Month: Sep 2020

INSIGHT: OPERATION MOTORMAN Northern Ireland 1972 (UTV)

Naturally, some republicans interviewed during the filming promote the IRA view but that’s to be expected.

For the first time on television, the story of Motorman is recounted – from its planning and execution, through to its impact in shaping the outcome of the conflict. The one-hour programme includes interviews with key players like terrorist Martin McGuinness, Baroness May Blood, Sir Kenneth Bloomfield and Billy Hutchinson, as well as a number of soldiers involved in the operation. (UTV)

Britain’s Secret Intelligence War Against the IRA: Agents of Influence, by Aaron Edwards (due to be published March 2021)

Dr Aaron Edwards who I have known for several years is well known for his ground-breaking research on the intelligence war in Northern Ireland (Operation Banner) and his last publication UVF Behind the Mask has become widely recognised as an important addition to the written history of the ‘troubles’.

Agents of Influence Britain’s Secret Intelligence War Against the IRA

Recruited by British Intelligence to infiltrate the IRA and Sinn Féin during the height of the Northern Ireland Troubles, they were Agents of Influence. With codenames like INFLICTION, STAKEKNIFE, 3007 and CAROL, these spies played a pivotal role in the fight against Irish republicanism. Now, for the first time, some of these agents have emerged from the shadows to tell their compelling stories. Agents of Influence takes you behind the scenes of the secret intelligence war which helped bring the IRA s armed struggle to an end.

Historian Aaron Edwards, the critically acclaimed author of UVF: Behind the Mask, explains how the IRA was penetrated and betrayed, with explosive new revelations about the hidden agendas of leading figures like Martin McGuinness, Joe Haughey, John Joe Magee and Freddie Scappaticci, and how British Intelligence was able to read the minutes of the IRA s top-secret meetings before they were distributed to its membership.

With extraordinary profiles of Britain’s top spy masters, their strategies and tactics, as well as the role of MI5, the RUC and SAS in deadly covert action missions, Agents of Influence offers a rare and shocking glimpse into the hidden world of secret agents during the vicious decades of the Troubles.

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Agents-of-Influence-by-Aaron-Edwards-author/9781785373411

Operation Banner (Northern Ireland) News Reels and other Material from the Period.

South Armagh – “Bandit Country” (1976)

Northern Ireland: A 1976 BBC Panorama report looking at British Army operations in the south of County Armagh. Ending with an interview with then Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

British Army in Northern Ireland

What Was It Like Serving In Northern Ireland During The Troubles? | Forces TV

British Troops in Northern Ireland | Northern Irish troubles | Peace Wall | This Week | 1969

Life in Northern Ireland | Sectarian Violence | Belfast | This Week | 1971

Giliana Balamaceda the First Female SOE agent sent to France

Giliana Balamaceda was born in Chile in 1910 and worked as an actress in Paris where she met and married Englishman Victor Garson, who later established the VIC escape line from France to Spain. At the time Victor Garson was a dealer in fine rugs and carpets and just prior to German troops entering France the couple escaped to England and both were eventually recruited by the Special Operations Executive (SOE).

In May 1941 Garson (nee Balamaceda) landed on a remote stretch of southern France at night by Felucca ( traditional wooden sailing boat used in the eastern Mediterranean) and spent the next three months recruiting patriotic Frenchmen and women willing to accept the dangerous task of working on the future VIC escape line. She also recruited elderly couples willing to use spare rooms in their home to accommodate escapers until they could be moved further down the line.

Garson also collected ration cards, identity papers, packets of popular brands of cigarettes, tobacco and other items to be forged in England and issued to agents going to France. After completing her mission she made her way back to England via Spain and Gibraltar.

Although Giliana Balamaceda is one of the least know SOE agents she was the first female agent to work in France and the VIC escape line would not have been possible without her major contribution to its formation and the samples she brought back from France allowed agents to carry authentic looking documents and props to support the cover identities.