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[[Image:Sarum.jpg|thumb|left|Psyops HQ at Old Sarum, Wiltshire]]
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{{Template:Propaganda badge}}[[Image:Sarum.jpg|thumb|right|600px|Psyops HQ at Old Sarum, Wiltshire]]
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[[Old Sarum]] was a British military base operated by the RAF.  According to the BBC 'In 1971 the RAF handed Old Sarum over to the Army and by 1979 the station had been closed as a military base.'<ref>BBC [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A16990662&clip=1 Old Sarum Airfield, Wiltshire, UK], Edited guide Entry, Created: 19th February 2007, accessed 12 June 2010</ref> From at least 1973/4 and possibly earlier [[Old Sarum]] was the base for the [[Joint Warfare Establishment]] and for UK psychological operations training.
  
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Latterly Old Sarum has been mentioned in the Bloody Sunday Enquiry.<ref> [http://www.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org/transcripts/Archive/Ts242.htm Bloody Sunday Inquiry Transcripts Archive]</ref> Britain holds its main psychological operation courses at Ashford in Kent, Caterrick in Yorkshire, Bradbury Lines (The SAS camp in Hereford) and Old Sarum in Wiltshire, where psyops courses for RAF officers are held. On average 16 men, consisting of Green Jackets, SAS, Royal Marines and Royal Artillery, together with members from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), take part.  The existence of psyop courses was kept secret until Robert Brown, the UK Army Minister was forced to admit in 1976. Approximately 250 take these courses every year. [[Frank Kitson]], one of the organizers of psyop courses, had complained about the small number of 18 taking part in Old Sarum. According to British Government figures up to 1976, 262 civilians and 1858 Army officers had taken these courses.<ref>Armen Victorian (1996) [http://www.mindcontrolforums.com/mindnet/mn181.htm UNITED STATES, CANADA, BRITAIN: PARTNERS IN MIND CONTROL OPERATIONS]</ref>
+
Latterly Old Sarum has been mentioned in the Bloody Sunday Enquiry.<ref> [http://www.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org/transcripts/Archive/Ts242.htm Bloody Sunday Inquiry Transcripts Archive]</ref> Britain used to hold its main psychological operation courses at Ashford in Kent, Caterrick in Yorkshire, Bradbury Lines (The SAS camp in Hereford) and Old Sarum in Wiltshire, where psyops courses for RAF officers are held. in recent times these have moved to [[Chicksands]] in Wiltshire where both Psyops, the [[Defence Intelligence and Security Centre]], the [[Intelligence Corps]] and [[15 (UK) Psychological Operations Group]] are based.
  
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According to confidential Whitehall documents leaked to the Irish Times the headquarters of the operation - code-named Psyops - was Old Sarum: the secret department of dirty tricks and black propaganda that trained senior civil servants, army officers and members of the Special Branch in 'psychological warfare' against anti-establishment groups and parties.<Newsline (1980) Britain's State Within a State, pp 61-70, New Park Publications</ref>
+
On average 16 men, consisting of Green Jackets, SAS, Royal Marines and Royal Artillery, together with members from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), take part.  The existence of psyop courses was kept secret until Robert Brown, the UK Army Minister was forced to admit in 1976. Approximately 250 take these courses every year. [[Frank Kitson]], one of the organizers of psyop courses, had complained about the small number of 18 taking part in Old Sarum. According to British Government figures up to 1976, 262 civilians and 1858 Army officers had taken these courses.<ref>Armen Victorian (1996) [http://www.mindcontrolforums.com/mindnet/mn181.htm UNITED STATES, CANADA, BRITAIN: PARTNERS IN MIND CONTROL OPERATIONS]</ref>
 +
 
 +
According to confidential Whitehall documents leaked to the Irish Times the headquarters of the operation - code-named Psyops - was Old Sarum: the secret department of dirty tricks and black propaganda that trained senior civil servants, army officers and members of the Special Branch in 'psychological warfare' against anti-establishment groups and parties.<ref>Newsline (1980) Britain's State Within a State, pp 61-70, New Park Publications</ref>
  
 
Psyops' main aim, one document stated, is to:
 
Psyops' main aim, one document stated, is to:
Line 11: Line 14:
 
The strategy, says another part of the document, is to "create attitudes and behaviour favourable to the achievement of political and military objectives" in times of peace and war.  
 
The strategy, says another part of the document, is to "create attitudes and behaviour favourable to the achievement of political and military objectives" in times of peace and war.  
  
