Newsletter of theFriends of The Intelligence Corps Museum

Sub Rosa

DISTRIBUTION GUIDANCE While this newsletter does not include any classified information, it is intended for the personal use of FICM members,

their families and close friends only. Your co-operation in observing this guidance is much appreciated!

WELCOME TO SUB ROSA IN THE SPRING!

E Newsletter 10 - Spring 2015

Newly appointed FICM chairman Tony Hetherington looks to the future with confidence.

I write this as the new – very new! – chairman of the Friends, and I am already realising what a hard act John Quenby is to follow. So,let me begin by paying tribute to John, who has just retired from the chair but, happily, remains one of our trustees.

His work more than three years ago in reviving the Friends of the Intelligence Corps Museum has paid big dividends, both to themuseum itself and to our membership. We have a website which is updated regularly with news of activities and articles of interest.We have Sub Rosa, which is sent to every member; and we have events, of which more in a moment.

Meanwhile, the museum benefits from FICM’s fundraising efforts, which pay for specific projects such as the purchase of new displays.Currently, we are looking into ways of completely updating computer facilities so the scattered buildings of the museum and its archiveare linked, with modern equipment that can scan and catalogue documents and artefacts in a way that makes them easily identifiableand accessible to researchers. This will not be a cheap project, but it will certainly be hugely worthwhile.

We shall very shortly – on April 16 – be holding our third Lunch with Lectures at the Special Forces Club in London. This has becomea very popular annual event for FICM members. Dr Jim Beach will speak about theEveryday Life of the Intelligence Soldier: Vince Schürhoff, 1916-1918. And Nickvan der Bijl will give a talk on the Falklands Campaign and the work of the Corps inthe South Atlantic.

Then on September 10 we shall be holding an open day at the museum. There willbe a meeting of the trustees, and all members can attend, ask questions and putforward ideas. There will be a talk from an officer of the Legion of Frontiersmen,an organisation that predates the Corps; and of course, a buffet lunch!

Membership of FICM has now topped 160. It would be good to see the risecontinue. The museum has a secure place in the life of the Corps and in the livesof those who have served and moved on. Our own organisation is similarly nowsecure and we look to the future with a degree of confidence that could not havebeen taken for granted three years ago.

Best wishes to you all! Tony Hetherington, Chairman

www.intelligencemuseum.org

FICM Chairman Tony Hetherington Photo: JQ

The book covers the RAF’s SIGINT-gathering capabilities from the end of WWIIto the present day. The earlier years arecovered in detail but information becomesmore bland when more recent activities andsystems are involved, presumably becausethey are still concealed behind the securityveil.This is not a pick it up and read it in one nightbook. The wealth of detail means that itneeds to be tackled in bite-sized chunks. Thatbeing said, the writing is slightly academic intone and style which is to be expected whendealing with a technical subject that draws onofficial papers as sources.

The book starts with the resurrection of theRAF’s Radio Countermeasures (RCM) and Ycapabilities in the aftermath of WWII. Ittraces the development of the airborneplatforms and their equipment and the routesfollowed to collect the intelligence overEurope and the wider-ranging areas wherethere were British interests in what wereeuphemistically called “Radio ProvingFlights” (RPF). Information on the resultsachieved by all these missions is limited.Whether this is due to security constraints orother reasons is not made clear in the bookand I, personally, found this lack ofinformation a little disappointing because itdoes not answer the “so what?” question, anddetracts from what is a very good referencebook, especially to those outside the SIGINTworld.There are details of the political machinationsthat had to be gone through to authoriseflights in which the Foreign Office had amajor say. Between the 1950s and the 1970s avery cautious attitude prevailed, with almostevery flight needing individual authorisation.This is a surprising attitude because themajority of RPF were conducted outsideterritorial airspace.

By contrast, the photographic flights in theBerlin air corridors were given a six-monthlyauthorisation that was only reviewed beforethat period was up if the political situationdemanded it. It seems that Whitehall was, toquote Sir Humphrey Appleby, “a hotbed ofcold feet”. There are the occasional eyebrow-raisers.One of the justifications quoted for theprocurement of the Nimrod R1s was that “Inpeacetime the UK’s primary source ofComint on Soviet Forces in Europe was theRAF’s 26 Signals Unit stationed in Berlin”.Corps colleagues who served in ArmySIGINT units in Germany and Berlin mayfeel that this is a slightly misleading statementbut it could have been a ploy to ensure thatthe procurement proceeded successfully.Notwithstanding all of this, the book is wellresearched and provides a good start point tostart delving into the mysteries of theSIGINT world. It is good value for moneyand I would certainly recommend it as a buyfor any serious student of intelligencematters.

