March 1945:
The First Meeting of the Council
Carlisle studied the faces of the seven who had joined him around the table.
‘We shall open the subject for discussion. Each man will be heard and each suggestion will be considered. Gentlemen; if, for any reason we are unable to come to an accord, we will disband, make the best of what fortune offers us in return and never speak of these matters again.’
Seven heads nodded and Sanderson spoke.
‘So, Carlisle, we (some of us at least) have heard you speak of these things before but some – and I count myself in that number – are still unsure as to how we can possibly make such an idea work. We all agree that the argument for the Council is a sound one but how can we ensure that what you envisage comes to pass? ’
Carlisle paused for a moment, gazing at his hands, which were folded in front of him.
‘Mistrust,’ he said at last, ‘is our only defence.’ He looked for a reaction; there was none. ‘For we cannot guard indefinitely against any organisation or indeed, any individual that may wish to betray us so we must create a situation in which none of us knows whom we can truly trust so that, amongst those of us engaged in this enterprise, there may never be alliances.
‘Although I was coming to believe this a number of years ago, I think it has been the conduct of the war that has convinced me. With our nation undergoing her greatest trial, there were times when the S.I.S. and S.O.E. entirely lost sight of the reasons for their existence. Bickering over primacy; jostling for supremacy; both the organisations themselves and the individuals within them, shamelessly seeking Churchill’s patronage and approval at the expense of the greater good. Few of our leaders were fighting for freedom; they were fighting for egos and careers and power. I would venture, gentlemen that England was in far worse danger from the forces gathered to protect her than ever she was from the Luftwaffe or the Wermacht. And we all know how close she came to succumbing, thanks to the vainglory and hubris of certain individuals.’ There were several murmurs of agreement.
‘But imagine, gentlemen, had Lockhart and Smith-Cummings been unaware of each other’s activities; if Menzies had never known of Sinclair. Imagine if the so-called “Circulating Sections” had never been thought of.’
Seven heads nodded once more.
‘Imagine then, an organisation immune from the very possibility of corruption, whose only goal is to protect and maintain England regardless of the fads and frailties of her “leaders”. Oh, we let them rise and permit them the trappings and the illusion of power but we never again allow them the wherewithal to endanger this nation.’
A low sound, which anyone might recognise as approval, ran round the table and Carlisle continued,
‘Each of you, using his own talents and expertise, will gather to himself a group of people of high calibre and sense of duty, whom he trusts unquestioningly. He trains them, nurtures them, indoctrinates them, if he must. By the end of the process, however long it takes, he will control such an effective unit that its members will be able to operate almost independently of any others in the organisation. And, because of your mistrust of all your fellows around this table, gentlemen, you will allow yourself almost no contact with them and, because each unit would be incapable on its own of mounting any kind of grab for supremacy, your operatives will be assured that each element in the Council is acting only in loyalty to the nation, rather than loyalty to any one leader.’
Carlisle let this sink in. Every man there had worked together, closely– some for the entirety of the war - and now he was asking them to agree that each would be prepared to betray the other and his country, should the circumstances be conducive. Grey spoke.
‘It seems so cynical, Carlisle.’ he said. ‘I’ve known at least three of the men in this room for almost half my life. One of them saved me from certain death at Gallipoli.’ None caught his eye. ‘For me to reject their counsel and refuse to consider them trustworthy would be too great a thing to ask.’
‘And yet,’ Carlisle said, ‘I hold you in such high esteem, Grey; and know that your unswerving sense of duty guides every enterprise you have ever undertaken on behalf of England, that I believe you will be equal to the task.’
Grey looked almost abashed. It was not flattery; it was true. Carlisle knew that Grey was merely voicing the thoughts of every man there.
‘So, if I understand you correctly, sir,’ Sanderson said at last, ‘we each will form a… unit of personnel devoted to a single aspect of intelligence and yet none us will be aware of what each… unit is up to.’
‘That would be the ideal,’ said Carlisle, ‘but I have to agree with you, Sanderson, the notion is too ambitious. Instead, I propose that each unit deals with only one other; thus, A will work with B, B with C, C with D and so on. That way, there can be continuity of purpose but A and C (for example) or A and D, E and F likewise, will remain unaware of each other’s activities.
