49. Counterintelligence

One of the least expected benefits of writing my blog has been the perspective it has given me on my life. It has helped me to reawaken memories and has enabled me to recall details of past segments of my life which I had not thought about for many, many years. Some I now find it hard to believe ever happened, such as my experiences on the pilgrim ships, which I wrote about last week, and the segment of my life which I would now like to share with you. My contemplation of these experiences has made me very aware that we all have stories to tell.

In fact, I have come to the conclusion that most older people around here would probably have experienced things in their lives that would surprise their walking companions. In my own case, people would probably never guess that I was once trained to become an intelligence agent. I know that it sounds a bit far-fetched, but my life did take that path for a while, back in the 1950s, when Western Europe was involved in a so-called “Cold War” with the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations.

In an earlier post (post 39, “Life of a recruit”), I wrote about my military service in The Netherlands and how much I had enjoyed my initial few months of basic training. What I did not go on to write was that, after these first few months, I was transferred elsewhere for more intensive training. I then became a sergeant in the Dutch army and was further transferred to the town of Harderwijk, in the centre of the country, where the “School of the Military Intelligence Service (SMID)” was located. This was a transfer I had not expected.

The SMID was referred to by some as the “spy school”. I did not know it at the time, but I learned later that it taught about 100 students a year and had a permanent staff of 80. My fellow students included regular (professional) army officers as well as non-commissioned officers (NCOs), but there were also a few sergeants, like me, who were simply completing their national service. The person in charge of our training was a member of the Dutch nobility (a “Jonkheer”). I will call him DSL. I am not sure whether he was a civilian or part of the military but he was always dressed in a suit and tie.

DSL lectured us on the growth and development of different political ideologies in Europe. More specifically, he taught us about the operations of foreign intelligence agents (“spies”) in Europe and explained which countries and organisations they represented, as it was his aim to make us aware of the dangers that we were facing from sabotage and foreign espionage (terrorism is not new!). We were taught the techniques and processes used by local and foreign spies. We were taught about surveillance, microfilms, invisible ink, listening devices, entering and leaving buildings and so on. Most, but probably not all, of this “tradecraft” is now well and truly obsolete and has been replaced by new and far more effective technology.

At SMID we were lectured about foreign propaganda, indoctrination and entrapment. Special instructors taught us about photography.  We had to be able to develop and print our own photos. We were taught how to enter buildings without leaving a trace, how to pick locks and how to try to get inside without a key. We also learned how to discover if someone had gained entry while we were away.

We had exercises, in cities such as Amsterdam, in following people without being noticed. Some of the larger surveillance operations used cars and several teams of agents. We had a lot of practice with all of this, but it did not always go smoothly. I remember one occasion when an officer, who was in our team, finished up on the bonnet of a car because he had been so intent on following the target that he forgot to watch where he was going. We thought it was funny because he was not particularly liked by the rest of us.

Attached to our school was a “museum”, displaying a large number of foreign weapons. Non-SMID people sometimes came to visit and look at the displays. I thought, on one occasion, that the CIA was in town when I saw a man with a crew cut hairstyle, wearing dark glasses and a crazily patterned suit. He looked completely out of place and could have walked straight off an American movie set.

Apart from identifying weapons we also had to learn how to use them. Our main training, with handguns such as pistols and revolvers, took place on a shooting range. We spent a lot of time there. We were shown by DSL himself how to search people for hidden weapons. I still have some photos of this. A bit confronting actually!

Half of every day was taken up with physical exercise, overseen by a very fit professional NCO.  It included unarmed combat, how to deal with knives and how to immobilise an opponent. We were young and so fit that we even enrolled in jiu jitsu classes outside the school.

We were frequently tested on how observant we were. Tests could happen at any time of the day. We also took part in little games to improve our concentration. In fact, the whole course was like a work-out, very competitive and exhausting, requiring a great deal of physical exertion and mental resilience. In this pressured environment I was so busy trying to succeed, that I did not realise what it was that I was being groomed for.

At the end of the course, we were officially sworn in as counterintelligence agents. My first posting was with 111 CID in the city of Apeldoorn, where I served out my remaining national service time.

I know it sounds unreal that I did all this in my younger years. I sometimes have difficulty believing it myself. Please be assured that I am now just a harmless, unobservant and forgetful old man. No-one has anything to worry about!

O.P.

Next Sunday, I’m visiting the Blue Water Festival with two of my grandchildren.