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GROUP 13 - Magda Hassan - 19-05-2013
GROUP 13
By David Guyatt
It is the number that carries the most occult significance. Throughout Europe it has historically been regarded as an ill omen. In Norse mythology, the number 13 often signifies death. Today, in the United Kingdom, there exists a paramilitary unit called Group 13. The sole purpose of this ultra secretive unit is deniable assassination and it operates in the world of shadows. So little is known about them, that it is exceptionally hard to document its activities with any certainty.
One individual - a former civilian undercover agent for the security services, recounted his story of a encounter with Group 13. Gary Murray, author of "Enemies of the State" had decided to research Group 13 to write a book on them. He soon changed his mind. One day during his research phase he was forcibly dragged in to the back of a Transit van and had a gun stuck to his head. A voice told him it would be unwise to continue his project. Sensibly, he decided to abandon the project and instead write a book on an altogether different subject.
Group 13 is generally believed to have evolved from former SAS soldiers and Security and Intelligence operatives who were once active in Northern Ireland during the mid to late nineteen seventies when a Labour Government was still in power. Fred Holroyd, a Captain in British Army Intelligence, served in Northern Ireland during this period. Holroyd was tasked with developing informers and other human intelligence sources connected to the IRA. It was inherently dangerous work, made a lot worse by a viscous turf battle between MI5 and MI6 for control of the Northern Ireland "patch."
Matters grew increasingly nasty as "assets" for each of the two contending groups were tossed to the wolves. Holroyd, when interviewed, outlined some details of this dirty war, recalled incidents where bombs were placed by one of these factions and then roundly blamed on the IRA. Holroyd's story and later disgraceful treatment at the hands of the British Army are recounted in his book "War without Dishonour." Holroyd's account sheds light on the so called "Shoot to Kill" policy in Northern Ireland that resulted in the dysfunctional investigation of former senior police officer, John Stalker. This investigation ultimately resulted in the gripping feature film: Hidden Agenda.
The Special Air Service was formed during WW11 by David Stirling with the intention to operate behind enemy lines and to perform acts of sabotage and assassination. By 1969, the SAS had been sent to Northern Ireland to perform covert operations against the IRA - which included assassination. To cover their deployment to this politically sensitive area they chose the guise of "training teams." A succession of cover names was used over the next few years; these included the Military Reconnaissance Force (MRF), the 14[SUP]th[/SUP] Intelligence unit, and the Four Field Survey Troop, Royal Engineers. Fred Holroyd states that the latter was very definitely a SAS undercover unit stationed at the Royal Engineers base at Castiledillon, Armagh.
1974 was a critical year in British politics. It saw the election victory of the Labour Party in February and was soon followed by rumours of an impending coup d'etat. Right wing groups operating in the shadows of power began to form themselves. These groups saw Premier Harold Wilson and certain members of his Cabinet, as no holds barred communists taking orders from Moscow. The idea that Wilson was a communist mole is, even by today's paranoid delusions, a farcical belief. At that time, however, planning for a right wing coup was seen by these extremists as the only alternative to keeping Britain from the wily grasp of Moscow. One of these groups was named GB75, and was organised by David Sterling, founder of the SAS. Significantly, GB75 and the other groups had close contacts to the British security and intelligence community, from which they probably received some form of unofficial succour.
Founded in 1970 was another mysterious group which called itself Resistance and Psychological Operations Committee (RPOC). RPOC was established in line with the Reserve Forces Association and was said to be a reflection of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) - a WW11 dirty tricks operation. According to one former member, RPOC had a clandestine section which formed an underground resistance movement in the event Russia invaded the United Kingdom. With a nod and a wink of the Conservative government of the day, it forged close links to the British security and intelligence apparatus, and "…formed close links with the SAS…own secret intelligence network."
Little is known of the SAS's secret intelligence network, apart from one enlightening publication. Ranulf Fiennes, the Artic trekker was a one time member of the SAS. In his book, The Feather Men, he reveals the existence of an unofficial group of former SAS officers and soldiers who, amongst other activities, are tasked with protecting members of the SAS who's lives are under threat as a result of their activities. According to his book, Fiennes learned a contract had been put out on him, only after this SAS secretive group had more or less mopped up a freelance assassination team sent to kill Fiennes. In this case, "mopping up" meant killing members of the assassination team. Fiennes further alleged that this group had been founded by David Sterling.
