War Office: Quarterly Intelligence, Feb-Nov 1958

Part of British Online Archives's wide-ranging World Wars series, the resources contained within this collection shed light on the activities and attitudes of British military intelligence agencies during the Second World War and Cold War.

The majority of the documents are weekly, monthly, and quarterly intelligence summaries produced by the Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force. In addition, two volumes include records from the British Commanders’-in-Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany (BRIXMIS), providing a fascinating insight into the internal politics and strategic calculations of Warsaw Pact countries.

The images were scanned from paper at the National Archives (UK), with Admiralty (ADM 223), Air Ministry (AIR 22 / AIR 40), Foreign Office (FO 371) and War Office (WO 208) files all featuring heavily. The collection is also accompanied by a contextual essay written by Dr. Stephen Twigge, the Head of Modern Collections at The National Archives (UK). 

This volume contains quarterly intelligence summaries compiled by the War Office and British Army during the period 1955-1962. Signed off by the General Staff and intended for the eyes of divisional commanders and above, their purpose was to provide information on the political, economic, and diplomatic situation across the globe. Each summary was published in a bound book, divided into four sections—(1) General; (2) Europe including USSR; (3) Middle East and North Africa; (4) South-East Asia and the Far East—which includes relevant photographs, diagrams, and maps.

The subject matter of quarterly summaries is similar to that of monthly summaries. The intentions, capabilities, and internal machinations of adversarial powers such as the Soviet Union are, of course, analysed in great detail. The role played by post-colonial states is also of great interest, as is the influence of communist movements in friendly nations. So-called ‘Special Articles’ afford students with an interesting, if not novel, addendum, with contributions from military attaches, defectors, and specialists.

Series: WO 208 (War Office: Directorate of Military Operations and Intelligence, and Directorate of Military Intelligence; Ministry of Defence, Defence Intelligence Staff).

Quarterly Intelligence Reports of the Army, Feb 1958-Nov 1958. These reports are digital copies of records held at the National Archives under the reference numbers: WO 208/4895 - WO 208/4898.