Difference between revisions of "Stewart Menzies"

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===Closure of SOE===
 
===Closure of SOE===
 
Menzies, a friend of [[Winston Churchill]], was "a master at using his political and social connections to win time and eventual survival for SIS, indeed so successful was he that in 1946 he persuaded the Labour Government to close down [[SOE]] and transfer its best staff and most promising operations to SIS."<ref name="TM"/>
 
Menzies, a friend of [[Winston Churchill]], was "a master at using his political and social connections to win time and eventual survival for SIS, indeed so successful was he that in 1946 he persuaded the Labour Government to close down [[SOE]] and transfer its best staff and most promising operations to SIS."<ref name="TM"/>
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==Operation Embarrass==
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{{FA|Operation Embarrass}}
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In late 1946 the Labour government of [[Clement Attlee]] asked [[MI6]] for "proposals for action to deter ships masters and crews from engaging in illegal [[Jewish]] immigration and traffic," adding that "action of the nature contemplated is, in fact, a form of intimidation and intimidation is only likely to be effective if some members of the group of people to be intimidated actually suffer unpleasant consequences." Menzies suggested carrying out [[false flag]] [[bomb]] attacks on their transport ships, and that a spurious [[terrorist]] group "[[The Defenders of Arab Palestine]]" could take responsibility. Five attacks were undertaken on ships in Italian ports. One was rendered "a total loss", two were damaged and two mines were discovered before they went off.<ref>http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/09/19/mi6-attacked-jewish-refugee-ships-after-wwii.html</ref><ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11378601</ref>
  
 
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Revision as of 18:52, 9 February 2015

Person.png Stewart Menzies  Rdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(spook)
Born30 January 1890
Died29 May 1968 (Age 78)

Employment.png Deputy Chief of the SIS

In office
1929 or before - 3 November 1939
Preceded byMark Allen, Edward Beddington-Behrens, John Cordeaux, Christopher Curwen, Richard Dearlove, James Easton, Colin Figures, Dick Franks, Barrie Gane, Peter Hayman, Nigel Inkster, John Macgregor Bruce Lockhart, Stewart Menzies, Maurice Oldfield, Lionel Payne, Valentine Vivian, Gerry Warner, George Kennedy Young"strong class="error">Error: Invalid time." contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.
"?" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.

Employment.png Assistant Chief of the Secret Service

In office
? - 1929 or before
Succeeded by"strong class="error">Error: Invalid time." contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.

Sir Stewart Menzies was head of the Secret Intelligence Service from 1939[1] to 1952.[2]

Career

Menzies had joined intelligence by 1916.[3] By 1929 he was Deputy Chief of the SIS and he was promoted to full colonel soon afterwards.[4]

Closure of SOE

Menzies, a friend of Winston Churchill, was "a master at using his political and social connections to win time and eventual survival for SIS, indeed so successful was he that in 1946 he persuaded the Labour Government to close down SOE and transfer its best staff and most promising operations to SIS."[3]

Operation Embarrass

Full article: Operation Embarrass

In late 1946 the Labour government of Clement Attlee asked MI6 for "proposals for action to deter ships masters and crews from engaging in illegal Jewish immigration and traffic," adding that "action of the nature contemplated is, in fact, a form of intimidation and intimidation is only likely to be effective if some members of the group of people to be intimidated actually suffer unpleasant consequences." Menzies suggested carrying out false flag bomb attacks on their transport ships, and that a spurious terrorist group "The Defenders of Arab Palestine" could take responsibility. Five attacks were undertaken on ships in Italian ports. One was rendered "a total loss", two were damaged and two mines were discovered before they went off.[5][6]


 

Appointments by Stewart Menzies

AppointeeJobAppointedEndDescription
Edward Beddington-BehrensDeputy Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service6 March 19431944Deputy Director/Army (DD/A)
John CordeauxDeputy Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service6 March 19431945Deputy Director/Navy
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References

  1. ↑ Stephen Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, Touchstone, 2002, p.4.
  2. ↑ Stephen Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, Touchstone, 2002, p.494.
  3. ↑ a b The Mechanisms of an Oppressive State
  4. ↑ C: The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Graham Menzies, by Anthony Cave Brown, 1987.
  5. ↑ http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/09/19/mi6-attacked-jewish-refugee-ships-after-wwii.html
  6. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11378601


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