⁉️ Reading a lot of newspaper coverage of intelligence, but what is it: SIS or MI6?

There have been numerous names over the years, but let's explore some more. A 🧵 SIS emerges from the Secret Service Bureau, formed in July 1909. The SSB was divided into two parts: foreign and domestic.

The former was under Commander Mansfield Cumming who reportedly had "special qualifications" for the role.

He would shape the traditions of the service.

📚 Reading about Sir Michael Quinlan's observations on intelligence. In 1994, Quinlan - retired as PUS @DefenceHQ - took on a review of secret intelligence. Why did we need secret intelligence when the Soviets had gone? His argument holds true against those who push OSINT now. Quinlan's point was that the post Cold War world was "more complex and interdependent, less certain and less stable, with a wider and shifting range of conflict risk". Secret intelligence was needed more than ever in this climate.

⁉️ SIS: What's In a Name?

The Secret Intelligence Service has had numerous names over the years, famously referred to as #MI6.

But what other names have there been? A thread🧵 👀 SIS emerges from the Secret Service Bureau, formed in July 1909. Initially seen as covering domestic and overseas intelligence, the SSB soon splits into Home and Foreign sections. In 1916, the Foreign section takes the name MI1(c).