It is not possible to say with any certainty that this group - or elements within it - evolved to become Group 13. However, the associations are clearly similar. Both are highly unofficial but desirable to certain factions within government. Both are said to be responsible for political assassinations both in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. Both appear to lean towards right wing agenda's.
Perhaps the best known incident that involved the SAS in a "wet operation" was the assassination of an IRA unit in Gibraltar in 198… which subsequently led to the explosive TV documentary Death on the Rock. The controversy surrounding this event raged for years, with the Sunday Times Insight Teamleading the attack on the credibility of eye-witnesses who claimed the three members of the IRA unit were gunned down in cold blood. Placed in context against the numerous SAS assassinations which took place in Ireland during this same period, it is hard to lend much credence to the official story of cock-up.
Of some interest is the statement of former CIA operative and former member of an American based, international assassination team, Gene "Chip" Tatum. The team, Tatum says, is called Pegasus and operates around the world. Targets are normally influential politicians and financiers. Over a period of several months, Tatum has revealed a number of the operations he claims he was involved in, as well as revealing names of those at senior level he alleges are behind Pegasus activities. In recent correspondence, he alleges that the British end of Pegasus was operated during the mid-eighties by a high ranking British government official.
Another operation that carries SAS hallmarks was the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan Peoples Bureau in London in 1984. This killing caused immense public outrage and quickly led to the ousting of the Libyan diplomatic Corp. In a courageous piece of television, Channel Four broadcast a Dispatches programme in 1996 that suggested WPC Fletcher was murdered by elements inside British and American intelligence. Amongst other startling facts, the programme makers stated that the shot that killed the police officer may have been a "terminal velocity" round. This technique both reduces the sound of the gunshot as a result of its sub-sonic speed, and creates the impression that the shot was fired from considerable distance. It is a known technique of SAS snipers.
There may also be other connections between Group Thirteen and the United States intelligence community. J. Orlin Grabbe, an American Professor who runs his own financial advisory service, has in recent years earned a reputation within internet "conspiracy" circles as being well informed about a number of illegal intelligence operations. One of these focus on the alleged assassination of Vincent Foster, a close associate and legal adviser to President Clinton.
Grabbe, a former professor at Wharton Business School, in one of his internet posts alluded to the existence of a highly secret US assassination team that operates out of the National Security Agency (NSA). The unit, Grabbe claims, is called "I-3." In a recent communication he added that the information on this unit was provided by a "former CIA agent with the CIA's highest security clearance." It may just be a coincidence that this NSA unit shares a common name with "Group 13" and just happens to also be in the same line of business. However, in the closed world of the intelligence community such "coincidences" should be viewed carefully.
Despite the stiff secrecy and widespread smoke and mirrors that surround the activities of Group 13, some significant additional information came to light following the Scott Enquiry into the arms to Iraq affair. Gerald James, the former Chairman of Astra Holdings Plc - a leading British munitions manufacturer - has written of his knowledge surrounding group 13 in his explosive book In the Public Interest, which blows the lid on British government involvement in arming Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
During a lengthy interview, James outlined how he had been ousted from the Board of Astra. He believes his removal was orchestrated by non-executive director Stephan Kock, a self acknowledged former Security and Intelligence officer in the employ of Midland Bank Plc. James, thereafter, undertook to learn more about the mysterious Kock In written evidence presented to the House of Commons Trade and Industry Committee looking into exports to Iraq, on 5 February 1992, James stated that he was told, in an unguarded moment, that Kock was "… a former head of Group 13.' This curious organisation is apparently a hit or contract squad for the Foreign Office and Security Services." James adds "The Foreign Office is said to draw Group 13 operatives from the SAS as well as from private security firms," and that "It's duties involve service to the nation.'" James also makes clear that Kock had exceptional high level contacts inside the intelligence community, and that boasted of his ready access to the highest levels of the British government, including 10 Downing Street.
The Foreign Office reference, clearly indicates an MI6 connection. Known also as the Secret Intelligence Service - a name well known by lovers of Bond movies - MI6 activities come under the control of the Foreign Office. Perhaps the now infamous "007" License to Kill pedigree has moved from those fictional men in black bow ties and Tuxedo's, to those all too secretive men in camouflage smocks and shoulder patches inscribed "Death from Above."
History of British Assassination
State sanctioned murder is as old as the hills. British exposure to many assassination techniques would have been gained during the Crusade's, when British Knights came into contact with Middle Eastern religious sects specialising in these techniques. The word Assassin derives from the Arabic "hassas" meaning "hashhish eater" signifying those who were sent to murder Christian leaders were under the influence of the drug Hashhish. Other contacts would have come from Britain's prolonged rule over India. An Indian religious sect known as "thugees" specialised in strangulation, and gave rise to the still common term "thug." Still other associations arose during British contacts with killer sects during the Chinese "Boxer Rebellion."
