USE OF NEWSPAPERS TO THE ENEMY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE
by F.J. 'Frank' Hudleston.

    Sometime in the 1980s the intelligence people began to realise that intelligence gathering in hostile locations, with consequent potential risk to human life, in some instances amounted to little more than filing reports of events and situations that had been reported in local newspapers; such information as they carried was often available via open, electronic newsfeeds and latterly the Internet. The conclusion was to consider withdrawing agents in favour of gathering information entirely from the electronic sources.

2)     I have made a "free" translation of the French passages which I hope conveys their intended meanings. However if any reader wishes to suggest improvements I would be pleased to receive their suggestions.

3)     Thanks to Richard's research and by courtesy of the MOD Library I am able to reproduce the contents below.

"USE OF NEWSPAPERS TO THE ENEMY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE"
Prepared for the Director of Military Intelligence
by F.J. HUDLESTON, 1917.

Historical note, with a brief appendix on the injurious effects of a too liberal treatment of the Press in time of War.

    The indiscretions of newspapers have from the earliest times aroused the anger of commanders in the field and the annoyance of the authorities at home.

    At the Siege of Mons, in 1691, Louvois had occasion to sharply reprimand the "gazatiers" of the day. In addition (like true journalists) to using "des expression ridicules"(1) , they gave away valuable information "rendant compte des opérations et désignant les corps qui combattaient, leur succès et le nombre des morts".(2) Louvois writes to one of them "Je vous ai déjà fait dire de ne vous point mêler de nommer les troupes qui sont dans les armées, et je vous prie que ce soit la dernière fois que cela vous arrive".(3)

    Ultimately Louvois was reduced to having articles based on notes supplied by Vauban written by his secretaries and issued to the papers - a very early instance of a Press Bureau (Ambert, Vauban, p.182).

    In 1777 Washington writes "It is much to be wished that our printers were more discreet in many of their publications. We see, almost in every paper, proclamation or accounts transmitted by the enemy of an injurious nature. If some limit or caution could be given them on the subject, it might be of material service". (Washington Official letters II, p.68). This a very early example of enemy propaganda appearing in his antagonists press.

    In Napoleon's Correspondence there are constant allusions to the necessity for muzzling the press. Writing in 1803, he says of newspapers "Leurs rédacteurs ne savant point qu'un récit indifférent en apparence peut, dans cette matière, avoir des conséquences fâcheuses".(4) (Napoléon, Correspondance VIII No.6782, Préceptes p.239.

    Wellington was equally alive to the dangers of the press. Writing to Liverpool in 1811 he says "It is very desirable that you should not publish the details of my despatches to your Lordship ...... All the despatches from me which are published are sent to Masséna from Paris, and they thus acquire the information of what is going on. When an army is engaged in defensive operations, or in sieges or blockades, or in any other in which it is long in the same position, the enemy acquire all the information they desire, if they obtain a knowledge of its position and numbers of the date of a month old". Wellington. Selections, p.472).

    He write again in 1813 in relation to a suggestion privately made to him to get intelligence inserted in a Paris newspaper and so transmitted to our own Headquarters. "Indeed the contents of all the newspapers are intelligence to the enemy upon which I know that plans of operation have been formed" (Ib. p.670).

    "In sending his despatches to Liverpool, he used to mark with a pencil in the margin those parts which, in my opinion, ought not be published". (De Grey. Characteristics p.138).

During the Peninsular War the "Times" and the "Morning Chronicle" were the offenders.

    M. Bapst in his life of Canrobert states that "Le prince Gortchakoff avait à Sébastopol deux officie occupés à éplucher les grands organes de Londres, et après la guerre il a déclaré que les journaux l'avaien mieux renseigné que n'importe quel espion".(5) (Bapst. Canrobert II, p.221).

    This is borne out by a bitter complaint of Lord Raglan who, in forwarding to the Duke of Newcastle a copy of the "Times" of 18.12.84, writes "I pass over the fault which the writer finds with everything and everybody, however calculated his strictures may be to excite discontent and encourage indiscipline, but I ask you to consider if the paid agent of the Emperor of Russia could better serve his master than does the correspondent of the paper that has the largest circulation in Europe". (Martineau. Duke of Newcastle, p.212).

