559:
200:
182:
47:
542:
of
Cumming's case officers. Many agents appear to have escaped the IRA execution squads that morning, but Whitehall feared that more of its professional agents would be identified and suffer the same fate; this prompted the hasty withdrawal of most of the remaining SIS agents from Ireland in the days
390:
became director of the new Secret
Service Bureau and created as a response to growing public opinion that all Germans living in England were spies. In 1911, the various security organizations were re-organised under the Bureau, Kell's division becoming the Home Section, and Cumming's becoming the new
406:
In 1914, he was involved in a serious road accident in France in which his son was killed. Legend has it that to escape the car wreck he was forced to amputate his own leg using a pen knife. Hospital records have shown, however, that while both his legs were broken, his left foot was amputated only
527:
Cumming and SIS (then MI1(c)) organized a new espionage unit in
Ireland in mid-1920 called the Dublin District Special Branch. It consisted of some 20 line officers drawn from the regular army and trained by Cumming's department in London. Cumming also began importing some of his own veteran case
391:
Foreign
Section, responsible for all operations outside Britain. Over the next few years he became known as 'C', after his habit of sometimes signing himself with a C eventually written in green ink. That habit became a custom for later directors, although the C now stands for "Chief".
300:, now one of the largest banks in the United Kingdom. His father was Colonel John Thomas Smith of the Madras Royal Engineers who became Master of the Madras and Calcutta Mints and designed a machine for minting coins that was displayed at the Great Exhibition in 1851.
515:
in
January 1919. The powerful partnership of MI5 and Special Branch had managed counterintelligence and subversives during the war, but that was suddenly thrown into disarray. These bureaucratic intrigues happened at the very moment when the Irish abstentionist party
407:
the day after the accident. Later he often told all sorts of fantastic stories as to how he lost his leg and would shock people by interrupting meetings in his office by suddenly stabbing his artificial leg with a knife, letter opener or fountain pen.
511:
The
Government Committee on Intelligence decided to slash Kell's budget and staff and to subordinate MI5 under a new Home Office Civil Intelligence Directorate led by Special Branch's Sir
497:". However, the use of semen as invisible ink was ceased because of the smell it produced for the eventual receiver. It also raised questions over the masturbatory habits of the agents.
1357:
528:
officers into
Ireland from Egypt, Palestine, and India, while Basil Thomson organized a special unit consisting of 60 Irish street agents managed by communications from
260:
129:
32:
1367:
1088:
Ferguson, Harry : Operation
Kronstadt: The True Story of Honor, Espionage, and the Rescue of Britain's Greatest Spy, the Man with a Hundred Faces; 2010
137:
967:
849:
1342:
1317:
1186:
558:
1352:
535:
On Sunday, 21 November 1920, the
Headquarters Intelligence Staff of the IRA and its special Counterintelligence Branch under the leadership of
1362:
601:. Fleming chose to name his chief 'M' from Cumming's first name, Mansfield; this naming convention was extended to characters such as
1289:
269:
231:
154:
339:, and in 1885 was placed on the retired list as "unfit for service". In early 1903 he was posted (as a retired lieutenant) to the
1377:
1234:
1217:
923:
443:
1266:
1252:
1205:
1179:
1158:
1129:
1093:
1076:
1062:
710:
264:
141:
133:
1196:
1143:
747:
580:
471:
1372:
400:
365:
He added the surname
Cumming after his marriage in 1889 to Leslie Marian Valiant-Cumming, heiress of Logie near
536:
313:
1382:
1337:
1322:
351:
273:
209:
293:
1188:
Intelligence and Imperial Defence: British Intelligence and the Defence of the Indian Empire 1904–1924
1347:
586:
506:
297:
296:(d. 1756), the Nottingham banker who founded a banking dynasty and whose business much later became
162:
321:
913:
521:
317:
1332:
1327:
739:
