The Role of Intelligence in the Battle of Britain

The Role of Intelligence in the Battle of Britain PDF Author: Norman Ridley
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1399010395
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
This in-depth WWII history examines how the Battle of Britain was shaped by military intelligence on both sides of the conflict. In the summer and fall of 1940, the UK successfully fended off a relentless German attack from the air. While the Battle of Britain was essentially a war of attrition, it was critically influenced at every stage by the gathering, assessment, and reaction to intelligence. In this fascinating study, military historian Norman Ridley examines all aspects of German and British intelligence, from the accuracy of its data to the effectiveness of its deployment. Both the Luftwaffe and the RAF lacked detailed information about each other’s war production capacity. While the Luftwaffe did have pre-war aerial surveillance data, it was largely out of date by the time of the battle. Though RAF Fighter Command had a distinct advantage through its radar surveillance systems, the new technology wasn’t totally reliable and often difficult to interpret. It also had the benefit of intercepting and decoding Luftwaffe communications. Rather than acting as a “force multiplier”, the Luftwaffe’s poor intelligence actually acted as a “force diluter”, wasting resources in strategically questionable areas. On the other hand, the British had the means, however imperfect, to respond quickly and effectively to each new strategic initiative they faced.

The Role of Intelligence in the Battle of Britain

The Role of Intelligence in the Battle of Britain PDF Author: Norman Ridley
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1399010395
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book

Book Description
This in-depth WWII history examines how the Battle of Britain was shaped by military intelligence on both sides of the conflict. In the summer and fall of 1940, the UK successfully fended off a relentless German attack from the air. While the Battle of Britain was essentially a war of attrition, it was critically influenced at every stage by the gathering, assessment, and reaction to intelligence. In this fascinating study, military historian Norman Ridley examines all aspects of German and British intelligence, from the accuracy of its data to the effectiveness of its deployment. Both the Luftwaffe and the RAF lacked detailed information about each other’s war production capacity. While the Luftwaffe did have pre-war aerial surveillance data, it was largely out of date by the time of the battle. Though RAF Fighter Command had a distinct advantage through its radar surveillance systems, the new technology wasn’t totally reliable and often difficult to interpret. It also had the benefit of intercepting and decoding Luftwaffe communications. Rather than acting as a “force multiplier”, the Luftwaffe’s poor intelligence actually acted as a “force diluter”, wasting resources in strategically questionable areas. On the other hand, the British had the means, however imperfect, to respond quickly and effectively to each new strategic initiative they faced.

Strategy & Intellegence

Strategy & Intellegence PDF Author: Michael Dockrill
Publisher: Continuum
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Collection of essays which summarise the latest literature on Britain's participation in the First World War and also opens up new lines of investigation

Behind the Battle

Behind the Battle PDF Author: Ralph Francis Bennett
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 9780712665216
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
Many recent studies have covered aspects of the military intelligence available to Britain and her allies during the Second World War, but until now no succint survey of the whole field has existed. By the end of 1942 Ultra had become the richest and most reliable of the many different sources, but the relation between their individual contributions requires analysis. This authoritative book provides that service and offers a detailed study. When war began, Britain was ill-prepared in intelligence as in armaments. Civilian scientists had discovered the principle of radar in the mid-1930s, but everything else had to be learned from scratch in the heat of the emergency. First signs of improvement came in mid-1941, when Ultra targeted navel vessels and bomber aircraft on to so many of Rommel's supply ships that the Afrika Korps almost withered on the vine. From then on intelligence played an increasingly indispensable part in final victory. Ultra won the Battle of the Atlantic, driving the U-boats back to coastal waters by June 1943. A lower grade code gave Montgomery the vital first news of the whereabouts of the German tanks as he planned the breakthrough at Alamein.

Intelligence and the War Against Japan

Intelligence and the War Against Japan PDF Author: Richard J. Aldrich
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521641869
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 536

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Book Description
This book explores the politics of the British and American secret service during the Far Eastern War.