‘So how will there be any control. What is to stop each of these units going off half-cocked or treading on another’s toes?’
Carlisle smiled. ‘May I attempt an analogy?’ he asked. Assent was unspoken but obvious. ‘Very well,’ he said.
‘My body is comprised of countless millions of cells – billions, for all I know – and yet as far as I can tell, none of these has any awareness of the others. Somehow, they contrive to allow me movement, digestion, procreation, respiration and so on but there is no “guiding engine”.’
‘But surely, there is,’ Jameson interjected, ‘What about the brain? Does it not control the constituent parts of the body?’
‘Superficially, yes,’ said Carlisle.
‘Superficially?’
‘At one level, my body can operate whether I will it or no. It is only when I apply my mind, that it operates under my volition. And when it does, it can perform wonders!’
‘I don’t follow you,’ said Grey. ‘Surely the brain is the seat of the mind?’
‘Indeed. The mind cannot operate without the brain; but the brain may operate without the mind and so it does in all but the highest animals. And the power of the mindless brain is terribly limited. My proposal would see the existing intelligence services (or whatever replaces them following the end of the war) as merely the brain of the organism that is our nation… but our enterprise will provide its mind.’ He paused and then said, ‘Or rather, its several minds.’
Glendenning was the first to speak.
‘So, if I understand you correctly, each of the “units” would act as a separate mind, having direct contact with only one other. No one, nor even two of them could possibly interact and…our only common point of contact…the brain, if you will; the unthinking base brain would be…?’
‘British Intelligence,’ said Carlisle. Another moment of silence followed these words. Then:
‘So… we… we would be answerable to no-one,’ whispered Thorpe.
‘Neither minster…’ said Clarke,
‘…nor government…’ said Elliott.
‘…nor army…’ said Glendenning.
‘…nor monarch…’ said Grey.
‘…no-one…’ said Arnold.
‘…save England herself…’ said Sanderson.
There was silence. Then Carlisle answered their unspoken question.
‘Yes, gentlemen,’ he said. ‘We must charge ourselves to discover and then become the very mind of England.’
Carlisle studied the faces of the seven who had joined him around the table.
‘We shall open the subject for discussion. Each man will be heard and each suggestion will be considered. Gentlemen; if, for any reason we are unable to come to an accord, we will disband, make the best of what fortune offers us in return and never speak of these matters again.’
Seven heads nodded and Sanderson spoke.
‘So, Carlisle, we (some of us at least) have heard you speak of these things before but some – and I count myself in that number – are still unsure as to how we can possibly make such an idea work. We all agree that the argument for the Council is a sound one but how can we ensure that what you envisage comes to pass? ’
Carlisle paused for a moment, gazing at his hands, which were folded in front of him.
‘Mistrust,’ he said at last, ‘is our only defence.’ He looked for a reaction; there was none. ‘For we cannot guard indefinitely against any organisation or indeed, any individual that may wish to betray us so we must create a situation in which none of us knows whom we can truly trust so that, amongst those of us engaged in this enterprise, there may never be alliances.
‘Although I was coming to believe this a number of years ago, I think it has been the conduct of the war that has convinced me. With our nation undergoing her greatest trial, there were times when the S.I.S. and S.O.E. entirely lost sight of the reasons for their existence. Bickering over primacy; jostling for supremacy; both the organisations themselves and the individuals within them, shamelessly seeking Churchill’s patronage and approval at the expense of the greater good. Few of our leaders were fighting for freedom; they were fighting for egos and careers and power. I would venture, gentlemen that England was in far worse danger from the forces gathered to protect her than ever she was from the Luftwaffe or the Wermacht. And we all know how close she came to succumbing, thanks to the vainglory and hubris of certain individuals.’ There were several murmurs of agreement.
‘But imagine, gentlemen, had Lockhart and Smith-Cummings been unaware of each other’s activities; if Menzies had never known of Sinclair. Imagine if the so-called “Circulating Sections” had never been thought of.’
Seven heads nodded once more.
‘Imagine then, an organisation immune from the very possibility of corruption, whose only goal is to protect and maintain England regardless of the fads and frailties of her “leaders”. Oh, we let them rise and permit them the trappings and the illusion of power but we never again allow them the wherewithal to endanger this nation.’