The quest for C : Sir Mansfield Cumming and the founding of the British Secret Service
645:
631:
610:
551:
A blue plaque was unveiled on 30 March 2015 in Cumming's name at the SIS headquarters at 2
539:
284:
He was a great-great-grandson of the prominent merchant John Smith, a director of both the
253:
227:
8:
479:
1106:
289:
994:
462:
or the Secret Intelligence Service. Agents who worked for MI6 during the war included
1262:
1248:
1230:
1213:
1192:
1175:
1154:
1139:
1125:
1089:
1072:
1058:
1038:
1021:
919:
753:
743:
475:
350:. Prior to being appointed to run the Secret Service Bureau (SSB), he was working on
285:
158:
150:
36:
1282:
915:
Prisoners, Lovers, and Spies: The Story of Invisible Ink from Herodotus to Al-Qaeda
660:
427:
340:
573:
268:(1 April 1859 – 14 June 1923) was a British naval officer who served as the first
1224:
854:
685:
552:
370:
655:
602:
572:
Cumming was the basis for the fictional head of the SIS, named Control, in the
467:
447:
446:
to arrest twenty-two German spies in England. Eleven were executed, as was Sir
396:
187:
1311:
1299:
1117:
665:
650:
615:
529:
512:
490:
463:
439:
415:
757:
1167:
1151:
British Spies and Irish Rebels: British Intelligence and Ireland, 1916–1945
972:
622:
590:
Control signs his name as 'C' using green ink, as Cumming did in real life.
494:
454:
in 1916. During the war, the offices were renamed. The Home Section became
423:
359:
1136:
The Quest For C – Mansfield Cumming and the Founding of the Secret Service
517:
46:
737:
598:
593:
Cumming was also the basis for the fictional head of SIS in the original
576:
411:
392:
387:
347:
336:
241:
146:
71:
1032:
1015:
1110:
1100:
968:"Sir Mansfield Cumming, first MI6 chief, commemorated with blue plaque"
821:
594:
309:
205:
355:
438:
At the outbreak of war he was able to work with Vernon Kell and Sir
328:
327:
in 1877, and for the next seven years served in operations against
562:
English Heritage Blue Plaque at 2 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EJ
881:
451:
1172:
Russian Roulette: How British Spies Thwarted Lenin's Global Plot
1055:
Secret service: the making of the British intelligence community
366:
486:
332:
458:
or Security Service, while Cumming's Foreign Section became
1102:
The failure of British espionage against Germany, 1907–1914
626:
75:
1358:
Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
459:
455:
130:
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
876:
995:"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: John Le Carre and reality"
524:(IRA) were launching their own independence campaign.
1105:. Vol. 26. Historical Journal. pp. 867–89.
801:. No. 36986. London. 24 January 1903. p. 9.
584:
and other novels. In the movie version of le Carré's
1259:
Historical Dictionary of International Intelligence
493:, his agents adopted the motto "Every man his own
1309:
1081:Dolan, Anne: "Killing and Bloody Sunday, 1920",
911:
335:in 1883. However, he increasingly suffered from
1226:Trust No One: The Secret World of Sidney Reilly
566:
1368:Royal Navy personnel of the Anglo-Egyptian War
1069:The Anglo-Irish War The Troubles of 1913–1922
965:
850:"The spymaster who was stranger than fiction"
824:. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press. 1995
843:
841:
839:
16:British secret service director (1859–1923)
1184:
45:
1343:Chiefs of the Secret Intelligence Service
847:
316:from the age of twelve and was appointed
1318:World War I spies for the United Kingdom
966:Norton-Taylor, Richard (31 March 2015).
959:
836:
557:
232:Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service
155:Officer of the Legion of Honour (France)
1353:People of the Irish War of Independence
1148:
410:Budgets were severely limited prior to
1310:
1222:
918:. Yale University Press. p. 152.
414:, and Cumming came to rely heavily on
1098:
1085:, September 2006, Volume 49, Issue 3.
797:"Naval & Military intelligence".
303:
1210:SIX: The Real James Bonds, 1909–1939
764:
742:. London: HarperCollins. p. 3.
735:
1363:Companions of the Order of the Bath
777:
386:In 1909, Major (later Colonel Sir)
13:
1138:, HarperCollins Publishers, 1999,
893:Spence 2002, pp. 172–173, 185–186.