−
The Irish Times disclosures forced the government to reveal that the Psyops unit has been working since 1973. The Ministry of Defence admited that 262 civil servants and 1,858 army officers had been through training in psychological warfare for internal security purposes and against 'subversive' groups.  
+
The Irish Times disclosures forced the government to reveal that the Psyops unit has been working since 1973. The Ministry of Defence admitted that 262 civil servants and 1,858 army officers had been through training in psychological warfare for internal security purposes and against 'subversive' groups.  
  
 
According to Newsline officially they were sent to Old Sarum for 'training'. But skill in dirty tricks and black propaganda necessarily involves practical experiences.  
 
According to Newsline officially they were sent to Old Sarum for 'training'. But skill in dirty tricks and black propaganda necessarily involves practical experiences.  
  
−
:"According to the Army Minister Robert Brown, the Old Sarum courses began in 1973/4 - the year that the revolutionary implication of the dockers' and miners' strikes against the Heath government jolted the establishment. The precise nature of the black propaganda operations masterminded by Psyops cannot be known."
+
:"According to the Army Minister Robert Brown, the Old Sarum courses began in 1973/4 - the year that the revolutionary implication of the dockers' and miners' strikes against the Heath government jolted the establishment. The precise nature of the black propaganda operations masterminded by Psyops cannot be known."<ref>Newsline (1980) Britain's State Within a State, pp 61-70, New Park Publications</ref>
  
−
On average 16 men, consisting of Green Jackets, SAS, Royal Marines and Royal Artillery, together with members from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), took part. Approximately 250 of these courses took place every year. [[Frank Kitson]], one of the organizers of psyop courses, had complained about the small number of 18 taking part in Old Sarum. According to British Government figures up to 1976, 262 civilians and 1858 Army officers had taken these courses.<ref>Armen Victorian (1996) [http://www.mindcontrolforums.com/mindnet/mn181.htm UNITED STATES, CANADA, BRITAIN: PARTNERS IN MIND CONTROL OPERATIONS]</ref>
+
==Psyops==
 +
According to [[Peter Watson]] <ref>Peter Watson (1980) War on the Mind, Pelican Books.</ref> the star speaker was Lt. Col. [[B. R. Johnston]], described as 'the foremost British authority on psyops'. According to [[John McGuffin]]'s account of the British government experimentation in torture:<ref>John McGuffin [http://irishresistancebooks.com/guineapigs/afterword.htm ‘The Guineapigs’ (1974, 1981)]</ref>
  
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==Excerpts from the secret documents on the activities of the Joint Warfare Establishment at Old Sarum In Wiltshire==
+
:"He spoke about the useful experience that they could all gather from N. Ireland. (Johnston, whose position has always been shrouded in secrecy eventually came to the public's attention during the 'ABC' case, when two journalists, Duncan Campbell, [[Crispin Aubrey]] and a former soldier called Berry were tried for publishing 'official secrets' about Britain's telecommunication spying activities in Time Out and the Leveller, two London magazines. Johnston gave evidence against them but was only described in court as 'Colonel B.' Gleefully the Leveller then published his name and issued badges to all attending the court proclaiming who he was. The prosecution collapsed with egg over its face and the accused escaped with fines.)"
  
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Newsline published extracts from the leaked documents which are as follows:
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McGuffin adds that
  
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RESTRICTED
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:"The courses, which include demonstrations of SD [Sensory Deprivation], are highly secret. On several occasions the relevant ministers in the British Government have lied and denied their existence. Even when the Army Minister Robert Brown was forced to admit, in 1976, that the courses did take place, he lied and said that they had only started in '1973-4'. In fact, as Watson has shown, they began at least in 1971 and possibly sooner. Whitehall sources vaguely stated that somewhat over 250 personnel underwent the courses per annum. One of the organizers of psyops, the famous/infamous Brigadier Kitson has bemoaned the 'fact' that the psyops team in Old Sarum numbers only 18 (an implausible figure), but, nonetheless, even if notoriously underestimated Government figures are to be believed, up to October 1976, 262 civilians and 1,858 Army officers had been through the course."
−
 
 
−
PRECIS 8
 
−
 
 
−
TRAINING IN PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS
 
−
 
 
−
INTRODUCTION
 
−
 
 
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I. The study of psychological operations (psyops) and its effect on military operations, both in general and individually, is the responsibility of the Joint Warfare Establishment. The Establishment also runs courses to teach the principles and techniques of psyops in the military field for offIcers of all three Services, for officers of the Commonwealth and allied armed forces and for representatives of British Government ministries.  
 
