Talk:British Security Co-ordination

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Military history: British / Canadian / European / North America / World War II

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Comments

I last read H. Montgomery Hyde’s book British Security Coordination (it may have a different title elsewhere) back in the eighties so I wouldn’t add this to the article itself, as this is entirely from memory, but I thought someone else might find it interesting.

In 1940, when Italy decided to enter the war on Germany’s side, the New York/East Coast mafia decided to put pressure on the New York stevedores to prevent them loading ships with supplies bound for the UK. As a result of this pressure, the stevedores stopped loading the ships.

When BSC heard of this, what with Britain being at war and the supplies being of an important nature, they decided on a rather drastic course of action. At this time the only people in the US aware of BSC’s true role were President Roosevelt and J. Edgar Hoover himself, and through Hoover, BSC obtained the police files on prominent local mafia leaders. BSC then proceeded to kidnap them, smuggle them across the border into Canada and then ‘lose’ them. Being kept-informed of BSC’s interest in these people, when Hoover asked Stephenson what had happened to such-and-such a person the reply was usually along the lines of oh, we’ve lost him.

Because of the mafia’s infiltration of the local police forces they naturally tried to find out what was happening and who was responsible for the disappearances, however, because BSC’s true role was unknown to the police, the informers could find out nothing. A short while later, the stevedores resumed loading the ships and did-so for the remainder of the war. Ian Dunster 21:35, 12 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Boyd

I'm assuming the Boyd reference is clearly non-fiction? It is a novel, right? heqs 05:04, 24 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Or was it taken from an interview? I don't think the book should be listed as a reference. heqs 05:07, 24 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The Boyd reference is from a magazine article. 86.151.40.64 01:01, 23 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

William Boyd has written a book in which the BSC features called Restless (novel) Ivankinsman 15:55, 16 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

John Arthur Reid Pepper

Why is there no article on John Arthur Reid Pepper who was the head of BSC in 1947?

Is it because the producers of the Beatles Sergeant Pepper album slipped up and nearly compromised Pepper and exposed the reason why the band was created and popularized (as part of BSC “to mobilize pro-British opinion in the US," set up by Winston Churchill)? Lennon wanted out in 1980 so they faked his "assassination". Lennon likely lives in Ontario, Canada most of the time. The CIA produced a film about him called Let Him Be as damage control for Lennon's cover being exposed. It ended up backfiring because there was a close up shot of John Lennon in the film and for other reasons.

Whether anyone wants to be convinced Lennon's fake assassination or not, John Arthur Reid Pepper was head of BSC in 1947. His article is suspiciously missing Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page without content in them (see the help page).

BSC was disbanded in 1945. In 1947 the organisation no longer existed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.144.50.176 (talk) 09:08, 13 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

It was mainly an anti-communist agency

BSC was like the Information Research Department, used to spread anti-Soviet/Communist propaganda, not anti-German propaganda. The NAZI/Hitlerite forces were used by the British and US to strangle the young Soviet workers' republic in its crib — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.89.33.72 (talk) 17:53, 26 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

At the time in 1940 the Soviet Union and it's communist government were supporting Hitler's Nazi Germany, having carved up Poland between them earlier, and Stalin's agents within Britain were organising strikes against a 'capitalist war' thereby hindering Britain's war effort - an action which, in either contemporary Russia or Germany would have got the perpetrators shot. Despite this, Britain, and later the US, started to supply the Soviets with essential war materiel shortly after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Not surprisingly, after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union the strikes in Britain stopped.

BTW, in early 1941 Britain warned Stalin (while disguising the source) that Germany was preparing to invade the Soviet Union. Britain had been reading German signals via 'Ultra' so knew this. Stalin ignored the warnings, claiming they were a British trick. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.144.50.176 (talk) 08:58, 13 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

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