Home Intelligence was a division of the Ministry of Information (MOI) which was a government

social research Social research is research conducted by social scientists following a systematic plan. Social research methodologies can be classified as quantitative and qualitative. * Quantitative designs approach social phenomena through quantifiable ...

organisation responsible for monitoring civilian morale in Britain during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Initial planning

The Ministry of Information understood that its success would rest on its ability to measure morale and had included plans for a ‘collecting division’ since July 1936. However these functions remained under-developed by pre-war planning and there were few means of gauging public opinion when the Second World War began. Trial surveys with Mass Observation and the British Institute of Public Opinion were abandoned in September 1939 due to a fear of political criticism. The ‘collecting division’ was closed in October 1939 in effort to cut the number of people employed by the MOI. The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

producer Mary Adams was appointed director of a re-formed Home Intelligence division in November 1939. Her division started work in February 1940.

Methods

Home Intelligence aimed to provide the government with ‘A continuous flow of reliable information’ that would act as a ‘barometer of public opinion’. It used both qualitative and

quantitative Quantitative may refer to: * Quantitative research, scientific investigation of quantitative properties * Quantitative analysis (disambiguation) * Quantitative verse, a metrical system in poetry * Statistics, also known as quantitative analysis ...

research methods. The division compiled daily reports on morale from 18 May to 27 September, and weekly summaries from 27 September until 29 December 1944. Each report was based on material submitted by Regional Intelligence Officers, Mass Observation reports, BBC listener surveys, questionnaires and secret sources such as postal censorship. Home Intelligence also undertook more detailed reports on particular subjects and used the semi-autonomous Wartime Social Survey unit to undertake sample surveys. This part of the division’s work was expanded under the guidance of Dr

Stephen Taylor, Baron Taylor Stephen James Lake Taylor, Baron Taylor (30 December 1910 – 1 February 1988), also known as S. J. L. Taylor, was a British physician, civil servant, politician and educator. Biography Born in High Wycombe, Stephen was the son of John Taylor ...

(who replaced Mary Adams as director in April 1941).

Findings

The daily, and later weekly, reports produced by the Home Intelligence Division were circulated within the Ministry of Information and other government departments. The circulation list from summer 1940 stood at around 100 copies. The director of Home Intelligence maintained that their work "provided a rapid and effective link between the people of the country and the machine of Government". Their work helped to promote an understanding of morale as something which was expressed by a mixture of attitudes and behaviour. The special reports conducted by Home Intelligence after 1941 were used by the Ministry of Information to plan and assess publicity campaigns. Over 60 reports were undertaken on campaigns including " Careless Talk Costs Lives" and Paper Salvage. Home Intelligence reports are now used as a

primary source In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an Artifact (archaeology), artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was cre ...

by historians researching the "

Home Front Home front is an English language term with analogues in other languages. It is commonly used to describe the civilian populace of the nation at war as an active support system for their military. Civilians are traditionally uninvolved in com ...

Criticisms

Home Intelligence was the subject of recurrent political controversies. The best known example occurred in July 1940 when information about the previously secret Wartime Social Survey was obtained by the editor of the '' Daily Herald''. The paper began a fierce campaign against the use of "gestapo techniques", and coined the epithet "Cooper's Snoopers" (after

Duff Cooper Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, (22 February 1890 – 1 January 1954), known as Duff Cooper, was a British Conservative Party politician and diplomat who was also a military and political historian and writer. First elected to Parl ...

, the Minister of Information).

Post-war

Home Intelligence was gradually wound down after 27 December 1944 and was officially abolished on 31 August 1945. However the Wartime Social Survey was maintained and its functions are now part of the

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External links

*http://www.moidigital.ac.uk/

References

{{Reflist United Kingdom home front during World War II British Defence Forces