RECLAIMING THE UNGENTLEMANLY ARTS: THE GLOBAL ORIGINS OF SOE AND OSS A Dissertation by AARON RAY LINDERMAN Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2012 Major Subject: History Reclaiming the Ungentlemanly Arts: The Global Origins of SOE and OSS Copyright 2012 Aaron Ray Linderman RECLAIMING THE UNGENTLEMANLY ARTS: THE GLOBAL ORIGINS OF SOE AND OSS A Dissertation by AARON RAY LINDERMAN Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved by: Chair of Committee, R. J. Q. Adams Committee Members, Arnold P. Krammer Jason C. Parker James S. Burk James Olson Head of Department, David Vaught May 2012 Major Subject: History iii ABSTRACT Reclaiming the Ungentlemanly Arts: The Global Origins of SOE and OSS. (May 2012) Aaron Ray Linderman, B.A., University of Dallas; M.A., Institute of World Politics Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. R. J. Q. Adams Sir Colin McV. Gubbins, former director of Britain‟s Special Operations Executive (SOE), explained in 1966 to a Danish audience that it is much easier to pronounce a new organization than to actually create it. This dissertation examines the processes whereby SOE was created, including how its doctrine was formulated and subsequently disseminated, both to its own agents and to its American counterpart, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Traditional narratives, which imply that SOE had no precedents, fail to appreciate that Gubbins and his colleagues consciously looked to past and contemporary examples for inspiration. This dissertation follows Gubbins‟s career, examining his experience of unconventional warfare in the Allied Intervention in Russia, in Ireland during the Irish Revolution, and in India. To personal experience was added the experience of colleagues and the knowledge he gained by study of several other historical and contemporary conflicts. Pragmatically synthesizing this information, Gubbins authored two brief guides in 1939: the Art of Guerilla Warfare and the Partisan Leader‟s Handbook. In 1940 Gubbins joined the new SOE and was given charge of iv both operations and training, allowing his ideas to shape SOE‟s agents and form their thinking. Even before the entry of the United States into the Second World War, OSS turned to Britain for training in intelligence and sabotage. SOE played a substantial role in this process, propagating Gubbins‟s ideas even further. Although the Americans drew upon their own sources of inspiration as well, SOE and Gubbins‟s doctrines were significant, arguably central, to American thinking. v DEDICATION To my wife, Glynnis, my best friend and constant companion. And to Lazarus Innocent Linderman. Please pray for us. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the members of my committee, Prof. Krammer, Prof. Parker, Prof. Burk, and Prof. Olson, for their comments and support. Special thanks go to my committee chairman, Prof. R. J. Q. Adams, who has supported me and this project in every way imaginable. It is a better work of history for having passed through his hands, and I am the scholar I have become largely through his guidance. Countless other people have assisted me and deserve recognition; I regret that I can only draw attention to a few. The staff at Texas A&M‟s Sterling C. Evans Library and Cushing Memorial Library & Archives have worked wonders on more than one occasion; particular thanks are deserved by the interlibrary loan staff here and at libraries around the world who have made my research possible. I would also like to thank the administrative staff of the History Department, especially Rita Walker and Barbara Dawson, who cut through several Gordian knots of paperwork on my behalf, and Prof. David Hudson, who deserves far more credit than I can give for his many labors at the service of our Department‟s graduate students. Thanks too to the many people at Texas A&M and elsewhere who read drafts or shared their expertise: Dr. William Collopy, Francis Grice (King‟s College London), Prof. Eunan O‟Halpin (Trinity College), Brian Hilton, Prof. Brian M. Linn, Jill Russell (King‟s College London), Micah Wright, as well as anonymous journal reviewers and various conference participants. Two colleagues in particular, Nathaniel Weber and Blake Whitaker, suffered through years of commentary about SOE and OSS, with good humor, keen insights, and unfailing vii friendship. Paul and Alicia Fraser provided friendly accommodations for all my visits to Kew. I would also like to thank the helpful staffs at the Bodleian Library, the Imperial War Museum, and the National Archives in Kew and College Park, and Rosalie Spire, who assisted me with documents at Kew. I am indebted to all those who helped fund my research: the Texas A&M History Department, the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research, the Smith Richardson Foundation, and Florence and Bookman Peters. Finally, Boniface, Clare, Thomas, and Thomas have my eternal thanks for assistance I can only begin to appreciate. viii NOMENCLATURE ADC Aide-de-camp AGW Art of Guerilla Warfare BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BSC British Security Coordination CIGS Chief of the Imperial General Staff COI Coordinator of Information CS Alternative name for Electra House DCIGS Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff DDMI Deputy Director of Military Intelligence DMI Director of Military Intelligence DMO Director of Military Operations EH Electra House FANY First Aid Nursing Yeomanry FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation FSR Field Service Regulations GHQ General Headquarters GSO2 General Staff Officer, Grade II GSO3 General Staff Officer, Grade III GS(R) General Staff (Research) IRA Irish Republican Army ix IRB Irish Republican Brotherhood ISSB Inter-Services Security Board IWM Imperial War Museum MEW Ministry of Economic Warfare MI3(a) France / Spain section of the Military Intelligence Directorate MI3(c) Soviet section of the Military Intelligence Directorate MI5 Alternative name for the Security Service MI6 Alternative name for the Secret Intelligence Service MI9 War Office‟s escape and evasion service MI(R) Military Intelligence (Research) MP Member of Parliament MT1 Planning section of the Military Training Directorate NCO Non-commissioned officer NKVD Soviet People‟s Commissariat for Internal Affairs OG Operational Group OSS Office of Strategic Services OWI Office of War Information PLH Partisan Leader‟s Handbook PRO Public Record Office PWE Political Warfare Executive RA5D Royal Artillery, 5th Division RADD Royal Artillery, Dublin District x RAF Royal Air Force RFA Royal Field Artillery RU Reserve Unit SA Sturmabteilung SA/B Secret Intelligence Branch of OSS SA/G Special Operations Branch of OSS SD Sicherheitsdienst SHAEF Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force SIS Secret Intelligence Service SMP Shanghai Municipal Police SNS Special Night Squads SO1 Propaganda branch of SOE SO2 Operations branch of SOE SO3 Research and planning branch of SOE SOE Special Operations Executive S&T Schools & Training SWM Small Wars Manual TA Territorial Army TNA The National Archives WO War Office xi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION .......................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... vi NOMENCLATURE .................................................................................................. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... xi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1 Writing about SOE ......................................................................... 6 Introducing Colin Gubbins ............................................................. 9 II BAPTISM BY FIRE ............................................................................ 12 World War I ................................................................................... 12 Russia ............................................................................................. 15 Ireland ............................................................................................. 34 India ................................................................................................ 50 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 59 III FORMULATING A DOCTRINE: LEARNING FROM THE PAST .......................................................... 61 The 1930s ....................................................................................... 61 The Art of Guerilla Warfare and The Partisan Leader‟s Handbook 82 The Second Anglo-Boer War ......................................................... 86 T. E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt .............................................. 105 Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Schutztruppe ............................ 116 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 122 IV FORMULATING A DOCTRINE: CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLES ....................................................... 124 xii CHAPTER Page The Spanish Civil War ..................................................................