large degree to the satisfactory working of the blockade, and, so far as the suppression of enemy trade is concerned, the information provided by you "has been tho most valuable acquired from any source, during the war, as a means of detect inj; enemy merchandise carried ae neutral goods in neutral ships.

If will interest yon to know that, in practically every case of contraband which has been, or is about to be, brought before the Prizo Court, the evidence on which the Crown relies has been furnished by you. Tho significance of this statement will bo better appreciated when it is added that.the estimated value of prize cargoes, exclusive of shins, is over .£30,000,000 sterling. You haYe, moreover, stopped enemy remittances to the value of about sterling, and you have completely destroyed the enemy's oversea Communications, so far as they were vulnerable. £200,000,000 Saved to the Nation. Through your essential assistance in ■preventing spec-ulaitive transactions in iw materials, controlling prices, and estimating available supplies of vital war commodities, you have saved the country vast sums, amounting, in the case of a single transaction, to .£1,500,000, and at a moderate estimate a-Di)roximatin<? in the aggregate to '..E'OO.OOO'fIOO. Even more profitable than tho monetary value of your services in this connection has been the elimination of speculative contractors from Allied business and tihe consequent security, that war material ordered would be forthcoming on tho duo date. It may fairly bo claimed on your 'behalf that you have proved tho chief and in jnany cases tho only executive instrument, not only for the discovery of enemy interests and for the counteraction generally of enemy activities, but also for the enforcement of regulations that were vital to tho defence of the reailm.

Kven this statement does not exhaust (.he .catalogue of your services. (Imp branch of the Directorate of Special Intelligence has prepared and published tho "Daily Review of the i'oroien Press," with its many supplements, political, economic, and technical; another has been responsible fr.r the steely of enemy methods of propaganda. One pmall section, not content with closing certain dummi!* of i enemy propaganda, has kept others open for the express purpose of disrributBrithh propaganda in enemy covers on which the nostnge has been paid by tho winy. Military material suitable for our own prnnnsandii has been collected, prepared, and distributed by balloons on the British fronts. Tribute lo the startling effectiveness of your work in this conueotion has b?c:n paid by the Chief of ,the German General Stall" himself, who, in a recent order, made specific reference- to certain leaflets, all of which viero prepared in, and distributed under wangcmcnls made by, tlio Directorate of Special Intelligence. I am conscious that there are many other activities of Iho Directorate- that I liavi nut touched iipnu. .Important decisions have been given in the realm of military imernalional law; much trouble has been taken in thu .selection of Intelligence personnel for the field, and invustigiuions, demanding technical qualifications of a high order, have bewi conducted. As typical examples 1 nwy mentiuu tho highly skilled work of the stall' of the chemical laburatory in conned ion with secret inks; of the photographic and code experts, and of the proia-wors of uncommon languages. .Much of the work has been so secret that no reference to it is even yet permissible.

An "Incomparable" Service. 1 cannot close without referring .to the work of those connected with the Directorate overseua. Tht kindred organisations in the dominions and colonics have been essential links in a service which i≤ Imperial in character and wuiid-wido in extent. Without their loyal and disinterested co-operation, it would liavu been impossible lu secure Ihe results attained. Thy Special Intelligence 31 issions "I tlio capitals of Allied cuimlries huvij a.lso rendered invaluable service. Tlie Mission An;'l«isc in I'aris forms part of the Bureau Central Inlerallio, which, created late in 19H to exchange information and ideas in regard io Special liiti-lliKcncu, was the iirst attempt in Hie war to secure unity of policy between the Allies. Tho Paris Mission ami the similar Missions in Homo and 'Washington have maintained relatious of perfect harmony with the corresponding Allied services, whose chiefs have evor extended to th? British service tho most generous confidence.