X-2 Counter Espionage Branch
Encyclopedia
Origins
The head of the Office of Strategic ServicesOffice of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(OSS), William Donovan
William Joseph Donovan
William Joseph Donovan was a United States soldier, lawyer and intelligence officer, best remembered as the wartime head of the Office of Strategic Services...
, created the X-2 Counter Espionage Branch in 1943 to provide liaison with and assist the British in their exploitation of the ULTRA
Ultra
Ultra was the designation adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by "breaking" high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park. "Ultra" eventually became the standard...
program’s intelligence during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. A few months before, Donovan had established a Counterintelligence Division within the Secret Intelligence Branch of the OSS but rescinded this order upon development of the X-2. The X-2 was led by James Murphy, whose branch would have the power to veto operations of the Special Operations
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
and Secret Intelligence Branches
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
without explanation.
Origins
The head of the Office of Strategic ServicesOffice of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(OSS), William Donovan
William Joseph Donovan
William Joseph Donovan was a United States soldier, lawyer and intelligence officer, best remembered as the wartime head of the Office of Strategic Services...
, created the X-2 Counter Espionage Branch in 1943 to provide liaison with and assist the British in their exploitation of the ULTRA
Ultra
Ultra was the designation adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by "breaking" high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park. "Ultra" eventually became the standard...
program’s intelligence during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/oss/art07.htm A few months before, Donovan had established a Counterintelligence Division within the Secret Intelligence Branch of the OSS but rescinded this order upon development of the X-2.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_a.htm The X-2 was led by James Murphy, whose branch would have the power to veto operations of the Special Operations
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
and Secret Intelligence Branches
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
without explanation.
Origins
The head of the Office of Strategic ServicesOffice of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(OSS), William Donovan
William Joseph Donovan
William Joseph Donovan was a United States soldier, lawyer and intelligence officer, best remembered as the wartime head of the Office of Strategic Services...
, created the X-2 Counter Espionage Branch in 1943 to provide liaison with and assist the British in their exploitation of the ULTRA
Ultra
Ultra was the designation adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by "breaking" high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park. "Ultra" eventually became the standard...
program’s intelligence during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/oss/art07.htm A few months before, Donovan had established a Counterintelligence Division within the Secret Intelligence Branch of the OSS but rescinded this order upon development of the X-2.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_a.htm The X-2 was led by James Murphy, whose branch would have the power to veto operations of the Special Operations
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
and Secret Intelligence Branches
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
without explanation.https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/oss/art07.htm Donovan modeled the Counter Espionage Branch on British Counter Espionage.O’Donnel, Patrick, K. (2004) Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs (p.194). New York: Free Press With the creation of the X-2 Branch, the British insisted that it follow British security procedures to maintain the secrecy of ULTRA.https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/oss/art07.htm The X-2 established separate lines of communication for itself as a self-contained unit. Naftali, Timothy J. (1992) ARTIFICE: James Angleton and X-2 Operations in Italy. In G. Chalou (Ed.) The Secrets War (p.222). Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. In addition, by the end of World War II, the X-2 had discovered around 3,000 Axis agents. McIntosh, Elizabeth, P. (1998) Sisterhood of Spies (p.168). Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
Background
With the beginning of World War II, the Office of the Coordinator of InformationOffice of the Coordinator of Information
The Office of the Coordinator of Information was an intelligence and propaganda agency of the United States Government, founded on July 11, 1941 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, prior to U.S. involvement in the Second World War...
, headed by William Donovan, was split and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) created on 13 June 1942.https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/oss/art03.htm The State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
and military services blocked the OSS from receiving communications intercepted from the Axis Powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
, through the ULTRA program, until the OSS created its own X-2 Counter Espionage Branch.https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/oss/art03.htm The FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
and Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs
Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs
The Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs was a United States agency promoting inter-American cooperation during the 1940s, especially in commercial and economic areas...
further limited the OSS by restricting it from operating in the Western Hemisphere.https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/oss/art03.htm X-2 became the OSS liaison with the British, opened the doors of ULTRA to OSS exploitationhttps://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/oss/art03.htm and operated throughout Europe and the world. McIntosh, Elizabeth, P. (1998) Sisterhood of Spies (p.169). Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. At its peak at the end of the War, the X-2 Branch had 650 personnel in its office.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_b.htm
Missions
The missions of the X-2 Branch were to:http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_a.htm- Collect information on espionage and subversive activities of the enemy
- Analyze, process and exchange this intelligence
- Maintain operational securityOperations securityOperations security is a process that identifies critical information to determine if friendly actions can be observed by adversary intelligence systems, determines if information obtained by adversaries could be interpreted to be useful to them, and then executes selected measures that eliminate...
measures for the OSS and prevent infiltration of the OSS by enemy intelligence services - Cooperate and give timely intelligence to United States’ and allied intelligence services
- Create foreign area subversive personality lists to disseminate to commanders and intelligence personnel.
