Servizio Informazioni Militare

The Servizio Informazioni Militare (SIM) (Eng. " Military Intelligence " ) was an Italian intelligence service.

The SIM was established by the Fascist regime in 1927 as a news service of the General Staff of the Armed Forces ( RD No. 70, February 6, 1927). He arose from intelligence agencies ( Ufficio Informazioni, since 1925 known as "SIM" ) of the General Staff of the Army. Also, Navy and Air Force targeted an own intelligence services ( G2/A2, "SIS" and " SIA" ), which, however, remained rather military professional services, while the SIM besides its branches of the armed force-related tasks (G2, until November 1941, then drawing up the army service "YOU" ) and the overall military situation (J2 ) and all other intelligence areas (including counterintelligence ) covering. Together with the secret police OVRA he allegedly participated in the persecution of anti-fascists. During the Second World War, the service worked quite effectively. Among other things, invaded SIM agent in the U.S. Embassy in Rome and took there valuable information about American encryption systems in experience.

After the armistice of 8 September 1943, the Badoglio government transferred the SIM in the allied sphere and reorganized it comprehensively in July 1944. But on November 16, 1944 had to be resolved in the Allied command, the service. Formally he was until December 31, 1945 on, but in substance were the Italian agent from 1944 until the founding of the new intelligence service Servizio Informazioni Forze Armate ( SIFAR ) in 1949 under the control of the U.S. secret service OSS or its successor organizations ( CIG and CIA).