A low sound, which anyone might recognise as approval, ran round the table and Carlisle continued,
‘Each of you, using his own talents and expertise, will gather to himself a group of people of high calibre and sense of duty, whom he trusts unquestioningly. He trains them, nurtures them, indoctrinates them, if he must. By the end of the process, however long it takes, he will control such an effective unit that its members will be able to operate almost independently of any others in the organisation. And, because of your mistrust of all your fellows around this table, gentlemen, you will allow yourself almost no contact with them and, because each unit would be incapable on its own of mounting any kind of grab for supremacy, your operatives will be assured that each element in the Council is acting only in loyalty to the nation, rather than loyalty to any one leader.’
Carlisle let this sink in. Every man there had worked together, closely– some for the entirety of the war - and now he was asking them to agree that each would be prepared to betray the other and his country, should the circumstances be conducive. Grey spoke.
‘It seems so cynical, Carlisle.’ he said. ‘I’ve known at least three of the men in this room for almost half my life. One of them saved me from certain death at Gallipoli.’ None caught his eye. ‘For me to reject their counsel and refuse to consider them trustworthy would be too great a thing to ask.’
‘And yet,’ Carlisle said, ‘I hold you in such high esteem, Grey; and know that your unswerving sense of duty guides every enterprise you have ever undertaken on behalf of England, that I believe you will be equal to the task.’
Grey looked almost abashed. It was not flattery; it was true. Carlisle knew that Grey was merely voicing the thoughts of every man there.
‘So, if I understand you correctly, sir,’ Sanderson said at last, ‘we each will form a… unit of personnel devoted to a single aspect of intelligence and yet none us will be aware of what each… unit is up to.’
‘That would be the ideal,’ said Carlisle, ‘but I have to agree with you, Sanderson, the notion is too ambitious. Instead, I propose that each unit deals with only one other; thus, A will work with B, B with C, C with D and so on. That way, there can be continuity of purpose but A and C (for example) or A and D, E and F likewise, will remain unaware of each other’s activities.
‘So how will there be any control. What is to stop each of these units going off half-cocked or treading on another’s toes?’
Carlisle smiled. ‘May I attempt an analogy?’ he asked. Assent was unspoken but obvious. ‘Very well,’ he said.
‘My body is comprised of countless millions of cells – billions, for all I know – and yet as far as I can tell, none of these has any awareness of the others. Somehow, they contrive to allow me movement, digestion, procreation, respiration and so on but there is no “guiding engine”.’
‘But surely, there is,’ Jameson interjected, ‘What about the brain? Does it not control the constituent parts of the body?’
‘Superficially, yes,’ said Carlisle.
‘Superficially?’
‘At one level, my body can operate whether I will it or no. It is only when I apply my mind, that it operates under my volition. And when it does, it can perform wonders!’
‘I don’t follow you,’ said Grey. ‘Surely the brain is the seat of the mind?’
‘Indeed. The mind cannot operate without the brain; but the brain may operate without the mind and so it does in all but the highest animals. And the power of the mindless brain is terribly limited. My proposal would see the existing intelligence services (or whatever replaces them following the end of the war) as merely the brain of the organism that is our nation… but our enterprise will provide its mind.’ He paused and then said, ‘Or rather, its several minds.’
Glendenning was the first to speak.
‘So, if I understand you correctly, each of the “units” would act as a separate mind, having direct contact with only one other. No one, nor even two of them could possibly interact and…our only common point of contact…the brain, if you will; the unthinking base brain would be…?’
‘British Intelligence,’ said Carlisle. Another moment of silence followed these words. Then:
‘So… we… we would be answerable to no-one,’ whispered Thorpe.
‘Neither minster…’ said Clarke,
‘…nor government…’ said Elliott.
‘…nor army…’ said Glendenning.
‘…nor monarch…’ said Grey.
‘…no-one…’ said Arnold.
‘…save England herself…’ said Sanderson.
There was silence. Then Carlisle answered their unspoken question.
‘Yes, gentlemen,’ he said. ‘We must charge ourselves to discover and then become the very mind of England.’
