The Radio Security Service
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MI8, or ''Military Intelligence, Section 8'' was a British Military Intelligence group responsible for
signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...
and was created in 1914. It originally consisted of four sections: MI8(a), which dealt with wireless policy; MI8(b), based at the General Post Office, dealt with commercial and trade cables; MI8(c) dealt with the distribution of intelligence derived from censorship; and MI8(d), which liaised with the cable companies. During World War I MI8 officers were posted to the cable terminals at Poldhu Point and
Mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...
in Cornwall and
Clifden Clifden () is a coastal town in County Galway, Ireland, in the region of Connemara, located on the Owenglin River where it flows into Clifden Bay. As the largest town in the region, it is often referred to as "the Capital of Connemara". Frequen ...
in County Galway, continued until 1917 when the work was taken over by the Admiralty. In WW2, MI8 was responsible for the extensive War Office Y Group and briefly, for the Radio Security Service.


History

MI8 was the signals intelligence department of the War Office that ran a worldwide
Y-stations The "Y" service was a network of British signals intelligence collection sites, the Y-stations. The service was established during the First World War and used again during the Second World War. The sites were operated by a range of agencies inc ...
network. Additionally, for an 18-month period, from late 1939 to mid 1941, it also ran the Radio Security Service, under the designation of MI8c, but this was quickly handed over to MI6. The remainder of this page relates only to this small organisation, with, regrettably, no information concerning the major role of MI8.


MI8c

The Radio Security Service evolved from the Illicit Wireless Intercept Organisation (IWIO), which was given the designation MI1g and run by Lt Col. J S Yule. From an office in Broadway, IWIO collaborated with Military Intelligence, Section 5 (MI5) and with the
General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Established in England in the 17th century, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific ...
(GPO) to set up and control a small network of Direction Finding (DF) and intercept stations, to locate illicit transmissions inside Britain. Col Yule also made detailed plans for similar networks in British overseas territories, before IWIO evolved into RSS in September 1939. But Lt Col Adrian Simpson developed a proposal which stated that a small number of stations, located around Britain, would not work. At the start of
World War II 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 ...
,
Vernon Kell Major General Sir Vernon George Waldegrave Kell, (21 November 1873 – 27 March 1942) was a British Army general and the founder and first Director of the British Security Service, otherwise known as MI5. Known as K, he was described in ' ...
, the head of
MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...
, introduced a contingency plan to deal with the problem of illicit radio transmissions. A new body was created, the Radio Security Service (RSS), headed by Major J.P.G. Worlledge. Until 1927, Worlledge had commanded a Wireless Company in
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
. His brief was to "intercept, locate and close down illicit wireless stations operated either by enemy agents in Great Britain or by other persons not being licensed to do so under Defence Regulations, 1939". As a security precaution, RSS was given the cover designation of MI8(c). Working from cells at
HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs (nicknamed "The Scrubs") is a Prison security categories in the United Kingdom, Category B men's local prison, located in the White City, London, White City area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West ...
, Worlledge selected Majors Sclater and Cole-Adams as his assistants, and E.W.B. Gill as his chief traffic analyst. Gill had been engaged in wireless interception in World War I and decided that the best course of action would be to find the transmissions of the agent control stations in Germany. He recruited a research fellow from Oxford,
Hugh Trevor-Roper Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, (15 January 1914 – 26 January 2003) was an English historian. He was Regius Professor of Modern History (Oxford), Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford. Trevor-Rope ...
, who was fluent in German. Working alongside them, at Wormwood Scrubs, was John Masterman, who ran MI5's double agent XX program. Masterman already had Agent SNOW, and Gill used his codes as the basis for decrypting incoming agent traffic. RSS assigned the task of developing a comprehensive listening organization to Ralph Mansfield, 4th Baron Sandhurst. Sandhurst was an enthusiastic amateur radio operator. He had served with the
Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
Signal Service during
World War I 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 ...
and had been commissioned as a major in the
Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...
in 1939. Sandhurst was given an office in the Security Service's temporary accommodation in
Wormwood Scrubs Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs (or simply Scrubs), is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough ...
's prison. He began by approaching the President of the
Radio Society of Great Britain The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) is the United Kingdom's recognised national society for amateur radio operators. The society was founded in 1913 as the London Wireless Club, making it one of the oldest organisations of its kind in the ...
(RSGB), Arthur Watts. Watts had served as an analyst in
Room 40 Room 40, also known as 40 O.B. (old building; officially part of NID25), was the cryptanalysis section of the British Admiralty during the First World War. The group, which was formed in October 1914, began when Rear-Admiral Henry Oliver, the ...
during
World War I 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 ...
, following the loss of a leg at
Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...
. Watts recommended that Sandhurst recruit the entire RSGB Council. He did. The RSGB Council then began to recruit the society's members as Voluntary Interceptors (VIs). Radio amateurs were considered ideal for such work because they were widely distributed across the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. The VIs were mostly working men of non-military age, working in their own time and using their own equipment (their transmitters had been impounded on the outbreak of war, but their receivers had not). They were ordered to ignore commercial and military traffic, to concentrate on more elusive transmissions. Each VI was given a minimum number of intercepts to make each month. Reaching that number gave them exemption from other duties, such as fire watching. Also, many VIs were issued a special DR12 identity card. This allowed them to enter premises which they suspected to be the transmission source of unauthorized signals. RSS also established a series of
Radio Direction Finding Direction finding (DF), radio direction finding (RDF), or radiogoniometry is the use of radio waves to determine the direction to a radio source. The source may be a cooperating radio transmitter or may be an inadvertent source, a natural ...
stations, in the far corners of the British Isles, to identify the locations of the intercepted transmissions. The recruitment of Voluntary Interceptors (VIs) was slow, since they had to be skilled, discreet, and dedicated. But, within three months, 50 VIs were at work and had identified over 600 transmitters - all firmly on the other side of the English Channel. It became apparent that there were no enemy agents transmitting from the UK. All German agents entering the UK were promptly captured and either interned or "turned" to operate as double agents under the supervision of the "
XX Committee The Double-Cross System or XX System was a World War II counter-espionage and deception operation of the British Security Service (MI5). Nazism, Nazi agents in Britain – real and false – were captured, turned themselves in or simply announced ...
". In some cases, a British operator took over their transmissions, impersonating them. The German military did not realize this. By May 1940, it was clear that RSS's initial mission - to locate enemy agents in the UK - was complete.


