- Title: Britain's MI5 exhibition in London shines light on spy agency's 115 year history
- Date: 1st April 2025
- Summary: DIAGRAM OF GARBO’S OPERATION VARIOUS OF POSSIBLE INVASION ROUTES (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF EXHIBITIONS AT NATIONAL ARCHIVES, STEVE BURGESS, SAYING: "So, together with MI5, we explore their 115 year story – all about keeping Britain safe and the country safe. And as you enter the gallery, you’ll feel like you’re stepping into the hidden world of MI5. You’ll see top secr
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: MI5 MI5: OFFICIAL SECRETS
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: UK
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe
- Reuters ID: LVA004342401042025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: WRITTEN PROFANITY IN SHOT 36
The head of Britain's spy agency MI5 launched a new exhibition of its archive on Tuesday (April 1), turning the spotlight on some of the high profile cases of its 115 year-old history.
Ken McCallum, the director general of the MI5, spoke to the media about the gap between reality and fiction in espionage, noting that while some TV shows offer drama, real intelligence work was about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
"MI5: Official Secrets" has been curated over several years by the agency's own archivists, in collaboration with Britain's National Archives, to give people the chance to see equipment used by spies.
Opening on Saturday (April 5) until Sept. 28, the exhibition provides an overview of espionage tools and methods used throughout history as McCallum says the agency intends to be more open.
"As you enter the gallery, you'll feel like you're stepping into the hidden world of MI5," said Steve Burgess, head of exhibitions at the National Archives. "You'll see top secret files, personal memos, gadgets, photographs and interviews, confessions – a whole range of things."
One of the featured items is a 110-year-old lemon, used as evidence against German spy Karl Muller, who was executed in 1915 at the Tower of London. Muller used lemon juice to write secret messages during World War I.
The display includes confessions from Britain's most notorious double agents, known as the "Cambridge Five", as well as surveillance reports on Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess, offering insight into some of the most significant espionage cases of the 20th century.
"From MI5's origins as a team of two officers to the present day, we've been protecting the UK from the most serious threats to our national security for 115 years," McCallum said. "That headline mission, and the values that underpin it, haven't changed much."
"MI5 life is about ordinary human beings together doing extraordinary things to keep our country safe," McCallum said.
(Production: Will Russell, Lisa Giles-Keddie) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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