We've all heard of MI5 and MI6, what happened to MI1, 2, 3 and 4? | Notes and Queries

We've all heard of MI5 and MI6, what happened to MI1, 2, 3 and 4?

Kim, London

• Maybe they are actually quite good at doing their job (ie being discreet)?

  Jane, London, UK

• I remember reading somewhere that they all had specific military-related remits, but they were stopped/integrated into other departments shortly after World War 1.

  Adam Powell, Swansea, UK

• Between WWI and WWII they've all been and gone.

  MI1 was code breaking, MI2 covered Russia and Scandinavia, MI3 Eastern Europe, and MI4 did the maps. They were also joined by MI7 (propaganda), MI8 (signals) and MI9 (aid to the European resistence movements). There was also MI10, MI11, MI14, Mi17 and MI19.

  Clearly this all got too confusing for the spooks so now we only have MI5 and and 6 - at least that's all we know of.......

  Martin Porter, Glossop, Derbyshire

• Obviously, there're being kept totally secret.

  Gerry, Crediton, England

• It's secret...

  Kevin Hannan, Leeds, UK

• RE: Caroline in Wellington's answer. Is MI4 also responsible for sneaking that odd red sock into the white wash? Which department is responsible for putting the thing you're looking for in the last place you look? And how do they know...

  Silvi, Lancing, England

• MI1 was interception of enemy communications including Bletchley Park. MI8 was cyphers and communications that is our side of things. However they never used the MI designations so the people working there never know they were in it.

  Neil, Edinburgh, UK

• I believe that they've come and gone over the years, as many of them were for wars of the past (i.e. WW1, WW2, Cold War), and now, are no longer of use.

  Raymond Edward Young, Las Vegas, Nevada, US