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British intelligence and the Anglo-Irish truce, July–December 1921

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2016

Paul McMahon
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Extract

Conspiracy theories have always accompanied the shadowy and ambiguous interventions of British intelligence in Irish affairs. Commentators in Ireland often accuse British intelligence and security agencies of being stubbornly hostile to Irish nationalist aspirations and inclined to oppose, and even sabotage, official British peace initiatives This attitude has a long heritage and can be traced back to the Anglo-Irish treaty negotiations in 1921. There was a widespread belief in Irish nationalist circles that intelligence officers were exercising a baleful influence on British politicians: at one point during the negotiations Michael Collins angrily brandished a warlike British military intelligence document that had fallen into his hands and claimed that the army was working to destroy the truce.

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 35 , Issue 140 , November 2007 , pp. 519 - 540
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 2007

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References

1 Jones, Tom, Whitehall diary, ed. Middlemas, Keith (3 vols, London, 1969-71), iii, 133Google Scholar.

2 Hart, Peter (ed.), British intelligence in Ireland, 1920–21: the final report (Cork, 2002Google Scholar); Hopkinson, Michael, The Irish War of Independence (Dublin, 2002)Google Scholar. For earlier works see O’Halpin, Eunan, ‘British intelligence on Ireland, 1914–1921’ in Andrew, C. M. and Dilks, D. N. (eds), The missing dimension: governments and intelligence communities in the 20th century (London, 1984), pp 54–77CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Andrew, Christopher, Secret service: the making of the British intelligence community (London, 1985Google Scholar); Townshend, Charles, The British campaign in Ireland, 1919–1921 (Oxford, 1975)Google Scholar; Jeffery, Keith, ‘British military intelligence following World War I’ in Robertson, K. G. (ed.), British and American approaches to intelligence (London, 1987), pp 55–83CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Coogan, Tim Pat, Michael Collins (London, 1990)Google Scholar.

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8 Sturgis diaries, ed. Hopkinson, pp 40, 90.

9 ‘Record of the rebellion in Ireland and the part played by the army in dealing with it: intelligence’, ii, 10 (Imperial War Museum (henceforth I.W.M.), Jeudwine papers) (henceforth ‘Army record of the rebellion*); Macready, Nevil, Annals of an active life (2 vols, London, 1928), ii, 462Google Scholar; table of secret service expenditure compiled by Sir John Anderson, 1 Apr. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., HO 317/59).

10 ‘Army record of the rebellion’, ii, 7.

11 Winter report on intelligence branch; see also Thomson to Macready, 20 Aug. 1920 (T.N.A., P.R.O., HO 317/59).

12 ‘Army record of the rebellion’, ii, 28.

13 Macready to Greenwood, 27 Apr. 1921 (I.W.M., HHW 2/2D/36).

14 ‘Army record of the rebellion’, i, 43; L. K. Lockhart to Hemming, 11 May 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., HO 317/60). Recent historical research has stressed the weakness of the LR. A. by the time of the truce: see Townshend, Charles, Ireland: the 20th century (London, 1998), p. 103Google Scholar; Augusteijn, Joost, From public defiance to guerrilla warfare: the experience of ordinary Volunteers in the Irish War of Independence, 1916–1921 (Dublin, 1996), pp 138-9Google Scholar.

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16 Macready to Wilson, 17 Jun. 1921 (I.W.M., HHW 2/2E/24).

17 Sturgis diaries, ed. Hopkinson, pp 6, 201.

18 Macready to Wilson, 16 Aug. 1921 (I.W.M., HHW 2/2E/62); Macready to Andersor 19 Sept. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., HO 317/59); Anderson to Macready, 28 Sept. 1921 (ibid.) Macready to Anderson, 15 Oct. 1921 (ibid.).

19 Lt-Col. French to Anderson, 31 Oct. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., HO 317/59).

20 Andrew, Secret service, pp 283–4.

21 Macready, Annals, ii, 584.

22 Cope to Greenwood, 9 Aug. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., HO 317/46).

23 Lt-Col. French to Anderson, 31 Oct. 1921 (ibid., HO 317/59).

24 Intelligence report by ‘D [Dublin] Branch’ of Irish police, 22 Oct. 1921 (ibid., HO 317/46).

25 Macready to Wilson, 26 Nov. 1921 (I.W.M., HHW 2/2G/4).

26 Jones, , Whitehall diary, ed. Middlemas, , iii, 88Google Scholar.

27 de L’Epée Winter, Ormonde, Winter’s tale (London, 1955), p. 319Google Scholar.