Number 13 - unlucky for some
Intelligence insiders allege that Russia, during the height of the cold war, operated its own assassination squad under cover of the KGB's "Department 13." This has led some observers to muse that British and US adoption of number "13" for "Wet Operations" may be an insider's joke. Those assassinated might fail to see the humour. One such individual, Dr. Gerald Bull - designer of the ill-fated Supergun - was shot from behind, outside his apartment in Brussels, in early 1990. Rumoured to be an Israeli hit, sources close to Israeli's "Mossad" deny this. A few months before his assassination, Bull, writing to a colleague, stated he was "advised in a letter of an imminent accident." Bull identified the threat as having come from Foreign Office - who responded by saying the "action was by a few irresponsible juniors.'"
http://www.deepblacklies.co.uk/group_13.htm
GROUP 13 - David Guyatt - 19-05-2013
Of the sources who assisted in the research of this piece who I was most taken by was Fred Holroyd, a former Captain in Military Intelligence who was temporarily sectioned in a mental institution by his superiors to destroy his credibility when he refused to toe the line. At that time this was a punishment tactic used predominantly by the great enemy, the Soviet Union - not HMG forces.
After leaving the Army Fred was persecuted by the UK intelligence and security apparatus. Shortly after securing a new job, an unannounced visitor would arrive and meet with the CEO/Managing Director and, thereafter, Fred would be "let go". This nasty vengeance tactic followed him wherever he went and continued for decade after decade - without let up. The last I heard from him he was a nightwatchman on a small building site not far from where I lived and was barely earning enough to subsist with his wife.
Fred was an honourable and courageous man - and relentlessly punished because of that.
GROUP 13 - Magda Hassan - 20-05-2013
Group 13 and Stephan Kock
"One individual - a former intelligence undercover agent - contacted by The X Factor, recounted his story of a encounter with Group 13. Gary Murray, author of Enemies of the State, had decided to research Group 13 to write a book on them. He soon changed his mind. One day during his research phase he was forcibly dragged in to the back of a Transit van and had a gun stuck to his head. A voice told him it would be unwise to continue his project. Sensibly, he decided to abandon the project and instead write a book on an altogether different subject. Group 13 is generally believed to have evolved from former SAS soldiers and Security and Intelligence operatives who were once active in Northern Ireland...
Gerald James, the former Chairman of Astra Holdings Plc, a leading British munitions manufacturer - has written of his knowledge surrounding group 13 in his explosive book In the Public Interest, which blows the lid on British government involvement in arming Iraq's Saddam Hussein... During a lengthy interview with The X Factor, James said that following his expulsion from the Board of Astra at the hands of Stephan Kock. he undertook to learn more about the mysterious Kock. In addition to learning of Kock's intimate association with former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, he also discovered that Kock "in his more active days, had been head of Group 13." James adds, "The Foreign Office is said to draw Group 13 operatives from the SAS as well as from private security firms," and that, "It's duties involve service to the nation.'"
The career of Stephan Kock is tinged with intrigue and deception. No one, including the British Parliamentary Committee that looked into weapons deals in the wake of the Scott inquiry, can positively identify his birthplace. Some researchers maintain he was born in the same village as former media mogul Robert Maxwell. His own account of his career states he underwent active service in the SAS as well as having shadowy intelligence connections - and an inside track to the highest levels of the British government. One knowledgeable individual, alleges that the murder of Canadian Supergun designer and builder, Dr. Gerald Bull, was carried out on Kock's express orders."
- David Guyatt, 'Group 13'
"By early 1990 my probing had become a major problem and a plot was hatched to remove me as Chairman shortly before the Supergun and other revelations and Bull's murder. A new dummy board ld in reality by Kock with two MI6/MI5 stooges ran the company into the ground over the next two years. ... Adolphus Kock had high level political connections to Thatcher, Hesletine, Younger, Hanley, etc as well as MI5 and MI6 connections. It is now clear to me that he was involved in the murder of Dr Gerald Bull in Brussels on 22nd march 1990 and Jonathan Moyle in Santiago, Chile on 31st March 1990... Kock was also said to be head of Group 13, the Government's assassination and dirty tricks squad according to Richard John Rainey Unwin, a close associate of Kock himself who was a contract MI6 agent and Consultant to Astra."
