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The secret lives of the British Secret Service's top female spies

2022-12-12 19:57:55Fokus SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

 

For the first time, female MI6 officers reveal why women are often the best spies of our time.

Helen Warrell- Financial Times

My journey to spy school begins before dawn. I don't know where I'm going and I've only been instructed to meet my contact at a landmark in central London. We travel by car, boat and train to a place where officers of the British Secret Intelligence Service, the overseas spy agency known as SIS, learn their trade. I'm not allowed to describe the place but I can tell you this: it's huge and the strong wind makes your eyes water.

I was met at the door by a small, cheerful woman with short, wavy blond hair, whose welcome belies the fear of the place. Kathy, who is in charge of all intelligence operations by SIS officers and their agents around the world, leads me to an 'area' of armchairs by a large window.

She jokes that when she was first offered a job at the agency, also known as MI6, her mother asked if she wanted to commit to something so "strange and unknown".

"My father said directly: "Go try it".

She says she is not a brave person, but she is one of the most powerful spies in Britain.

Kathy is one of four general directors at SIS, each of whom reports to the chief, known as "C". For the first time, three of them are women. They work in the most important areas of espionage. Kathy is the director of operations while Rebecca is the deputy chief overseeing strategy. MI6's most famous job of all belongs to Ada, who is the head of technology, known as 'Q'. I spent six months interviewing them about how they rose to the top in a traditionally male career and trying to understand what the life of a female spy is really like.

As the head of MI6 is the only member of the agency to be appointed or allowed to speak in public, and because they have all been men, this is the first time female SIS officers have spoken. I have agreed to change their names and remove some details to protect them and the resources they work with. They agreed to speak out to encourage women applicants and correct the perception of espionage as a man's game.

 

The secret lives of the British Secret Service's top female spies
Illustrative photo by Eliza Bourner Photography.

 

In the past, women have been overlooked, relegated to secretarial roles or, before the SIS era, deployed as "traps" to capture or blackmail enemies. When Vernon Kell co-founded the forerunner of MI6 in 1909, he identified men as his ideal recruiters. His views on women were less well known, but he is said to have once commented, "I like girls to have nice legs."

Despite proving their skill and bravery during the Second World War, women in MI6 and its sister agency MI5 struggled to progress and were not recruited as intelligence officers until the late 1970s.

This misogyny was repeated and exaggerated in popular novels written by former spies such as Ian Fleming and John le Carré.

Sexist depictions are not limited to movies and novels. We have encountered them in many professions, and above all in a profession that requires mystery.

For MI6, the historic lack of women is a secret weapon. The UK's main adversaries today, such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, are societies with few women in positions of power. For a spy, this enemy weakness is exploitable. Precisely because they are more likely to be overlooked, women have the potential to be the best spies of all.

Four years ago, SIS ran its first TV advert to recruit more women and ethnic minorities. It begins with footage of a shark wandering through the water, before fading away to reveal a much better scene: a woman and her young son watching the predator from the other side of the aquarium's glass. This scene is designed to show that "Secretly, we are just like you".

The secret lives of the British Secret Service's top female spies

This is not necessarily true. Spies are not like the rest of us, and working in MI6 is a distinctly strange experience. You can't tell anyone beyond your immediate family who your employer is, and even they aren't allowed to know anything about your day-to-day activities. You are supposed to turn off your phone long before you approach headquarters. You have limited access to the Internet. The only contact with the outside world is through the landline. Because it is not secure, working from home is extremely difficult. So while the organization encourages flexibility, this is limited by the reality that your working hours must be spent mostly in the office. Complicated transactions like buying a house are, in the words of one intelligence officer, "a nightmare."

When Kathy walked through the threshold of SIS headquarters for the first time three decades ago, her concern was: was she right for the role?

"Don't worry, you won't have to shoot a gun or jump out of any helicopters. This is not a James Bond job," said her interviewer. Eventually, she was deployed to a war zone, working alongside the military and trained to use a firearm for personal defense.

