‘Modern conditions demand integration and professionalism’: The transition from Joint Intelligence Bureau to Defence Intelligence Staff and the long march to centralisation in British military intelligence

Abstract

This article explores the reforms that occurred in British military and military-related intelligence in 1946 and 1964. It charts the development of the Joint Intelligence Bureau, which was created as a central organisation to provide intelligence on several military-related issues, and how it was eventually merged with the service intelligence agencies in 1964 to form the Defence Intelligence Staff. It argues that the reforms of 1946, although functional, were flawed, as they satisfied neither the advocates of wholesale centralisation nor the champions of individual service responsibility. The inevitable outcome was a series of divisive arguments over responsibility and “turf”, which could only be resolved when the issue was firmly grasped by senior politicians.