- Gerald Reaveley James in his 'My experiences, the Scott Inquiry, the British Legal System' article. He was chairman of the leading arms manufacturer Astra Holdings PLC from 1980 to 1990. The company was used by MI5, MI6, the CIA, MOD, DOD, etc., for covert weapons and munitions operations. Eventually, the company was destroyed. His full story is in his book 'In the Public Interest'.
https://wikispooks.com/ISGP/organisations/Cercle/Group_13_and_Stephen_Kock.htm
GROUP 13 - Magda Hassan - 20-05-2013
The SAS And The Secret Society
Rumours about the SAS and its links to various shadowy groups within British society have been floating around since the 70s. As with most things connected with the UK's secret establishment, hard facts are hard to come by.The Increment
As detailed here, the Increment is the name of an organization made up of select operatives from Special Forces and the intelligence services that carry out deniable missions for the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), or MI6, as it is also known.Group 13
Group 13 is rumoured to be a secret cadre of ex-SAS and military intelligence operatives. Group 13's remit seems to lay in the same shadowy realm as 'The Increment' ie deniable covert actions such as assassinations. Both units are rumoured to be run via the Foreign Office, through the SIS. The main difference appears to be that Group 13 tends to recruit mostly ex-SAS as apposed to serving members. Group 13 have been linked to various controversial incidents such as:- the 1990 assassination of Gerald Bull - designer of the so-called Supergun, meant for Saddam's regime
- the death of Biological weapons expert Dr David Kelly in 2003
- the 1984 shooting of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan Embassy
Resistance And Psychological Operations Committee (RPOC)
RPOC was a product of the cold war. Fearing a Soviet takeover of Britain, this right-wing group had links to the Conservative party, the intelligence services and the SAS. In the event of a Soviet invasion of the UK, or any other NATO territory, RPOC would mount an underground resistance operation, using a network of pre-planned and prepared assets. RPOC was part of the government-funded Reserve Forces Association (RFA), an organization setup to represent British military reservists. RPOC was the brainchild of several renowned veterans from World War 2, such as Sir Collin Gubbins, founder of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the Commandos.Greater Britain 1975 (GB75)
Formed following Harold Wilson's election as Prime minister of the UK in 1974, GB75 was an organization setup by SAS founder, David Stirling, which included ex soldiers, spies and arms dealers, all with links to the military and intelligence apparatus. The more paranoid elements of the right wing establishment feared that Wilson and his government were communist sympathizers, perhaps even Soviet agents. Efforts were made to covertly plan for a coup d'etat against the Wilson government. Stirling was rumoured to be highly sympathetic to action against what he saw as an extreme threat to democracy from the far left. Stirling began building a private force of men to counter this threat, a force that would have been well suited in assisting in any coup.http://www.eliteukforces.info/rumours/sas-secret-societies.php
GROUP 13 - Magda Hassan - 21-11-2013
British army sanctioned 'shoot-to-kill' policy in Belfast
Several people who had no paramilitary connections killed and wounded by secret British army secret unit, according to Panorama
![[Image: image.jpg]](http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.1601880.1384987582!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/box_620_330/image.jpg)
Former members of the Military Reaction Force (MRF) said that they killed an unspecified number of IRA members and shot them regardless of whether or not they were armed.​Thu, Nov 21, 2013, 01:00
First published:Thu, Nov 21, 2013, 01:00
The British army ran an undercover unit that operated a sanctioned shoot-to-kill policy in Belfast during the Troubles, it has been claimed.
Former members of the Military Reaction Force (MRF) said that they killed an unspecified number of IRA members and shot them regardless of whether or not they were armed.
The force killed at least two men in drive-by shootings who had no paramilitary connections and injured more than 10 other civilians, it is further claimed in the BBCPanorama programme, Britain's Secret Terror Force which is being broadcast tonight.
Seven former members of the force spoke to reporter John Ware about their involvement in the unit, which was commanded at brigadier level, while three of them appeared on camera, albeit disguised and with their voices slightly altered.
Drive-by shootings
Panorama reports that there were several drive-by shootings carried out by MRF soldiers in which people were killed and wounded even though there is no independent evidence that any of them were armed or were members of the IRA.
"We were not there to act like an army unit, we were there to act like a terror group," said one former soldier. "We were there in a position to go after the IRA and kill them when we found them."
The force comprised about 40 men hand-picked from across the British army who operated in west Belfast for an 18-month period between 1971 and 1973, including all through 1972.
