Kenneth Cohen

Kenneth Herman Salaman Cohen was a British sailor and intelligence officer who served in both world wars. He was an officer of the Royal Navy who served as a cadet during World War I to see the Scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow. He would often say that he was "the first Jew in the Royal Navy." After specializing as a torpedo officer during Interwar Period, he "retired" at the rank of Lieutenant commander in 1935. His retirement was a smokescreen to join the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6). Before Britain had formally entered World War II, Cohen worked for Thomas Kendrick and Claude Dansey as Z-3, placed in charge of the London Branch of the Z Organisation as deputy director. In 1943, he became the lead SIS spymaster and case officer for the entire region of Western Europe. He was also the Chair of the Tripartite Planning Committee for Operation SUSSEX. After the war, he became SIS Director of Personnel, Controller for Eastern Europe, and the Director of Production. He retired from SIS in 1953, at the height of the Cold War and in the midst of the exposure of Kim Philby.

Away from the Secret Service, he became the European advisor to the United Steel Companies, serving here to oversee the company's transition into the European Common Market. In 1972, he became Vice President of the European League for Economic Cooperation, advocating heavily for Britain to join the European Union. He was also a member of the Garrick Club, a councillor for Chatham House, and was chair of the Franco-British Society.