MI5 F Branch
Contents
History
In its earliest incarnation, F Branch was responsible for preventive intelligence in the MI5 organisation of 1916.[1]
A new F Division covering counter-subversion was established by Director General Sir David Petrie in 1941.[2]
Counter-subversion branch
In Dick White's 1953 re-organisation, F Branch had responsibility for counter-subversion at home, while E Branch was responsible for counter-subversion in the British Empire and Commonwealth.[3]
In 1972, F Branch director John Jones defined subversion as "activities threatening the safety or well-being of the State and intended to undermine of overthrow Parliamentary democracy by political, industrial or violent means."[4]
In 1976, Director General Michael Hanley established a separate FX branch to deal with Irish terrorism. Its director continued to report to the director of F Branch.[5]
Structure
Directors
- Alex Kellar - 1960s[6]
- Dick Thistlethwaite
- John Jones - 1972-1974[7]
- David Ranson -c.1981-83.[8]
F1
Responsible for investigating the Communist Party of Great Britain, according to Stephen Dorril.[9]
- Bill Ruckstan, section head, c.1981-83.[10]
F1B
A full-time desk on Irish security issues, with a particular focus on the North, was set up in F1B in the spring of 1969. By the autumn of that year, F1B consisted of a female assistant officer supported by the young Stella Rimington.[11]
F1C
In the spring of 1969, an internal MI5 newsletter stated: "The total effort deployed by F. Branch in matters Irish was until recently confined to one part-time desk officer in F.1.C.[12]
F2
Responsible during the early 1980s for investigating trade unions and the production of Box 500 reports, according to Stephen Dorril.[13]Responsible for investigating the Communist Party, according to Nick Fielding and Mark Hollingsworth.[14]
- Roger Hollis Section head c. 1943[15]
- Charles Elwell - Section head according to Hollingsworth and Fielding.[16]
- Stella Rimington, section head, c.1981-83.[17]
- David Ranson - Officer, c. 1972.[18]
F2N
Trade Unions[19]
F2R
The media, education, Members of Parliament.[20]
F3
Terrorism, excluding Irish Terrorism.[21]
- Alan Fernyhough, section head, c.1981-83.[22]
F5
Irish terrorism, (loyalist).[23]
- Patrick Walker - section head, c.1981-83.[24]
FX
In the early 1980s, according to Stephen Dorril, FX controlled F4 and F6. Focussed on long-term infiltration of agents and informers.[25]
- Tony Crassweller, FX head, circa 1981-83.[26]
F4
Trade unions and Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).[27]
- Simon France, section head, c.1981-83.[28]
- Julia Pirie - Agent in the CPGB 1960s-70s.[29]
F6
Trotskyist and radical organisations.[30]
- Jim Clayphan, section head, c.1981-83.[31]
F7
Innvestigated Trotskyist, anarchist, feminist, pacifist, black power, nationalist and other radical groups. Also fascists.[32]
- Ray Whitby, section head, c.1981-83.[33]
Other F Branch officers
Notes
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.84.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.236.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.327.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.591.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.647.
- ↑ Mark Hollingsworth and Nick Fielding, Defending the Realm: Inside MI5 and the War on Terrorism, Andre Deutsch, 2003, p.136.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.621.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.485.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.485.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.485.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.604.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.602.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.485.
- ↑ Mark Hollingsworth and Nick Fielding, Defending the Realm: Inside MI5 and the War on Terrorism, Andre Deutsch, 2003, p.34.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.281.
- ↑ Mark Hollingsworth and Nick Fielding, Defending the Realm: Inside MI5 and the War on Terrorism, Andre Deutsch, 2003, p.34.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.485.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.8.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.486.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.486.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.486.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.486.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.486.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.486.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.486.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.486.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.486.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.486.
- ↑ Julia Pirie, The Telegraph, 28 October 2008.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.486.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.486.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.486.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril, The Silent Conspiracy: Inside the Intelligence Services in the 1990s, Mandarin, 1994, p.486.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.558.
- ↑ Mark Hollingsworth and Nick Fielding, Defending the Realm: Inside MI5 and the War on Terrorism, Andre Deutsch, 2003, p.35.
- ↑ Mark Hollingsworth and Nick Fielding, Defending the Realm: Inside MI5 and the War on Terrorism, Andre Deutsch, 2003, p.101.
