spies in WW1

[Guest PteIanFrancis]

Hi everybody,

Does anyone have any information on the spies who worked in occupied Belgium and France during the war? They were in British, Belgian and French service. They usually were local civilians.

greetings,

Ian

[gem22]

Ian

I recently read a book called 'Secrets of Rue St Roche', which dealt with that subject.

Garth

[Simon Jones]

Try the search 'Belgian Agent' in the Campaign Medal Index and you get 451 names. You only get five for 'French Agent', perhaps the French themselves ran their own spies.

Regards

Simon

[healdav]

Try this URL:

http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1917/secret.html

It details British activites in WW1 and makes mention of some others.

I believe that a Belgian student did a PhD thesis on this subject (as it affected Belgium) some years ago but I have failed to trace the author or a copy. If you ever come across a copy I would be interested in seeing it. The thesis dealt with the 'White Lady' network, I think.

You could also get the biography of Cummings - founder of MI5. This deals with the whole subject in some detail - as you would expect.

If you need any more background about 'Secrets of Rue St. Roch' = available in paperback now - please let me know. I know the subject intimately (I've lived it for nearly 25 years).

[Paul Hodges]

Try Tammy M Proctor:

Female Intelligence: Women and Espionage in the First World War. New York: New York University Press, 2003.

“La Dame Blanche: Gender and Espionage in Occupied Belgium,” in Jenny Macleod and Pierre Purseigle, eds., Uncovered Fields: New Approaches in First World War Studies . Leiden: Brill, 2003.

“Soldiers Without Uniforms: Women’s Intelligence Work in Occupied Belgium, 1916-18,” in Une Guerre Totale. La Belgique dans la Première Guerre mondiale (Brussels, 2005)

[Guest PteIanFrancis]

Thanks everyone, I should have come here earlier... .

Jan

[Guest PteIanFrancis]

Hi,

Yes indeed, the French ran their own spies, but so did the Belgians and the British. Most of the spies were locals in allied service. There were about 7 000 civilians actif in one or more allied networks. Those networks had their offices in the Netherlands. The main offices were in Folkstone and London.

The link to the PRO is something I have never thought of. Thanks!! I'm goping to look for some familair names.

Greetings,

Jan

Try the search 'Belgian Agent' in the Campaign Medal Index and you get 451 names. You only get five for 'French Agent', perhaps the French themselves ran their own spies.

Regards

Simon

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[Phil Tomaselli]

Hi everybody,

Does anyone have any information on the spies who worked in occupied Belgium and France during the war? They were in British, Belgian and French service. They usually were local civilians.

greetings,

Ian

There are huge lists of their names and addresses in the Foreign Office papers at TNA as many of them were awarded British medals post War.