Behind the Mystery: The Real MI6

James Bond works for MI6, the British Intelligence Service. That´s exactly how far you get with the truth about the real MI6 when it comes to our fictional hero. In reality, the work of the people in the Security Service is far from being fast-paced, adventurous and soaked in Martinis. In this special, ‘Eye on Bond‘ will introduce you to the real MI6, its history and modus operandi.

A Service in the fledgling stage

The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) was founded in 1909 when the Admiralty and War Office were in need of an intelligence service that was capable of focusing on Imperial Germany as well as security in the UK. The first headquarters was located at 2 Whitehall Court in London which now houses the Royal Horseguards Hotel. Gradually, the service specialised in foreign espionage and gathered vital intelligence about the strength of the German military forces which was supposed to give Britain an advantage at the brink of WWI. However, the overseas agents weren´t able to set up a gainful network in Germany during the war years and thus had to gather intelligence in other territories.

Sir Mansfield Smith-Cumming

The name MI6, by which the service is known alternatively, is used since 1916 when the naval and army sections were united under the name Directorate of Military Intelligence Section 6. One very significant link with James Bond can be found with the first chief, Captain Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming who always signed documents with his initial “C” in green ink. This tradition has since been kept by all SIS directors until present day and Bond creator Ian Fleming must have learned about it during his time in Naval Intelligence. In his first James Bond novel “Casino Royale” (1953), Bond´s superior is only referred to as “M”.

After the first World War, the SIS had a well-run network of agents around the globe and mostly concentrated on fighting against Russian Bolshevism. Operation  “Ambassadors´ Plot” involved both the killing of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin as well as the liberation of the Russian Imperial Family from the hands of the Bolsheviks. It was a time of upheaval that saw several spies and double agents working for Britain and against it. When SIS chief Smith-Cumming suddenly died in 1923, Admiral Sir Hugh “Quex” Sinclair replaced him and restructured the entire service to make it more effective and valuable. There was yet another crisis on the horizon in the early 1930s – one that would forever change Europe and create the most dangerous and ambitious espionage playground for many years to come.

“How good is your German?”

When Adolf Hitler became Reich Chancellor of Germany in 1933, the machine was set in motion to plunge the whole of Europe into another devastating war. Only this time, it would be more destructive and exorbitantly brutal. Shortly before the outbreak of WWII, MI6 had a man stationed in Berlin who operated under the cover of Passport Control Officer. His name was Frank Foley. It was down to him to liaise with the Gestapo, the German Secret Police, for exchanging intelligence about Communism. When Hitler annexed Austria in March 1938, there was no significant response from the rest of Europe. Next, Germany claimed the Sudetenland as part of the Reich. Britain and France agreed to let Hitler have it upon condition that no further territorial demands would be made by him. An agreement that he would ruthlessly break when he invaded Czechoslovakia in March 1939. Hitlers aspirations for “Lebensraum im Osten” – living space in the east – were insatiable. When he invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 and ignored the British ultimatum, Britain and France declared war.

MI6 faced one of its biggest challenges to date but it wasn´t the only service to do so. Britain had several intelligence services with different tasks according to what was needed the most. MI5, the UK domestic security service, captured German spies and turned them into double agents to feed false information to the enemy in what became known as the Double Cross System. The system was part of “Operation Bodyguard”, a large-scale military deception to hide the D-Day landing plans by misleading the German High Command.

Bletchley Park Colossus machine

The Government Code and Cypher school, stationed at Bletchley Park manor house, was tasked with the interception and decryption of German communications which also included the cracking of the famous German Enigma cipher machine. MI6 recruited a large number of young women to work as codebreakers at Bletchley Park. After having been approached by MI6, some of them thought they would become spies, yet their task was far from what they might have imagined. Their weapons: pencil, paper and perseverance. Decrypting one single German message could take weeks, sometimes even months. It was all down to logic and guesswork. But due to a lack of funds and manpower, Britain needed to turn to a yet uninvolved nation.