28 Anonymous report on temperament of Sinn Féin leaders [probably by army intelligence], 11 July 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., HO 317/49).

29 Intelligence report marked ‘J’ [from Winter’s ‘London Bureau’], 1 Nov. 1921 (ibid., HO 317/46).

30 Murphy, Brian, John Chartres: mystery man of the treaty (Dublin, 1995), pp 48-9, 57–8, 67–8Google Scholar.

31 Macready to Anderson, 19 Sept., 17 Nov. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., HO 317/59).

32 Macready to Wilson, 5 Dec. 1921 (I.W.M., HHW 2/2G/19).

33 History of the 5th Division in Ireland by Jeudwine, 23 Mar. 1922 (I.W.M., Jeudwine papers, 72/82/2).

34 Report on military situation in Ireland by Col. J. J. Brind, 1 Oct. 1921, contained in appendix to ‘Army record of the rebellion’, i, 59.

35 Wilson-Macready correspondence, June-July 1921 (I.W.M., HHW 2/2E).

36 Macready report for cabinet, 2 July 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., CAB 24/126).

37 ‘O’ [Col. Winter] to Hemming, 1 July 1921 (ibid., HO 371/60).

38 Macready to divisional commanders, 24 Oct. 1921 (I.W.M., HHW 2/2F/35).

39 Diary of Lt-Gen. Sir H. S. Strickland, 11 July 1921 (I.W.M., Strickland papers).

40 General SirGodley, Alexander, Life of an Irish soldier (London, 1939), p. 275Google Scholar.

41 Winter, Winter’s tale, p. 345. For a similar but slightly more cautious opinion see Macready, Annals, ii, 562, 596.

42 Strickland diary, 17 May 1922 (I.W.M., Strickland papers).

43 Wilson to Macready, 12 July 1921 (ibid., HHW 2/2E/37). Wilson, when visiting Woolwich for its annual inspection, found ‘amongst the officers the same astonishment and horror at the present proceedings’ (ibid.).

44 Report on revolutionary organisations in the U.K. by Thomson, 25 Aug. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., CAB 24/127).

45 Admiral E. F. A. Gaunt to Macready, 29 Oct. 1921, enclosed with Macready to Wilson, 2 Nov. 1921 (I.W.M., HHW 2/2F/42).

46 Sturgis diaries, ed. Hopkinson, p. 202. For the opinion of the commander of the 6th Division see memo by Strickland, 8 Aug. 1921 (I.W.M., Strickland papers, P363).

47 Report on revolutionary organisations in the U.K. by Thomson, 7 July 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., CAB 24/126).

48 Macready report for cabinet, 9 Aug. 1921 (ibid., CAB 24/127).

49 Appreciation of situation by ‘O’ [Col. Winter], 2 Aug. 1921 (ibid., HO 317/60).

50 Greenwood report for cabinet, 31 Oct. 1921 (ibid., CAB 24/129).

51 Macready report for cabinet, 18 Nov. 1921 (ibid.).

52 Appreciation of situation by ‘O’ [Col. Winter], 2 Aug. 1921 (ibid., HO 317/60).

53 For example, see report on revolutionary organisations in the U.K. by Thomson, 1 Sept. 1921 (ibid., CAB 24/127).

54 Appreciation of situation by ‘O’ [Col. Winter], 2 Aug. 1921 (ibid., HO 317/60).

55 Macready to Wilson, 17 Aug. 1921 (I.W.M., HHW 2/2E/64); see also Macready to Wilson, 21 Sept. 1921 (ibid., HHW 2/2F/21).

56 Report for cabinet by Brind (in Macready’s absence), 4 Oct. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., CAB 24/128).

57 Macready to Wilson, 12 Sept. 1921 (I.W.M., HHW 2/2F/8).

58 Macready to Wilson, 4 Dec. 1921 (ibid., HHW 2/2G/17).

59 Report on revolutionary organisations in the U.K. by Thomson, 25 Aug. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., CAB 24/127).

