“COMB-OUT” OF SUSPECTS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 196, 16 May 1936, Page 24

“COMB-OUT” OF SUSPECTS

“Yard’s” Check on Foreign Agents

Behind the increase in the £lBO,OOO Government vote for the British .Secret Service lies the story of the efforts or scores of foreign spies to probe the secrets of Britain’s new armament programme.

The operations of these foreign agents are being checked by the most elaborate counter-espionage campaign the British Government has undertaken since the Great War. Chief among the moves are: —

The increase of the £lBO,OOO vote for the secret service by an amount which is yet to be disclosed; strengthening of the Special Brand at Scotland Yard, already augmented by the addition of 30 officers; increased vigilance at sea and airports, aeroplane works and shipyards ; an intensive “comb-out” of aliens and persons whose records are open to suspicion. Scotland Yard has been co-operating with local police forces in watching spy suspects all over the country. Suspected foreign agents have been subjected to a close w'atch. In several cases the authorities have taken swift action, and the agent’s activities have been brought to a sudden end.

The increase in the £lBO,OOO allocation to the Secret Service is only a part of the sum which will be spent in protecting Britain’s secrets.

Among the secrets which the foreign agents are most anxious to capture are details of: — Britain’s 11 new warships, to be constructed at a cost of £7,500,000. New fighting and bombing planes, of which 12,000 are to be built. The latest designs of tanks, antiaircraft guns and mechanised units. Spies are making tremendous eflorts to discover what methods Britain intends to adopt for defence and retaliation in the event of attack from the air. The proposed changes in the Empire’s defence system ■which will shortly be submitted to Parliament will also be closely watched by foreign powers. International agents will try to extract information about secret Empire defence plans which may be omitted from the published reports. Despite the increased guard at seaports and airports, many foreign suspects manage to enter Britain, but their ingenuity is generally very quickly defeated by the British Secret Service men.