British Military Intelligence in the Palestine Campaign, 1914-1918

British Military Intelligence in the Palestine Campaign, 1914-1918 PDF Author: Yigal Sheffy
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135245703
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
Shortly after the end of the First World War, General Sir George Macdonagh, wartime director of British Military Intelligence, revealed that Lord Allenby's victory in Palestine had never been in doubt because of the success of his intelligence service. Seventy-five years later this book explains Macdonagh's statement. Sheffy also adopts a novel approach to traditional heroes of the campaign such as T E Lawrence.

Agents of Influence

Agents of Influence PDF Author: Aaron Edwards
Publisher: Merrion Press
ISBN: 1785373439
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 371

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Book Description
Recruited by British Intelligence to infiltrate the IRA and Sinn Féin during the height of the Northern Ireland Troubles, they were ‘agents of influence’. With codenames like INFLICTION, STAKEKNIFE, 3007 and CAROL, these spies played a pivotal role in the fight against Irish republicanism. Now, for the first time, some of these agents have emerged from the shadows to tell their compelling stories. Agents of Influence takes you behind the scenes of the secret intelligence war which helped bring the IRA’s armed struggle to an end. Historian Aaron Edwards, the critically acclaimed author of UVF: Behind the Mask, explains how the IRA was penetrated by British agents, with explosive new revelations about the hidden agendas of prominent republicans like Martin McGuinness and Freddie Scappaticci and lesser-known ones like Joe Haughey and John Joe Magee. Bringing to light recently declassified TOP SECRET documents and the firsthand testimonies of agents and their handlers, Edwards reveals how British Intelligence gained extraordinary access to the IRA’s inner circle and manipulated them into engaging with the peace process. With new insights into the spy masters behind the scenes, their strategies and tactics, and Britain’s international intelligence network in Northern Ireland, Europe, and beyond, Agents of Influence offers a rare and shocking glimpse into the clandestine world of secret agents, British intelligence strategy and the betrayal at the heart of militant Irish republicanism during the vicious decades of the Troubles.

The Secret War Between the Wars: MI5 in the 1920s And 1930s

The Secret War Between the Wars: MI5 in the 1920s And 1930s PDF Author: Kevin Quinlan
Publisher: Boydell Press
ISBN: 9781783277094
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
The methods developed by British intelligence in the early twentieth century continue to resonate today. Much like now, the intelligence activity of the British in the pre-Second World War era focused on immediate threats posed by subversive, clandestine networks against a backdrop of shifting great power politics.

The Ultra Secret. (1974). (3. Impr.)

The Ultra Secret. (1974). (3. Impr.) PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description


Half the battle

Half the battle PDF Author: Robert Mackay
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1847795358
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. How well did civilian morale stand up to the pressures of total war and what factors were important to it? This book rejects contentions that civilian morale fell a long way short of the favourable picture presented at the time and in hundreds of books and films ever since. While acknowledging that some negative attitudes and behaviour existed—panic and defeatism, ration-cheating and black-marketeering—it argues that these involved a very small minority of the population. In fact, most people behaved well, and this should be the real measure of civilian morale, rather than the failing of the few who behaved badly. The book shows that although before the war, the official prognosis was pessimistic, measures to bolster morale were taken nevertheless, in particular with regard to protection against air raids. An examination of indicative factors concludes that moral fluctuated but was in the main good, right to the end of the war. In examining this phenomenon, due credit is accorded to government policies for the maintenance of morale, but special emphasis is given to the ‘invisible chain’ of patriotic feeling that held the nation together during its time of trial.

The Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain PDF Author: James Holland
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1429919418
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1277

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Book Description
A groundbreaking new account of the Battle of Britain from acclaimed Cambridge historian James Holland The Battle of Britain paints a stirring picture of an extraordinary summer when the fate of the world hung by a thread. Historian James Holland has now written the definitive account of those months based on extensive new research from around the world including thousands of new interviews with people on both sides of the battle. If Britain's defenses collapsed, Hitler would have dominated all of Europe. With France facing defeat and British forces pressed back to the Channel, there were few who believed Britain could survive; but, thanks to a sophisticated defensive system and the combined efforts of the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy and the defiance of a new Prime Minister, Britain refused to give in. From clashes between coastal convoys and Schnellboote in the Channel to astonishing last stands in Flanders, slaughter by U-boats in an icy Atlantic and dramatic aerial battles over England, The Battle of Britain tells this epic World War II story in a fresh and compelling voice.