Ministry of Home Security: Intelligence Branch: Registered Files

HO 199

1939-1950

Correspondence and papers of the Intelligence Branch relating to the collection, collation and distribution to other government departments, other divisions of the Ministry and Regional Commissioners, of information on air raids and other civil defence matters.

Public Record(s)

English

506 file(s)

Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated

The Intelligence Branch was formed in May 1940 to collect, collate and distribute information to enable the ministry to carry out its special responsibilities, supplement the information possessed by other ministries to help them perform their duties and to promote morale. Information received in the Home Security War Room was supplemented by material derived from a variety of other sources. The branch also took over the indexing of foreign intelligence, work formerly performed by the Foreign Intelligence Branch. Contact was maintained with intelligence divisions of other ministries and there was particularly close liaison with the Ministry of Information. The branch liaised with the Research and Experiments Department on operational matters and new forms of attack. The branch produced reports concerning morale, much of the material for these being supplied by regional intelligence officers working under the regional commissioners.