PJ, December 2014

Reviewing this book reminded me of acomment made by a US four-star generalwhen he introduced a presentation onlogistics in East Germany that followed aseries of presentations on the changes inorganisation and the new armour, artillery, airdefence, missile and engineer systems thatwere entering service in GSFG. He broughtus all back to reality with the comment:“Remember guys, without gas and bullets noone is going anywhere.” Kenneth Privratskyis a retired US Army major general whostarted out as an infantryman beforebecoming a logistics specialist. He thereforebrings an unbiased and unique perspective tothe question of logistics in the Falklands The truth is that many armed forces,including the British, rarely practise integrated

real logistics in peacetime, mainly because it istoo expensive in both financial and resourcesterms, so they get lulled into the false sense ofsecurity that the ammunition, rations, medicaland other stores will always arrive. War bringsa reality to this concept when they discoverthat material and supplies can be interdictedas well as the front line. Many books have been written on theFalklands War and the tales of derring-do ofthe naval, ground and air forces involved butthis is the first one to focus on the vital aspectof logistics and bring forth the truism that itis easy to put forces where you want them,but sustaining them there is a different matter.Examples are given of when the front lineoutran the logistics tail and had to wait untilthe stores caught up with it.Privratsky looks dispassionately at thechallenges involved; the lack of preparationtime; the urgency; the huge distancesinvolved; the need to requisition ships fromtrade and the lack of sophisticatedinfrastructure in theatre that precluded themovement of supplies on wheels. After abrief discussion of events leading toArgentina's invasion the book describes indetail the rush to reorganise and deployforces, the despatch of the Task Force, the

innovative solutions needed to sustain theTask Force, the vital staging base atAscension Island, the in-theatre resupply, thesetbacks and finally the restoring of orderafter victory. Another complication was that5 Brigade was seen by some as a “post-wargarrison” that would not need the fullpanoply of a fighting brigade, includingintegrated logistics, unlike 3 CommandoBrigade that had all the necessary troopsintegrated into its organisation.Had the logistics plan failed, victory wouldhave been impossible and humiliationinevitable, with no food for the troops, noammunition for the guns, no medical supportfor casualties etc. The lessons learned havenever been more important as the UK facesincreasing numbers of operations in evermore remote locations at short notice. Thisbook fills an important gap and should bemade compulsory reading for the newgenerations of military planners, because itshows that you ignore logistics at your peril. Itis also a fascinating insight for militaryhistorians.

The verdict – good money well spent.

PJ, December 2014

BOOK REVIEWS: WITH PETER JEFFERIES Logistics In The Falklands War by Kenneth L Privratsky, Pen and Sword Publications, 2014. 305 pp.

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Listening In by Dave Forster & Chris Gibson, Hikoki (Crecy) Publications, 2014. 192 pp.

MEET A VOLUNTEERwith Chris Yates

Hello to Andy Cole, volunteer in the museumsince late 2013!Born in Lytham St Anne’s in 1943, his RAFfamily moved frequently until his dad wasdemobbed from Henlow and in 1950 theysettled locally for a while in Haynes, up theroad from Chicksands. To the child Andy, theAN/FLR-9 direction-finding “elephant cage”that dominated the horizon, was the ‘lioncage’. After an electrical engineering apprenticeshiphe began a long association with the UK armof Eaton Corporation, a diversified industrialelectrical and hydraulic power company withwhom he worked for 47 years. He soonmoved into the marketing/sales side and hisbig break came when he was tasked toconduct a detailed thee-month market surveyIran and the Middle East. Later he managed20 sales and design engineers in a price-margin operation in special eqipment. In 1984Andy took a career jump into Eaton’saerospace controls operation with salesresponsibilities in the British Isles, NorthernEurope, Middle East and India, working oncockpit controls for civil and military aircraftincluding the Tornado GR1 & 4, EH101Merlin helicopter, Eurofighter Typhoon,

