1 March 2005 releases: Cases of general interest

A number of cases of general interest were among the files released by the Security Service to The National Archives on 1 March 2005.

• Arthur Ransome, the children's author, was investigated for his apparent links with Lenin's Bolshevik movement in Russia.
• Fenner Brockway MP, later Lord Brockway, was kept under scrutiny for nearly 40 years due to his close links with the Communist Party.
• The BBC European Service was found to be the unwitting transmitter of radio messages from German secret agents in the UK. The ruse was discovered by the Security Service in 1942.
• Gibraltar was the scene of a secret battle in the Second World War between the Defence Security Office and the German and Spanish intelligence services, which attempted to spy on and sabotage the Rock's vital military installations.
• Detention camps for Communists were planned after the Second World War, in the event of war or a national emergency.

Arthur Ransome

File ref KV 2/1903-1904

Arthur Ransome (1884-1967), the author of the classic children's novel Swallows and Amazons, came to the attention of the Security Service in 1917. As the Russia correspondent for the Daily News, he was a first-hand witness to the October Revolution and was on friendly terms with many prominent Bolshevik figures.

These two reconstituted files document the Security Service's intense interest in Ransome in the years 1917-1920. During this period he produced propaganda for the Bolsheviks and travelled repeatedly between Moscow, Stockholm and the UK.

His activities aroused a great debate as to whether he was a genuine Bolshevik, or was feigning an interest to enable him to continue his journalistic work, or to gather information for the British authorities. The files also contain some details of his relationship with Evgenia Shelepin, Trotsky's former secretary. Ransome married her in 1924, having played a large part in arranging her emigration from Russia.

The file closes with a copy of Ransome's passport renewal form in 1937, at which time it was agreed that his name could be removed from the blacklist.

(Archibald) Fenner Brockway MP, later Lord Brockway

File ref KV 2/1917-1921

Fenner Brockway (1888-1988) was a life-long campaigner for his chosen causes. His most firmly held belief, pacifism and conscientious objection to warfare, was the one which brought him to Security Service attention during the First World War. Brockway was then editor of The Labour Leader, the organ of the Independent Labour Party, which was publishing anti-war articles.

The export of The Labour Leader from the UK was prohibited in 1917, and around this time the Security Service began collecting information about Brockway in his role as editor.

The file contains an intercepted copy of a 1915 letter from Lenin (under his real name of Ulyanov) to the editor of The Labour Leader. The files on Brockway continue until 1954.

The volume of correspondence decreases in the files after the First World War, as the importance of conscientious objection as an issue faded. There is little material from the 1920s, when Brockway was elected to Parliament for the first time, in June 1929 for Leyton East.

A warrant to intercept Brockway's mail was first considered in May 1933 by the Security Service, and revisited in January 1934, when the Director General told the Home Office that "Brockway has gone considerably to the left since our last discussion." On both occasions the Home Office refused the request and a warrant to intercept Brockway's post was not granted until 1942.

Brockway continued to support conscientious objectors during the Second World War, though he himself now had doubts about the correctness of this choice in the face of European Fascism and Nazism.

In the post-war period, the correspondence on the file chiefly concerns Brockway's involvement with anti-colonial and pro-independence movements and organisations. There is a detailed report of his visit to Uganda in 1950.

Enemy use of the BBC European Service

File ref KV 3/99

This file concerns an investigation launched in 1942 into the possible use by the Germans of the BBC's humanitarian provision for sending radio messages via its European Services on behalf of European escapees to inform relatives of their safe arrival in Britain.

After the capture of agents Pelletier and Petin by the Germans it was clear that the Germans had discovered the ploy and intended to use it to their own advantage to send messages conveying the safe arrival of German agents in the UK. Several individual cases of messages transmitted in this way are considered. It is clear from the file that the BBC had no idea that it was being used in this way by the Germans.

Post-war British policy on detention camps

File ref KV 4/245

In 1948, the Home Office began laying emergency plans for the internment of Communists in Britain in the event of war or an emergency, and this file begins with its request to the Director General for assistance. There are notes of meetings to discuss the plans between the Security Service, the Home Office and the War Office, which would be responsible for setting up internment camps.

There were initial plans for six camps, one for each War Office command, plus two interrogation centres. The Security Service was to furnish a list of people to be interned, though this list is not on the file. The seriousness of the plans can be judged from minuted comments such as "It was agreed that the need should be stressed for action before legislation..." It was estimated that over 1,000 British and alien Communists or suspects would be interned in the first 3-4 days.

As the plans developed, the Home Office assumed responsibility for the main camp, which was to be on the Isle of Man. Other camps were to be established in a holiday camp in Rhyl, and at Ascot and Epsom racecourses. The plans, however, got bogged down in red tape and disputes.

As late as February 1954, when the file closes, Sir Frank Newsam is quoted as saying that in his view "it was very important that we should get the arrangements for these camps in such a form that they can be put into operation at a few days' notice." This was five and a half years after the first emergency meeting.

Second World War defence of Gibraltar

File ref KV 4/259-261

This release contains three files relating to the wartime history of Gibraltar, in the form of contemporary unit histories. Of particular interest is the two-volume "History of the Security Intelligence Department of the Defence Security Office in Gibraltar" covering 1939-1945, written in October 1945 by the head of the department, David Scherr.

Although Gibraltar was spared a direct assault during the war, and suffered relatively few air raids and limited damage, it was nevertheless, because of its strategic position and the flow of foreign labour through it on a daily basis, a hotbed of espionage, sabotage and intrigue throughout the war.

The Security Intelligence Department was responsible for Gibraltar's security against these threats, and waged a constant battle, which included operations to penetrate the enemy's sabotage organisations. The extensive accounts of this history are well illustrated with contemporary photographs of places, personalities and equipment.

Although Gibraltar was spared a direct assault during the war, and suffered relatively few air raids and limited damage, it was nevertheless, because of its strategic position and the flow of foreign labour through it on a daily basis, a hotbed of espionage, sabotage and intrigue throughout the war.

The Security Intelligence Department was responsible for Gibraltar's security against these threats, and waged a constant battle, which included operations to penetrate the enemy's sabotage organisations. The extensive accounts of this history are well illustrated with contemporary photographs of places, personalities and equipment.

» History feature: The Battle for Gibraltar