Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Sir John Arnold Wallinger (25 October 1869 – 7 January 1931) was a British Indian

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a member of the intelligence field employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a r ...

who led the Indian Political Intelligence Office from 1909 to 1916. As a colonial policeman and

counter-intelligence Counterintelligence (counter-intelligence) or counterespionage (counter-espionage) is any activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting ac ...

officer he became a specialist in countering those opposed to British rule in India, operating both in India and in England. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was engaged in combating the

Hindu–German Conspiracy The Hindu–German Conspiracy (Note on the name) were a series of attempts between 1914 and 1917 by Indian nationalist groups to create a pan-Indian rebellion against the British Empire during World War I. This rebellion was formulated betw ...

. During this period he employed the novelist

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

as an intelligence agent in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. Wallinger is perhaps best known as the principal inspiration for the character of "R.", the fictional British

spymaster A spymaster is a leader of a group of spies or an intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforce ...

who employs Ashenden in Maugham's stories.

Early life

Wallinger was born on 25 October 1869 at

Poona Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. His father was William H. Arnold Wallinger, a British official in the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

with the Imperial Forestry Service. In 1896, he joined the

Indian Imperial Police The Indian Imperial Police, referred to variously as the Indian Police or, by 1905, the Imperial Police, was part of the Indian Police Services, the uniform system of police administration in British India, as established by Government of India Ac ...

Ahmadabad Ahmedabad is the largest city of the Indian state of Gujarat. Ahmedabad or Ahmadabad may also refer to: Pakistan * Ahmedabad, Punjab, a city in Punjab * Ahmedabad, Gilgit Baltistan, a village in Gilgit-Baltistan * Fort Ahmadabad, or Kot Di ...

as an

inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...

Intelligence career

In 1902, during a period of concern over the activities of

Indian nationalist Indian nationalism is an instance of civic nationalism. It is inclusive of all of the people of India, despite their diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian nationalism can trace roots to pre-colonial India, but was f ...

political activists, Wallinger was seconded to the Metropolitan Police at

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

. This was the first of his activities in countering Indian

anti-colonial Decolonization is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholars of decolon ...

activists in Europe, before returning to India in 1904. He gained a reputation in intelligence circles as "a brave officer with a talent for acquiring local native dialects and a flair for undercover criminal intelligence operations when he would ‘ black up’". In 1910 he returned to England with the rank of superintendent to lead the newly-established Indian Political Intelligence Office. This was a substantial organisation and role, reflecting the concerns the British government had regarding anti-colonial political activists, described by historian Richard Popplewell as "not much smaller than the European intelligence operations of the Secret Service Bureau, let alone those of the War Office". He was awarded the King's Police Medal in the 1914

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

. During the

he was given the temporary rank of Major in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, his commission listed as "Special List (General Staff Officer)". Wallinger was attached to general headquarters in France, where he operated in a

capacity against the

Berlin Committee The Berlin Committee, later known as the Indian Independence Committee () after 1915, was an organisation formed in Germany in 1914 during World War I by Indian students and political activists residing in the country. The purpose of the committe ...

and the

. Here he also worked alongside his younger brother Ernest, a major in the Intelligence Corps who had lost his foot at the

Battle of Le Cateau The Battle of Le Cateau was fought on the Western Front during the First World War on 26 August 1914. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army had retreated after their defeats at the Battle of Charleroi (21–23 A ...

serving in the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

. In August 1916, Wallinger returned to intelligence work in India. After the war in 1919 he was posted to Egypt, and the following year he was appointed deputy inspector-general of the

. He was highly decorated for his intelligence work: on 14 January 1916 he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

, and in the 1918 New Year Honours he was made a

Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander ( GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) Appoint ...

. After the war, on 3 June 1925, he was awarded a

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

. In 1926 he was offered the role of

deputy commissioner A deputy commissioner is a police, income tax or administrative official in many countries. The rank is commonplace in police forces of Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, usually ranking below the Commissioner. Australia In all Aust ...

of the Metropolitan Police, but instead chose to retire to

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

on the south coast of England, where he died on 7 January 1931.

Literary and cultural influence

Among Wallinger's more famous agents was

Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

, whom he recruited in London and sent as a secret agent to Switzerland. Wallinger was the literary prototype of the

of a number of Maugham's short stories, and was notably portrayed as the spymaster "R." in the '' Ashenden'' stories Maugham wrote following the war. Inspired by Maugham's stories, the character of "R." based on Wallinger was played by Charles Carson in the 1936

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

espionage thriller ''

Secret Agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...

''.

Notes

References

*
International Institute for Asian Studies: Indian Political Intelligence Files Released for Research
*. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallinger, John 1869 births 1931 deaths British police officers in India Indian Police Service officers in British India Hindu–German Conspiracy English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Revolutionary movement for Indian independence World War I espionage British people in colonial India