Catalogue description Ministry of Home Security: Intelligence Branch: Registered Files

The Intelligence Branch was formed in May 1940 to collect, collate and distribute information to enable the ministry to carry out its special responsibilities, supplement the information possessed by other ministries to help them perform their duties and to promote morale. Information received in the Home Security War Room was supplemented by material derived from a variety of other sources. The branch also took over the indexing of foreign intelligence, work formerly performed by the Foreign Intelligence Branch. Contact was maintained with intelligence divisions of other ministries and there was particularly close liaison with the Ministry of Information. The branch liaised with the Research and Experiments Department on operational matters and new forms of attack. The branch produced reports concerning morale, much of the material for these being supplied by regional intelligence officers working under the regional commissioners.