−
 
 
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2. Additionally, the psyops staff at the Establishment is available to visit other establishments, schools and commands at home and overseas to lecture and run courses. The psyops staff visits commonwealth, NATO and other countries to exchange ideas and to keep abreast of the latest developments.
 
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3. Subsequent paragraphs ofthis precis are more detailed than might be thought necessary. This has been done to help offICers who may have to use the material as a basis for lectures in units.
 
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RESTRICTED
 
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8. The primary aim of Psychological Warfare operations is to support the efforts of all other measures, military and political, against an enemy to weaken his will to continue hostilities and reduce his capacity to wage war. Psychological Warfare relates to an emergency or a state of hostilities and it is with the furher subversions of strategic psywar, tactical psywar and psychological consolidation that its employment can best be examined.
 
−
 
 
−
9.Strategic psywar pursues long-term and mainly political objectives. It is designed to undermine the will of an enemy or hostile group to fight and to reduce the capacity to wage war. It can be directed against the dominating political party in the enemy country, the government and/or against the population as a whole, or particular elements of it. It is planned and conttolled by the highest political authority and is normally a national responsibility though, possibly, in a well-knit international organisation responsibility may be accepted by a supranational body.  
 
−
 
 
−
10. Sttategic psywar has the following aims:
 
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a. To support and explain current national policy.
 
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b. To lower the morale of an enemy and of hostile civilian populations.
 
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c. To undermine the combat efficiency of the enemy armed forces.
 
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−
 
 
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PRECIS 1
 
−
 
 
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AN INTRODUCTION TO
 
−
 
 
−
PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS
 
−
 
 
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'The Red Army fights not merely for the sake of fighting, but in order to conduct propaganda among the masses, organise them, arm them, and help them to establish revoltionary political power. Without these objectives, fighting loses its meaning and the Red Army loses the reason for its existence.' Mao Tse-lUng 1929
 
−
 
 
−
1. Psychological Operations (psyops) is an all-embracing term defined by NATO as 'planned psychological activities in peace and war directed towards enemy, friendly and neutral audiences in order to create attitudes and behaviour favourable to the achievement of political and military objectives' In time of war psyops includes strategic and tactical psychological warfare (psywar) and psychological consolidation (see Paragraph 19) and encompasses those political, military, economic, ideological and information activities designed to achieve the results desired.
 
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2. The concept of Deterrence can be said to be a form of psyops when related to the definition above. This form of psyops is not new; government and military commanders have combined the application of force with psychological effects of the use of that force through the ages.
 
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RESTRICTED
 
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PRECIS 2
 
−
 
 
−
MAIN DIVISIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS
 
−
 
 
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GENERAL
 
−
 
 
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I. Psyops, in conjunction with other instruments of power can make important contributions towards achieving national objectives by changing attitudes, opinions and behaviour of hostile and unfriendly groups and by reinforcing those of allied and friendly ones. Obviously there are limitations to the results it can achieve. In an adverse military situation such as withdrawal, or when the political position is such that our presence is undesired or hard to justify, psyops, however imaginatively applied, is unlikely to be successful. Limitations may also be imposed by our inability or unwillingness to impose strong control-measures over the civil population and over the information media. Although psyops can exploit and build on success in the military field, it cannot justify failure, either military or political.
 
−
 
 
−
2. Psyops is a flexible instrument which can be adapted to all forms of warfare and counter insurgency. For convenience of description it is categorised "as follows: Psychological Warfare, which in turn is divided into Strategic Psychological Warfare, Tactical Psychological Warfare and Psychological Consolidation. Psyops in an internal security (IS) or counter insurgency situation, though closely resembling those in consolidation, fall into a special category and are considered separately. Community relations are a form of psychological consolidation but related to peacetime conditions. In practice, the difference between the various divisions is not always easily defined as they merge into one another. This is another reason why psyops campaigns must be planned at a high level and a common policy followed at all levels.
 
