Historical Dictionary of British Intelligence

SPECIAL MEANS• 509

Kizel, Tannu Ola, and Tashkent, and were analyzed by an office on

the first floor of the Alliance Building in Caxton Street nearBroad-

way. The Atlantic Section was subdivided into:

• Department A, run by Mr. Shelley, who was responsible for com-
  munications between Head Office and all the production units


• Department B, headed by Sandy McKibbin, which analyzed reports
  on labor, wages, cost of living, social conditions, taxation, financ-
  ing, oil, coal, and timber in the Eastern Bloc


• Department C, under Major Rikovsky, the military section dealing
  with the Red Army andNKVDand industry relating to chemicals,
  rubber, medium machine-building, and railways


• Department D, led by Major Narkevich, the naval section that dealt
  with power stations, agriculture, bread supplies, livestock, export
  and import, the building industry, and reconstruction issues


• Department E, under General Baranov, the aviation section, which
  also covered metals, machine tools, heavy machine-building, and
  coke production

SPECIAL LIAISON UNITS (SLU).To facilitate the distribution of
ultrasummaries to military commands during World War II, the
Secret Intelligence Servicecreated an independent wireless network
that linkedWhaddon Hallto Special Liaison Units (SLUs) attached
to headquarter staffs authorized to receive the information. The first
four SLUs were at the Admiralty, War Office, Air Ministry, and
Royal Air Force Fighter Command.
Individual SLUs consisted of specially cleared and trained non-
commissioned officers, who decrypted the summaries usingone-
time pads, kept custody of eachultrasummary, ensured that only
those who had been indoctrinated handled the documents, and super-
vised the summaries’ destruction. The size of a self-sufficient SLU
could be up to 60 men, equipped with jeeps, wireless trucks, cipher
vans, motorcycles, and, later in the war, converted Dodge ambu-
lances. They also carried Typex machines and other communications
gear, fitted with explosives in case destruction was necessary.

SPECIAL MEANS.The term used for controlled leakages of sensitive
information to the enemy during World War II. ‘‘Special means’’ in-
cluded techniques such as the manipulation ofdouble agents.