What is Intelligence?

Thursday 11th January 1917

The adjutant of the Bedfordshire Yeomanry mentioned to me today that Second Lieutenant Procter went on an Intelligence Course yesterday. He also stated that, in the opinion of the brother officers he spoke with, the conclusion was aired that man cannnot teach what God has not given!

This flippancy aside, the term intelligence does get bandied about somewhat in this army and your reporter has, perhaps, been guilty of using it without explanation. What is meant by “intelligence” is, essentially, knowledge of the enemy - his positions, his state of mind, his plans and so on. Thus the unfairly abused Second Lieutenant Procter has gone on a course to study how best to elicit this intelligence from patrols, raids, listening posts and similar dodges to overhear enemy conversations or obtain enemy prisoners.

The adjutant also mentioned that Sergeants Raymond and Dale have gone to England for commissions. The phenomenon of soldiers being promoted from the ranks to be officers is happening with increasing frequency as resources at home dwindle and as it is realised what great gifts of leadership and resource ordinary soldiers possess, regardless of their social class.

Source: WW1/WD2