Spies in the UK

I read a novel titled [Eye of the Needle], it's written by Ken Follett, a British author. Its about a German spy codenamed the Needle, it takes place in England, before and during the war. The spy is given the order to find out if General Pattons's army really exists and to radio back to the German High Command in intel. He is then to escape England by a German U-Boat that is to pick him up allong the coast. Of course those event never took place, its just a story, but i'm interested in the spies that operated out of England. I know that the Germans sent operatives into England, did Italy do the same and I heard that the USA even sent a spy into England, at the beginning of the war, is that true?

 

'After The Battle' magazine had a very good article on German World War One and Two spies in Britain in an early issue (11 from memory). Amazingly, the magazine keeps all its back issues in print, so despite this edition dating from the early 1970's it should still be available.
http://www.afterthebattle.com/home.htm

 

Originally posted by Danmark@May 27 2004, 06:41 PM
I read a novel titled [Eye of the Needle], it's written by Ken Follett, a British author. Its about a German spy codenamed the Needle, it takes place in England, before and during the war. The spy is given the order to find out if General Pattons's army really exists and to radio back to the German High Command in intel. He is then to escape England by a German U-Boat that is to pick him up allong the coast. Of course those event never took place, its just a story, but i'm interested in the spies that operated out of England. I know that the Germans sent operatives into England, did Italy do the same and I heard that the USA even sent a spy into England, at the beginning of the war, is that true?
An article that I read on Internment said that Italy had no spies at all in Britain during WW2. I would be interested in confirmation, should anyone know.

American Spy? Are you thinking of the man who was at the American Embassy who was involved in a Spy Ring? He wasn't spying for America though. IIRC his name was Tyler Kent and he was working with a woman of Russian extraction whose name was something like Anna Wolkoff.

 

Originally posted by BeppoSapone+May 28 2004, 12:57 PM-->(BeppoSapone @ May 28 2004, 12:57 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'> <!--QuoteBegin-Danmark@May 27 2004, 06:41 PM
I read a novel titled [Eye of the Needle], it's written by Ken Follett, a British author. Its about a German spy codenamed the Needle, it takes place in England, before and during the war. The spy is given the order to find out if General Pattons's army really exists and to radio back to the German High Command in intel. He is then to escape England by a German U-Boat that is to pick him up allong the coast. Of course those event never took place, its just a story, but i'm interested in the spies that operated out of England. I know that the Germans sent operatives into England, did Italy do the same and I heard that the USA even sent a spy into England, at the beginning of the war, is that true?
An article that I read on Internment said that Italy had no spies at all in Britain during WW2. I would be interested in confirmation, should anyone know.

American Spy? Are you thinking of the man who was at the American Embassy who was involved in a Spy Ring? He wasn't spying for America though. IIRC his name was Tyler Kent and he was working with a woman of Russian extraction whose name was something like Anna Wolkoff. [/b]More details of Tyler Kent and Anna Wolkoff can be found here:

http://www.angelfire.com/dc/1spy/Kent.html

 

This subject is not one I have studied in detail, so I can't answer about Italian spies, but I have a couple of books I can recommend, but cannot guarantee that they are still in print:

Masterman, J C: The Double Cross System 1939-1945, Yale University Press 1975 (published in paperback by Pimlico 1995). This describes in detail the operation to "turn" German agents in Britain.

Berkeley, Roy: A Spy's London, Leo Cooper 1994. This is essentially a guide book for a series of walks linked to sites in central London associated with espionage. It includes WWII sites and contains a lot of incidental information about what happened. I have never seen it in a general bookshop, but I bought mine about five years ago in the bookshop of the London Museum.

 

Originally posted by BeppoSapone+May 29 2004, 01:54 AM-->(BeppoSapone @ May 29 2004, 01:54 AM)</div><div class='quotemain'> Originally posted by BeppoSapone@May 28 2004, 12:57 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-Danmark@May 27 2004, 06:41 PM
I read a novel titled [Eye of the Needle], it's written by Ken Follett, a British author. Its about a German spy codenamed the Needle, it takes place in England, before and during the war. The spy is given the order to find out if General Pattons's army really exists and to radio back to the German High Command in intel. He is then to escape England by a German U-Boat that is to pick him up allong the coast. Of course those event never took place, its just a story, but i'm interested in the spies that operated out of England. I know that the Germans sent operatives into England, did Italy do the same and I heard that the USA even sent a spy into England, at the beginning of the war, is that true?
An article that I read on Internment said that Italy had no spies at all in Britain during WW2. I would be interested in confirmation, should anyone know.

American Spy? Are you thinking of the man who was at the American Embassy who was involved in a Spy Ring? He wasn't spying for America though. IIRC his name was Tyler Kent and he was working with a woman of Russian extraction whose name was something like Anna Wolkoff. More details of Tyler Kent and Anna Wolkoff can be found here:

http://www.angelfire.com/dc/1spy/Kent.html [/b]To bring this up to date "Tyler Kent died in a Texas trailer park in 1988".

Source: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SSkentT.htm

 

I recently included a list of spies executed in Britain during the war on the topic about murder.

Of course, the majority, who were "turned" and used as double agents, were not executed.

Does anyone know what criteria were applied which led to some becoming double agents and others being tried?

 

I've read this book. Not bad. The rate of events keeps you interested.

 

"Eye of the Needle" gave me a laugh as a movie, because British troops fly to the island by helicopter. The fetching Kate Nelligan gets involved with Nazi spy Donald Sutherland, I belive.

