The founder of British Secret Service-Sir Vernon Kell

The founder of British Secret Service - Sir Vernon Kell (Part-2)

Vernon Kell and his company

   The Germans made another attempt to throw a spy ring in Britain, but they could make absolutely no headway. Vernon Kell had appealed to the public through the newspapers that it should help to get the German spies arrested by giving full information regarding suspicious characters. Information regarding suspected spies started to poor in. the room of a Norwegian journalist was searched because he was to quiet and kept himself detached from people. The journalist did turn out to be a foreign spy. He was found in possession of invisible ink which has been kept in a bottle labeled as “throat wash”.

   It was Vernon Kell who was responsible for the arrest of Carl Hans Lody, a German spy residing in America. His arrest led to the decisive victory over Germany by the British. In the year 1914 Carl Hans Lody reached Scotland posing to be a tourist in the month of September. He sent a telegram to his Swedish contact which read, ”Hope we will soon defeat the wretched Germans.”

Peter the Great-Emperor of Russia

  Peter the Great-Emperor of Russia (Part-1)

Peter the Great

   Peter the Great was a clever despot. His full name was Peter Alekseyevich Romanov. He had fits of manic-depression in which he would indulge in the worst kinds of brutalities and take delight in them. Typically of his horribly cruel behavior was the way he treated hundreds of men and women who, he alleged, were plotting to overthrow him. They were mercilessly whipped which tore their flesh, their bones were broken on the wheel and then grilled on slow fire. Could the Devil be more ruthless than him?

   Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich’s fourteenth child was Peter (total sixteen, but two of them died in childhood). Nathalie Naryshkina’s was Tsar Alexis’s second wife and Peter was her first child, Peter was merely three years old at the time of the Tsar’s death in 1676. Tsar Alexis was succeeded by his eldest son, Fedor, a boy of 14, from his first wife Maria Miloslavskaya. Fedor was sickly and he died childless at 20. He left a brother, Ivan - a half-blind and mentally deficient boy of 15.

   Immediately after the death of Fedor (April 27, 1682) Peter’s mother succeeded in nominating Peter as his, successor. This was resented by Sophia Alexseyevna Romanov, the eldest of the six daughters of Peter’s father by his first wife. Sophia organized a military revolt which began on March 15 and resulted in the brutal murder of Peter’s maternal uncles and other supporters. She took control of the government in her hands on May 17. On May 26, she announced Ivan the first and Peter the second Tsar and herself became the regent for the duration of the minority of her brothers. She first refused regency, as a comic act on her part, and then accepted it on May 29, 1682. Thus she became Russia’s first woman ruler since the rule of Princess Olga in the tenth century. Sophia was not beautiful by any count. She was madly in love with Prince Vasili Golitsin, one of her father’s advisers, and he became Sophia’s most trusted counselor.

Sir Vernon Kell-The founder of British Secret Service

       Sir Vernon Kell, the founder of British Secret Service (Part-1)

Sir Vernon Kell, the founder of MI-5

Sir Vernon Kell, the man who failed all the attempts of Germany to win the First World War. He was the founder of British Secret Service, MI-5, succeeded in getting all information from the German spy, Carl Hans Lody. This helped to defeat Kaiser’s German Army during the First World War. During his term Sir Vernon Kell displayed a rare kind of skill and insight which helped Britain to get rid of all German spies.

   With the beginning of the 20th century the German dictator Kaiser Wilhelm II started preparations for attacking Britain. In the year 1902 the German spies had begun to infiltrate into Britain. Within seven to eight years, German spied had spread themselves all over England. Every bit of information was being sent to Germany. A counter espionage organization was formed in Britain. It was called MO-5 which was later changed MI-5. Till today this is Britain’s largest espionage organization. Captain Vernon Kell was the founder of this organization. With a rare kind of skill he was able to break the German Spy Wing, which was an event of historical importance.

   Vernon Kell did something very unusual. He attached his own organization to the Special Branch of the Scotland Yard. Patrick Quinn, the Superintendent of the Scotland Yard Special Branch gave his full cooperation to Vernon Kell. This helped a great deal towards the success of MI-5. In 1910 Kaiser Wilhelm II came to Britain to attend the funeral of King Edward VII. His delegation included a Naval Captain, who often visited a barber’s shop on London’s Caledoniam Road. Vernon Kell had long suspected that the shop had something to do with the German spies, as it was run by a German called Carl Gustav Ernst. Vernon Kell thought that a person who had come with the royal delegation could easily get a barber called to his residence for hair cut. To get his suspicions confirmed, Vernon Kell got the officer followed by his own men. Letters addressed to the barber were also opened and read.