Fokker F100, Saab JAS39 Gripen andelectrical power control modules for the AH-64D Longbow Apache helicopter. Also heworked on the naval side with controlequipment on the Astute attack submarineprogramme. A word he uses a lot to talkabout what he has done is “fun”. Retiring in 2005, he didn’t take it sitting downtaking courses on “something completelydifferent”, in reflexology, Swedish bodymassage, archaeology and IT userqualifications. Andy launched himself intothe modern version of retirement: busierthan work.What brought him to volunteering and themuseum? Early volunteering saw him as aGamesmaker at the London 2012 Olympics.Our last issue featured volunteer RichardHarper, and it was through him that Andy gotinterested in the museum. “Like a duck towater” could easily be the saying thatdescribes Andy’s relationship with workingwith museum artefacts; his early technicalskills training proving to be helpful inproblem-solving. There are many roads in lifeon offer: you can take either the high road orthe low road, or a road less travelled, but oneof them will bring you to where you are.

Andy says, “It’s fate that organises your life,you have to know when opportunity knocks– don’t forget the magic ingredient of fun.”Andy has two sons, and four grandchildrento whom one day he can explain the mysteryof fate.

Thanks to you Andy!

CIGY, February 2015

TO MOVE OR NOT TO MOVE, THAT IS THE QUESTION!PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE OF THE MILITARY INTELLIGENCE MUSEUM

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As I reported to the ICA AGM in Londonlast October, the museum had been grantedan option to lease an “outside-the-wire”parcel of land adjacent to the guardroom atChicksands. This would have enabled us totake advantage of a much bigger footprint,centralise all our display, archive, admin andstorage facilities in a purpose-designedbuilding, and also free ourselves of therestrictions currently imposed on us by being“behind the wire”.

In January of this year the trustees convenedan extraordinary meeting to discuss strategyfor the Onion Field project. Following muchdiscussion and careful consideration of all thefacts the trustees decided not to pursue thisoption further. For the time being we willremain in our present location but will seeksuitable accommodation elsewhere. Thetrustees will, in the immediate future, appointa project officer to investigate suitablealternative locations for a new museumconcentrating on locations which offercommercial sustainability, goodcommunications, existing tourist footprintand perhaps the opportunities forpartnerships/co-operation with otherorganisations.

Meanwhile, the following are the recentlyagreed statements of purpose, and strategicvision:

Statement of Purpose

The Military Intelligence Museum exists tocollect, conserve, record, interpret and makeotherwise accessible, for public benefit,artefacts, documents and other materialrelating to the Intelligence Corps and theUK’s military intelligence activity.

Strategic Vision

To be the foremost military intelligencemuseum, providing a unique visitorexperience and comprehensive source ofrelated research and archive material, tellingthe story of the Intelligence Corps, militaryintelligence and the part played in UKmilitary operations.

JC, March 2015

Museum volunteer, Andy Cole Photo: CIGY

Musuem OpInt display Photo: JQ

by John Condon, Chairman MIM

Between 1977 and 1980 I was stationed atthe Joint Air Reconnaissance IntelligenceCentre (JARIC) at RAF Brampton inCambridgeshire. In spring 1978 I was calledto the operations officer’s office to be told,together with a WO2 called Mick, I hadbeen selected to be part of a jointarmy/RAF team to support operations byDetachment 4 (Det 4) of the 9th StrategicReconnaissance Wing (9SRW), USAF atRAF Mildenhall, Suffolk.Det 4 was equipped with the SR-71Blackbird and U-2R ‘black’ aircraft and werepermanently based at Mildenhall. The unithad an integral photographic processingand photographic interpretation capabilitybut at times of higher mission rates it wasaugmented by US personnel from the 544thImagery Exploitation Squadron (544 IES)from Offutt AFB, Nebraska. The UKinvolvement came from the desire toincrease interoperability between the twonations, especially in crises when Britishpersonnel could be quickly deployed toMildenhall, unlike their US counterpartswho would have to come from themainland US and would also be at themercy of airlift priorities.So a team of RAF photographers and armyand RAF Photographic Interpreters (PIs)was selected to support Det 4. At the timethis overt support to the US forces wasviewed as sensitive by the British. Becausethe base was designated RAF Mildenhallthere was a small RAF element permanentlystationed there to liaise with the USauthorities, so the RAF augmentees wereordered to be in uniform. However, thearmy element was ordered to be in civilianclothes because there was no armypresence. This difference in dress causedamusement when the colonel at JARICvisited us dressed in his suit. He wasconfronted by his army PIs dressed in anassortment of casual dress. He lookedaskance at this but when he saw the way theUS technical representatives (contractors’personnel who supported the aircraft andsystems) were dressed, he conceded that wehad found effective camouflage.The periods selected for the UK support tothe SR-71 operations were the bi-annualSoviet troop rotation periods in Germanywhen time-expired conscripts were returnedto Soviet Russia and replacements were

