1. Gather information that you already know
Did your relative tell you anything about their wartime service? Are there any clues to follow up?
Bear in mind that someone working in intelligence would have been warned not to talk about their work, but you may be able to piece together stories that will instruct the next steps of your research journey.
Start from the information you think you know and build from there. Gather details such as their name and date of birth, names of next of kin, and any photographs, documents or other memorabilia related to their service.
2. Locate a military service record
As stated by Phil Tomaselli in Tracing Your Secret Service Ancestors (Pen and Sword Family History, 2009), ‘there is a very strong chance that your relative served in one of the armed forces either as a ‘cover’ for their real work, because they started in the forces and transferred, or simply as an administrative means of getting them paid’.
In order to locate a service record you will need to establish which military branch your relative served with – the Army, Royal Navy, Royal Marines or Royal Air Force. Refer to the relevant research guide for detailed advice on locating a service record.
The service record could indicate that someone was posted to a unit known to be in signals intelligence. For example, HMS Pembroke III or V for Wrens (Women's Royal Naval Service) who took on various intelligence roles, No.4 Intelligence School for Army at Bletchley Park, or numbered Wireless Units for RAF and WAAF personnel.
3. Identify which intelligence agency they worked for
A person could work for several intelligence and security agencies during their career, so it might be a case of multiple choices to investigate. Our research guide to Intelligence and security services explains which staff records are available and how to search for them.
The main agencies are:
Special Branch - Metropolitan Police
Special Branch was at the forefront of the state’s counter-espionage and counter-subversion work. It is no longer in existence - the name Special Branch has been replaced by Counter Terrorism Command.
Records of Metropolitan Police service between 1830 and 1933 are available at The National Archives, including those of Special Branch Officers who retired before 1933.
For guidance to searching for Special Branch personnel records, read our guide to the London Metropolitan Police.
Security Service - MI5
MI5 protects the UK against threats to national security. It has a programme of releasing, through The National Archives, files of historical interest that are at least 50 years old. These records include the Security Service: Personal Files in the series KV 2 which are mainly focused on individuals of interest to the service. The files include reports written by MI5 staff.
MI5 does not release the personnel records of its staff and is not subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, 2000. However, MI5's contact page on its website explains how to make an enquiry as to whether a member of your family used to work for MI5.
Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) - MI6
MI6 protects the UK’s people, economy and interests from Overseas threats. It is the stated policy of MI6 not to release any of its papers, files or correspondence to the public, and this includes the names of its officers and agents.
Signals intelligence
The Government Code and Cypher School (GCCS) or Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ).
During the First World War Britain built up a significant Signals Intelligence (Sigint) operation, listening to enemy radio traffic. The GCCS was based at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, intercepting and decrypting enemy communications.
Unfortunately, service records for wartime civilian personnel of GCCS do not survive.
Special Operations Executive (SOE):
The SOE functioned during the Second World War to promote sabotage and subversion and assist resistance groups in enemy occupied territory.
Because of the sensitive nature of many of the papers on these files, they are closed during the lifetime of the individuals concerned or until they can be assumed to be deceased (i.e. their 100th birthday). Where no date of birth is known it is assumed that the youngest agents in the field in the last year of the war might have been born as late as 1930, and the 100 year closure date has been calculated from 1930.
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- From our collection
- HS 9
- Title
- Special Operations Executive: Personnel Files
- Date
- 1939-1946
To Miss Collard.
17.4.43.
Will you please proceed to SHEFFIELD on Sunday 18th April to take part in an exercise? There is a train from St. Pancras at 12 o'clock arriving Sheffield at 4.33 p.m. Accommodation has been booked for you at Royal Victoria Station Hotel.
The R.S.L.O's telephone number is LEEDS 30785 (Major Hordern or Captain Marryst), but please do not make use of this except in an emergency.
The student whom you have to contact in this case is a woman, operating under the name of Mrs. Cicely HUMBLE. Her description is:
Age 35-40. Height 5'6. Slim build.
Shield-shaped face. Blue, wide-set eyes.
Straight nose. Thin lips - short upper lip.
Slim, long hands.
She will be in the Royal Victoria Station Hotel from 12.30 to 14.00 hrs. on Monday 19.4.43 - first in the cocktail bar, then lunch in the main dining-room, then coffee in the lounge.
Excerpt from the personnel file of Marie Christine Chilver. Catalogue reference: HS 9/307/3
4. Search the Bletchley Park Roll of Honour
The Bletchley Park Roll of Honour aims to recognise those who contributed to signals intelligence during the Second World War, at Bletchley Park and other locations.
It has been compiled using information from wartime records, published sources, and contributions from veterans, their families, and former colleagues.
It lists over 14,000 names, but the total number of people involved was probably more than 20,000.
5. Search Foreign Office correspondence
Records of individuals involved with the Secret Intelligence Service or the Special Operations Executive may occasionally appear within the general correspondence of the Foreign Office.
To locate correspondence from 1920 to 1953, you’ll need to consult the Foreign Office indexes. These include references to ‘green papers’, which were originally classified as confidential or secret but are now part of the general correspondence collection.
The indexes are organised by year and then alphabetically by topic. When searching for a specific person, you can look up their name directly. However, it may also be helpful to consider broader subjects under which they might be mentioned, such as a location, country, or topic of work.
See our research guide to Foreign Office correspondence 1920 onwards for further guidance.
Good luck with your research!
We hope this provides a useful starting point for your research. If you get stuck, you can contact us via our live chat service (Tuesday to Saturday 09:00 to 17:00) for advice and answers to specific questions about The National Archives' collections.