60 Macready report for cabinet, 8 Nov. 1921 (ibid., CAB 24/129).

61 Strickland memo on situation in 6th Division area, 8 Aug. 1921 (I.W.M., Strickland papers, P363).

62 Report for cabinet by Brind (in Macready’s absence), 4 Oct. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., CAB 24/128).

63 Macready, Annals, ii, 583.

64 Macready report for cabinet, 9 Aug. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., CAB 24/127). See also Greenwood report for cabinet, 29 Sept. 1921 (ibid., CAB 24/128); report on revolutionary organisations in the U.K. by Thomson, 6 Oct. 1921 (ibid.).

65 Macready report for cabinet, 27 Sept. 1921 (ibid., CAB 24/128).

66 Unless otherwise stated, this section is taken from M. C. Seton to Anderson, 8 Oct. 1921 (ibid., HO 317/59); Wallinger to Colonel Carter, 10 Oct. 1921 (ibid., FO 371/6912); Seton to Foreign Office, 11 Oct. 1921 (ibid.). While primarily concerned with Indian intelligence, Major Wallinger (then a captain) had also run a network in Germany from Switzerland during the First World War: see Andrew, Secret service, pp 148–9.

67 Andrew, Secret service, p. 277. For further information on Chattopadhyaya see Popplewell, Richard, Intelligence and imperial defence: British intelligence and the defence of the Indian empire, 1904–1924 (London, 1995), pp 222–8Google Scholar.

68 However, there is evidence that Sinn Féin representatives abroad did have contacts with Egyptian nationalists: see report by MacWhite, enclosed with Arthur Griffith to Cathal Brugha, 14 Nov. 1921 (N.A.I., D/FA, EF Box 23, File 139(1)).

69 See letters from John T. Ryan to Joseph McGarrity, [1921-2] (N.L.I., McGarrity papers, MS 17486(1-2)); Murphy, Chartres, pp 48–9, 57–8, 67–8.

70 Andrew, Secret service, pp 280–81.

71 Memo on conversation between Irish officials and Sir Edward Bellingham (former head of British Military Mission in Berlin), 6 Mar. 1922 (N.A.I., D/FA, EF Box 23, File 140(2)). Bellingham, an Anglo-Irish landowner, volunteered this information on his activities in Berlin as he was ‘eager to help the new Government’ in Dublin.

72 Ibid. The identity of the Irish representative who led the Orgesch man to the Anita is not certain, but an official of the German Foreign Office was reported as saying that ‘the secret was given away by a certain person named Chatterton-Hill’, who was attached to the Sinn Féin representatives at that time. This came second-hand to the Irish authorities, by way of the ex-Khedive of Egypt, who spoke to the Sinn Féin representative in Switzerland (report by Mac White, enclosed with Griffith to Brugha, 14 Nov. 1921 (N.A.I., D/FA, EF Box 23, File 139(1)).

73 Col. J. F. C. Carter to Anderson, 21 Oct. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., HO 317/59).

74 See Metropolitan Police minutes, 10 June, 6 July 1921 (ibid., MEPO 3/465).

75 Report on revolutionary organisations in the U.K. by Special Branch, 17 Nov. 1921 (ibid., CAB 24/129).

76 Report on revolutionary organisations in the U.K. by Thomson, 27 Oct. 1921 (ibid.).

77 Report on revolutionary organisations in the U.K. by Special Branch, 24 Nov. 1921 (ibid., CAB 24/131). Acircular was issued to all major firms warning them to be cautious, and efforts were made to regulate supplies: see Home Office minutes, 18, 22 Nov. 1921 (ibid., HO 5/11223); Carter to Home Office, 21 Nov. 1921 (ibid.).

78 Report on revolutionary organisations in the U.K. by Special Branch, 1 Dec. 1921 (ibid., CAB 24/131). The British army suspected that Roche had been working under the instructions of Michael Collins (Wilson diary, 7, 8 Dec. 1921 (I.W.M., Wilson diaries, DS/MISC/90)).

79 Reports on revolutionary organisations in the U.K. by Thomson, 14, 20 Oct. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., CAB 24/129).