brought in. The conscripts were movedmainly by rail but by the late-1970smovement by air became morecommonplace.SR-71 missions had two tracks: the shortone flew along the inner German border(IGB) and Czech border from north tosouth and vice versa; the long one flew tothe North Cape and imaged Soviet navaltargets in the Murmansk and Severomorskareas. It then flew down along the IGB andCzech border, similar to the short mission.In all cases the missions were flown in eitherinternational or West German airspace andthe primary sensor was High ResolutionRadar (HRR)An SR-71 mission took considerableplanning and there was a long lead-timebetween authorising the mission and flyingit. Once the mission was authorised theaircrew went into a preparation sequencewhich took several hours. There werealways two crews in preparation so thatthere was a reserve crew. Preparationconsisted of a full physical examination, alow-residue diet and pre-breathing oxygento purge the blood of nitrogen.Because the SR-71 required tanker support,the first indicator that a mission was on wasthe launching of the KC-135Q tankers ofwhich up to six were needed. The KC-135Qwas specially adapted to carry the JP-8 fuelused by the SR-71, and was unique. Theywere converted from early model KC-135sand had the original model of engine thatequipped those aircraft. This made theaircraft marginal at take-off at high all-upweights and to boost the take-off power,water-methanol was injected to increase

thrust. A KC-135Q take-off always drew acrowd of spectators. The aircraft enteredthe runway and was then pushed back so itcould use the maximum length runway. Theengines were opened up to maximumpower and a puff of blue-grey smoke toldus that the water-methanol had beenactivated. The brakes were released and theaircraft lumbered along and seemed tostagger into the air after using an awful lotof runway. The critical bit was that thewater-methanol only lasted for 45 seconds.I once asked what would happen if anengine failed after take-off or the water-methanol gave out. I was given an old-fashioned look that said, “Don’t ask.” AUSAF master sergeant was moreforthcoming: “There would be a largesmoking hole in the fields beyond the endof the runway.”About an hour after the tankers hadlaunched, the runway was declared “sterile”and checked for foreign objects before theSR-71 took off. The noise was incredibleand the shock waves made your flesh creep– literally. Once the SR-71 took off it was acase of waiting. When it returned there wasquite a time before the sensor payloadscould be downloaded. This was because ofthe surface heating, caused by the Mach 3+flight which made the outer skin too hot totouch for some time.After sensor download the film was takenfor processing. The optical take (the trackercamera) was processed as normalphotographic film. The HRR take was firstprocessed as normal photographic film thenpassed through a device called thecorrelator which converted the raw, radar

HISTORICAL NOTEGreen Beret – “Black” Aircraft – Supporting the USAF at RAF Mildenhall 1975–1980

by Peter Jefferies

page 4SR-71 takes off on another mission Photo: PJ archive

data film into a photographic film thatcould then be processed as normal film thatwas passed to the PIs for exploitation.The PIs task was to produce reports for theInitial Photographic Interpretation Report(IPIR). If I remember rightly this wasexpected every six hours and was passed tovarious US and UK agencies. There wasalways pressure to produce something forthe IPIR, which was strange to the UK PIswho were used to the attitude of “If thereis nothing to report either say nothing orsignal nothing to report”. The US felt thatif there was nothing in the part of the IPIR,that they had failed.The operating constraints applied to RAFMildenhall meant that the aircraft oftenlaunched in daylight. Consequently theprocessing and interpretation phases tookplace later in the day and the PIs often didnot finish work until late night/earlymorning.Supporting the U-2 was slightly different.Its sensors were day-only optical and themain target area was the autumn exercisesin West Germany. The aircraft launched inearly to mid-morning and flew a trackvirtually the whole of West Germany. Wewere told that the aircraft normally flew atabout 70,000 feet but I saw higher readouts.Aircraft recovery was an exciting affair.Because the U-2 was essentially a poweredglider it wanted to keep flying and the pilothad no sense of where it was in relation tothe ground. The solution was for anotherU-2 pilot to chase the aircraft down therunway in the “chase car” – an X litreAmerican pick-up – and tell the pilot wherehe was in relation to the ground. I went inthe chase: a real white-knuckle ride. Whenthe aircraft came to a halt, and it was a pointof honour for the pilot to have the aircraftbalanced on the main wheels, the groundcrew inserted the pogo wheels under thewings so that the aircraft could taxi to itsparking space. Once the aircraft had parked,the film was taken to JARIC for processingand interpretation which took most of thenight. The reporting format was the USIPIR and the aim was to provide the high-level G2 and G3 Staff with enemydispositions although the information wasdefinitely somewhat stale by the time itreached the customer. The number oftargets found was relatively small becauseonly if units were caught in the open couldthey be reported. Most mobile military unitstended to go into cover in woods orbuildings that made them invisible to opticalimagery. During a mission we were notgiven direction about areas of priorityinterest to G2, so we had to look at all 2,000