Her path to SIS was standard: she was in her twenties, had recently completed a PhD in literature and was applying for the second time to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office graduate training scheme. Kathy "detoured" into the field of espionage via a letter inviting her to an interview for an alternative opportunity overseas, and was told not to discuss it with anyone.

She had always wanted to be an ambassador, but was intrigued by this parallel organization and the ways it made connections with foreigners.

She was not a normal job seeker. The stereotype of an MI6 officer is, according to civil service legend, an upper-class white man wearing a signature suit and black shoes. Kathy was initially "mocked" by her style.

Every batch of new recruits starts out together; most of Kathy's cohort was from the south of England and had attended Oxford or Cambridge universities. She had grown up in the Northwest and attended a local school and a state university.

"I was from the countryside and I had only been to London twice before."

Kathy began working on Iranian weapons systems but soon began taking other jobs around the world.

The life she describes is exciting: traveling, learning languages, "getting under the skin" of new people and cultures.

She recounts her early days moving unnoticed from one place to another, often on foot, changing disguises along the way.

The secret lives of the British Secret Service's top female spies

Her favorite wig was a red, 1970s Farrah Fawcett style. From time to time she moved around with £50,000 in her purse, possibly to pay agents but she refuses to give more details.

"It's a really special job," she says.

Recruiting and managing overseas agents was not always easy, especially when it came to women.

She recalls that at the beginning of her career, she had to change the perceptions of others.

"I didn't even think about staying up all night drinking whiskey like other agents did," she says, explaining that she had to make things work on her terms, such as inviting people over to her house. her, which immediately creates a degree of trust.

Kathy reveals that underestimating women has been an advantage for her.

"This has been an advantage for me, because sometimes people don't doubt you at all just because you are a woman."

Getting close to strangers and keeping work a secret from friends requires being deceptive.

As a Catholic with a "well-developed sense of guilt," Kathy found this particularly difficult.

"There is a paradox at the heart of this work, because we are deeply ethical, but we also have to tell lies. We do it because there's an outcome we need to achieve and because it sounds really weird, for the best," she says.

"I regret every time I have to tell a friend what I did and it's not the truth."

Most of Kathy's close friends don't know she's a spy. Like all SIS officers, she has said that she works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and makes her job so boring that they don't even ask about her anymore.

"I think some of my friends feel sorry for me," she says.

However, she finds it impossible to keep it a secret from some of her friends. "Some of my friends are now aware of what I do because, at some point, it becomes unbelievable that I have six mobile phones in my bag and one of them falls and I have to go out. I have to tell them: "I'm really sorry, but I have to leave dinner now. I may not be back until late tonight so here are the house keys and don't worry”.

The three spies I speak to are bound by numerous restrictions: the Official Secrets Act, which makes it a criminal offense to disclose classified information; MI6's promise never to reveal the identities of its employees or their agents; and their desire to avoid scaring off potential female recruits with horror stories.

At some points, spies are definitely being held back. Kathy, who worked in counter-terrorism during the height of ISIS's activity in Iraq and Syria, helped disrupt attacks targeting the UK. The details are classified, but when I ask if she saved British lives, there seems to be an emotional embargo as well. "Yes," she says hesitantly. "But I wouldn't want you to think it was just me."

The secret lives of the British Secret Service's top female spies

She is reluctant to take any credit for the operations which, she insists, were a collective effort. And she, of the three spies I spoke with, bears the greatest responsibility for protecting the identities of SIS agents. Perhaps for these reasons, her answers seem more censored.

"I'm very lucky to do this job," she says. "We are all seeing the horrific images of Russia's conflict in Ukraine. "One of the things that keeps me going is knowing that we are contributing to tackling the crises that the UK and our allies faced last year and will face next year."

All the female spies I spoke to, whether retired or on duty, are aware of the dangers of potential male agents misunderstanding their intentions. Meetings with intelligence sources are held in hotel rooms and often in cars. Both are awkwardly intimate places. A spy who rose through the ranks of MI6 40 years ago told me that she tended to declare herself a member of British intelligence much earlier in the process than a man might have done, in order to avoid any confusion. During her days as an agent, Ada (now Q) would explicitly build family associations.