In an attempt to draw the United States into the war, Britain revealed its top-secret Enigma codebreaking plan to an American delegation invited to Bletchley Park in February 1941. Not having an intelligence service of their own, the Americans were impressed by how well MI6 operated and coordinated. It would take the US another 17 months and the gruesome attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 to establish their first intelligence service – the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

Ian Fleming´s James Bond

The war had reduced most of mainland Europe to ruins and over 80 million lives had been lost, the equivalent of Germany´s entire population today. With the unconditional surrender of Germany on 8 May 1945, the weapons were laid to rest and Britain began demobilizing its military personnel. Around 4 million servicemen and women were released back into civilian life – one of them was Lieutenant Commander Ian Lancaster Fleming, the creator of fictional master spy James Bond. Contrary to what many people think, Fleming did not work for MI6 but for the Naval Intelligence Division (NID). Throughout the Second World War, he had acquired a great deal of knowledge about the operations of MI6, MI5 and the SOE (Special Operations Executive) and had himself been involved in some top-secret operations. However, the espionage world in which Fleming let Bond experience his extraordinary adventures was far from reality.

Ian Fleming © Horst Tappe (photographer) / Hulton Press Library / Getty Images

The James Bond books painted an overall glamorous picture of MI6 and its spies: Gorgeous women, fast cars, exotic locations, unbelievably cunning villains and cool drinks…shaken, not stirred. Fleming´s detailed descriptions were in fact so convincing, that the Egyptian Secret Service thought everything to be accurate and based in fact. During the 1950s, they had an agent in London buy every Bond book to carefully analyse its contents. In itself, this interesting tidbit could be described as a master plan of deception.

The world learned about MI6 through Flemings books and the existence of such a Secret Service was no longer a secret. But as exciting the inner workings of MI6 are portrayed throughout Fleming´s 14 James Bond novels, little of it can be called an accurate representation of the real MI6. The James Bond film series is no exception. The cinematic 007 provided a glossy, lavish world that fascinated audiences. Just as the Egyptians had fallen for Fleming´s masterful descriptions, it was the Security Service of the German Democratic Republic that fell for the on-screen extravaganza. At one stage, the early Bond films starring Sean Connery were even used as training films for future STASI agents. The distorted image resulted in undesired attention for MI6. The timing could not have been worse – the Cold War was in full swing and had turned the world into a chessboard full of spies.

Cloak and Dagger

Coups, assassinations, intelligence gathering on all levels. During the Cold War era from 1945-1991, the world had turned into a playground for espionage. Mysterious, dark and highly dangerous. Cities like Berlin, London, Vienna, Moscow, Istanbul and Havana were among the most notable spy hotspots in which Intelligence Services like the British MI6, the Russian KGB, the American CIA and the State Security Service of the German Democratic Republic (STASI) tried to outsmart each other on a daily basis. MI6 coordinated a large number of covert operations, sometimes working closely with the American CIA.

Protecting the UK – MI6 today

As a result of the “Open Government Initiative” brought about by prime minister John Major in 1993, MI6 went public for the first time and interacted with the press. It was no longer a carefully hidden organization operating in the shadows. It even got an official website. However, since MI6 is still an Intelligence Service, the bulk of its operational methods is naturally kept secret. Greatly influenced by the media, the public is often suspicious of Intelligence Service activity. Although any such service has a broad range of possibilities concerning security matters, it cannot just do business by any means necessary. Since its official acknowledgment in 1994, MI6 is under scrutiny of the British Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee which examines the work of the service.

“Our dedicated staff work tirelessly against an array of threats that this country faces.” – Alex Younger, Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service

Today, MI6 is still an intelligence gathering service that works closely with the British government as well as other Security Services and the Armed Forces to guarantee national security. The service is a vital key asset for Britain in the fight against an ever-growing threat of terrorism, cyber crime as well as providing accurate intelligence on hostile or potentially hostile states. The British have always been on the forefront of Intelligence work and become experts in this field. As a result, MI6 ranks as one of the best and most powerful Intelligence Services in the world.

MI6 seen in Bing maps, 2014

Welcome to Legoland

Prominently featured in the 1995 James Bond film ‘GOLDENEYE’, the iconic SIS Building is also known as “VX” due to its location at Vauxhall Cross. Designer Sir Terry Farrell was inspired by the industrial modernist architecture of the 1930s as well as Mayan and Aztec temples which earned the building the name “Legoland”, a nickname given to it by MI5 officers. The purchase of the site and the construction of the building cost a total of £152.6 million and took about three years to build. But despite the unmistakable facade known to millions, large parts of SIS are actually located nine floors underground due to security reasons.

MI6 during construction in 1991© Stephen Williams

Although the building has become a popular tourist destination thanks to its appearance in the James Bond films, it goes without saying that there will never be any tour showing you the 252,497 square feet insides. You can however access the grounds via a riverside walkway (“Thames Path”) that will take you onto a lovely terrace where you will find benches and a gazebo. Quite a cool place to enjoy a packed secret agent lunch!