From The Independent · · 2m
The women in the shadows of the Troubles
Female undercover agents of 14 Intelligence Company risked their lives gathering intelligence on paramilitaries in Northern Ireland during decades of conflict.
In brief
Female undercover agents of 14 Intelligence Company risked their lives gathering intelligence on paramilitaries in Northern Ireland during decades of conflict. Women of 14 Intelligence Company conducted covert surveillance in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, operating as undercover agents banned from frontline…
Shut out of the frontlines
Women were banned from serving on the front lines of the Special Air Service and Special Boat Service but formed the backbone of 14 Intelligence Company, the most secretive military intelligence organisation since the Second…
Walking the streets of Belfast
The women of 14 Intelligence Company walked the streets of Belfast and carried out surveillance from unmarked cars to build intelligence to take down paramilitary groups during the Troubles.
Recruited with a tap on the shoulder
The women were often recruited through the Old Boys' Network with a tap on the shoulder, and were often very young for the most dangerous of jobs.
Liz's recruitment at nineteen
Liz joined the Army at seventeen as an intelligence clerk. At nineteen, an officer asked if she was bored, then said: "Oh, we've got just the thing for you." That was her recruitment interview.
“Oh, we've got just the thing for you.”
The Det's intelligence method
Starting with a known person, house, workplace or vehicle, Det operators would follow threads through the civilian population.
Being female was an asset
In covert surveillance, being female was not a disadvantage but a huge operational asset. Two military-looking men in a parked car attracted attention. A man and woman could pass as a couple.
Trained to be grey and unmemorable
Liz was trained to become grey: unnoticed, unremembered. She wore no Army-issue watch, no perfume, nothing brightly coloured. She spent months learning every street, alley and cut-through in Belfast before being considered fully useful.
“You were trying to be very grey. Unmemorable.”
Hidden weapons in a housecoat
Liz sometimes wore a housecoat like female factory workers wore.Underneath it could be hidden her radio and a nine millimetre Browning pistol.The housecoat was closed with Velcro so it could be opened easily if needed.
A near-fatal mistake on the Shankill
Liz and a male colleague parked near the Shankill Road with weapons hidden inside.They had parked outside a senior loyalist figure's home.
“Keep walking.”
They would have killed us
Had Liz opened the car door and climbed back in, she says: "Without a shadow of a doubt, I'm sure that they would have killed us." The margin between life and death was microscopic.
“Without a shadow of a doubt… I'm sure that they would have killed us.”
Here's the gist
Women of 14 Intelligence Company conducted covert surveillance in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, operating as undercover agents banned from frontline service but essential to counter-insurgency work.