to 3,000 feet of film – long and arduous.Besides the work there were many, manymemories of working with the Americansand “black” aircraft. Inevitably there werethe two nations separated by a commonlanguage moments, most of themunrepeatable in a family newspaper, but itbroke the ice. The Brits were very useful atgetting telephone lines to the US opened.The “cute” British accent worked wonderswith the American, mainly female,switchboard operators. On one occasionour ops officer, a US Army captain, was toldthere were no available lines to Offutt for atleast two hours. I tried and was put throughin seconds – well we got to the pub beforeclosing time!There was also the matter of dealing withwarrant officers. In the US forces they canuse the officers’ club although notcommissioned. Most officers referred totheir warrant officers by first names. Thedetachment commander was one Lt ColDaniel “Zee’” Smith the Third, USAF, andhe used to call me by my first name. After Iexplained British custom and practice wereached a compromise. He called me “SgtMaj Pete” and I called him “Col Dan Sir”so honour was satisfied.To my cost I forgot the old army advice:never volunteer. A U-2 had landed and theone of the pogo wheels would not engageso the aircraft was stuck. The suggestionwas that if someone sat on the end of thewing that had its pogo in place, the aircraftcould be taxied to the hangar where therecalcitrant one could be put in whilst theaircraft was downloaded. Being young, fitand foolish, I volunteered to sit on the wing.Up I got and the aircraft started to taxi. Atthe first turn when the wing I was sitting onwas on the outside of the turn, I realised myfolly. I was at edge of a 50-foot radius circleand had to cling on for dear life, much to

the amusement of our American cousins.“Set-up” sprang to mind.There was inevitably the end of detachment“beer call” and barbeque. The Britishcontingent joined the party in the hangarwhere there was a large noticeboard withteam names and times. We were told thatthis was the “Budweiser case demolitioncontest”. The rules were simple: a team of10 stood in a circle and a case of 24 cans ofBudweiser beer was thrown in. As ittouched the ground the watch started.When the beers had been consumed andthe last piece of the case touched the flooroutside the circle, the watch stopped. Up forthe challenge, the Brits formed an ad hocteam after being warned that the USAF hadbeen practising for weeks. The scoreboardshowed the fastest time as 1 min, 35 secs.The case hit the floor; 45 seconds later wewere done and dusted. A shocked silencewas broken by an American voice saying“Jeez that was ’ossum.” Teach them tothrow tea into harbours!The abiding memory was of long hours, theamount of film exploited prodigious, but alldeployments supporting the “black” aircraftwere worth their weight in gold. Itintroduced us to another nationality andtheir working methods, and forged bonds.I used to get a Christmas card from thechief master sergeant until he sadly passedaway in the late 1990s. Would I do it again?Like a shot!

PJ, July 2014

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U-2R from the front - an evil looking beast Photo: PJ archive

FICM WEBSITEwww.intelligencemuseum.org

FROM OUR ARCHIVESHimmler’s Razor Blades and Shaving Cream by Dan Francis, Museum Assistant

Prepared by Museum Assistant DanFrancis, this account is an extract from themore in-depth article written by PaulCroxson in June 2013 which may be viewedor downloaded from the FICM website.Ed.

