Intell
The V-Weapons-British Code-Crackers II
The inspection of a V1, which had landed in Sweden after a test flight, debris from early attacks on London and finally the overrunning of launch sites near Cherbourg after D-Day had given the Allies considerable information about this new weapon. By the time the main V1 offensive ended on 5 September 1944, eighty-three per cent had been destroyed by…
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‘Opera House’: The Death of Heydrich and The Demotion of Rowehl
By the 1930s, Theodor Rowehl was a Flugkäpitan in the Hansa-Luftbild airline. This was an innovator in new methods of aerial photography, as well as in the commercial use of photogrammetry. Its predecessor – Aero Lloyd Luftbild GmbH – was founded in 1923 as a branch of the transport airline…
American Civil War Spying I
Seated: R. William Moore and Allan Pinkerton. Standing: George H. Bangs, John C. Babcock, and Augustus K. Littlefield The problem with journalists ‘spying’ on armies continued in the American Civil War (1860–65). Up to 150 war correspondents followed the Union Army, along with photographers and artists, serving the big Northern…
American Civil War Spying II
Allan Pinkerton, far left, foiled a plot to kill Lincoln. Lewis tried to play it cool, insisting he was a friend of Webster calling in to see how he was doing. After the senator’s son gave a positive ID on the two Pinkertons – whose names were already known to…
BRIXMIS
It had been set up on 16 September 1946 to establish a reciprocal exchange of liaison missions between British and Soviet Forces in Germany during the occupation. The French and Americans had similar organizations, and the Russian equivalent was called ‘SOXMIS’. This situation continued until 2 October 1990 when all…
SED QUIS CUSTODIET IPSOS CUSTODES?
Latin quote attributed to Juvenal, literally ‘but who guards the guards?’ In a modern context, it might be interpreted as ‘who watches over the security services?’ he cases of espionage and other secret operations encountered so far are by no means exhaustive, but form a summary of the most important…
The Dragon – U-28A Draco Special Ops Aircraft
This toned-down camouflage laden PC-12 turboprop is not used to fly business executives around and about. This is a U-28A operated by Air Force Special Operations Command. Two U-28As were present at Nellis during Class 19A WSINT flying missions from the super base to desert strips in the Nevada Test…