The Development of Intelligence in World War 1

One of the series of Guild webinars, given by Bob Shaw, will take place on 10 June 2026.

WW1 brought about huge changes in society, technology, international relations and most importantly intelligence.  To be successful, the allies required institutionalised intelligence rather than the ‘cloak and dagger’ organisation with limited resources, size and ability that it was perceived to be. The three essential forms of intelligence that had the most affect and the most changes were HUMINT, IMINT and SIGINT. IMINT, usually in the form of arial photography, not only gathered geographical intelligence from the front lines but also the identification of enemy logistics and artillery positions to allow attack in depth.  HUMINT was able to add depth to the questions and information provided by IMINT, although the biggest coup was a copy of a German Post Office Directory brought over by a German deserter!  SIGINT dominated intelligence gathering but also had failures.  Telephone wires were constantly cut by artillery fire, runners were killed and even ‘speckled Jim’ was shot and eaten by Allied troops!  However, it did have a strategic affect with the interception and decryption of the Zimmerman telegram. Intelligence also played a part outside of the battlespace in the realm of economics, but despite this, could not win the war alone. But it did have a definitive impact on the outcome of the war.  So how did it improve and change?  What went wrong and right?  Did the Germans steal all the sunbeds?  Find out by watching the webinar in June.