BOER WAR• 61BODYGUARD.Code name for thedeceptioncampaign to cover the
Allied invasion of Europe in June 1944.bodyguardhad various
components, includingfortitude northandfortitude south.
bodyguardwas the largest and most successful operation under-
taken during World War II.
BOER WAR.British military reverses in South Africa during the Boer
War highlighted the lapses in intelligence that had prevented suffi-
cient troops from being deployed to the region before the war started
and resulted in the troops that did arrive being poorly prepared and
equipped. A series of defeats in December 1899 left Ladysmith,
Kimberley, and Mafeking under siege, with the government resorting
to unorthodox tactics to contain the enemy.Secret service funds
were paid to consuls across the world to collect information about
arms shipments to the Boers and agents were deployed in the Trans-
vaal to survey railway bridges as possible targets for sabotage.
During the war, Colonel David Henderson of theField Intelli-
gence Departmentintroduced several innovations, including strate-
gic deception through the manipulation of the media. Henderson
circulated ‘‘confidential tips’’ on future plans to newspapermen, who
published them in London. The scheme was so successful that the
War Office reprimanded Lord Roberts on the serious indiscretion of
his staff, but the truth emerged when the journalists who had been
manipulated complained about their ‘‘unfair and dishonest treat-
ment.’’
The war concluded with a significant intelligence coup in May
1901 pulled off by the postal censor in Aden, who intercepted a se-
cret message from the Boers addressed to President Kruger, who was
then in Holland. The code was broken and the content revealed that
General Smuts, Christiaan de Wet, and the Dutch consul in Pretoria
had concluded that they could not hope to beat Lord Kitchener, even
if that was not the view in Europe. The text was promptly passed to
Kitchener, who exploited the Boer weakness to his advantage.
In July 1902 Lord Elgin was appointed by the new prime minister,
Arthur Balfour, ‘‘to inquire into the military preparations and other
matters connected with the war in South Africa,’’ and a year later
he concluded that the government had failed to take account of the
intelligence it had received regarding Boer intentions and had been