520 • STAY-BEHIND NETWORKS
gram,’’ collaborated with journalist Greg Harken to produceStakek-
nife: Britain’s Secret Agents in Ireland.STAY-BEHIND NETWORKS.Organizations of agents left in the
path of an advancing enemy, briefed to commence clandestine opera-
tions once the area had come under occupation, are known as ‘‘stay-
behind.’’ British Intelligence played an active part in the identifica-
tion of German stay-behind networks following the invasion of Eu-
rope in June 1944, and during the Cold War participated in a NATO
project to train and equip underground resistance movements inNor-
way, Sweden,Finland,Denmark,Austria, Switzerland, andItaly.
NATO’s secret stay-behind group in Italy was known asgladio, that
in Switzerland as P-27, and the one in Finland asstella polaris.
STB.SeeCZECH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE.
STEELE, FRANK.Born in India in February 1923, Frank Steele
joined theSecret Intelligence Service(SIS) in 1951 after graduating
in mechanical engineering from Emanuel College, Cambridge. He
was posted to Basra and then served in Cyprus, Libya, London, and
Beirut. Steele was head of station in Amman in 1965, and in 1968
went to Nairobi. Upon his return to England in 1971, he was trans-
ferred to Laneside, the quiet villa overlooking Belfast Lough, as dep-
uty to the UK representative, Sir Howard Smith. After the
imposition of direct rule from London in March 1972, Steele was
assigned to theNorthern IrelandOffice. Steele’s task was to de-
velop a line of communication to the ProvisionalIrish Republican
Army(PIRA), so a truce could be negotiated, and this he achieved.
The first secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Willie Whitelaw,
wanted to speak directly to the PIRA leadership, and Steele arranged
the meeting, first having obtained agreement to new conditions for
the republican detainees in prison in the province, the so-called ‘‘spe-
cial category status,’’ and the freedom for the PIRA delegation to
choose its composition. In 1975 Steele retired from SIS and went to
work for the City merchant bankers Kleinwort Benson. He died in
November 1997.
STEPHENS, R. W. G.Colonel Robin Stephens, known as ‘‘Tin-eye’’
because of his monocle, was commandant ofCamp 020throughout