869:
822:"Dictionary of National Biography"
376:
257:Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming
134:Companion of the Order of the Bath
14:
1394:
581:The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
546:
346:as it became coastguard ship at
198:
180:
1185:Popplewell, Richard J. (1995).
1047:
1026:
1009:
987:
950:
941:
932:
905:
896:
887:
331:pirates (during 1875–6) and in
115:
814:
805:
790:
729:
703:
678:
433:
138:Order of St Stanislas (Russia)
1:
772:Smith's the Bankers 1658–1958
671:
485:When the SSB discovered that
426:of dubious veracity based in
163:Order of St Vladimir (Russia)
1378:Military personnel from Kent
567:Portrayal in popular culture
395:took these aspects for his "
7:
1223:Spence, Richard B. (2002).
639:
381:
274:Secret Intelligence Service
210:Secret Intelligence Service
142:India General Service Medal
28:Sir Mansfield Smith-Cumming
10:
1399:
1245:Circus Mi5 Operations 1945
504:
500:
320:in 1878. He was posted to
312:and underwent training at
279:
1296:
1287:
1279:
1274:
1122:The Secret History of MI6
912:Kristie Macrakis (2014).
686:"The Perak War 1875–1876"
608:In the television series
587:Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
507:Irish War of Independence
298:National Westminster Bank
247:
237:
223:
215:
193:
175:
168:
125:
99:
83:
53:
44:
23:
1099:Hiley, Nicholas (1983).
997:. BBC. 11 September 2011
902:Popplewell 1995, p. 230.
1373:People from Lee, London
1071:, London: Osprey, 2006
1149:McMahon, Paul (2011).
1124:, Penguin Press, 2010
1083:The Historical Journal
884:, Season 3, episode 10
614:, he was portrayed by
563:
105:Leslie Valiant-Cumming
58:Mansfield George Smith
646:Robert Bruce Lockhart
561:
522:Irish Republican Army
318:acting sub-lieutenant
1017:Reilly: Ace of Spies
621:He was portrayed by
611:Reilly, Ace of Spies
292:, the second son of
219:1878–1909; 1909–1923
1383:Royal Navy captains
1338:Royal Navy officers
1275:Government offices
1261:, Scarecrow, 2006,
770:J. Leighton Boyce,
736:Judd, Alan (1999).
480:W. Somerset Maugham
194:Service branch
1323:20th-century spies
1212:, Biteback, 2011.
956:Dolan, pp. 798–802
564:
450:, found guilty of
304:Early naval career
290:East India Company
216:Service years
170:Espionage activity
144:(with Perak clasp)
1306:
1305:
1297:Succeeded by
1236:978-0-922915-79-8
1218:978-1-84954-097-1
1174:, Sceptre, 2013.
1153:. Boydell Press.
1067:Cottrell, Peter,
925:978-0-300-17925-5
811:West 2006, p. 312
476:Compton Mackenzie
308:Smith joined the
286:South Sea Company
251:
250:
151:British War Medal
1390:
1348:British amputees
1290:Chief of the SIS
1283:William Melville
1280:Preceded by
1272:
1271:
1240:
1202:
1164:
1114:
1041:
1030:
1024:
1013:
1007:
1006:
1004:
1002:
991:
985:
984:
982:
980:
963:
957:
954:
948:
945:
939:
938:Cottrell, p. 28.
936:
930:
929:
909:
903:
900:
894:
891:
885:
873:
867:
866:
864:
862:
845:
834:
833:
831:
829:
818:
812:
809:
803:
802:
794:
788:
781:
775:
768:
762:
761:
733:
727:
726:
724:
722:
707:
701:
700:
698:
696:
690:Kaiserscross.com
682:
661:William Melville
543:that followed.
428:Saint Petersburg
267:
204:
202:
201:
186:
184:
183:
119:
117:
90:
67:
65:
49:
39:
21:
20:
1398:
1397:
1393:
1392:
1391:
1389:
1388:
1387:
1308:
1307:
1302:
1293:
1285:
1237:
1229:. Feral House.
