Security Intelligence Middle East
Security Intelligence Middle East was an organisation made up of a number of British intelligence agencies supporting the British Military Government during the Second World War, based in Cairo, Egypt. It was composed of Security Service, with Secret Intelligence Service provided by liaison officers and army Intelligence Corps personnel, but MI5 were the lead agency and provided the focus.
SIME was created in December 1939 as the British Government sought to develop a more focussed approach to counter intelligence and developing security intelligence on the spectrum of threats from espionage, subversion, sabotage and eventually terrorism. SIME's first chief was Colonel Raymund John Maunsell, although he had moved on by February 1945 as he was recorded as being at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force G2 based in northwestern Europe.
A record of a 1947 visit by two senior Security Service officers to SIME confirmed that it was still based in Cairo and had offices in Baghdad, Jerusalem and Cyprus.
Maunsell was succeeded by the following as Chief of SIME:
The SIME organisational model was in employed elsewhere and in 1946 Security Intelligence Far East was established. SIME was disbanded in 1958.
