British Control Commission for Germany 1945-49

and High Commission for Germany 1949-55

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The British sector of occupied Germany 1945-49 (Wikinight, CC.30).

The British Control Commission for Germany (BCCG) was one of four national components which made up the Allied Control Council, which ruled Germany in the aftermath of the Second World War.¹

It operated from 1945 until 1949 when it was replaced by the Foreign Office High Commissioner for Germany, which continued until 1955.²

Many MI6 officers of the Cold War cut their teeth operating under the cover of the BCCG and its Intelligence Division (ID). The main MI6 station in the British zone of occupation was at Bad Salzuflen under Harold Shergold, with an outstation at the British consulate at Dusseldorf. The BCCG also housed MI6’s Berlin station.³

The ID was also a major intelligence organisation in its own right. Although wary of the American-backed Gehlen Organisation, which became the Bundesnachrichtendienst, it established a more positive relationship with the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz.⁴