Donovan also established strong communication and sharing between the Secret Intelligence and X-2 Branches.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_a.htm He additionally allowed the X-2 Branch to use field representatives in coordination with the station chief and outlined that the X-2 would maintain separate communication lines, liaisons and records.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_a.htm
X-2 had its main base for European operations in London but maintained liaison in Washington DC with other agencies including the FBI, State Department, G-2 and Office of Naval Intelligence
Office of Naval Intelligence
The Office of Naval Intelligence was established in the United States Navy in 1882. ONI was established to "seek out and report" on the advancements in other nations' navies. Its headquarters are at the National Maritime Intelligence Center in Suitland, Maryland...
.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_b.htm
Special Counterintelligence Units
The X-2 created Special CounterintelligenceCounter-intelligence
Counterintelligence or counter-intelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of...
Units (SCI Units) to pass counterintelligence information between the Army and the OSS.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_a.htm These units existed between British MI-6
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
and the British military as well.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_a.htm SCI Units worked under Staff Counterintelligence (CI) Officers and assisted military CI staff in a multitude of areas,http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_a.htm including on the frontlines.O’Donnel, Patrick, K. (2004) Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs (p.195). New York: Simon & ShusterThey advised military staff on selecting CI targets, distributing counter espionage
Counter-intelligence
Counterintelligence or counter-intelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of...
(CE) information, protecting sources and interrogating captured suspects.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_a.htm X-2 officers handled collecting and exploiting enemy intelligence as well as supplying information on Axis intelligence agencies to Army staff throughout the theater of operations.O’Donnel, Patrick, K. (2004) Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs (p.196). New York: Free PressThey also served as channels between different Army Headquarters and received special training for their tasks.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_a.htm
Watch List Unit
The Watch List Unit disseminated information on agents such as their cover names, addresses and mail drops. It maintained liaisons with the US Censorship OfficeOffice of Censorship
The Office of Censorship was an emergency wartime agency set up on December 19, 1941 to aid in the censorship of all communications coming into and going out of the United States.-Overview:...
, British Imperial Censorship and French Censorship.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_b.htm It also passed information on enemy methods of secret communication.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_b.htm
Insurance Unit
The Insurance Unit’s main task was to investigate enemy intelligence’s use of insurance as a cover for its activities.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_b.htmCounter Espionage Smuggling Unit
The Counter Espionage Smuggling Unit was intended to coordinate information on smuggling activities but never became effective due to low staffing.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_b.htmLooting Investigation Unit
The Looting Investigation Unit worked under the direction of the London office and was created in 1944 to monitor funding for German subversive activities in the post-war period.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_b.htm The unit specifically attempted to collect information on activities and plans of the enemy by looking at individuals that disposed of stolen works of art and other high value items.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch3_b.htmOperations
X-2 ran operations throughout Europe as well as in North Africa, in places such as Algeria, and provided intelligence for large-scale operations such as Operation Anvil/DragoonOperation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...
, a post D-Day landing in Europe. McIntosh, Elizabeth, P. (1998) Sisterhood of Spies (p.143). Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. In its operations, X-2 used officers from other nations, including Spain and Canada, in positions as high as unit chiefs. McIntosh, Elizabeth, P. (1998) Sisterhood of Spies (p.149). Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. X-2 operations also involved feeding false or harmless information to controlled agents in the field.O’Donnel, Patrick, K. (2004) Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs (p.195). New York: Free Press The head of European X-2 operations was Norman Holmes Pearson
Norman Holmes Pearson
Norman Holmes Pearson was an American academic, author, editor, critic, archivist and prominent figures in establishing American studies as an academic discipline after the end of the Second World War.-Career:...
. McIntosh, Elizabeth, P. (1998) Sisterhood of Spies (p.95). Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
Italy
X-2 officers’ primary mission in Italy was to eliminate foreign services in the area, although they also received training on doubling and controlling agents, which the regular military counterintelligence lacked. Naftali, Timothy J. (1992) ARTIFICE: James Angleton and X-2 Operations in Italy. In G. Chalou (Ed.) The Secrets War (p.221). Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. James Jesus AngletonJames Jesus Angleton
James Jesus Angleton was chief of the Central Intelligence Agency's counterintelligence staff from 1954 to 1975...
was assigned to the Rome detachment of X-2 in 1944 with the mission of turning around the faltering operations within a six-week time frame. In the end, he would move up from Rome chief to the head of all secret operations in Italy for the Strategic Services Unit
Strategic Services Unit
The Strategic Services Unit was an intelligence agency of the United States government which existed in the immediate post-World War II period. It was created from the Secret Intelligence and Counter-Espionage branches of the wartime Office of Strategic Services.Assistant Secretary of War John J...