    Martineau states that Lord Raglan had very good reasons to believe that the exactitude of the direction of fire from the Russian Batteries at one period of the operations was to be explained by the hypothesis that a Russian agent in London telegraphed to St. Petersburg the intelligence contained in a letter to the Times on the very same day it was published.

    Similarly M. Ollivier, in his "Empire Libéral, states that Prince, afterwards Emperor, Alexander "disait au général français Legendre fait prisonnier à la veille de l'Alma: 'Nous n'apprenons pas grand'chose par vous, mais la presse anglaise nous fournit nos informations, et certes elle nous a été d'une utilité ina préciable'.(6) M. Ollivier also quotes a letter 25.7.55 from General Simpson to lord Panmure complaining that the "Morning Post" was giving away detailed information. (Ollivier. XV. P.28).

    In his book "The American Civil War" General Alexander writes of the Confederate secret agents in Washington "The principal business of these agents was to supply us with the Northern papers, although for some time careful account was kept of arrivals of new troops in Washington. But this was found less reliable than the accounts in the daily papers. From them we learned not only of all arrivals , but also of assignments to brigades and divisions, and by tabulating these, we always knew quite accurately the strength of the enemy's army". (Alexander. P.55).

    Bowman and Irwin in their "Sherman" (p.447) say "In 1861, while in command in Kentucky, he was not only embarrassed but alarmed in finding all his operations telegraphed and published in the daily papers, even his plans foreshadowed, and the number and strength of his forces given …… He banished every newspaper correspondent from his lines, and declared summary punishment for all those who should in future give information of his strength, position or movements. A proceeding so unusual was ill-appreciated by the press, and the result was a lively fire in the rear, which was somewhat annoying to him".

    The Southern papers were equally indiscreet. Lee writes to the Secretary of War "I am particularly anxious that the newspapers should not give the enemy notice of our intentions"; and again "I beg you will take the necessary steps to prevent in future the giving publicity in this way to our strength and position". (Bradford. Lee, the American, p.77-8).

    In 1870 the French papers were appallingly indiscreet. Rousset in his "Maître de la Guerre" (p.209) writes "Grâce aux indiscrétions inconscientes de la presse française, un officier du grand état-major, le major Krause, pouvait huit jours après la declaration de guerre, établir dans tous les détails, et avec un étonnante exactitude, l'ordre de bataille complet des différents corps de l'armée du Rhin".(7)

    On August 22nd the "Public" announced "Le maréchal MacMahon a pris la direction de Metz avec une rapidité qui double le mérite de son mouvement".(8) This was corroborated by the "Temps" on the 23rd; on the 25th the Havas Agency wired from London "Le maréchal MacMahon a quitté Rheims lundi soir, dans le but, dit-on, d'apporter aide au maréchal Bazaine":(9) the result being that at 11 p.m. on the 25th August Moltke telegraphed to the headquarters of the III Army "On me télégraphie à l'instant que le journal français le "Temps" dans son numéro du 23 août courant, affirme que le maréchal MacMahon a pris tout à coup la résolution de marcher au secours de Bazaine et a déjà quitté Rheims avec toute son armée"(10) (Darimon. Guerre de 1870. p.223-4)

    In the Russo-Japanese War the official military organ, the Russki Invalid and the Manchurian Army Gazette were a godsend to the Japanese "although there was a Censor's Department controlled by an officer of the General Staff."

    The Japanese intelligence was especially assisted by the published "greetings" habitually inserted in the Manchurian Army Gazette. These were addressed to the relatives and friends of the rank and file, and to comrades in other units. Izmestier gives illustrations where the unit, division, corps and army are set out in detail, and from nine extracts alone is able to reconstruct a large part of the order of battle of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Armies (Izmestier. Secretary in War, p.4-5).

F.J. HUDLESTON.
General Staff Library.
21. 5. 17.

