MI5 finally joined Instagram in April 2021, a giant leap for a century-old British spy agency that didn’t even ‘officially’ exist until 1989. Here are 12 tantalizing secrets MI5’s social media account reveals about Britain’s spooks.
1. All aboard!
MI5 operates its own spy train! It’s a three-mile-long railway for document delivery cars (no passengers, sadly). While most MI5 intel is electronic, the spy agency can still deliver paper files to 45 'stations' in its Thames House HQ, a former air raid shelter. The stops are named numerically, but staff would rather make them more spy friendly with names riffing on London’s underground Tube stations like Covert Garden and 00Seven Sisters.
2. MI5 was based in a smelly prison during WWII
MI5 was rapidly expanding before the outbreak of WWII, and moved from Thames House (its current location) to Wormwood Scrubs prison in west London. The move happened quickly because of the impending war, meaning some staff arrived to find unemptied chamber pots in their new ‘cell’ offices. The cells were often poorly ventilated without handles to open the door from the inside, so MI5 staff were locked in if the door was closed by mistake. The Victorian building - which was still home to prisoners in the other blocks - had open staircases so MI5’s dress code was relaxed. Women were allowed to wear trousers for the first time.
The move was short lived. London was being bombed during the Blitz and, by 1940, most staff were moved to Blenheim Palace for the duration of the war. Perhaps you've heard about Wormwood Scrubs before? One of its best-known prisoners is MI6-KGB double agent George Blake who dramatically escaped with the help of other inmates in 1966.
3. Dear Spies…
Children often write to MI5 asking how they can become a spy. "The gadgets look really cool," one eight-year-old said approvingly, adding that his spy skills included swimming. Another, age 10, boasts about his long list of language skills which include German, Spanish, Chinese, and English… “obviously”.
4. MI5 spies like sculpture
MI5's HQ, sits on the banks of the River Thames and its Portland stone facade is decorated with sculptures by Charles Sargeant Jagger. On the left of the entrance is St. George and on the right is Britannia (pictured above). Not everyone is a fan of the impressive building. Architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner wrote of his dislike for the building’s "nasty cheese-coloured roof".
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MI5 finally joined Instagram in April 2021, a giant leap for a century-old British spy agency that didn’t even ‘officially’ exist until 1989. Here are 12 tantalizing secrets MI5’s social media account reveals about Britain’s spooks.
1. All aboard!
MI5 operates its own spy train! It’s a three-mile-long railway for document delivery cars (no passengers, sadly). While most MI5 intel is electronic, the spy agency can still deliver paper files to 45 'stations' in its Thames House HQ, a former air raid shelter. The stops are named numerically, but staff would rather make them more spy friendly with names riffing on London’s underground Tube stations like Covert Garden and 00Seven Sisters.
2. MI5 was based in a smelly prison during WWII
MI5 was rapidly expanding before the outbreak of WWII, and moved from Thames House (its current location) to Wormwood Scrubs prison in west London. The move happened quickly because of the impending war, meaning some staff arrived to find unemptied chamber pots in their new ‘cell’ offices. The cells were often poorly ventilated without handles to open the door from the inside, so MI5 staff were locked in if the door was closed by mistake. The Victorian building - which was still home to prisoners in the other blocks - had open staircases so MI5’s dress code was relaxed. Women were allowed to wear trousers for the first time.
The move was short lived. London was being bombed during the Blitz and, by 1940, most staff were moved to Blenheim Palace for the duration of the war. Perhaps you've heard about Wormwood Scrubs before? One of its best-known prisoners is MI6-KGB double agent George Blake who dramatically escaped with the help of other inmates in 1966.
3. Dear Spies…
Children often write to MI5 asking how they can become a spy. "The gadgets look really cool," one eight-year-old said approvingly, adding that his spy skills included swimming. Another, age 10, boasts about his long list of language skills which include German, Spanish, Chinese, and English… “obviously”.
4. MI5 spies like sculpture
MI5's HQ, sits on the banks of the River Thames and its Portland stone facade is decorated with sculptures by Charles Sargeant Jagger. On the left of the entrance is St. George and on the right is Britannia (pictured above). Not everyone is a fan of the impressive building. Architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner wrote of his dislike for the building’s "nasty cheese-coloured roof".
Officers enter MI5's Thames House HQ - a historical building on London’s famous Thames River - via security pod’s that lead into a lobby lit by a skylight. Don’t even think about dropping by unannounced. There’s no doorbell or door knocker outside. We’re betting there are a few security cameras though.
6. What’s MI5 reading?
MI5’s library has a nifty collection of spy books including studies of the Irish Republican Army, Middle East terrorist group Isis, and the Soviet KGB spy agency. What’s buried on the back shelves? SPYSCAPE spies books about the Cambridge Five, including British traitors Kim Philby and George Blake. There’s also Mole Hunt, Nigel West’s book about a Soviet Spy in MI5. No John le Carré, but we live in hope.
7. MI5 has a spy movie club
Can there be a better place to watch spy movies than inside MI5’s secret cinema? The Top Secret Cinema Club meets once a month after work. What’s on? Espionage thrillers, documentaries, and foreign-subtitled films for budding linguists. MI5 isn’t giving away titles names, but we'd expect Judi Dench’s Red Joan and Helen Mirren’s Eye in the Sky to be on the list.
8. MI5 has its own spy museum
Britain’s spies have the ultimate collection of Q-style gadgets - including invisible ink! Locked away in a private MI5 spy museum, the collection also includes a confiscated Soviet radio transmitter (above), early MI5 cameras, medals, documents, and a matchbox used for secret writing.
9. MI5 Spy pigeons received medals!
MI5 deployed spy pigeons in WWII under Operation Columbia. More than 16,000 trained pigeons flew to occupied Europe carrying capsules attached to their legs with pleas for intelligence. Only one in 10 birds flew back to England, but some of those carried back crucial information. Britain even awarded more than 30 pigeons the Dickin Medal for outstanding animal acts of bravery.
10. MI5 will rock you
More than 30 spies belong to MI5’s resident band, including double bass players and trumpeters. The musicians perform at UK intelligence events and charity fundraisers. Instagram followers have come up with a few suggestions for MI5’s playlist, including Escape by Rupert Holmes. ‘If you like Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain…’
11. The Portland spy ring
MI5 still considers the Portland spy ring case to be one of its most important Cold War victories. Five spies - three living deep undercover in England for the KGB - were arrested after a surveillance operation. A suburban bungalow in London’s Ruislip neighborhood revealed a kitchen trap door leading to a cellar and a bathroom used as a photography dark room. An aerial in a loft transmitted intel to Moscow.
12. MI5’s 20 offices included one not-so-secret HQ
In addition to MI5’s Thames House HQ in London, the spy agency has had around 20 offices since it was established in 1909 including Curzon Street House in central London near Hyde Park. The location of the office was supposed to be hush-hush, of course, but as one ex-spy recalls: “When you got off the bus in Park Lane the conductor would shout: ‘Curzon Street and MI5’... All of us would troop off looking somewhat embarrassed!’”
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