after the war. Naftali, Timothy J. (1992) ARTIFICE: James Angleton and X-2 Operations in Italy. In G. Chalou (Ed.) The Secrets War (p.219). Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. One of Angleton’s key contributions in Rome was his development of a book of information with concepts from ULTRA that could be given to non-ULTRA officers. Naftali, Timothy J. (1992) ARTIFICE: James Angleton and X-2 Operations in Italy. In G. Chalou (Ed.) The Secrets War (pp.222-223). Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. With this information they could fish through POW’s and suspects and then disseminate the information more widely once it had been found in a lower security clearance situation i.e. Secret vice Top-Secret. Naftali, Timothy J. (1992) ARTIFICE: James Angleton and X-2 Operations in Italy. In G. Chalou (Ed.) The Secrets War (pp.222-223). Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
Another important contribution to operations in Italy was Angleton’s cultivation of relationships and liaisons with foreign intelligence services. He developed a contact in Italy’s Royal Navy, Capitano di Fragata Carlo Resio, codenamed SALTY, in 1944, which yielded important information as the war went on. Naftali, Timothy J. (1992) ARTIFICE: James Angleton and X-2 Operations in Italy. In G. Chalou (Ed.) The Secrets War (p.225). Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. Angleton ran another agent, JK 1/8, in Italy’s secret intelligence service. Naftali, Timothy J. (1992) ARTIFICE: James Angleton and X-2 Operations in Italy. In G. Chalou (Ed.) The Secrets War (pp.228-230). Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. From the summer of 1944 on, this agent supplied the Allies with important information and corroboration of other agents such as SALTY. Naftali, Timothy J. (1992) ARTIFICE: James Angleton and X-2 Operations in Italy. In G. Chalou (Ed.) The Secrets War (pp.228-230). Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
France
Operations in France were varied. X-2 officers like Betty Lussier helped set up a French-Spanish counterintelligence unit in Nice. McIntosh, Elizabeth, P. (1998) Sisterhood of Spies (p.148). Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. Later she worked on operations in which officers blended in with local communities in France to search out Nazi collaborators and stay-behind agents. McIntosh, Elizabeth, P. (1998) Sisterhood of Spies (p.149). Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. Enemy agents were often given clandestine radio sets to communicate Allied movements. X-2 monitored and tracked signals from these radios to their sources and attempted to turn the users into double agents for the Allies, as in the case of Gordon Merrick, a former French Lieutenant spying for the Germans in Perpignan. McIntosh, Elizabeth, P. (1998) Sisterhood of Spies (pp.150-1). Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.Axis Penetration of the OSS
Although counterintelligence was its mission, the X-2 focused on Europe more than the OSS itself.https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/oss/art07.htm The OSS employed Soviet sympathizers and spies in its offices in Washington D.C. as well as other non-communist spies such as Donavan’s aide, Duncan C. LeeDuncan Lee
Lt. Col. Duncan Chaplin Lee was confidential assistant to Maj. Gen. William Donovan, founder and director of the Office of Strategic Services , World War II-era predecessor of the CIA, during 1942-46...
.https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/oss/art07.htm The Communists also penetrated OSS operations in China, participating in the training camps in addition to working as clerical staff and housekeepers.https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/oss/art07.htm
Further Reading
- Chalou, George, C. (Ed.) (1992) The Secrets War: The Office of Strategic Services in World War II. National Archives and Records Administration.
- Cutler, Richard, W. (2004) Counterspy: Memoirs of a Counterintelligence Officer in World War II and the Cold War. Potomac Books Inc.
- Dulles Allen.Allen Welsh DullesAllen Welsh Dulles was an American diplomat, lawyer, banker, and public official who became the first civilian and the longest-serving Director of Central Intelligence and a member of the Warren Commission...
(1966) The Secret Surrender. Harper and Row. - Katz, Barry, M. (1989) Foreign Intelligence: Research and Analysis in the Office of Strategic Services 1942-1945. Harvard University Press.
- Lussier, Betty. (2010) "Intrepid Woman, Betty Lussier's Secret War, 1942-1945." Naval Institute Press.
- Maochun, Yu. (1996) OSS in China. Yale University Press.
- Mauch, Christof.Christof MauchChristof Mauch is a German historian, presently director of the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society in Munich, Germany, and since 2007 professor of American Cultural History and Transatlantic Relations at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen. From 1999 to 2007 Christof Mauch was...
(1999) The Shadow War Against Hitler. Columbia University Press. - McIntosh, Elizabeth, P. (1998) Sisterhood of Spies: The Women of the OSS. Naval Institute Press
- O’Donnell, Patrick, K. (2004) Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs: The Unknown Story of the Men and Women of World War II’s OSS. Free Press.
- Persico, Joseph, E.Joseph E. PersicoJoseph E. Persico is an author. From 1974 to 1977 he was primary speechwriter to Vice President Nelson Rockefeller...
(2001) Roosevelt’s Secret War: FDR and World War II Espionage. Random House. - Roosevelt, Kermit. (1976) War Report of the OSS. Walker Publishing Company Inc.