−
 
 
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RESTRICTED
 
  
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PRECIS 5 PLANNING FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS
+
In the Bloody Sunday Inquiry many connections related to psyops have been denied by the Army officers, particularly the role of the intelligence services in Northern Ireland: and particularly the organisation [[Information Policy]]:
  
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INTRODUCTION
+
:"Colonel Tugwell said that, although the intelligence community took a passing interest in the work of the IP unit, they did not carry out joint operations during his time in Northern Ireland.  He denied suggestions that IP was a separate unit, engaging in black propaganda for the Intelligence Services under the cover of Public Relations.  He also refuted Colin Wallace’s evidence that IP was in fact PsyOps, operating under a different name, adding that Colin Wallace had never worked for him, being strictly a PR operative.  He added that he was unaware at the time that [[INQ1873]], who worked as his deputy, had been the head of the Army Psychological Operations branch at the Joint Warfare Establishment at [[Old Sarum]], although he knew that he was a PsyOps specialist.<ref>British Irish Rights Watch, [http://www.birw.org/bsireports/51_70/report67.html BLOODY SUNDAY INQUIRY Week 67]</ref>
  
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I. Sound thought and planning are necessary for the successful conduct of psychological operations (psyops). An essential preliminary is the examination into possible target audiences and the uncovering of vulnerabilities in them, which is part of the process of psyops intelligence explained in Precis 4. Provided the information is readily availabIe and has been correctly evaluated, planning for psyops is largely common-sense. There will be times, however, when the target audiences and the type of propaganda that will best influence them will not be determined without a careful examination of the various factors involved. It is for this situation that the sequence of planning and the process for producing propaganda have been designed.
+
==Kitson==
  
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2. Not only does a successful psyops campaign require much thought; it needs co-ordination and co-operation with other staffs and agencies and in particular with the political staffs, who must provide the political guidance so essential in a psyops campaign. Experience has proved that co-ordination and co-operation are best achieved during planning by establishing a committee made up of both political and military members. The political, or civil, side will be represented by a member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, or of the staff of the Ambassador, High Commissioner or Political Adviser as the case may be, who will normally act as chairman. Representatives are also required from the Information Services and the Special Branch of the Police. The military members would include a staff officer to represent the Force Commander normally drawn from the intelligence staff, and members of both the psyops and the public relations (PR) staffs. This committee would be responsible for approving psyops plans in outline, vetting important items of propaganda, coordinating both the civil and military efforts in the psyops field, and for issuing policy directives as necessary.
+
On Frank Kitson, the Historian Bernard Porter has stated:
  
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RESTRICTED
+
:"Between 1970 and 1972 Kitson served in Northern Ireland as commander of a brigade in Belfast. He may have been largely responsible for the setting up and development of ‘Psyops’ units there. If he was not, then somebody else was. By all accounts this side of the army’s work expanded enormously over the next ten years, and involved some techniques which could be described as devious. That may be putting it mildly indeed. Among the ‘tricks’ attributed to various British intelligence agencies in Northern Ireland in the 1970s - army intelligence, MI5, MI6, British Special Branch, RUC Special Branch - were torture, for which Britain was censured by the European Human Rights Commission in 1976; murder, faked to look like ‘sectarian’ killings; the planting of bombs in Dublin in 1974 ...; homosexual seduction and blackmail; ‘black’ propaganda and disinformation; ‘shooting to kill’; fabricating evidence; and ‘covering up’.  At one stage, because of inter-departmental rivalry, MI5 and MI6 were rumoured to be indulging in covert operations against each other..."<ref>Bernard Porter (1989) Plots and Paranoia, p.199, Unwin Hyman Ltd.</ref>
  
−
PRECIS 6
+
==Other units at Old Sarum==
 +
According to the Ministry of Defence:
  
−
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS UNIT
+
:In January 1968, the [[Joint Air Transport Establishment]] (JATE) was formed with its headquarters at Old Sarum, Wiltshire which at the time was also the home of the [[Joint Warfare Establishment]] (JWE) and the Army Air Transport Development Centre (AATDC). The initial JATE Organisation was based on a consortium of 3 separate units, operating under the co-ordinated control of Headquarters JATE. The 3 units in question comprised of the Army's long serving AATDC, AFTDU and a new organisation titled the [[Joint Helicopter Development Unit]], (JHDU).
  
