British Services Security Organisation (Germany)

The British Services Security Organisation (Germany) (BSSO (G)) was one of two British intelligence agencies based in Germany for much of the Cold War.
The BSSO was based at Rheindahlen. Nigel West described the organisation as MI5's regional office for Germany.Nigel West, The A-Z of British Intelligence, Scarecrow Press, pp.69-70. This seems to have been increasingly true over time. It was usually headed by an MI5 officer with staff seconded from the Ministry of Defence or locally-recruited Germans.Nigel West, The A-Z of British Intelligence, Scarecrow Press, pp.69-70.
The BSSO was responsible for maintaining the security of the British Army of the Rhine, protecting British military installations from Eastern Bloc infiltration and later from attacks by the Provisional IRA.Nigel West, The A-Z of British Intelligence, Scarecrow Press, pp.69-70.
The Director of BSSO (Germany) was a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee (Germany).JIC (Germany) Procedures in a Period of Tension and after the British Commanders in Chief take up their NATO commands and have left JHQ Rheindahlen, extract from National Archives file CAB 191/3, 23 May 1973.
The American equivalent of the BSSO was the 18th Military Intelligence Battalion.Royal Air Force Historical Society Journal, 23, 2001, p.48.
==History==
The BSSO originated in March 1954 as the new name for the existing British Forces Security Unit.The Joint Intelligence Committee and the German Question, 1947-61, Simon Case, Queen Mary, University of London, PhD thesis, p.174.
In 1959, the Joint Intelligence Committee sought to reduce the cost of running BSSO. MI5 recommended an internal restructuring and a bigger role for itself. BSSO subsequently acquired a civilian rather than a military head for the first time. Staff numbers were reduced from 480 to 322 and some duties were passed to the German intelligence services. The Americans took over funding of the BSSO comint station at Hanover.The Joint Intelligence Committee and the German Question, 1947-61, Simon Case, Queen Mary, University of London, PhD thesis, p.239.
In 1961, BSSO came under command of the C-in-C Germany, downgrading the priority of tasks from London.The Joint Intelligence Committee and the German Question, 1947-61, Simon Case, Queen Mary, University of London, PhD thesis, p.239.
===1968 reorganisation===
In 1968, its intelligence element was detached to become the British Services Intelligence Unit (Germany) (BSIU (G)). Although officially defence intelligence organisations, the two units increasingly came under the influence of MI5 and MI6, respectively. BBSO (G) was reorganised under a seconded MI5 officer from London, who beefed up the organisation's Berlin branch. This proved difficult as the BSSO chose to rely on locally-recruited staff in order to remain 'clean' of any links with the German security apparatus.Richard J. Aldrich, British intelligence, security and Western cooperation in Cold War Germany: The OstPolitik Years in Battleground Western Europe: intelligence operations in Germany and the Netherlands in the twentieth century, edited by Ben de Jong, Beatrice de Graaf, Wies Platje; Het Spinhuis, 2007, pp.134-135.
According to Thomas Henessey and Claire Thomas, John Jones was the MI5 officer who headed BSSO from 1968 until the early 1970s.Thomas Hennessey and Claire Thomas, Spooks: The Unofficial History of MI5 From the First Atom Spy to 7/7 1945-2009, Amberley Publishing, 2011.
===Detente===
Ian Cameron served as head of the Berlin Branch of the British Services Security Organisation (Germany) circa 1970-71. In September 1970 he wrote to John Jones warning that talks with Soviets could lead to a greater Soviet intelligence presence in West Berlin. In July 1971 he warned the Soviets had asked for an additional 81 officials and estimated at least 50 per cent would be intelligence officers.Extracts from National Archives file FCO 33/1546.
==Structure and personnel==
===Heads of BSSO===
*Denis Price 1956-1958
*John Jones C.1968-C.1972
===BSSO Berlin===
One of three liaison offices maintained as a link to the Bundesamt fur Verfassungschutz.Nigel West, The A-Z of British Intelligence, Scarecrow Press, pp.69-70. 
According to the Military Intelligence Museum, the Berlin BSSO closed in 1998.Exhibit of the Month, Military Intelligence Museum], accessed 11 August 2014.
====Heads of BSSO Berlin====
*Ian Cameron c.1971
====Berlin personnel====
*John HomerExhibit of the Month, Military Intelligence Museum], accessed 11 August 2014.
===BSSO Bonn===
One of three liaison offices maintained as a link to the Bundesamt fur Verfassungschutz.Nigel West, The A-Z of British Intelligence, Scarecrow Press, pp.69-70. 
===BSSO Cologne===
One of three liaison offices maintained as a link to the Bundesamt fur Verfassungschutz.Nigel West, The A-Z of British Intelligence, Scarecrow Press, pp.69-70.
===Miscellaneous personnel===
*Terry Gough
*Tim Coke
*Gilbert Hughes
*R.C. Cullen
==Notes==
Category:GermanyCategory:SpooksCategory:British Military IntelligenceCategory:MI5