Is my father in law James Bond?
Discussion
Scabutz said:
I went for a job interview with MI6 a few years ago. It was only for a software dev job. All the correspondence came from the foreign office. I was told not to tell anyone I was applying. I was then invited to a hotel where they did a presentation and assessments for lots of candidates. We were told when we started we would be given a cover story, apparently working in pensions at the foreign office was common as it was benign and boring enough to put anyone off from asking further. We were only supposed to disclose who we really worked for to our spouse. Guess if you are a spy proper you dont even tell them.
I already had DV clearance at the time as I was working for the police and did stuff for special branch. But this was a step beyond in terms of secrecy.
Never carried on with the application. It was a long and arduous process and they didn't tell you the job or salary till the end. I was offered a job at a law firm paying 12k more than I was on at the time and went for that.
An agency sent me to an interview for an analysis job with MI5 some years back, I was told I could only tell immediate family to find the room for the assessment to follow the signs for something like 'PMQ Resources' which was presumably another agency. The Security service was only mentioned once we were in the room. I knew roughly what the job would entail and the salary (a bit crap). Good pension though.I already had DV clearance at the time as I was working for the police and did stuff for special branch. But this was a step beyond in terms of secrecy.
Never carried on with the application. It was a long and arduous process and they didn't tell you the job or salary till the end. I was offered a job at a law firm paying 12k more than I was on at the time and went for that.
red_slr said:
For those who travel away a lot they might work for an overseas company or maybe they are working for a mining company or whatever. A lot of these jobs need travel.
Sometimes all that is required is to live a normal life but gather information and pass that information on to handlers. Not everyone is doing wet work in the jungle for 6 months. In fact in modern times its very much the opposite. Just look at whats going on in the press at the moment with a certain telecoms company.
My late Grandfather was a civil engineer and a Freemason working in places like Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia long before the collapse of communism and the Warsaw pact. Sometimes all that is required is to live a normal life but gather information and pass that information on to handlers. Not everyone is doing wet work in the jungle for 6 months. In fact in modern times its very much the opposite. Just look at whats going on in the press at the moment with a certain telecoms company.
Edited by red_slr on Saturday 25th May 10:00
I once joked about him being approached by the secret squirrels to help them out on the side and he was pretty short with his denial.
He also sent the wife of one of his translators several knitting patterns which she never received. Now if you've ever seen a knitting pattern they are just a sheet of seemingly random numbers and to this day I still imagine some general in the secret police asking his code breakers if they have found the secret message?
'Alas no progress yet Comrade but we have some lovely cable knit sweaters and plenty of socks & mittens'
Tango13 said:
He also sent the wife of one of his translators several knitting patterns which she never received. Now if you've ever seen a knitting pattern they are just a sheet of seemingly random numbers and to this day I still imagine some general in the secret police asking his code breakers if they have found the secret message?
You sure they were knitting patterns and not, you know, secret codes :-)eltax91 said:
Surely it’s not very likely that they’ll get away without telling their family at least something. How else do you explain away being away for weeks/ months at little to no notice?!
Easy really work have secured a contract in bingoastan and you need to manage the customer, provide field support, install and commission the yet, train / hire local staff etc. Not at all suspicious particularly if you have mentioned overseas work previously.
Someone in that line of work probably hasn’t told their other(s) what they really do as a job anyway. A universal exports type scenario as others have mentioned.
Matt Cup said:
A story came up after reading this thread which I thought was appropriate.
Woman discovers her husband of 64 years led a secret life as a British spy.
Am I the only one who thinks that this story contains more pony than a gymkhana?Woman discovers her husband of 64 years led a secret life as a British spy.
- If you want someone who is small and knows about horses, what about a jockey or a horseywoman? There are bound to be a few in each group with good memories.
- An 18" (presumably diameter) pipe isn't that small, average shoulder width is 16.6".
- The story sounds like the stuff boys' adventure annuals popular at the time. Maybe the writer was a budding author, and the widow found his manuscript that he didn't share with her when he was alive for fear of ridicule?
