Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

Sir Claude Edward Marjoribanks Dansey,

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

(10 September 1876 – 11 June 1947), also known as Colonel Z, Haywood, Uncle Claude, and codenamed Z, was the assistant chief of the Secret Intelligence Service known as ACSS, of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of informa ...

commonly known as MI6, and a member of the London Controlling Section. He began his career in intelligence in 1900, and remained active until his death.

Early life

Dansey was born in 1876 at 14 Cromwell Place, Kensington, the second of nine children and eldest son of Captain (later Lieutenant-Colonel) Edward Mashiter Dansey, an officer in the

1st Life Guards The 1st Regiment of Life Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 1st Troop of Horse Guards and 1st Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1922, it was amalgamated ...

, and his wife, the Hon. Eleanor Dansey, daughter of

Robert Gifford, 2nd Baron Gifford Robert Francis Gifford, 2nd Baron Gifford (19 March 1817 – 13 May 1872) was a British peer. He was the son of Robert Gifford, 1st Baron Gifford. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and served as an officer in the British Army. He ...

. M. R. D. Foot
"Dansey, Sir Claude Edward Marjoribanks"
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The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' (online ed., Oxford University Press, 2008). Retrieved 24 July 2021. He attended Wellington College until 1891, and then a private school in Bruges. At the age of 17 he became sexually involved with

Robert Baldwin Ross Robert Baldwin Ross (25 May 18695 October 1918) was a Canadian-British journalist, art critic and art dealer, best known for his relationship with Oscar Wilde, to whom he was a devoted friend and literary executor. A grandson of the Canadia ...

, and Lord Alfred Douglas, narrowly avoiding exposure and imprisonment.

Later life

In 1895 he joined the Matabeleland Regiment of the

British South African Police The British South Africa Police (BSAP) was, for most of its existence, the police force of Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe in 1980). It was formed as a paramilitary force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, f ...

. On 13 June 1898 he joined the

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

as second lieutenant in the 5th and 6th battalion

Lancashire Fusiliers The Lancashire Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that saw distinguished service through many years and wars, including the Second Boer War, the First and Second World Wars, and had many different titles throughout its 28 ...

, being promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 9 November. On 16 August 1899 he was seconded for service with the

British North Borneo Company The North Borneo Chartered Company (NBCC), also known as the British North Borneo Company (BNBC) was a British chartered company formed on 1 November 1881 to administer and exploit the resources of North Borneo (present-day Sabah in Malaysia). ...

. He transferred to the regular army when he was appointed a second lieutenant of the 2nd battalion on 24 February 1900, followed by promotion to lieutenant on 15 August 1900. On 1 March 1902 he was again seconded, as a Staff Lieutenant for Intelligence in South Africa, then on 24 June he was appointed aide-de-camp to the Brigadier-General commanding the

Harrismith Harrismith is a large town in the Free State province of South Africa. It was named for Sir Harry Smith, a 19th-century British governor and high commissioner of the Cape Colony. It is situated by the Wilge River, alongside the N3 highway, ab ...

District, Charles James Blomfield. He was transferred from a supernumerary lieutenancy onto the establishment of his regiment on 17 September 1902. On 4 November 1904 he was seconded for "special extra-regimental employment" as a Political Advisor in the

British Somaliland Protectorate British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate ( so, Dhulka Maxmiyada Soomaalida ee Biritishka), was a British protectorate in present-day Somaliland. During its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Somalia, French Som ...

and on 24 October 1906 he resigned his commission. On 10 April 1907 he was promoted to captain on the Reserve of Officers. He was recruited by

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...

and put in charge of "port intelligence" and the surveillance of civilian passengers during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was "inadvertently" responsible for allowing

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

to return to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

in 1917. He helped set up the first American military intelligence service in 1917. He became deputy to

Stewart Menzies Major General Sir Stewart Graham Menzies, (; 30 January 1890 – 29 May 1968) was Chief of MI6, the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), from 1939 to 1952, during and after the Second World War. Early life, family Stewart Graham Menzies wa ...

, chief of MI6 (SIS) in November 1939 and retired in 1945.

Personal life

Dansey married Mrs Pauline Monroe Ulman (maiden surname Cory) in 1915 and they were later divorced. He married Mrs Frances Gurney Rylander (Maiden surname Wilson) in 1945. There were no children. Dansey died on 11 June 1947 in Bath, Somerset.

Early life

Later life

Personal life

References

Further reading