Reed papers, letter from Reed, 3 August 1943. ‘I went to the appointments dept at GHQ and was told that there was no chance whatever of going back to a [regular army] unit, as I’m too old and don’t know any of the right colonels … There followed a series of interviews with different colonels in different offices on the scent of another job, in the department which deals with liaison between different services. All very hush. So much so that I found it quite impossible to get enough to go on.’
Reed later recorded some details of the training he received from SIS.
Reed papers, letter from Reed, 2 September 1943. ‘It’s a fascinating job, piecing together all the mosaic of information that the army gets about enemy-occupied territory. I’ve at last got a chance which I’ve wanted for years to learn some languages and what we do is honest war work and not the vile pretty picture of the boys in uniform that the BBC trades in … I depart to Alex[andria] tomorrow for a week for a course with the Navy. I’ve already had one with the RAF in Pal[estine] … I’m awfully busy, buried deep in technicalities, how to interrogate prisoners, how to identify hostile units, how to break down other peoples’ codes – detective work.’
In July 1943 Reed had little knowledge of Yugoslavia and spoke no Serbo-Croat, but he could offer SIS his experience in the collection of information, a proven ability to work alone in remote territory, a basic knowledge of military staff work, and at least some evidence of linguistic aptitude.
Following his recruitment he received a rudimentary training and was then despatched to Croatia with a radio operator and an interpreter to work with Tito's Partisans...