I was surprised to chance across the suggestion that the origin of the CIA lie on the Canadian side of Lake Ontario at Camp X, circa 1941 (Camp X being one of the SEO’s secret bases Churchill set up to train agents heading into occupied Europe).
As I understand it, US trainees were invited to Camp X before Pearl Harbor largely because there was no equivalent in the US and because FDR and Winston were kissing up. The lessons learned from time spent there led to the creation of what became the post-war CIA.
It surprised me, as someone brought up on (an example) the Elizabeth l/Francis Walsingham double act of early 1570’s+ – that the US didn’t have some kind of organised central Intelligence gathering Agency prior to Pearl Harbor – I’m not sure that can’t be correct.
There have been wars (WW1 kind of stands out) all through US history so something must have been in place prior to Camp X, mustn’t it ?
NB: This SD Classic - written by a humble staffer called ‘Manny’ - address how many Agencies are now involved in the field (13) but there’s nuffin in the GQ archive I could find.
The US did have some codebreaking and wiretapping services and such, prior to Pearl Harbor. But the OSS (CIA’s fore runner) didn’t really get started until WW2.
The U.S. has a long but confusing intelligence history. George Washington, for example, ran his own military intelligence operation, some details of which he never fully divulged. At the same time, Ben Franklin and others were working with considerable success (and some embarassing failures) on the diplomatic intelligence front.
Jumping forward four-score-and-some years forward, the United States felt compelled to hire a private detective, Allan Pinkerton (founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency), to run a military intelligence operation for the Union Army. It would appear as if he did not do the best job–he was diverted to other pursuits shortly after Gen. George McClellan relied on Pinkerton’s work rather than the authentic Confederate battle orders which had fallen into his hands. Most of the US intelligence efforts were abandoned with the close of the Civil War.
In World War I, the United States again grew an intelligence community, and again it more-or-less dissolved in peacetime. In 1929, American diplomatic intelligence was essentially dealt a crippling blow to US cryptology efforts when Secretary of State Henry Stimson reputedly stated “gentlemen do not read each other’s mail,” and disbanded the Black Chamber, a code-breaking operation run by Herbert O. Yardley. Yardley subsequently went to Canada in 1941, where he established a code-breaking office for the Canadians. I do not know, however, whether Yardley is associated with the “Camp X” you cite.
According to The Spy Book, p. 408, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was founded on June 13, 1942, and William “Wild Bill” Donovan was placed at its head. Donovan had just spent an extended period of time studying the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), and based the OSS on that model. Donovan certainly could have visited the SOE base in Ontario. (Among the more interesting characters to join the OSS were future television chef Julia Child and Sterling “Gen. Jack Ripper” Hayden.)
Again, with peacetime, the OSS was abolished. However, this time the organization was simply broken into constituent parts and transferred to other departments. Much of it was reconstituted in July, 1947 as the CIA.
Thanks for the comprehensive response, SK.
Find it surprising that the US didn’t have an Agency addressing external Intelligence earlier – one might have thought the Russian Revolution would have persuaded politicians of the worth of continuing such activities after WW1. Curious. Presumably, Henry Stimson’s perspective reflects the prevailing attitude.
Incidently, Camp X is actually quite interesting – amongst much else, it was where Ian Fleming began his Intelligence career. Didn’t find a lot online but this gives a flavour of what it was all about:
http://www.utoronto.ca/museum/reviews/2000/campx.html
Well, thanks, London, but I don’t consider my response complete. I’ve only pointed out some circumstantial links between the American, British, and Canadian intelligence services. There must be more than that.
Also, it’s not as if the United States had no intelligence whatsoever in between the World Wars (chuckle). The U.S. armed forces kept their own military intelligence operations (and took over much of the code-breaking once the Black Chamber was squashed), while the State Department continued in its own inimitable way as a fine collector of diplomatic information, as they still do. At the same time, the FBI under Hoover had already taken on much of the responsibilities of counterespionage.
In an odd sort of way, Secretary Stimson’s opinion probably made lots of sense at the time. I would argue that prior to World War II, the American tradition was for the heavies–Presidents, generals, diplomats–to run their own, informal organizations. Because they were usually based on personal loyalties, those organizations were difficult to crack and often paid off handsome dividends. It was only when the big wide world slapped America out of its slumber that more elaborate organizations were deemed necessary.
Anyway, I’m really interested in learning more about this. Somewhere around here I have a copy of A Man Called Intrepid. If I find out anything further, I’ll pop back in.