Classified WW1 spy files made available online

For the first time, classified WW1 files, which include interrogation reports and photographs, were made available online.

17:13 10 April 2014

For the first time, classified WW1 files, which include interrogation reports and photographs, have found their way on to the internet. The MI5 files, which consists of 150 documents, are being made available in the digitised release. 

 

Among the infamous spies detailed are Swallows and Amazons author Arthur Ransome and Dutch spy Mata Hari (pictured), who was executed for spying for the Germans.

 

The release is part of a series by the National Archives to mark the centenary of World War One.  

 

Featured on the documents are political figures including Russian leaders Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin. There are also surveillance reports include those on British Communist Party, Bolshevik Party, and The Boy Scout Association. 

 

Records specialist, Dr Stephen Twigge, at the National Archives said: "The files in the National Archives' collection reveal the importance of the security service in safeguarding the nation during the First World War.

 

"Now that we have made the files available online as part of our First World War 100 programme, people across the globe can discover the secret history behind the war for themselves."

 

The archives can be found here on the official National Archives site