2RHPZ
06-18-2004, 03:37 AM
Rather posted here then in Military History :)
NO *** PLEASE, WE?RE BRITISH SPECIAL AGENTS
William Lyons
The Scotsman
20 May 2004
THE image of female special agents sleeping their way to uncover the world’s deadliest secrets may have provided Ian Fleming with plenty of risque material, but in reality the men at MI5 had a horror of women agents with an "overdose of ***".
The latest files from the Security Service released to the National Archives at Kew contain some firm advice for MI5 officers when it comes to handling women agents.
They caution against the use of "Mata Hari methods" by women to gather intelligence and issue instructions to officers to ensure that their female spies do not fall in love with their opponents.
The advice was written at the end of the Second World War by one of MI5’s most successful agent runners, Maxwell Knight, the real-life model for the spy chief M in Fleming’s James Bond novels.
During the war, Knight headed MI5’s M/S section, which was involved in recruiting agents to infiltrate Nazi spy rings operating in Britain. And like his fictional counterpart, he did not approve of 007-style tendencies in combining the serious business of espionage with liaisons of a more amorous kind - especially where women were concerned.
"It is important to stress that I am no believer in what might be described as Mata Hari methods," he wrote, in a reference to the First World War spy, better known for her many lovers than any feat of spycraft.
"I am convinced that more information has been obtained by women agents by keeping out of the arms of the man, then was ever obtained by sinking too willingly into them.
"For it is unfortunately the case that if a man is physically but casually interested in a woman, he will very speedily lose interest in her once his immediate object is attained; whereas, if he can come to rely upon the woman more for her qualities of companionship and sympathy, than merely those of physical satisfaction, the enterprise will last longer."
It was not that Knight - who carved out a post-war career as one of the first television naturalists - was against the use of female agents altogether. He complained about the "very long-standing and ill-founded prejudice" against them, acknowledging that they had pulled off many of the greatest spying feats.
He also acknowledged that "a clever woman who can use her personal attractions wisely has in her armoury a very formidable weapon" when it came to espionage.
However, he stressed the importance of careful selection in recruiting women agents, not least from the point of view of the agent-runner himself (Knight seemed to assume that it would always be a ahead).
"If over-sexed, it is clear that this will play an over-riding part in their mental processes, and if under-sexed, they will not be so mentally alert, and their other faculties will suffer accordingly," he wrote.
"It is difficult to imagine anything more terrifying than for an officer to become landed with a woman agent who suffers from an overdose of ***, but as it is to be hoped that no such person would be chosen for the work, there is no need to go further into this point."
Whether Knight suffered his own "terrifying" encounter with an over-sexed female agent is not recorded.
He did, however, stress the advantage of a woman gaining a man’s confidence through the "expression of a little sympathy" rather than a ****** advance.
He advised that in dealing with women agents, their handlers needed to ensure that they would not end up falling for the men they were spying on.
NO *** PLEASE, WE?RE BRITISH SPECIAL AGENTS
William Lyons
The Scotsman
20 May 2004
THE image of female special agents sleeping their way to uncover the world’s deadliest secrets may have provided Ian Fleming with plenty of risque material, but in reality the men at MI5 had a horror of women agents with an "overdose of ***".
The latest files from the Security Service released to the National Archives at Kew contain some firm advice for MI5 officers when it comes to handling women agents.
They caution against the use of "Mata Hari methods" by women to gather intelligence and issue instructions to officers to ensure that their female spies do not fall in love with their opponents.
The advice was written at the end of the Second World War by one of MI5’s most successful agent runners, Maxwell Knight, the real-life model for the spy chief M in Fleming’s James Bond novels.
During the war, Knight headed MI5’s M/S section, which was involved in recruiting agents to infiltrate Nazi spy rings operating in Britain. And like his fictional counterpart, he did not approve of 007-style tendencies in combining the serious business of espionage with liaisons of a more amorous kind - especially where women were concerned.
"It is important to stress that I am no believer in what might be described as Mata Hari methods," he wrote, in a reference to the First World War spy, better known for her many lovers than any feat of spycraft.
"I am convinced that more information has been obtained by women agents by keeping out of the arms of the man, then was ever obtained by sinking too willingly into them.
"For it is unfortunately the case that if a man is physically but casually interested in a woman, he will very speedily lose interest in her once his immediate object is attained; whereas, if he can come to rely upon the woman more for her qualities of companionship and sympathy, than merely those of physical satisfaction, the enterprise will last longer."
It was not that Knight - who carved out a post-war career as one of the first television naturalists - was against the use of female agents altogether. He complained about the "very long-standing and ill-founded prejudice" against them, acknowledging that they had pulled off many of the greatest spying feats.
He also acknowledged that "a clever woman who can use her personal attractions wisely has in her armoury a very formidable weapon" when it came to espionage.
However, he stressed the importance of careful selection in recruiting women agents, not least from the point of view of the agent-runner himself (Knight seemed to assume that it would always be a ahead).
"If over-sexed, it is clear that this will play an over-riding part in their mental processes, and if under-sexed, they will not be so mentally alert, and their other faculties will suffer accordingly," he wrote.
"It is difficult to imagine anything more terrifying than for an officer to become landed with a woman agent who suffers from an overdose of ***, but as it is to be hoped that no such person would be chosen for the work, there is no need to go further into this point."
Whether Knight suffered his own "terrifying" encounter with an over-sexed female agent is not recorded.
He did, however, stress the advantage of a woman gaining a man’s confidence through the "expression of a little sympathy" rather than a ****** advance.
He advised that in dealing with women agents, their handlers needed to ensure that they would not end up falling for the men they were spying on.