British Security Coordination

The British Security Coordination was authorized by Winston Churchill in 1940 as a highly secret organization in New York to supervise the activities of the British intellignece service -- MI5, Special Operations Executive, the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), & the Political Warfare Executive -- in the Western hemisphere. Headed by the Canadian industrialist Sir William Stephenson, its first tasks were to promote British interest in the United States, counter Nazi propaganda, & protect the Arctic convoys from enemy sabotage. Despite clashing with the U.S. FBI, the BSC soon went on to develop a vast intelligence network.