London Names Explained - part 6: MI5 and MI6

Do you know why Britain’s two top-secret services are called MI5 and MI6?And where are MI1, 2, 3 and 4?And why do they sound like motorway names? This is London Names Explained, part 6. First things first: MI stands for Military Intelligence, simple as that. And there were actually 17 of them in total, but only two of them remained, and they’re not even officially called MI5 and 6 anymore, but more on that later. The story starts in 1909, when the British government got worried about German spies and created something called the Secret Service Bureau. During the First World War, intelligence work was split into numbered departments, each responsible for a specific job. MI1 handled codes and ciphers.MI4 dealt with military maps. And so on. Over time, most of these departments either merged into each other or disappeared completely, leaving behind the two main services we know today. MI5 handles domestic security, and is based in Thames House on Millbank. Its real name now is simply the Security Service, also known by its unofficial nickname - Box 500, named after its wartime PO Box address. Not far down the river is MI6 - officially called the Secret Intelligence Service - based in this building straight out of Minecraft. The building and the service have picked up all sorts of nicknames over the years. There’s Legoland, thanks to the architecture.The Circus, thanks to novels by John le Carré, a former SIS officer. River House, also thanks to le Carré.And sometimes, just sometimes - Universal Exports: thanks to this guy. #london #history #mi6