Intrigue Master, The : Commander Long and Naval Intelligence in Australia, 1913 – 1945

First Edition. A history of Naval Intelligence Division plus a biography of Commander Rupert Basil Michel Long.

The linchpin of Australian intelligence and security work, Long set up an espionage system in the Netherlands East Indies and South-West Pacific. In 1940 he advocated the formation of the Combined Operational Intelligence Centre, Melbourne, and in January 1941 became its first director, in addition to his role as D.N.I. He founded the Special Intelligence Bureau under Commander (Captain) T. E. Nave to help break Japanese consular and merchant-navy codes, and received ‘Ultra’ material (intercepted and decrypted enemy messages) from Britain. Long formed close contacts with cryptanalysts in Singapore, Batavia and Canada, and with the Far East Security Service.

He played a role in the formation (March 1941) of the Commonwealth Security Service. In 1942 he persuaded General Sir Thomas Blamey to set up the Far Eastern Liaison Office for psychological warfare. General Douglas MacArthur accepted Long’s proposal to establish the Allied Intelligence Bureau, which co-ordinated the activities of coast-watchers and other intelligence and sabotage parties operating in Japanese-occupied territory. pp. vii, 339 illusts maps #1020R/231021/031221 ISBN 10: 0864391846 ISBN 13: 9780864391841