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APPENDIX.
INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF A TOO-LIBERAL TREATMENT OF THE PRESS IN TIME OF WAR.

    Ever since there has been a fourth estate, politicians have not been unaware of the fact that it is wiser to have the press as a friend than as an enemy. But politicians have been known, under stress of circumstances, to change their minds, even as regards the benefits to be derived from a free, enlightened and uncensored press. There are two remarkable instances of this.

    In 1780 Lord Mornington (afterwards Marquess Wellesley), speaking in the Irish Parliament, remarked that "any invasion on the liberty of the press would, in his apprehension, be highly detrimental to the liberty of the subject," words which must have been gratifying indeed to the Skibbereen Eagle of the day and its fellows.     But in 1799 Lord Mornington, being then Governor General of India where we were at war with Mysore and where the liberty of the press was in full swing, entertains apprehensions of quite another kind. Writing to Sir Alured Clarke, Commander in Chief in India, he shows that he is fully aware of the dangers that attach to a too liberal treatment of the press in time of war. "I cannot describe to you " he says "the uneasiness and anxiety which has been excited in my mind by the perusal of several paragraphs which have lately appeared in the newspapers at Calcutta …… In these papers paragraphs continually appear tending to magnify the power and character of the French, and to expose every existing or possible weakness in our situation…In the Mirror you will find a dissertation on the causes, nature, and extent of the conspiracy discovered in Bengal … I request you will embark the editor of that paper in the first ship which will sail from Calcutta." In addition to this summary sentence of banishment, Lord Mornington drew up a series of regulations (which have been pleasantly compared to the ordinances of the Star Chamber) of which the last and most important was "No paper to be published (at all) until it shall have been previously inspected by the Secretary to the Government, or by a person authorised by him for that purpose, in order that nothing may be published tending to convey information to the enemy, or to excite alarm and commotion within our dominions." (Pearce. Memoirs of Marquess Wellesley I. P.281 et seq.)

    The second instance is that of Cambetta in the Franco German War. Towards the end of July 1870 M. Ollivier introduced a bill of which the first article was "Il pourra être interdit de rendre compte, par un moyen de publication quelconque, des mouvements des troupes et des opérations militairies sur terre et sur mer. Ce te interdiction résultera d'un arrêté ministériel inséré au Journal Officiel.(11)"This was violently attacked by Jules Ferry and Cambotta. M. Ferry asked, with a naiveté which seems almost incredible "Vous supposes done que nos ennemis ont besoin de lire les journaux français pour se mettre au courant des mouvements de nos troupes ?" He then continued "Il n'est pas à craindre que des indiscrétions puissent avoir quelque effet sur le succès d'une campagne. La seule précaution à prendre est de ne pas admettre des reporters dans les quartiers généraux comme cela se fait constamment. (*) La loi inspirée par la peur des journalistes est la suppression complète de la publicité. La publicité ces't un droit, ceux qui ont leurs fils, leurs époux à la bataille, ont le droit de tout savoir. Tout citoyen français a le droit de savoir comment les opérations sont conduites, et même de les critiquer. Il serait plus viril de la part du Gouvernement et de la Chambre de se montrer confiants dans l'opinion publique. J'ai le droit de dire que le projet qui vous est présenté est humiliant et injurieux pour la nation français." (12)

    Gambetta also protested and voted against the bill. But he learnt wisdom. Although on the 28th October the Journal Officiel stated "The Government has made it a point of honour to respect the liberty of the press." By the end of November Cambetta had realised, when it was too late, that liberty meant license, and adopted and strengthened M. Ollivier's bill in the following terms "Tout compte rendu ou tout récit d'opérations militaries, de mouvements de troupes d'actes de guerre, autres que ceux publiés par l'autorité militaire, sont interdits jusqu'à nouvel ordre. Tout journal qui contreviendra à cette interdiction sera suspendu, et si de semblables infractions se renouvellent, on les deférera à la Cour Martiale."(13) M. Olliviers comment on this is:- "Les rigueurs de Cambetta étaient plus intelligents que les nôtres parcequ'elles étaient plus rudes. A l'égard des journaux toute demi-mesure est risquée, plus le coup qu'on leur porte est vigoureux, plus il est sans danger. Fermez-leur la bouche à demi, ils remplissent l'air de leurs clameurs; fermez-la tout à fait, ils vous laissent tranquille."(14)(Ollivier. Empire Libéral XV. P.29 et seq.)