1199:
1161:
1050:
1045:
1044:
1031:
1027:
1014:
1010:
1000:
998:
993:
992:
988:
978:
976:
964:
960:
955:
951:
946:
942:
937:
933:
926:
910:
906:
901:
897:
892:
888:
874:
870:
860:
858:
855:The Independent
848:Piers Brendon.
846:
837:
827:
825:
820:
819:
815:
810:
806:
796:
795:
791:
785:The Quest for C
782:
778:
769:
765:
750:
734:
730:
720:
718:
709:
708:
704:
694:
692:
684:
683:
679:
674:
642:
577:espionage novel
569:
553:Whitehall Court
549:
540:assassinated 14
537:Michael Collins
509:
503:
436:
384:
379:
377:Head of the SIS
371:County of Moray
306:
282:
259:
230:
208:
199:
197:
181:
179:
161:
157:
153:
149:
145:
140:
136:
132:
121:
118: 1889)
113:
109:
106:
95:
94:London, England
92:
88:
79:
69:
63:
61:
60:
59:
40:
31:
29:
26:
17:
12:
11:
5:
1396:
1386:
1385:
1380:
1375:
1370:
1365:
1360:
1355:
1350:
1345:
1340:
1335:
1330:
1325:
1320:
1304:
1303:
1298:
1295:
1286:
1281:
1277:
1276:
1270:
1269:
1267:978-0810855786
1255:
1253:978-0812829198
1241:
1235:
1220:
1206:Smith, Michael
1203:
1197:
1182:
1180:978-1444737028
1165:
1160:978-1843836568
1159:
1146:
1132:
1130:978-1594202742
1118:Jeffery, Keith
1115:
1096:
1094:978-1590202296
1086:
1079:
1077:978-1846030239
1065:
1063:978-0434021109
1049:
1046:
1043:
1042:
1025:
1008:
986:
958:
949:
947:McMahon, p. 39
940:
931:
924:
904:
895:
886:
868:
835:
813:
804:
789:
776:
763:
748:
728:
702:
676:
675:
673:
670:
669:
668:
663:
658:
656:Boris Savinkov
653:
648:
641:
638:
637:
636:
619:
606:
591:
568:
565:
548:
547:Commemmoration
545:
502:
499:
448:Roger Casement
444:Special Branch
435:
432:
383:
380:
378:
375:
305:
302:
281:
278:
249:
248:
245:
244:
239:
235:
234:
225:
221:
220:
217:
213:
212:
195:
191:
190:
188:United Kingdom
177:
173:
172:
166:
165:
159:Khedive's Star
127:
123:
122:
111:
107:
104:
103:
101:
97:
96:
93:
91:(aged 64)
85:
81:
80:
70:
57:
55:
51:
50:
42:
41:
30:
27:
24:
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1395:
1384:
1381:
1379:
1376:
1374:
1371:
1369:
1366:
1364:
1361:
1359:
1356:
1354:
1351:
1349:
1346:
1344:
1341:
1339:
1336:
1334:
1331:
1329:
1326:
1324:
1321:
1319:
1316:
1315:
1313:
1301:
1300:Hugh Sinclair
1292:
1291:
1284:
1278:
1273:
1268:
1264:
1260:
1256:
1254:
1250:
1247:UNKNO, 1972.
1246:
1242:
1238:
1232:
1228:
1227:
1221:
1219:
1215:
1211:
1207:
1204:
1200:
1198:0-7146-4580-X
1194:
1191:. Routledge.
