Mansfield Smith-Cumming
| Sir Mansfield George Smith Cumming | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance |
United Kingdom 
|
| Service |
Royal Navy, SIS (MI6) |
| Active | 1878 - 1909 Royal Navy 1909 - 1923 SIS (MI6) |
| Rank |
Captain, Head of the SS |
| Operation(s) | World War I |
| Award(s) |
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companion of the Order of the Bath Order of St Stanislas (Russia) India General Service Medal Perak Clasp Egypt Medal British War Medal Officer of the Legion of Honour (France) Khedive's Star Order of St Vladimir (Russia) Conspicuous Gallantry Medal |
|
|
|
| Born |
1 April 1859 England |
| Died | 14 June 1923 (aged 64) London |
| Nationality | British |
Captain Sir Mansfield George Smith Cumming, KCMG, CB (1 April 1859 – 14 June 1923) was the first director of what would become the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), also known as MI6. In this role he was particularly successful in building an imperial intelligence service.
He was born into a middle-class family. His father was the great grandson of John Smith (a director of both the South Sea Company and the East India Company), the second son of Abel Smith (d.1756) the Nottingham banker. Smith joined the Royal Navy and underwent training in Britannia at Dartmouth, Devon from the age of twelve and was appointed acting sub-lieutenant in 1878. He was posted to HMS Bellerophon in 1877, and for the next seven years served in operations against Malay pirates (during 1875–6) and in Egypt in 1883. However, he increasingly suffered from severe seasickness, and in 1885 was placed on the retired list as "unfit for service". Prior to being appointed to run the Secret Service Bureau (SSB), he was working on boom defences in Bursledon on the River Hamble.
He added the surname Cumming after his marriage in 1889 to Leslie Marian Valiant-Cumming, heiress of Logie near Forres in Moray.
In 1909, Major (later Colonel Sir) Vernon Kell became director of the newly formed Secret Intelligence Bureau (SIB), created as a response to growing public opinion that all Germans living in England were spies. In 1911, the various security organizations were re-organised under the SIB, Kell's division becoming the Home Section, and Cumming's becoming the new Foreign Section (Secret Service Bureau), responsible for all operations outside Britain. Over the next few years he became known as 'C', after his habit of sometimes signing himself with a C eventually written in green ink. This habit became a custom for later directors, although the C now stands for "Chief". Ian Fleming took these aspects for his "M" from the James Bond novels.
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