    The Crimea is, perhaps, a dangerous precedent to quote. Instances have been given previously of the valuable aide derived by the Russian Intelligence Staff from paragraphs in English newspapers. But on the other hand it might, perhaps, be argued that had it not been for Russel, the special correspondent of the Times the process of demobilization might have been simplified by the probability that the greater part of the British Army in the Crimea would never have reached nearer home than the hospitals - and the cemeteries - at Soutari.

General Staff Library,
6. 6. 17.
F.J.H.

(*) This actually happened, shortly afterward at Metz where, in the Hôtel de l'Europe where the French Headquarters were lodged at the outbreak of hostilities, "une foule de gens curieux et bavards remplissaient la cour, les escaliers, les couloirs; et le correspondant d'une gazette anglaise le Standard, publiait la composition exacte et l'emplacement des corps." (Chuquet. La Guerre, p.20).

(translation - "A crowd of curious and talkative people filled the court, the staircases, the corridors; and the correspondent of an English newspaper "The Standard", published the exact composition and placement of the corps.")    return

Text Translations:

(1) "Ridiculous comments"    return

(2) " describing the operations, the combatant units, their success and the number of deaths"    return

(3)Louvois writes to one of them "I have already asked you not to name and give the number of the troops in the armies and I take it that you will not come again."    return

(4) "Their writers erudite point which an indifferent account seemingly can, in this matter, have annoying consequences ".    return

(5) "prince Gortchakoff had in Sébastopol two officials occupied in examining the main London papers, and after the war declared that the newspapers informed one better than any spy".    return

(6) Alexander "said to the French General Legendre made captive on the eve of the Battle of Alma 'We did not learn much from you, but the English press provides us with information, and it was certainly to us of great value.'    return

(7) In 1830 the French papers were appallingly indiscreet. Rousset in his "Master of the War" (p.209) writes "Thanks to the unconscious indiscretions of the French press, an officer of the main staff, major Krause, could within eight days after the declaration of war, establish in all the details, and with an astonishing exactitude, the complete order of battle of the various army corps from the Rhine".    return

(8) Marshal MacMahon went towards Metz with a speed which doubled the merit of this move.    return

(9) Marshall MacMahon left Rheims on Monday evening with the objective, says one, of assisting Marshal Bazaine.    return

(10) I am telegraphing an instance of the French newspaper the "Temps" in its August 23rd issue affirming that Marshal MacMahon resolved to walk to the relief of Bazaine and has already left Rheims with his main army.    return

(11) "To give accounts of movements of movements of troops and military operations on ground or sea could be prohibited. This prohibition would result from a ministerial decree inserted into the Official Journal.    return

(12) "You assume that our enemies only need to read French Newspapers to obtain information on troop movements? He then continued "It need not be feared that indiscretions can have some effect on the success of a campaign. The only precaution that needs to be taken is to prevent reporters being admitted to the headquarters, and that is constantly done. The law inspired by the fear of journalists results in a complete suppression of publicity. Publicity is a right, those who have their sons, their husbands in battle; all have a right to know. Any French citizen has the right to know how operations are conducted, and even to criticize them. It would be more masculine for the government and parliament to be more trustful of public opinion. I have the right to say that the proposal that you present is humiliating for, and abusive to the French nation."    return

(13) "Any report or any account of operations militaries, of troop movements of acts of war, others that those published by the military authority, are prohibited until further notice. Any newspaper which contravenes this prohibition will be suspended, and if similar infringements are renewed, they will be referred for court martial."    return

(14) "The harsh measures of Cambetta were more intelligent than ours because they were tougher. With regard to newspapers any half-measure is risky, the more rigorous the conditions the less danger there is. Close their mouths in half, they fill the air with their clamours, close them completely, and they don't bother you."    return

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