20 • THE APOSTLES
THE APOSTLES.Officially known at Cambridge University as the
Conversazione Society, the Apostles is an exclusive, private club that
dates back to the early 19th century. It acquired notoriety because of
the secrecy surrounding its membership and the fact that some of the
traitors of the period, includingAnthony Blunt,Leo Long,Alister
Watson,Guy Burgess, andMichael Straight, had been part of its
self-selecting elite in the 1930s. The society had been created to dis-
cuss contemporary literature and philosophy, and Alfred, Lord Ten-
nyson was its greatest poet, but in the prewar era it tended to elect
Marxists and left-wingers, which was to cause some embarrassment
toLord Rothschild, who had twice delivered papers to the society.
ARDAGH, SIR JOHN.A former private secretary to the viceroy of
India, General John Ardagh was appointeddirector of military in-
telligencein June 1896. In his first three years in the post, Ardagh
supervised the collection and distribution of intelligence relating to
30 wars fought across the globe by British troops, from China to Ni-
geria to British Guiana. Under his direction, the Colonial Section of
the Intelligence Division established links with 40 overseas adminis-
trations but was criticized by theElgin Commissionfor failing to
anticipate theBoer War.
ARKLEY VIEW.Established by the Post Office as a wireless intercept
site in 1938, Arkley View, Barnet, became the headquarters of the
Radio Security Service (RSS) in October 1940. Headed by Colonel
J. P. G. Worlledge, RSS was staffed by 1,500voluntary intercep-
tors, who were responsible for monitoring the airwaves for the ene-
my’s illicit signal traffic. DesignatedSpecial Communications Unit
(SCU) 3, Arkley View was taken over by theSecret Intelligence
Service’sSection VIIIin 1941, and Worlledge was replaced by Pro-
fessor F. J. M. Stratton, with Kenneth Morton Evans as his deputy.
ARMOUR. Secret Intelligence Servicecode name for a well-con-
nected Italiandouble agentwho was part of an Abwehrstay-behind
networkin Rome in 1944. He was an aeronautical expert who had
been employed to penetrate theAbwehrfor the Servicio Informazi-
one Militare and had volunteered to work for the British as soon as
the Germans withdrew. His wife was also a member of the network,