Editing I&O (section)

==Structure and Operations==
	•	Formation: I&O emerged from initiatives by Dutch resistance veterans, particularly from the Bureau Inlichtingen (BI) and Bureau Bijzondere Opdrachten (BBO), which supported anti-Nazi efforts from London during WWII. On May 13, 1946, Jan Somer, head of BI, established Section IIIC of the General Staff, which became the foundation for I&O. By 1948, it was reorganized as Section G7, and by 1949, as Sectie Algemene Zaken (SAZ), splitting into Operatiën (O) and Inlichtingen (I).

	•	Operatiën (O): Focused on sabotage, assaults, liquidations, and psychological warfare in occupied territory. It maintained thousands of kilograms of explosives and weapons in approximately 40 secret underground caches across the Netherlands, coordinated under the Ministry of General Affairs (Prime Minister’s office).

	•	Inlichtingen (I): Tasked with gathering intelligence, recruiting and training covert agents, and maintaining communication networks to relay information to a government-in-exile. It operated under the General Staff and used the Inlichtingendienst Buitenland (IDB) facilities, including Villa Maarheeze in Wassenaar.

	•	Secrecy: I&O was highly secretive, known only to the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, with even other cabinet members and parliament unaware of its existence. Agents operated under pseudonyms, and contacts were minimized to maintain confidentiality.

	•	Training and Operations: I&O agents, often former resistance fighters, were trained in sabotage, covert communications (e.g., Morse code), and evasion tactics. They conducted exercises, including evacuation route planning, and some participated in covert operations behind the Iron Curtain in the 1950s, dropping agents into countries like Romania and Bulgaria to support anti-communist resistance. These operations, conducted with the Buitenlandse Inlichtingendienst (BID), sometimes involved former fascists or Nazis, a point of ethical contention.

	•	Arms Caches: I&O maintained hidden weapons depots, which occasionally led to scandals. In April 1980, a cache was discovered in a Limburg forest (Heythuysen), and in 1983, another near Rozendaal, containing grenades, rifles, pistols, and explosives. These incidents forced partial admissions from the Dutch government.