Percy Sillitoe
 Percy Sillitoe    (policeman, spook) | ||||||||||||
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Percy Sillitoe was a former policeman who had headed a number of constabularies before taking over MI5.[1]
Career
Sillitoe was brought in as a "honest copper" to regularise the orgnisation. [Citation Needed] Until Sillitoe's leadership, "the organisation was totally independent. Its staff was paid in cash, and paid no tax, and salaries could be at the whim of the director general. There was an independent auditor to ensure against embezzlement, but no detailed returns were made to the government and recently retired officers can remember how the directors general of both MI5 and the secret service had hoards of gold sovereigns, which the could hand out for special operations. That situation ended when Sillitoe demanded that MI5 be expanded. The Treasury agreed but only on condition that it could impose controls."[2]
Writings
He was the first head of the Security Service to publish an autobiography, Cloak without Dagger which came out in 1955.[3]
External Resources
- NameBase: Sillitoe Percy Joseph
References
- ↑ Former Directors General, MI5, accessed 8 July 2009.
- ↑ Their Trade is Treachery: The full, unexpurgated truth about the Russian ..., y Harry Champan Pincher
- ↑ Former Directors General, MI5, accessed 8 July 2009.
