Letter from Peter Wilson to Herbert Norman with copy/cover note from Tommy Stone to George Glazebrook, 19 October 1945

This is an unusually candid letter about intelligence work. It is the clearest articulation of the reasons Wilson installed Norman on the US counterintelligence staff in Tokyo. The head of Wilson's organization (presumably Sir Stewart Menzies, chief of MI6) was "very pleased" about Norman's new role in Tokyo and "greatly interested" in it. The British Secret Intelligence Service had not yet posted a "long-term representative" with "a profound knowledge of the Japanese language and of the country." Norman possessed both of these attributes, and was therefore an ideal interim solution.

Wilson was relatively unconcerned that Japanese military intelligence professionals would engage in "secret or subversive activities...in the post-hostilities period." He also deduced that most political intelligence of interest to the Japanese government would be "largely available through overt sources" like "the press and the radio," so it was unlikely that the Japanese would risk operating a "high-powered intelligence service" in the foreseeable future. Wilson assessed that the greatest threats were members of "Japanese patriotic societies:" the "men who [would] plan the eventual renaissance of Japanese Imperialism." In the future, he hoped to penetrate these societies through human intelligence sources. Wilson would be "most grateful" if Norman would make special note of "any Japanese who might be useful in this connection."

The letter blurs lines between Wilson and Norman's personal and professional relationships. Wilson expressed apreciation for Irene Norman's hospitality during a recent stop in Ottawa (Norman's wife "seemed very well and cheerful").