The Man

Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (1900–45) wasa prominent member of the Nazi Party andmilitary commander of the SS. From 1943he was appointed chief of German policeand minister of the interior, and oversaw allinternal and external police and securityforces including the Gestapo. Himmler wasone of the most powerful men in NaziGermany and directly implicated with theFinal Solution and the Holocaust. Hebecame disillusioned with the failingGerman war effort and Hitler’s militarycommand in 1944, leading to his attemptsat peace talks with the Allies. The news ofthis was broadcast by the BBC. Hitlerreceived the news and was enraged, as hebelieved Himmler one of his most loyalmen; orders for his arrest were made. Himmler approached Count Bernadotte ofthe Swedish Red Cross and the USA viaGeneral Eisenhower’s headquarters tonegotiate peace. He promised, as long as hewas not prosecuted, to surrender Germanyto the Allies. Eisenhower refusedHimmler’s approach and subsequentlydeclared him a war criminal. From January1945 he stayed with his medical adviser,Professor Dr Karl Gebhardt inHohenlychen, before moving to Schwerinin April. On 30 April, following Hitler’ssuicide, Admiral Karl Donitz (commander-in-chief of the German Navy), wasappointed head of state. He informedHimmler that he had no place in the newgovernment and was dismissed from alloffices. Rather than surrendering, Himmler alongwith a few close personnel, attempted toflee to Bavaria. The group carried falsedocuments and assumed the role of ademobbed secret military policeman.Unfortunately for Himmler and hiscolleagues members of this group were onthe Allies’ Immediate Arrest Category.Himmler and his entourage left Flensbergon 10 May 1945, reaching the town ofBremervörde on the 18th. Rather than

continue across country they decided tocross the British-held bridge on the east ofthe town. They would bluff their waythrough the checkpoint by posing as sickand wounded men on their way fromBerlin. The group divided, with the firstfew attempting the crossing, and ifsuccessful the remainder would follow. At1600 hrs on 20 May, the first group crossedthe bridge and were stopped at thecheckpoint. They were taken to a nearbymill which housed a security and screeningcentre, manned by 45 Field Security Sectionof the Intelligence Corps, in support ofHQ 30 Corps. Suspicions were arousedimmediately, although the fleeing SS menwere given the impression all was fine. Themen were arrested and were shipped off toan internment camp at Westertimke. Beforeleaving, the prisoners spoke of theirconcern about three sick comrades whohad been left behind. Himmler, under theidentity of “Sergeant Hitzinger”, was in thisgroup. On the 22 May 1945, believing theircolleagues had been successful, Himmlerand two others attempted to cross thebridge. They were stopped by a Britishpatrol and taken for interview. They wereasked to produce their documents, whichwere discovered to be forgeries. All threemen were searched and taken forinterrogation before being formallyarrested. Himmler’s arrest report wassigned by Staff Sergeant John HoggIntelligence Corps, witnessed by SergeantArthur Britton, Intelligence Corps and inthe presence of Sergeant Ken Baisbrown,Intelligence Corps. The following morning the men were takento the Civil Internment Camp Westertimkefor initial processing. En route, a report wasmade to Capt Excell at 45 Field SecuritySection HQ on the arrest of the three men.Himmler arrived at 031 Civil InterrogationCamp (CIC) Barnstedt at 18.30hrs, up tothis point “Sgt Hitzinger’s” real identity wasstill unknown. During this evening a fellowNazi, Karl Kaufmann, watched the newinternees arrive and spotted, “an odd figurein military boots, breeches and civilianjacket and saw him go behind a bush,remove an eye patch, and reappear puttingon glasses”. Kaufmann immediatelyrecognised him as Heinrich Himmler,having met him previously. At 19.00 hrs Himmler, along with two of

his men, requested to see CampCommandant Captain Thomas Selvester.Prior to this meeting, Himmler hadreverted into his disguise before meetingCapt Selvester. Upon meeting the campcommandant, Himmler removed his eyepatch, replaced his glasses, and informedSelvester of his real identity. Thisinformation was immediately reported toHQ British Second Army at Lüneburg.Major Rice, an intelligence staff officer,arrived at the camp that evening to confirmHimmler’s identity. A full body search wascarried out by Captain Wells, RAMC, theHQ medical officer who wrote: “Havingsearched the prisoner thoroughly he cameto the mouth where he noticed a small blue… object sticking of the lower sulcus ofthe left cheek. He slipped his finger into theprisoner’s mouth to sweep out what he hadseen but Himmler immediately clampeddown on the doctor’s fingers; theystruggled, he wrenched his head away,crushed the glass capsule between his teethand the cyanide did its deadly work”.

