WORLD WAR I

United Kingdom

The Mediterranean

Lawson, John Cuthbert. Tales of Aegean Intrigue. New York: Dutton, 1921.

According to Constantinides, "Lawson was in Crete in 1916-1917 with British naval intelligence.... [His] candid account of how he undertook a series of political, psychological, and military measures without official sanction and guidance ... is ... instructive and sobering."

Linklater, Andro. Compton Mackenzie, A Life. London: Chatto & Windrus, 1987.

Ferris, I&NS 4.2, finds that although he "improves our understanding of the psychology" of Mackenzie, the author's "discussion of the actions of the intelligence officer is somewhat disappointing.... Linklater adds nothing of substance to Mackenzie's account" in Gallipoli Memories, First Athenian Memories, Greek Memories, and Aegean Memories.

Mackenzie, Compton.

Clark comment: The following volumes are the memories of Compton Mackenzie, literary light and World War I spymaster/political agent.

For Ferris, I&NS 4.2, Mackenzie's "autobiographies are infinitely better history than are most memoirs.... They are one of best extant accounts both of British intelligence during the First World War and of covert action in general."

Constantinides advises that Mackenzie's volumes be read in conjunction with Lawson's Tales of Aegean Intrigue and Thomson's The Allied Secret Service in Greece. Even then, doubt can still remain as to whether any or all represent an accurate picture.

1. Green [Gallipoli] Memories. Frederick, MD: University Press of America, 1987.

This is a reprint of the first volume of Mackenzie's memoirs, covering the pre-World War I period.

2. First Athenian Memories. London: Cassell, 1931.

Constantinides says that this book covers Mackenzie's activities as head of the British secret service counterespionage section in Athens from 1915 to early 1916. He describes British intelligence operations as "disorganized, confused, uncoordinated, and marked by conflicts."

3. Greek Memories. London: Chatto & Windus, 1939.

It is in this volume of his memoirs that Mackenzie moves into what Constantinides calls "the action phase of his career.... He frankly recounts the operations of his organization not only against the Germans in Greece ... but also those in Greece who were considered enemies of the Entente.... This is the story of an intelligence officer of great vigor and talent, who helped create an organization within a foreign ... state that acted as a security service."

4. Aegean Memories. London: Chatto & Windus, 1940.

Constantinides: Mackenzie gives "facts and details on the infighting within the British government and its intelligence organizations and the jockeying for intelligence supremacy in Greece in World War I. He has some extreme examples of lack of coordination, misdirection in intelligence work, rivalries, and even insubordination."

5. My Life and Time: Octave Five, 1915-1923. London: Chatto, 1966.

See also Andro Linklater, Compton Mackenzie, A Life (London: Chatto & Windrus, 1987).

Thomson, Basil. The Allied Secret Service in Greece. London Hutchinson, 1931.

Constantinides notes that the "Allied Secret Service" in this case is the French, which Thomson portrays taking the lead in intelligence activities in Greece during World War I. "It is a passionate, strongly biased work on the direction political and diplomatic events took" because of the activities of the French naval attaché, Commander de Roquefeuil. Other than his claim to have seen a summary of the unpublished 1919 report of the French Chamber of Deputies' Naval Commission, "he does not say ... what the sources were for much of his material."

van Hartesveldt, Fred. The Dardanelles Campaign: Historiography and Annotated Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1997.

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