 In August 1945 , Strong became Deputy Director of the Political Warfare Executive , succeeding Sir Bruce Lockhart as its head a month later . He retired from the Army with the rank of major general in 1947 to become a civil servant . He was initially appointed Director General of the Political Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office . He was the first Director of the Joint Intelligence Bureau at the Ministry of Defence from 1948 until 1964 , when he became the first Director General of Intelligence at the Ministry of Defence . He retired from the civil service in 1966 . 
