Intelligence Reports

[AOK4]

Hello,

I guess the British army must have had vast amounts of reports about the German activities in occupied Belgium (and France of course) from German prisoners, refugees (in 1914), spies etc.

Does anyone know if these reports are accessible in the PRO and under what number?

Any experience with these files? Is there any form of index?

I'd be grateful for more information.

Jan

[Paul Reed]

I have so far found them in a few divisional HQ war diaries and also in the AQMG diaries of some divisions (very much overlooked war diaries!) - all under class WO95.

They are quite interesting and detailed; I have a whole folder full for the fighting at Courcelette on the Somme in September 1916, which have extracts from captured letters, types of uniforms noted, what was seen from OPs etc etc. Fabulous stuff, and much under used.

[AOK4]

Hello Paul,

I am familiar with this kind of intelligence reports, but I was wondering about intelligence reports about villages and installations further from the front.

Let's say they interrogate a German prisoner who gives information about an airfield near Courtrai (which is 20 km behind the lines) and about some other things there. Where could I find this information?

Or they receive one of their spy pigeons: where can I find these reports?

Was there some kind of intelligence service that centralized these things and do these archives still exist (and are public)?

Jan

[Paul Reed]

If they survive then they might be in the higher formation diaries, i.e. Corps or Army.

To my knowledge there isn't a seperate section of them at the PRO. Sadly many documents were destroyed after WW1, and again in the 60s when the material was transferred to PRO. These may be among those documents 'weeded'.