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the Intelligence Corps was commanded by a lieutenant-colonel named
Robin Wordsworth,^1 an Arabic-speaking former Sudan colonial adminis-
trator, who was under the direction of the head of Security Intelligence
Middle East (SIME), Raymond Maunsell. On behalf of the Combined
Intelligence Centre Persia and Iraq (CICI), the FSS took care of such
routine tasks as prison-camp administration and security, border control,
searches and arrests, field reconnaissance and surveillance, rail-supply pro-
tection, port security, and general crime prevention.^2 Rather like their
counterparts in the Canadian ‘Mounties’ (RCMP), FSS sergeants and cor-
porals frequently found themselves individually responsible for patrolling
vast areas of tribal territory with no trace of what would today be called
‘armed backup.’ It was demanding work, but morale among the sections
was generally high because of a shared sense of doing something impor-
tant for the war and because of the challenging nature of their jobs, which
involved a great deal of travel and variety. In December 1942, an establish-
ment for an entirely independent and self-administering Persia and Iraq
Force (PAIFORCE) FSW was promulgated. It was to consist of a com-
mandant, an adjutant, three clerks, and a driver; it would be responsible
for the administration of all FSS in PAIFORCE. The first commandant
was Gerald Robinson, and the adjutant was Sam Saarluis. In March 1942,
Geoffrey Household (1900–1988) took over as commandant.^3 Though
the FSW commandant in Baghdad answered to PAIFORCE HQ rather
than to CICI or to Wordsworth in Cairo, so far as Chokra Wood, Hanbury
Dawson-Shepherd, and Joe Spencer were concerned, these Intelligence
Corps soldiers were—virtually if not actually—their executive police force:
their ‘boots on the ground’ throughout Iraq and Persia. As a result, Wood
was consulted by PAIFORCE on the selection of FSS personnel for
commissioning and special duties. In other words, the FSS were decentral-
ized and therefore able to respond swiftly to local needs.^4
Initially, after the armistice and before being reinforced from India,
CICI had few FSS units at their disposal. On 20 June 1941, the first half-
section of Intelligence Corps field security personnel disembarked in
Basra. They were shortly followed by a further two-and-a-half sections.^5
Iraq was then divided into four security zones, which by no means covered
the entire country but essentially reflected the four top security priorities
that prevailed in the autumn of 1941: Zone 1: Basra Port. Covering the
immediate Basra area, the Shatt al-Arab waterway, and the local narrow-
gauge railway network (Oil Depot—RAF Compound—Port—Marshalling
Yard—Maqil Yard). Zone 2: Shaiba Base. Covering all military camps,