Netherlands East Indies Forces Intelligence Service

Organisational History

Soon after the evacuation from the Dutch East Indies, a Dutch intelligence service on the orders of Vice-Admiral Conrad Helfrich, the Dutch Commander of Forces in the East.

The Netherlands Forces Intelligence Service is established in Melbourne, Australia. Intended to provide the Allies with current intelligence on developments within the occupied territories, it rapidly evolves into a complex organisation, encompassing a wide range of intelligence-gathering and distribution activities.

n as the Far Eastern Liaison Office (FELO).

NEFIS I is tasked with gathering reports, maps, publications, and photographs concerning the Dutch East Indies. Based on this material, monthly summaries are produced detailing the situation throughout the archipelago.

In time, NEFIS I is divided into seven subsections:

Collecting Agency
Counter Intelligence
Secret Intelligence and Special Operations
Military Intelligence
Civil Affairs Intelligence
Photo Reproduction Section
Military Oil and Intelligence Department

Some duplication of effort between these subsections proves inevitable, though measures are taken to minimise it wherever possible.

An eighth section, concerned with propaganda activities, grows to such an extent that it is eventually separated from NEFIS and forms an independent entity know

NEFIS II assumes responsibility for censoring the correspondence of personnel serving in the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL). It also undertakes security checks to determine whether the spouses of Dutch military personnel in Australia pose a security risk. NEFIS II does not engage in clandestine intelligence operations. Such activities fall under the remit of the Inter-Allied Services Department, established in April 1942 on the orders of General Douglas MacArthur. The Inter-Allied Services Department is charged with dispatching agents to conduct sabotage and gather intelligence within enemy-occupied territories. Two Dutch officers are assigned to the Dutch East Indies section of the Inter-Allied Services Department, which, like Netherlands East Indies Forces Intelligence Service, is based in Melbourne.

On July 6^th, 1942, the Inter-Allied Services Department merges with several other intelligence organisations operating from Australia. The new entity is named the Allied Intelligence Bureau. Within the Allied Intelligence Bureau, a division is formed specifically to collect information on enemy activities and to carry out acts of sabotage. The Dutch section of the former Inter-Allied Services Department is absorbed into this division and begins conducting various operations in enemy-occupied territory. NEFIS itself is not initially assigned responsibility for agent deployment; this changes only after a reorganisation of the Allied Intelligence Bureau in April 1943.

In May 1943, a new division, NEFIS III, is created for the purpose of conducting covert operations. NEFIS III dispatches secret agents into occupied territory by submarine or aircraft, tasked with gathering intelligence on the local political and military situation. Where possible, agents are instructed to establish contact with the local population in order to collect information and to organise clandestine networks.

NEFIS III encounters limited success in the deployment of its agents. Despite undergoing training, many agents lack practical experience and operational expertise. Furthermore, securing support from the local population proves difficult, as fear of Japanese reprisals is widespread. Across the period of operations, NEFIS III and its predecessor, the Dutch section of the Inter-Allied Services Department, send a total of 36 teams into enemy-held territory. These operations involve over 250 agents, of whom 39 are killed.

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