The ArtefactsShaving Cream and Razor Blades (ASFIC: 2387)

Himmler’s cell was quickly stripped ofanything of interest as souvenirs, and by thetime personnel of the Intelligence Corpsarrived all that was left was the shavingcream and razor blades which are now ondisplay in the Military Intelligence Museum.

Acknowledgements: Paul Croxson for his articleon Himmler which may be viewed on the FICMwebsite and Joyce Hutton for sourcing articles onHimmler.

DF, Museum Assistant, March 2015

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Himmler’s shaving cream and razor blades Photo: SAR

At the FICM trustee meeting held at the museum on Thursday 5th March we were delighted to welcome Mike Palmer as a new trustee – seeintroduction overleaf – and to note a number of changes of responsibilities. Notably, Chris Yates takes over from Tony Hetherington as ourhon. secretary which is made possible by the appointment of Mike Palmer as hon. membership secretary mike-palmer@hotmail.co.uk withimmediate effect. Tony Hetherington was appointed trust chairman filling the vacancy arising from the retirement of John Quenby. In orderto emphasise the importance we place on René Dee’s position as the FICM observer to the MIM (museum) trust as well as giving Tonybackup in an ever-busier scope of trust activity, he has been appointed deputy chairman. Finally it was with heartfelt regret and with anenormous vote of thanks that we accepted the retirement of Sir Stanley Odell as a trustee. From the inception, Sir Stanley has been a wisecounsel and constant supporter of FICM.

JQ, March 15

NEW TRUSTEE AND CHANGES OF ROLES

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PLANNED EVENTS16 April 2015 – London Lunch with Lectures* – Special Forces Club

Everyday Life of the Intelligence Soldier: Vince Schürhoff, 1916-1918, by Dr J M Beach, author of Haig’s Intelligence, and other works.(A copy of Schürhoff ’s diary is held by the museum archives and Jim has edited it for publication by the Army Records Society inOctober 2015).

3 Commando Brigade Intelligence Section during the Falklands Campaign, by Nick van der Bijl, author of A Corps History: Sharingthe Secret.

*There may be one or two places left for this for this very popular event at £39.50 per head for members of FICM. Please contact TonyHetherington on windscale@msn.com to check last minute availability.

27 May 2015 - ICA/ICC AGM, London- Corps 75th Anniversary Dinner, London

18 July 2015 - Corps Day, Chicksands

10 September 2015 - Open FICM Trustees Meeting and Museum Open Day, Chicksands

Although this event will be free of charge, registration will be needed to ensure access to Chicksands!

11.00-12.30 Open trustees meeting (including routine business) in room three of the museum, open to those who wish to attend andlisten/ask questions.

12.30 Buffet lunch available in room one – museum fully open for browsing FICM visitors and their guests

14.00-15.00 Frontiersmen and the Early Years of Intelligence Gathering.A talk by WO2 QMSI Nick Gibson, Countess Mountbatten’s Own Legion of Frontiersmen, City of London and Colour Squadron.Nick will focus on the years from the end of the Boer War to 1905 when many early frontiersmen gained their insights into fieldintelligence, and the Legion’s formation to the start of WWI when the principal usage and focus of the Legion changed subtly to a moreactively combatant stance. Time permitting, Nick will cover generally the work of the Legion today.(The talk will be held in room three. The rest of museum will still be open to FICM and guests)

15.00-16.00 Museum open in full browsing mode

16.00 Disperse

The volunteers’ 2014 Christmas lunch was held at the Greyhound in Haynes.Attended by 23 volunteers, guests and all full-time staff, they tucked in toseasonal fare, fine wines and enjoyed jovial company, all that one expects of aChristmas event! With the usual financial support from the museum trustees(thank you), it was efficiently organised by volunteers Richard Harper and ChrisYates, supported by Joyce Hutton. All eagerly await next December!

JOLLY VOLUNTEERS AT THEIR CHRISTMAS BASH!