80 Report on revolutionary organisations in the U.K. by Thomson, 27 Oct. 1921 (ibid.).

81 Murphy, Chartres, pp 57–8, 67–8; Dorothy Macardle, The Irish Republic (4th ed., Dublin, 1951), p. 539.

82 Ten Thompson guns and eleven automatic pistols were seized from the S.S. Baltic on her arrival into Liverpool from New York (report on revolutionary organisations in the U.K. by Special Branch, 8 Dec. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., CAB 24/131)).

83 Report on revolutionary organisations in the U.K. by Special Branch, 17 Nov. 1921 (ibid., CAB 24/129).

84 Macready to Wilson, 1 Dec. 1921 (I.W.M., HHW 2/2G/10).

85 Report on military situation in Ireland by Brind, 1 Oct. 1921, contained in appendix to ‘Army record of the rebellion’, i, 59 (original emphasis).

86 Police intelligence report from Dundalk ‘local centre’, 2 Dec. 1921 (P.R.O.N.I., CAB 6/27/2). This report, along with others, was sent by Winter to the ‘local centre’ in Belfast and was then passed on to the Northern Ireland government.

87 For example, see Wilson to Macready, 30 Nov. 1921 (I.W.M., HHW 2/2G/8).

88 Police intelligence report from Winter’s ‘Dublin Branch’, 1 Nov. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., HO 317/46).

89 Winter to Belfast ‘local centre’, 3, 4 Dec. 1921 (P.R.O.N.I., CAB 6/27/2).

90 Report for cabinet by Brind (in Macready’s absence), 4 Oct. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., CAB 24/128).

91 Macready, Annals, ii, 562.

92 Wilson to Macready, 5 Sept. 1921 (I.W.M., HHW 2/2F/3).

93 Hopkinson, Green against green, pp 15–18. For similar assessments see Regan, J. M., ‘The politics of reaction: the dynamics of treatyite government and policy, 1922–33’ in I.H.S., xxx, no. 120 (Nov. 1997), pp 547-8Google Scholar; Mitchell, Arthur, Revolutionary government in Ireland: Dáil Eireann, 1919–22 (Dublin, 1995), pp 312–19Google Scholar. In private, Collins warned his colleagues that the I.R.A. would be ‘slaughtered’ if it had to face the might of the British army (Hart, Peter, Mick: the real Michael Collins (London, 2005), pp 316–22Google Scholar).

94 McGarry, Fearghal, Eoin O’Duffy: a self-made hero (Oxford, 2005), p. 85Google Scholar.

95 Macready later wrote that ‘The doubts which I, in common with all the senior officers of the Army and police, had in regard to the good faith of de Valera’s followers, were only too well justified by events’ (Macready, Annals, ii, 577–8).

96 See Greenwood reports for cabinet, 6, 12 Aug., 24 Sept. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., CAB 24/127-8); Will Darling to Capt. F. Hemming, 9 Aug., 18 Oct. 1921 (ibid., HO 316/60); Fitzalan to Lloyd George, 20, 23 Aug. 1921, quoted in Lawlor, ‘Ireland from truce to treaty’, p. 53.

97 Macready, Annals, ii, 601; Macready to Wilson, 25 Oct. 1921 (I.W.M., HHW 2/2F/36).

98 Appreciation of situation by ‘O’ [Col. Winter], 2 Aug. 1921 (T.N.A., P.R.O., HO 317/60).

99 Macready, Annals, ii, 584, 605.

100 Lawlor, ‘Ireland from truce to treaty’, pp 49–64.

101 The Riddell diaries, 1908–1923, ed. McEwen, J. M. (London, 1986), p. 353Google Scholar (16 Oct. 1921). Lord Riddell was the owner of the News of the World and a close friend of the prime minister.

102 Real old Tory politics: the political diaries of Sir Robert Sanders, Lord Bayford, 1910–35, ed. Ramsden, John (London, 1984), p. 162Google Scholar (22 Oct. 1921).

103 Winter to Belfast ‘local centre’, 3, 4 Dec. 1921 (P.R.O.N.I., CAB 6/27/2).

104 See intercepted military and police communication in possession of I.R.A. Southern Division, Aug.-Nov. 1921 (N.L.I., Florence O’Donoghue papers, MS 31230(1)).

105 Jones, Whitehall diary, ed. Middlemas, iii, 133.