Claire Hubbard-Hall, a historian of espionage, blames popular culture for unfairly "framing" the public view of female spies as "highly sexualised". The academic, who is writing a biography of what she calls the "forgotten women" of British Intelligence, says the word "secretary" was often used to mask women whose roles evolved greatly. The restrictions placed on female spies also make it extremely difficult to track them down. Until 1973, those who married had to leave the service immediately. As a result, many remained single and never had children.

The secret lives of the British Secret Service's top female spies

Ada ishte ndryshe. Spiunazhi ishte e vetmja punë që ajo dëshironte të bënte. Ajo dhe miqtë e saj mësuan kodin e pendës, një sistem shifror që zëvendësonte shkronjat me simbole dhe linin shënime për njëri-tjetrin nën vazo lulesh. Nuk ishte befasi që, kur ajo aplikoi në Ministrinë e Jashtme në fillim të të njëzetave, ajo u identifikua si një kandidate që mund të ishte më e përshtatshme për SIS.

Tani në të dyzetat, Ada ishte gruaja e parë e emëruar në rolin e Q në nivelin e drejtorit të përgjithshëm. E gjatë dhe atletike me flokë bionde të prera, Ada përdor karfica të mëdha vezulluese në formën e insekteve. Këto, thotë ajo, tërheqin vëmendjen kudo. Ne takohemi në laboratorin Q. Edhe pse u mbajta larg çdo prototipi gjatë vizitës sime, më thanë se dega Q po bën ende “fshehje” të teknologjisë së lartë brenda objekteve të përditshme, si orët, filxhanët e çajit, mansheta dhe karfica. Kur e pyes Adën se çfarë objekti të përditshëm ka përdorur kohët e fundit për të fshehur një vegël, ajo thotë, “çdo gjë në këtë tryezë, çdo gjë që mund të shihni në këtë dhomë”.

Fshehtësia ekstreme rreth operacioneve të Q-së është e tillë që nuk më lejohet të përshkruaj asnjë prej tyre, qoftë edhe në termat më të rralla. Mund të vërej vetëm se, duke pasur parasysh shkallën e kërcënimit teknologjik të paraqitur nga vendet armiqësore, kompjuterët janë shumë të dukshëm. Spiunazhi po kryhet gjithnjë e më shumë në sferën e paprekshme, dixhitale, duke përdorur mjete të tilla si inteligjenca artificiale. Ekipi ka etikën e tij të veçantë, një sipërmarrje të njohur si “kultura Q”.

“Është ai ekuilibri i shkëlqyer i të qenit vërtet argëtues dhe thellësisht serioz në të njëjtën kohë”.

Siç e përshkruan Ada, vështirësitë e punës jashtë shtetit me fëmijët balancohen nga avantazhet. Ndryshe nga personazhet në filma që nisen nga Londra për operacione urgjente, shumica e oficerëve të SIS po punojnë në ambasadat e huaja nën mbulimin diplomatik. Një pjesë relativisht e vogël e kohës së tyre harxhohet me punë që janë të ndjeshme nga ana operacionale. “Kur shkon jashtë shtetit, në pamje të parë, po jeton një jetë shumë të zakonshme. Ne mund të bëjmë gjëra të jashtëzakonshme në shërbim të vendit, por është vërtet e rëndësishme që të duket e zakonshme”.

The secret lives of the British Secret Service's top female spies

Puna jashtë vendit me një familje nuk e ka penguar atë.

“Të jesh shtatzënë mund të nxisë biseda të pazakonta”, thotë ajo.

“Disa nga negociatorët më të vështirë janë zbutur, duke folur për shpresat e tyre për fëmijët ose brezin e ardhshëm”.

