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Report by Sir David Petrie on the Security Service (MI5)

11 Feb 1941

A file containing a report by Sir David Petrie on the state of the Security Service (MI5) at the beginning of 1941, as well as a series of letters and memoranda commenting upon it, including several by Winston Churchill. Petrie was Director General of MI5 from 1941 to 1946. The report describes the organisation of the service, including a description of the activities of each subsection and identifies a number of areas for improvement. These include the command structure of the service, the recruitment and training of employees, the processing of intelligence reports, and the organisation of the service registry and archives. The report recommends the reorganisation of MI5 into several sections grouped by function: policy, administration, and counter-espionage. The report's key argument is that "there has been no central direction worthy of the name".
india china security turkey iran japan egypt iraq poland portugal training ireland aliens recruitment spain switzerland siam scotland england palestine surveillance second world war personnel security service secret intelligence service subversion intelligence gathering edward bridges john anderson british intelligence organisation intelligence organization intelligence reports intelligence distribution communications interception vernon kell counter-espionage david petrie british intelligence archives mesopotamia
Collection ID
CAB301
Conflict
Second World War
Countries
China Egypt England India Iran Iraq Ireland Japan Mesopotamia Palestine Poland Portugal Scotland Siam Spain Switzerland Turkey
Document Reference
CAB 301/25/2
Document Types
Report Memorandum Correspondence
File Reference
CAB 301/25
Identifier
10.1080/swwf.cab301.0025.002
Keywords
British Intelligence Organisation Recruitment Personnel Training Intelligence Gathering Intelligence Reports British Intelligence Archives Security Intelligence Distribution Counter-espionage Subversion Aliens Communications Interception
Languages
English
Organizations
Secret Intelligence Service Security Service
Pages
54
Persons Discussed
John Anderson Edward Bridges Vernon Kell David Petrie
Published in
United Kingdom
Themes
Intelligence Organization Surveillance

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