- Maybe the widow is the budding author, who used her husband as the lead player in her story, then made it out to be true to get her book the maximum amount of free publicity?
Edited by GliderRider on Sunday 26th May 17:32
ashleyman said:
My father used to check the car before letting us out the house of a morning. I recently found out it was because of the IRA sticking bombs to organisation cars. Made for an interesting childhood.
When visiting my late brother he used to tell me to check under the car before getting in and if it didn't look right don't start it. I thought his was joking but being in the forces I knew he wasn't. Did give me a few sweaty moments turning the key.
Okay, my FIL and MIL have been over for Father's Day lunch and I have more information. Mainly from my MIL who was a bit tipsy.
I raised the question of my FIL's true role for the MOD and he just laughed it off and repeated that he was in quality control. An important but not exciting role, he claims. But he did confirm that he was chauffeured everywhere.
Despite that, he also had a company car which was always a hire car and changed regularly.
Additionally, it came to light that travel to China and the US was difficult for him. The MIL mentioned that when they went to China on holiday he had a 1-inch thick document issued to him which he had to read in full and sign. It included agreeing not to socialise with Chinese women.
Apparently internal US flights were also problematic and they regularly got held up.
The MIL said that one of their long-standing family friends was convinced that my FIL was a spy.
There is definitely something in his past that he is not divulging. I am pretty sure that he did something interesting.
If I was you I'd be very circumspect from this point onwards.
You don't know and he's not telling. This will be for good reason.
It could put him in an awkward and unfair position if you go much further. You might get pulled to one side for a quiet "Listen, sunshine..." conversation which would be unpleasant for both of you.
You don't know and he's not telling. This will be for good reason.
It could put him in an awkward and unfair position if you go much further. You might get pulled to one side for a quiet "Listen, sunshine..." conversation which would be unpleasant for both of you.
I did some contract work in the defence industry. New Clear Subs.
There was a list of places we could not visit without prior approval.
I'm not sure why. If the Chinese looked at our blue prints they'd probably laugh, and then kill you, for making the s
t up, and trying to pull the wool over them.
There was a list of places we could not visit without prior approval.
I'm not sure why. If the Chinese looked at our blue prints they'd probably laugh, and then kill you, for making the s
t up, and trying to pull the wool over them. My tale goes back 50 years and i worked with a group of chaps who had either served during the war or had recently completed national service. We even had an ex POW German who never went home and stayed in England but his tales as a Panzer is another story.
It was a quiet day, and the man talk got round to 'what did you do in the services?, so being a young lad I listened to some amazing stories.
Coincidentally, a guy came in, an infrequent visitor, suited and booted and known for a good joke, jovial personality and the same was asked of him.
"..My job was to wear a beret and striped jumper and cycle round France sticking knives in Germans....".
That stopped the clock so to speak.
I kid you not, he was ex SOE and not the sort of guy to B.S.. Just a genuine chap that left you in no doubt that the least suspected sort was doing this sort of thing.
It was a quiet day, and the man talk got round to 'what did you do in the services?, so being a young lad I listened to some amazing stories.
Coincidentally, a guy came in, an infrequent visitor, suited and booted and known for a good joke, jovial personality and the same was asked of him.
"..My job was to wear a beret and striped jumper and cycle round France sticking knives in Germans....".
That stopped the clock so to speak.
I kid you not, he was ex SOE and not the sort of guy to B.S.. Just a genuine chap that left you in no doubt that the least suspected sort was doing this sort of thing.
SpeckledJim said:
If I was you I'd be very circumspect from this point onwards.
You don't know and he's not telling. This will be for good reason.
It could put him in an awkward and unfair position if you go much further.
Loose lips sink ships. I am in agreement with you, by the way. It wasn't just a pithy comment. You don't know and he's not telling. This will be for good reason.
It could put him in an awkward and unfair position if you go much further.
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