Gjithsesi Ada pranon se i është dashur të zhvillojë qëndrueshmëri psikologjike për të përballuar punën në terren “të vështirë, ndonjëherë të rrezikshme”. “Kam bërë disa gjëra të jashtëzakonshme në vende të jashtëzakonshme. Dhe kam pasur disa përvoja të vështira, si profesionale ashtu edhe personale”, thotë ajo. Ajo thotë se, ndërsa pranimi i këtyre çështjeve kërkonte guxim, nuk ka “heronj” në kulturën e MI6.

Është një ditë e ftohtë kur takoj Rebekën për një nga shëtitjet e saj në urë. Nënkryetarja e MI6 i kategorizon dilemat ose në “probleme me një urë” ose në “probleme me dy ura”. E para zakonisht mund të zgjidhet në qark nga selia qendrore e SIS. Çështjet më serioze, zakonisht çështjet e pazgjidhura të “njerëzve”, shkojnë prapa Shtëpive të Parlamentit dhe Viktoria Toëer Gardens.

Rebeka është në mes të të pesëdhjetave, me një fytyrë të rrumbullakët, syze këndore Cubitts dhe sy të gjelbër-kafe.

Kurioziteti për njerëzit është ajo që e tërhoqi Rebekën në spiunazh në radhë të parë. Ajo nuk është aspak e guximshme. Ajo “nuk duron lartësitë” dhe “nuk është e apasionuar pas aeroplanëve”.

Duke pasur parasysh fobinë e saj, ajo nuk i pëlqen as urat.

“Unë nuk do të ecja drejt rrezikut”, thotë ajo.

Kur Rebeka u ftua nga Ministria e Jashtme në të njëzetat e hershme të ishte spiune, e pyetur nëse donte të bëhej spiune, ajo ishte e kujdesshme.

“Unë mendova se kjo tingëllon mjaft emocionuese. Dhe jo në një mënyrë tërheqëse, emocionuese të James Bond. Mbaj mend që mendoja, psikologjia e kësaj gjëje tingëllon vërtet interesante”, thotë ajo.

Ka diçka të pastër në pikëpamjen e Rebekës për spiunazhin. Ajo duket e pa interesuar për ‘teatrin’, mashtrimet, maskimin.

“Një nga arsyet pse në fakt nuk i shikoj shumë prej këtyre filmave është se kam kaluar në gjysmë të rrugës dhe thjesht mendoj, oh zot, kjo është kaq e mërzitshme! Nëse ata vërtet do e dinin, është shumë më interesante!”, tha ajo.

Rebecca iu bashkua SIS në një grup prej 11 vetash; vetëm një rekrut tjetër ishte femër. Rregullat e asaj kohe kërkonin ende që i fejuari i saj të kontrollohej dhe, së fundmi, ndërsa po shikonte letrat e vjetra, ajo gjeti formularin e saj “leje për t’u martuar”.

The secret lives of the British Secret Service's top female spies

Kur fëmijët e saj ishin adoleshente, Rebeka vendosi t’u tregonte se ishte spiune.

“Ata ishin shumë të ndjeshëm dhe gjykova se informacioni nuk do të ishte një barrë për ta, se ata nuk do t’ia tregonin të gjithëve”. Ndërsa disa spiunë zgjedhin të mos u tregojnë kurrë fëmijëve të tyre, ajo donte që ata të dinin “kërkesat e veçanta” në jetën e saj të punës.

Rebeka është e sigurt se një grua do të jetë në garë për të qenë C e ardhshme, edhe nëse ajo vetë nuk do të jetë në listë. (Ndërsa unë po shkruaja këtë artikull, Rebecca u tërhoq nga MI6. Ajo ishte gruaja e parë që u emërua zëvendës drejtoreshë dhe posti, i plotësuar sipas gjykimit të C, tani është vakant).

The secret lives of the British Secret Service's top female spies

Këto tre gra duhet të jenë disa nga më të mirat në fushën e tyre, por nuk e di se çfarë u ka kushtuar atyre apo familjeve të tyre.

Many successful female spies, I am told, are single. Others struggle to balance the demands of a life overseas with their partners' careers and their children's education.

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