Minutes of the Twenty-seventh Meeting of the Committee (Deputy Directors (O and S ) ) , Held in Conference Room "G", at the Ministry of Defence, S.W.1. on Thursday, 9th March, 1950 at 10.45 a.m.

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Minutes of the Twenty-seventh Meeting of the Committee (Deputy Directors (O and S ) ) , Held in Conference Room "G", at the Ministry of Defence, S.W.1. on Thursday, 9th March, 1950 at 10.45 a.m.

2. PAPER FOR THE COMMONWEALTH CONFIDENTIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE SCIENCE THE COMMITTEE considered a minute+ by the Secretary covering a letter from the Chairman of the Joint Scientific and Joint Technical Intelligence Committees, together with a paper which Dr. Blount had prepared for circulation to members of the Commonwealth Advisory Committee on Defence Science. MR. YOUNG said that the suggestion that the aid of Commonwealth Defence scientists should be enlisted in acquiring overt scientific intelligence was a part of the general scheme to obtain scientific intelligence by overt means. The Scientific Adviser to the Army Council had agreed that the forthcoming Conference of the Commonwealth Advisory Committee on Defence Science provided a useful opportunity for furthering this scheme and had offered to arrange for Dr. Blount to talk to the Conference on the subject. He had, however, suggested the desirability of preparing and circulating a paper beforehand, if possible classified not higher than 'confidential'. MAJOR STRICKLAND said that the War Office were of the opinion that it should be made clear to Commonwealth Defence scientists that there would be no question of reciprocity in regard to any information obtained by the means suggested in Dr. Blount's paper, otherwise we might find ourselves in difficulties in regard to giving the Commonwealth countries classified information which might prove to be of combined Anglo-U.S. origin. MR. YOUNG said that it was intended that the scheme should be 'one way' only but he considered that it was undesirable to mention this in Dr. Blout's paper as it would draw attention to the fact that there was certain information which we could not pass to the Commonwealth countries. MR. CAREY-FOSTER said that he would prefer the last paragraph of Dr. Blount's paper to be omitted. He thought it was a mistake to refer to "spying" in a paper of this nature, particularly as it was not graded higher than 'confidential'. In discussion, it was suggested that the paragraph had been included in order to reassure the scientists concerned that they were not being asked to betray the trust and confidence which existed between scientists of all countries. Furthermore, as it was intended that they should obtain what information they could from their contacts with scientists when they visited countries behind the Iron Curtain, it was desirable to make plain to them that they were not being asked to undertake espionage, the penalties for which were extremely heavy in those countries. It was agreed, however, that the last paragraph should be omitted from Dr. Blount's paper and that he should be asked to raise this point when he addressed the Conference on the subject of scientific intelligence, drawing their attention to the dangers of pressing enquiries too far in countries behind the Iron Curtain. + J.I.C./376/50. -2-
Collection ID
CAB159
Conflict
Cold War
Document Reference
CAB 159/7/29
File Reference
CAB 159/0007
Identifier
10.1080/swwf.cab159.0007.029
Keywords
Diplomatic Officials Attachés Consular Intelligence Sources Diplomatic Missions Entertainment Finances Defence Scientific Research Former Colonies Intelligence Reports Intelligence Requirements Scientific Experts Classified Documents Iron Curtain Espionage Intelligence Gathering Intelligence Channels Border Controls Security Secrecy Training Information Sharing Wireless Communications Communications Interception Broadcast Services
Pages
7
Published in
United Kingdom
Series
Ministry of Defence and Cabinet Office: Central Intelligence Machinery: Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee Later Committee: Minutes (JIC Series). Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee. Meetings 1 (0)-60 (0)
Themes
Foreign Policy and International Relations Intelligence Organisation and Administration British Domestic Security