−
GENERAL
+
:The JHDU added a Naval presence within the JATE organisation. There was a close link between JWE and JATE with the post of JATE Commandant being combined with the Deputy Commandant at JWE. In 1970 the MOD decided JATE should be based entirely at RAF Abingdon (the home of ATDU) and the close ties with JWE ceased. It was also decided that the main element of JHDU should become independent of JATE and remain at Old Sarum under the new title of [[Joint Helicopter Tactical Development Unit]] (JHTDU).<ref>Ministry of Defence [http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/WhatWeDo/AirSafetyandAviation/JADTEU/HistoryOfJointAirDeliveryTestAndEvaluationUnit.htm History of Joint Air Delivery Test and Evaluation Unit], accessed 15 June 2010</ref>
  
−
1. Psyops units are sponsored, equipped and manned by the Army. They are all small, independent units of one officer and, depending on the operational situation, about 12 other ranks and civilians. The primary task of a psyops unit is the dissemination of propaganda. To do this it has vehicles adapted to carry loudspeakers, tape recorders and cinema projectors. It also has a photographic capability and limited facilities for producing leaflets of simple design. Correctly employed in the psychological field the unit is capable of achieving results out of all proportion to its size.
+
==Resources==
−
 
+
[[Excerpts from the secret documents on the activities of the Joint Warfare Establishment at Old Sarum In Wiltshire]]
−
2. In addition to the dissemination of propaganda through its own resources, a psyops unit can gather and supply propaganda material for radio, television, newspapers and magazines. The personnel of the unit are trained to operate all the equipment in it and to conduct face to face propaganda. Ingenuity, adaptability and enterprise are essential qualities required by the personnel of the unit, together with the ability to make acquaintances easily and to create an atmosphere of friendship and goodwill. The psyops unit has a role in both war and peace and is most profitably employed in consolidation tasks and in a counter-insurgency sitUation.
 
−
 
 
−
==Psyops==
 
−
According to Peter Watson <ref>Peter Watson (1980) War on the Mind, Pelican Books.</ref> the star speaker was Lt. Col. B.R. Johnston, described as 'the foremost British authority on psyops. According to  John McGuffin's account of the British government experimentation in torture:<ref>John McGuffin [http://irishresistancebooks.com/guineapigs/afterword.htm ‘The Guineapigs’ (1974, 1981)]</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
:"He spoke about the useful experience that they could all gather from N. Ireland. (Johnston, whose position has always been shrouded in secrecy eventually came to the public's attention during the 'ABC' case, when two journalists, Duncan Campbell, Crispin Aubrey and a former soldier called Berry were tried for publishing 'official secrets' about Britain's telecommunication spying activities in Time Out and the Leveller, two London magazines. Johnston gave evidence against them but was only described in court as 'Colonel B.' Gleefully the Leveller then published his name and issued badges to all attending the court proclaiming who he was. The prosecution collapsed with egg over its face and the accused escaped with fines.)"
 
−
 
 
−
McGuffin adds that
 
−
 
 
−
:"The courses, which include demonstrations of SD [Sensory Deprivation], are highly secret. On several occasions the relevant ministers in the British Government have lied and denied their existence. Even when the Army Minister Robert Brown was forced to admit, in 1976, that the courses did take place, he lied and said that they had only started in '1973-4'. In fact, as Watson has shown, they began at least in 1971 and possibly sooner. Whitehall sources vaguely stated that somewhat over 250 personnel underwent the courses per annum. One of the organizers of psyops, the famous/infamous Brigadier Kitson has bemoaned the 'fact' that the psyops team in Old Sarum numbers only 18 (an implausible figure), but, nonetheless, even if notoriously underestimated Government figures are to be believed, up to October 1976, 262 civilians and 1,858 Army officers had been through the course."
 
  
−
In the Bloody Sunday Enquiry many connections related to psyops have been denied by the Army officers, particularly the role of the intelligence services in Northern Ireland: and particularly the organisation [[Information Policy]]:
+
==Notes==
 +
<references/>
  
−
:"Colonel Tugwell said that, although the intelligence community took a passing interest in the work of the IP unit, they did not carry out joint operations during his time in Northern Ireland.  He denied suggestions that IP was a separate unit, engaging in black propaganda for the Intelligence Services under the cover of Public Relations.  He also refuted Colin Wallace’s evidence that IP was in fact PsyOps, operating under a different name, adding that Colin Wallace had never worked for him, being strictly a PR operative.  He added that he was unaware at the time that INQ1873, who worked as his deputy, had been the head of the Army Psychological Operations branch at the Joint Warfare Establishment at Old Sarum, although he knew that he was a PsyOps specialist.<ref>British Irish Rights Watch, [http://www.birw.org/bsireports/51_70/report67.html BLOODY SUNDAY INQUIRY Week 67]</ref>
+
[[Category:British Propaganda]][[Category:Psychological Warfare]]

Latest revision as of 09:35, 15 June 2010

Microphones-2-.jpg This article is part of the Propaganda Portal project of Spinwatch.
Psyops HQ at Old Sarum, Wiltshire

Old Sarum was a British military base operated by the RAF. According to the BBC 'In 1971 the RAF handed Old Sarum over to the Army and by 1979 the station had been closed as a military base.'[1] From at least 1973/4 and possibly earlier Old Sarum was the base for the Joint Warfare Establishment and for UK psychological operations training.