Volunteers’ 2014 Christmas Lumch Photo: CIGY

Mike enlisted in the Intelligence Corps in1969 as a member of Squad 29. He was firstposted to G Int, HQ BAOR working on theGSFG desk. Next came a posting to 3 Int &Sy Company in Berlin where he was assignedto HQ Berlin Infantry Brigade and continuedhis GSFG observations. After Berlin, it wasback to Rheindahlen where he moved out ofoperational intelligence and joined 45 SecuritySection. In 1975, he attended a one-yearHebrew language course in London inpreparation for his next posting to theDefence Attaché’s Office in the BritishEmbassy in Tel Aviv, after which he decidedon a career change and left the army.After five years in retail management, Mikemoved into pharmaceutical distribution, inwhich he was employed for the remainder ofhis career. He initially managed distributioncentres in Exeter and Letchworth before

becoming national head of customer services.In retirement Mike has embraced thevoluntary sector and in doing so he hasreconnected with his military life. He is acaseworker for The Royal British Legion andis the branch secretary of SSAFA inBedfordshire. For the past three years Mikehas exploited his penchant for nostalgia as avolunteer guide at the Military IntelligenceMuseum in Chicksands.Outside of the military environment Mike hasbeen chair of governors at his daughter’sformer school, and led a campaign tirelesslyand unsuccessfully to prevent the installationof speed humps in his village. Together withhis wife he still travels the world extensively,but now leisurely, having determined that athis age intrepid is no longer an option!

Welcome Mike! Ed.

NEW TRUSTEE - MIKE PALMER

Sub Rosa is the newsletter of the Friends of the Intelligence Corps Museum charitable trust, Bldg. 200, Chicksands, Shefford, Beds. SG17 5PR; Produced and printed by Merrys Ltd., 22–36 Hastings St., Luton, Beds. LU1 5BE. www.merryprinters.co.uk

Hello from the new Hon. Treasurer

To the side are the 2014 income and expenditure account and balancesheet, which were approved on 5th March at a full meeting of thetrustees. We ended the year with a surplus of £3,702.41. This was down from£7,073.61 in 2013 as a result of donations FICM made to the Museum- see below. Reserves stood at £17,346.58 (up from £13,644.17 in 2013), reflectingsteadily increased income from subscriptions – plus 3 new LifeMembers - combined with continuing control of FICM’s expenses. During 2014 FICM gave just over £3,150 to the Museum to help itacquire or improve the display items of interest to the Corps andenhance the visitors experience (see Sub Rosa issue 7 of Spring lastyear for the detail). Thank you to those of you who let us claim Gift Aid on yoursubscriptions and donations. In 2014 we recovered £907.30 fromHMRC as a result of your generosity (£806.55 in 2013). FICM’s books were examined and approved by our independentexaminer, Ashley Knight, ACA. We are grateful for his fee-freeprofessional services and helpful advice. As we approach the end of this year’s first quarter, FICM continuesto be financially healthy, especially benefiting from a large donation inJanuary, so this year will see us continuing to provide Newsletters anda website for our Members and valuable support to the Museum andarchives.

Any questions, please contact me on: farrelld49@yahoo.com

Best Wishes,

DF, March 2015

Income and Expenditure Account

Income 2013 2013From ICA and ICC £312.50 £312.50Events £787.50 £787.50Donations £8,075.00 £8,075.00Life members £500.00 £500.00Annual members £1,576.50 £1,576.50Bank interest £0.00HMRC - Gift Aid £806.55 £806.55

£12,058.05 £12,058.05ExpenditurePrinting £978.28 £978.28Postage & Staty £210.49 £210.49Events £1,813.05 £1813.05Gift to the Museum £0.00 £0.00Website £1,942.62 £1,942.62Book purchase £0.00Museum display £40.00 £40.00

£4,984.44 £4,984.44Net surplus £7,073.61 £7,073.61

Balance Sheet

Current assets 2013 2013Bank balance £14,038.97 £14,038.97Current liablilitesCreditors £394.80 £394.80Net current assets £13,644.17 £13,644.17Unrestricted reservesBrought forward £6,570.56 £6,570.56Surplus for the year £7,073.61 £7,073.61Carried forward £13,644.17 £13,644.17

TREASURER’S REPORTPresented by Hon. Treasurer Dave Farrell - approved 5th March 2015

2014£0.00

£838.50£5,879.50

£675.00£1,774.50

£42.30£907.30

£10,117.10

£1,079.60£410.54

£1568.40£3,150.64

£163.01£42.50£0.00

£6,414.69£3,702.41

2014£17,346.58

£0.00£17,346.58

£13,644.17£3,702.41

£17,346.58

FICM Trustee - Mike Palmer Photo: JQ