Royal Navy Volunteer Reserves At the onset of World War II, Izzard joined the
Royal Navy Volunteer Reserves as an
Ordinary Seaman, and qualified as a
gunner but was soon commissioned a
Sub-Lieutenant, eventually ascending to the rank of
Lieutenant Commander in a position with
British Naval Intelligence. He served with distinction, being
Mentioned in Despatches and appointed
OBE.
intelligence collection in the battlespace, and
espionage. The
British Admiralty operated an interrogation centre known as the "
CSDIC" (
Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre) at
Cockfosters Camp for the joint use of the
Royal Navy, the
R.A.F., and the
British Army. Izzard regularly participated in the questioning of
PoWs and provided detailed reports to his superiors regarding intelligence obtained as a result of interrogation. A number of his reports and letters were forwarded to and read by
Winston Churchill. Prior to its entry into World War II, the
United States Navy sent an intelligence officer to Great Britain to observe the interrogation of German PoWs, for which the Royal Navy provided a
liaison officer: (then)
LT Ralph Izzard, (
RNVR). Izzard trained the initial cadre of U.S. Navy PoW interrogators and was further tasked with travelling to the United States in order to instruct operatives in the disciplines of
cryptanalysis, interrogation, and intelligence dissemination. He was instrumental in establishing Op-16-Z, a section of the U.S.
Office of Naval Intelligence, which dealt with the processing of enemy prisoners. Subsequently, British protocol for prisoner debriefing was adopted by the U.S. Armed Forces, and the Joint Interrogation Center for Prisoners of War was established in 1941. In a
BBC Radio 4 program called
The Bond Correspondence broadcast on 24 May 2008, Lucy Fleming, the niece of Ian Fleming, stated that the plan was cancelled because the
Royal Air Force concluded that a downed
Heinkel bomber dropped into the
English Channel would sink rather than float, posing too great a danger to the lives of British operatives.
Awards •
OBE •
1939-1945 Star •
Atlantic Star •
Pacific Star •
France and Germany Star •
Defence Medal •
War Medal 1939–1945 (
Oak leaf) •
Mentioned in Dispatches ==Cryptozoology==