Latterly Old Sarum has been mentioned in the Bloody Sunday Enquiry.[2] Britain used to hold its main psychological operation courses at Ashford in Kent, Caterrick in Yorkshire, Bradbury Lines (The SAS camp in Hereford) and Old Sarum in Wiltshire, where psyops courses for RAF officers are held. in recent times these have moved to Chicksands in Wiltshire where both Psyops, the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre, the Intelligence Corps and 15 (UK) Psychological Operations Group are based.

On average 16 men, consisting of Green Jackets, SAS, Royal Marines and Royal Artillery, together with members from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), take part. The existence of psyop courses was kept secret until Robert Brown, the UK Army Minister was forced to admit in 1976. Approximately 250 take these courses every year. Frank Kitson, one of the organizers of psyop courses, had complained about the small number of 18 taking part in Old Sarum. According to British Government figures up to 1976, 262 civilians and 1858 Army officers had taken these courses.[3]

According to confidential Whitehall documents leaked to the Irish Times the headquarters of the operation - code-named Psyops - was Old Sarum: the secret department of dirty tricks and black propaganda that trained senior civil servants, army officers and members of the Special Branch in 'psychological warfare' against anti-establishment groups and parties.[4]

Psyops' main aim, one document stated, is to:

"support the efforts of all other measures, military and political, against the enemy to weaken his will to continue hostilities and to reduce his capacity to wage war [...] Psychological warfare relates to an emergency or a state of hostilities [...] Strategic psywar pursues long-term and mainly political objectives. It is designed to undermine the will of an enemy or hostile group to fight and to reduce the capacity to wage war. It can be directed against the dominating political party in the enemy country, the government and/or against the population as a whole, or a particular element in it. It is planned and controlled by the highest political authority.'"

The strategy, says another part of the document, is to "create attitudes and behaviour favourable to the achievement of political and military objectives" in times of peace and war.

The Irish Times disclosures forced the government to reveal that the Psyops unit has been working since 1973. The Ministry of Defence admitted that 262 civil servants and 1,858 army officers had been through training in psychological warfare for internal security purposes and against 'subversive' groups.

According to Newsline officially they were sent to Old Sarum for 'training'. But skill in dirty tricks and black propaganda necessarily involves practical experiences.

"According to the Army Minister Robert Brown, the Old Sarum courses began in 1973/4 - the year that the revolutionary implication of the dockers' and miners' strikes against the Heath government jolted the establishment. The precise nature of the black propaganda operations masterminded by Psyops cannot be known."[5]

Psyops

According to Peter Watson [6] the star speaker was Lt. Col. B. R. Johnston, described as 'the foremost British authority on psyops'. According to John McGuffin's account of the British government experimentation in torture:[7]

"He spoke about the useful experience that they could all gather from N. Ireland. (Johnston, whose position has always been shrouded in secrecy eventually came to the public's attention during the 'ABC' case, when two journalists, Duncan Campbell, Crispin Aubrey and a former soldier called Berry were tried for publishing 'official secrets' about Britain's telecommunication spying activities in Time Out and the Leveller, two London magazines. Johnston gave evidence against them but was only described in court as 'Colonel B.' Gleefully the Leveller then published his name and issued badges to all attending the court proclaiming who he was. The prosecution collapsed with egg over its face and the accused escaped with fines.)"

McGuffin adds that

"The courses, which include demonstrations of SD [Sensory Deprivation], are highly secret. On several occasions the relevant ministers in the British Government have lied and denied their existence. Even when the Army Minister Robert Brown was forced to admit, in 1976, that the courses did take place, he lied and said that they had only started in '1973-4'. In fact, as Watson has shown, they began at least in 1971 and possibly sooner. Whitehall sources vaguely stated that somewhat over 250 personnel underwent the courses per annum. One of the organizers of psyops, the famous/infamous Brigadier Kitson has bemoaned the 'fact' that the psyops team in Old Sarum numbers only 18 (an implausible figure), but, nonetheless, even if notoriously underestimated Government figures are to be believed, up to October 1976, 262 civilians and 1,858 Army officers had been through the course."