Some of the soldiers said they would shoot their "targets" even if they were unarmed. None would go into detail about specific incidents they or their colleagues were involved in. Nor is it known how many people they shot. The MRF's records were destroyed.
The MRF was the forerunner to other similar plainclothes undercover British army units that operated in Northern Ireland. Panorama said the overall commander was an army brigadier. The programme does not make any specific allegation about what or any level of political control it was under.
It notes, however, a 1972 memo from the then British prime minister Ted Heath, at a time when the MRF was about to be disbanded, in which he stated that "special care should be taken" to ensure the British army's replacement squad "operated within the law".
They operated at a time when several barricades were erected in nationalist and loyalist areas of Belfast. Some of the soldiers said they would drive by barricades manned by nationalists in west Belfast and open fire. One said this would happen even if they did not see anyone brandishing a firearm.
Panorama details five cases in which more than a dozen people with no paramilitary involvement were shot by the MRF in 1972, including two men who were killed, Patrick McVeigh, a father of six children and a member of the Catholic Ex-Servicemen's Club, and 18-year-old Daniel Rooney.
It also instances how two young west Belfast men who ran a fruit stall were shot by the MRF who had mistaken them for two IRA members.
Reporter John Ware also tracked to Australia one of the MRF members who was part of an undercover patrol that opened fire on two separate barricades, killing Mr McVeigh and wounding five men. It said that this former soldier, who favoured using a Thompson sub-machine gun, was also part of a drive-by shooting six weeks later on the Glen Roadin west Belfast in which four men were wounded.
Attempted murder
This soldier stood trial on three counts of attempted murder but was acquitted. Key information was withheld from the trial, according to Panorama.
Relatives of the MRF's victims told Panorama that 40 years on, they are still seeking answers. "We want the truth. We don't want to stop until we get the truth," said Mr McVeigh's daughter Patricia.
The soldiers told Panorama they agreed to be interviewed because they believe their role in the fight against the IRA has gone unrecognised.
GROUP 13 - David Guyatt - 21-11-2013
Interesting that the NI attorney general, John Larkin, only yesterday called for an end to inquiries and prosecutions for any events that happened prior to the 1998, Good Friday Agreement.
It looks fairly certain he had prior knowledge of the Panorama programme and sought to deflect any calls for prosecutions. Why? Simply old fashioned government embarrassment? Or would such an investigation lever open even worse past events/
GROUP 13 - Peter Presland - 21-11-2013
David Guyatt Wrote:Interesting that the NI attorney general, John Larkin, only yesterday called for an end to inquiries and prosecutions for any events that happened prior to the 1998, Good Friday Agreement.
It looks fairly certain he had prior knowledge of the Panorama programme and sought to deflect any calls for prosecutions. Why? Simply old fashioned government embarrassment? Or would such an investigation lever open even worse past events/
What I find even more interesting is Larkin's transformation since the heady days (for him) of his appointment to that exalted position back in May 2010. One of his first acts was to announce a new inquest into the 1986 shooting dead by 2 British SF soldiers of IRA man Francis Bradley at which the soldiers involved would be required to give evidence. A week later, Derek Bird went on his rampage in Cumbria. Larkin then quietly dropped his inquest idea. My guess is that was his first experience of being leaned on by the deep state because it seems that Bird was either one of the soldiers that killed Bradley or was at least a member of the undercover team that identified and ambushed him. That had (and still does have) clear relevance to the Cumbria mass killings but you will not find mention of it - or Birds service in the British army - anywhere in the MSM. My inquiring emails to Larkins office also went unanswered, though admittedly I have not been persistent in following them up.
3 years later and what do we find? - a thoroughly Establishment-acclimatised legal official who has learned who his masters are - or at the very least that they - whoever they are - must not be crossed.
GROUP 13 - Malcolm Pryce - 21-11-2013
Interesting, Peter. But are you suggesting Bird's rampage was coincidental or somehow 'induced'?
GROUP 13 - Peter Presland - 22-11-2013
Malcolm Pryce Wrote:Interesting, Peter. But are you suggesting Bird's rampage was coincidental or somehow 'induced'?
I'm suggesting that former SF service by a serial killer is relevant to understanding what he did. Also that Larkin's silent about-turn on his new inquest announcement, together with deafening silence from the MSM about Bird's Army service, confirms the Establishments extreme sensitivity to evidence that the extremes of soldiering can and often does have a catastrophic effect on the mental well-being of such veterans. Also that Larkin seems to have evolved with the job into a quintessential establishment figure.