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BRITANNIA CHALLENGED: THE CREATION OF MI5 AND MI6

59

GERMAN SPIES

IN BRITAIN

The idea that Britain was

swarming with German spies

was a figment of popular

imagination. German military

intelligence had little interest in

Britain and there were no plans

for an invasion. While the

German army was focused on

war with France and Russia,

German naval intelligence

did, however, demonstrate

a lively curiosity in technical

information about the Royal

Navy and news of any fleet

movements. Intelligence officer

Gustav Steinhauer organized a

small but significant espionage

operation around Britain’s naval

ports and dockyards. Most of

his spies were drawn from

Germans already resident

in Britain, although their

intelligence was of limited

value. This changed with the

recruitment of George Parrott,

a Royal Navy gunnery officer.

Parrott provided solid

information of real value, but

he was arrested by MI5 in its

1912 spy swoop. Thereafter,

the supply of intelligence

steadily declined.

Shultz’s correspondence was intercepted. He had been sending reports about

the Royal Navy to a German intelligence officer in Berlin, Gustav Steiner, via a

forwarding agent in London. The agent was found to be Gustav Neumann, a

German waiter. From then on, Neumann’s mail was read by MI5, and many

spies were identified. Twelve were arrested in 1912, and many others

monitored for eventual arrest on the declaration of war in August 1914.

SPYING IN EUROPE

The secret intelligence service, or MI6, got off to

slower start than MI5. Its first chief was Mansfield

Cumming, a retired Royal Navy officer. Cumming

was something of an eccentric. He wrote only

in green ink, loved wearing disguises, and,

after losing a leg in a motor accident,

dashed around the corridors of Whitehall

with his wooden leg balanced on a child’s

scooter. Establishing a network of spies in

continental Europe was a time-consuming

and difficult business, and on more than

one occasion MI6 spies were duped by

mercenary agents exploiting their lack

of field experience.

Despite the setbacks, by 1914, the

beginnings of a spy network had been

established in Rotterdam and Brussels, with

British businessmen abroad also providing

information gleaned from their German

clients. Thus, on the eve of the great conflict, MI6

joined MI5 in being ready to exploit the intelligence

opportunities that a total war would provide.

Above:

Mansfield

Cumming