In the Bloody Sunday Inquiry many connections related to psyops have been denied by the Army officers, particularly the role of the intelligence services in Northern Ireland: and particularly the organisation Information Policy:

"Colonel Tugwell said that, although the intelligence community took a passing interest in the work of the IP unit, they did not carry out joint operations during his time in Northern Ireland. He denied suggestions that IP was a separate unit, engaging in black propaganda for the Intelligence Services under the cover of Public Relations. He also refuted Colin Wallace’s evidence that IP was in fact PsyOps, operating under a different name, adding that Colin Wallace had never worked for him, being strictly a PR operative. He added that he was unaware at the time that INQ1873, who worked as his deputy, had been the head of the Army Psychological Operations branch at the Joint Warfare Establishment at Old Sarum, although he knew that he was a PsyOps specialist.[8]

Kitson

On Frank Kitson, the Historian Bernard Porter has stated:

"Between 1970 and 1972 Kitson served in Northern Ireland as commander of a brigade in Belfast. He may have been largely responsible for the setting up and development of ‘Psyops’ units there. If he was not, then somebody else was. By all accounts this side of the army’s work expanded enormously over the next ten years, and involved some techniques which could be described as devious. That may be putting it mildly indeed. Among the ‘tricks’ attributed to various British intelligence agencies in Northern Ireland in the 1970s - army intelligence, MI5, MI6, British Special Branch, RUC Special Branch - were torture, for which Britain was censured by the European Human Rights Commission in 1976; murder, faked to look like ‘sectarian’ killings; the planting of bombs in Dublin in 1974 ...; homosexual seduction and blackmail; ‘black’ propaganda and disinformation; ‘shooting to kill’; fabricating evidence; and ‘covering up’. At one stage, because of inter-departmental rivalry, MI5 and MI6 were rumoured to be indulging in covert operations against each other..."[9]

Other units at Old Sarum

According to the Ministry of Defence:

In January 1968, the Joint Air Transport Establishment (JATE) was formed with its headquarters at Old Sarum, Wiltshire which at the time was also the home of the Joint Warfare Establishment (JWE) and the Army Air Transport Development Centre (AATDC). The initial JATE Organisation was based on a consortium of 3 separate units, operating under the co-ordinated control of Headquarters JATE. The 3 units in question comprised of the Army's long serving AATDC, AFTDU and a new organisation titled the Joint Helicopter Development Unit, (JHDU).
The JHDU added a Naval presence within the JATE organisation. There was a close link between JWE and JATE with the post of JATE Commandant being combined with the Deputy Commandant at JWE. In 1970 the MOD decided JATE should be based entirely at RAF Abingdon (the home of ATDU) and the close ties with JWE ceased. It was also decided that the main element of JHDU should become independent of JATE and remain at Old Sarum under the new title of Joint Helicopter Tactical Development Unit (JHTDU).[10]

Resources

Excerpts from the secret documents on the activities of the Joint Warfare Establishment at Old Sarum In Wiltshire

Notes

  1. ↑ BBC Old Sarum Airfield, Wiltshire, UK, Edited guide Entry, Created: 19th February 2007, accessed 12 June 2010
  2. ↑ Bloody Sunday Inquiry Transcripts Archive
  3. ↑ Armen Victorian (1996) UNITED STATES, CANADA, BRITAIN: PARTNERS IN MIND CONTROL OPERATIONS
  4. ↑ Newsline (1980) Britain's State Within a State, pp 61-70, New Park Publications
  5. ↑ Newsline (1980) Britain's State Within a State, pp 61-70, New Park Publications
  6. ↑ Peter Watson (1980) War on the Mind, Pelican Books.
  7. ↑ John McGuffin ‘The Guineapigs’ (1974, 1981)
  8. ↑ British Irish Rights Watch, BLOODY SUNDAY INQUIRY Week 67
  9. ↑ Bernard Porter (1989) Plots and Paranoia, p.199, Unwin Hyman Ltd.
  10. ↑ Ministry of Defence History of Joint Air Delivery Test and Evaluation Unit, accessed 15 June 2010
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