Six: His Britannic Majesty’s Secret Intelligence Service

Abstract

Virtually no accessible records exist on MI6 activity in Iraq, so it is difficult to assemble a continuous narrative about the Inter-Services Liaison Dept (ISLD)—Six’s cover organization in the Middle and Far East. However, this chapter tells of Somerset de Chair’s discovery of a nest of MI6 spies in Baghdad shortly after the Anglo-Iraqi War; of Brian Giffey and Nigel Clive’s period of tenure at Baghdad station; of Harry Steptoe’s unexpected visit from London and his hysterical report on British communists in the field; and of the strategic intelligence role played by Sir John Bagot Glubb (Glubb Pasha of Transjordan’s Arab Legion).