Intelligence Corps Cap Badge WW2

Intelligence Corps Cap Badge WW2

There had been previous attempts at intelligence gathering around the turn of the 19th century was originally thought to be under hand and not playing by the rules. Later in 1909, intelligence gathering was better understood to the point that they created a counter intelligence organizantion, MI5. The first Intelligence Corps was created in 1914. The Royal Flying Corp was formed to monitor the ground and provided aerial photographs for the corp to analyse. After the First World War the unit was rapidly shrunk and later disbanded in 1929

 On 19 June 1940 a new the Intelligence Corps was created. The Corps had its operatives sent to RAF Ringway for Parachute training. They were then dropped over France as part of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The SOE was tasked by Winston Churchill to 'set Europe ablaze' through acts of  sabotage behind enemy lines. Intelligence Corps officers were involved in forming the highly-effective Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), and the Corps officer Lt Col Peter Clayton was one of the four founders of the Special Air Service (SAS). Around 40% of the staff at Bletchley Park were in the Intelligence Corps.

The cap badge as seen above is solid brass with a slider to the rear. A badge consists of a Tudor Rose between laurel branches and surmounted by a Kings crown.