Admiralty: Weekly Intelligence, Jan-Mar 1944

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 weekly intelligence summaries compiled Naval Intelligence on behalf of the Naval Staff and Admiralty during the Second World War. The purpose of these summaries was to keep relevant personnel abreast of the political, diplomatic, and military situation. Although secret, they were intended to be read by all officers and relevant government officials. 

Each summary is divided into five sections: section one covers the war at sea; section two includes articles on a wide range of subjects thought to be of interest to officers; section three comprises political intelligence reports organised alphabetically by country; section four consists of naval intelligence reports, with a focus on the disposition of main units; and section five concentrates on merchant shipping and supply lanes. 

Series: ADM 223 (Admiralty: Naval Intelligence Division and Operational Intelligence Centre: Intelligence Reports and Papers). 

Weekly Intelligence Reports of the Navy, Jan 1944-Mar 1944. These reports are digital copies of records held at the National Archives under the reference number: ADM 223/161.