1190:
1189:
1183:
1181:
1177:
1173:
1169:
1168:Milton, Giles
1166:
1162:
1156:
1152:
1147:
1145:
1144:0-00-255901-3
1141:
1137:
1133:
1131:
1127:
1123:
1119:
1116:
1112:
1108:
1104:
1103:
1097:
1095:
1091:
1087:
1084:
1080:
1078:
1074:
1070:
1066:
1064:
1060:
1056:
1052:
1051:
1040:
1036:
1035:
1029:
1023:
1019:
1018:
1012:
996:
990:
975:
974:
969:
962:
953:
944:
935:
927:
921:
917:
916:
908:
899:
890:
883:
879:
878:
872:
857:
856:
851:
844:
842:
840:
823:
817:
808:
800:
793:
786:
780:
773:
767:
759:
755:
751:
749:0-00-255901-3
745:
741:
740:
732:
716:
712:
711:"Index entry"
706:
691:
687:
681:
677:
667:
666:Hugh Sinclair
664:
662:
659:
657:
654:
652:
651:Sidney Reilly
649:
647:
644:
643:
634:
633:
628:
624:
620:
617:
616:Norman Rodway
613:
612:
607:
604:
600:
596:
592:
589:
588:
583:
582:
578:
575:
574:John le Carré
571:
570:
560:
556:
554:
544:
541:
538:
533:
531:
530:Scotland Yard
525:
523:
519:
514:
513:Basil Thomson
508:
498:
496:
492:
491:invisible ink
488:
483:
481:
477:
473:
469:
465:
464:Augustus Agar
461:
457:
453:
449:
445:
441:
440:Basil Thomson
431:
429:
425:
421:
417:
416:Sidney Reilly
413:
408:
404:
402:
398:
394:
389:
374:
372:
368:
363:
361:
357:
353:
352:boom defences
349:
345:
344:
338:
334:
330:
326:
325:
319:
315:
311:
301:
299:
295:
291:
287:
277:
275:
271:
266:
262:
258:
255:
246:
243:
240:
236:
233:
229:
226:
222:
218:
214:
211:
207:
196:
192:
189:
178:
174:
171:
167:
164:
160:
156:
152:
148:
143:
139:
135:
131:
128:
124:
102:
98:
86:
82:
77:
73:
56:
52:
48:
43:
38:
34:
22:
19:
1288:
1258:
1244:
1225:
1209:
1187:
1171:
1150:
1135:
1134:Judd, Alan:
1121:
1101:
1082:
1068:
1054:
1048:Bibliography
1033:
1028:
1016:
1011:
999:. Retrieved
989:
977:. Retrieved
973:The Guardian
971:
961:
952:
943:
934:
914:
907:
898:
889:
875:
871:
859:. Retrieved
853:
826:. Retrieved
816:
807:
798:
792:
784:
779:
771:
766:
738:
731:
719:. Retrieved
714:
705:
693:. Retrieved
689:
680:
630:
623:Joss Ackland
609:
585:
579:
550:
534:
526:
510:
489:made a good
484:
437:
424:secret agent
420:Ace of Spies
419:
409:
405:
385:
364:
360:River Hamble
342:
323:
307:
283:
256:
252:
169:
89:(1923-06-14)
87:14 June 1923
68:1 April 1859
18:
1333:1923 deaths
1328:1859 births
1053:Andrew, C:
695:23 December
599:Ian Fleming
532:in London.
472:John Buchan
434:World War I
412:World War I
399:" from the
393:Ian Fleming
388:Vernon Kell
348:Southampton
337:seasickness
324:Bellerophon
242:World War I
147:Egypt Medal
1312:Categories
1294:1909–1923
672:References
629:TV series
597:novels by
595:James Bond
505:See also:
468:Paul Dukes
401:James Bond
310:Royal Navy
294:Abel Smith
238:Operations
206:Royal Navy
176:Allegiance
64:1859-04-01
1257:West, N:
1243:West, N:
799:The Times
783:A. Judd,
518:Sinn Féin
418:(aka the
356:Bursledon
314:Dartmouth
78:, England
1034:Ashenden
979:31 March
758:42215120
640:See also
635:in 1991.
632:Ashenden
520:and the
403:novels.
382:Pre-1914
288:and the
1111:2639324
1057:; 1985
1001:17 June
882:BBC One
828:17 June
787:(1999).
774:(1958).
715:FreeBMD
625:in the
501:Ireland
452:treason
442:of the
369:in the
358:on the
280:Origins
276:(SIS).
272:of the
254:Captain
228:Captain
120:
112:
108:
25:Captain
1265:
1251:
1233:
1216:
1195:
1178:
1157:
1142:
1128:
1109:
1092:
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