Arkley View

Initially, messages logged by VIs were sent to Wormwood Scrubs. However, as the volume became great and as Wormwood began to suffer from German air attacks, RSS was in need of larger premises and chose Arkley View, a large country house near the village of
Arkley Arkley is a village in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Barnet. It is located north-northwest of Charing Cross. It consists of a long village strung out between Barnet and Stirling Corner, and composed of the ancient ...
, in
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
, which had already been requisitioned as an intercept station. It was given the cryptic postal address of Box 25, Barnet. There, a staff of analysts and cryptographers began their duties.


MI6 takeover

RSS had in effect become the civilian counterpart of the military's "Y Service" intercept network. By mid-1941, up to 10,000 logs (message sheets) a day were being sent to Arkley, then forwarded to the code-breaking centre at
Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...
. In May 1941, RSS's success and the fact that some of its personnel had managed to decode some
Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...
cyphers ahead of Bletchley, caused control of the organization to be transferred. There was brief conflict over who would control it. In the end, it became the communication and interception service of
Military Intelligence, Section 6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence ...
(
MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
). Previously, MI6 had possessed no such capability. The new controller of RSS was Lieutenant-Colonel E.F. Maltby. From 1942, Lt. Col. Kenneth Morton Evans was appointed Deputy Controller. Roland Keen, author of ''Wireless Direction Finding'', was the officer in charge of engineering. The service was well-financed. It was equipped with a new central radio station at
Hanslope Park Hanslope Park is located about half a mile south-east of the village of Hanslope in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Once the manorial estate of the village, it is now owned by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Of ...
in Buckinghamshire (designated Special Communications Unit No.3 or SCU3). The Abwehr was now monitored around the clock. The volume and regularity of the obtained material, enabled Bletchley to achieve one of its great triumphs in December 1941, when it decoded the Abwehr's
Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York–based data-technology startup *Enigma machine, a famil ...
cypher, giving enormous insight into German intelligence operations. At its peak in 1943-1944, RSS employed - apart from VIs - more than 1,500 personnel, most of whom had been amateur radio operators. Over half of these worked as interceptors while a further number investigated the numerous enemy radio networks. This revealed important information, even when it was not possible to decode messages.Abrutat 2019, pp. 51-52 Few transmissions by secret agents of German Intelligence evaded RSS' notice. Changes in procedure, which the Germans used for security, were in many cases identified before the enemy had become familiar with them. Following the end of the war, RSS HQ moved to Eastcote and was absorbed by the
Government Communications Headquarters Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the United Kingdom. Primari ...
(GCHQ).


References


The Secret Listeners
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Further reading

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External links


Wartime Radio The Secret Listeners BBC (1979)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mi8 Cryptography organizations Signals intelligence agencies Defunct United Kingdom intelligence agencies 1939 establishments in the United Kingdom Military communications of the United Kingdom War Office in World War II British intelligence services of World War II Foreign Office during World War II