Avoid false beards, carry plenty of spare change and know what to do when you need to tell a taxi driver "follow that cab!" - these were some of the tips given to rookie MI5 "watchers". Their job was to covertly tail and report on suspected enemy agents.
The guidance is contained in a booklet that was issued to all new spooks in the Security Service during the Second World War. But the document has been declassified and is on show in a new exhibition focusing on the work of MI5 due to open at the National Archives, in west London, in the spring.
'Onerous, exacting and preferably 5'7'. However, far from the glitzy world of James Bond, the booklet is quick to dispel any notions of glamour among new recruits entering the world of espionage. "Observation is a very onerous and exacting profession," it notes.
It continues that unlike the secret service spooks on screen and in famous novels, the reality can be quite monotonous. A successful watcher should be a "rather nondescript type" who should not stand out in a crowd. "The ideal watcher should not be more than 5ft 7ins or 5ft 8ins in height, looking as unlike a policeman as possible," it says.
It adds: "It is a mistake to use men who are too short as they are just as conspicuous as tall men.". The use of facial disguises, despite what then recruits may have seen in the movies, is definitely frowned upon. "It may be considered essential in secret service films but it is practice to be deplored," it warns.