The Tyler Kent case is covered in exquisite detail in Conspirator, by Ray bEarse and Anthony Read. MacMillan London, 1991. The whole life of Tyler Kent is in there. He was a passionate anti-Communist, and he said at his trial that justified his misdeeds, which were barefaced treason. Anna Wolkoff was the daughter of a Czarist Russian admiral, so she had a special hatred for Communism.

After Kent returned to the US through Hoboken, NJ (of all places), he married a multimillionaire divorcee, Clara Hyatt, and lived the high life until he ran through all her money.

ALso useful on counterespionage in England in WW2 is "MI 5," by Nigel West. Real name: Rupert Allason.

 

The more I dig into the WW2 history of where my parents live the more suprised I become. Here's ditty from WW2 that relates to some spies captured near where my folks live with the help of Romney Marsh at war.

With the Kent coast being one of the planned major invasion areas as part of Operation Sealion it would therefore be important to gather as much intelligence about the area as possible.

I read this story the other day I can't help but wonder at the amateurish attempt of these German spies to blend in with the local community.

Jose Rudolph Waldberg and Carl Henrich Meir were caught at Dungeness, Waldberg, born in Mainz, Germany, of a German father and a French mother, joined the German espionage service in 1938 and was trained as a spy at Wiesbaden. His assignment on coming to Britain was to assess the military presence and strength and the positions of the fortifications and types of guns.

Meir was born in Coblenz in 1916, was of Dutch nationality, but after he was captured it was discovered that he had a passport issued to him at Innsbruck in November 1938. His task was to monitor troop movements, listen to information and try to locate the positions of airfields.

The other two spies were Charles Van der Kieboom and Sjoerd Pons. Kieboom had been born in Japan to a Japanese mother and Dutch father. He carried a passport issued to him in Amsterdam in 1938. Pons, a Dutch subject born in Amsterdam in 1912, was a friend of Kieboom and was involved with him in criminal activities before the Second World War. Pons could speak very little English and stated at his trial that he had planned to give himself up as soon as he set foot on English soil.

The German espionage service had selected these four , given them very brief training and then taken them to Boulogne. On 2 September 1940 they were given a farewell party at Le Touquet. They were then put aboard a fishing cutter which took them to a position three miles off Boulogne, where they were joined by two German Minesweepers, their escorts across the Channel. When they came to a position about five miles off Dungeness the Minesweepers departed. The cutter continued until she was about a mile off the English coast. Waldberg and Meir were placed in one dinghy and Kieboom and Pons in another. Each pair was given a case that contained a wireless and some clothing, and a sack packed with provisions and two small spades . Kieboom and Pons came ashore between West Hythe and Dymchurch in the early hours. They decided that one of them should proceed inland to check for troops. As soon as Kieboom made the sea wall he was challenged by Private Tollervey (Two listed on CWGC but not the same unit), serving with the Somerset Light Infantry. Kieboom told the soldier he was a Dutch Refugee, but he was searched later by an officer, he was found to have a loaded revolver and was arrested. Just 30 minutes later Pons was also challenged and he too, was arrested. Their wireless and provisions were discovered a short time later in the corner of a field. To be captured within an hour of landing on British soil does not seem very professional or what one might have expected from a German espionage unit.

Waldberg and Meir came ashore at Dungeness. At his trial Meir stated that just before they had beached they thought they had observed a small vessel approaching them and in panic Waldberg threw over his pistol, secret code and maps, not wishing to be found with incriminating evidence. However, no boat was ever traced. Once beached they hid their belongings under a lifeboat washed ashore from the Southern Railway steamer Normannia, lost at Dunkirk some months earlier. At first light they moved inland a short distance and hid in a very large holly bush, of the type which can be seen on the Holmstone today. When they became thirsty it was decided that Meir should walk to the nearest village for drink and cigarettes. He entered Lydd, walking down Ness Road until he came to the Rising Sun public house. Although it was only 9.30 am the door was open to allow the newly scrubbed steps to dry. Mrs Mabel Cole, the landlady, was most surprised when a tall man dressed like a seaman in black jacket, trousers and a fishermans jumper came into her bar, asked for food and then a champagne cider. This had long been a discontinued line but was advertised on the wall outside. She explained that the premises was not open yet but if he came back later she would serve him. Meir went out and she saw him pacing up and down, which made her suspicious enough to ring her husband Cliff, a local butcher. When Meir returned to the Rising Sun he was served with a glass of cider, and after a short conversation with Mr Cole he departed. As he went out of the door two men entered. Meir said, 'Good day, gentlemen'. One of these men was Rennie Mansfield, an inspector of the Aeronautical Inspection Directorate attached to Shorts at Rochester. Mrs Cole told Rennie of her suspicions, saying, 'I never had any doubt that he was a spy'.

Mrs Wallace, the widow of the late Mr Mansfield, remembers the incident well today: Rennie came back to the house and told me of his suspicions and said that he was going to challenge him. I said, 'You can't'. He said he would use his AID pass as it looked official. Rennie was an aircraft inspector and had his pass and photograph on him. He went off in the car towards Dungeness taking the dog with him. He later told me he caught up with the man and got out of the car to speak to him. He told the man that it was a prohibited area and that no unauthorised person was allowed there, and could he see his papers. The man asked what authority he had for his enquiries, and Rennie produced his AID card and waved it infront of the man, saying, 'I'm responsible for the security of this area'. The man said he was a Dutch refugee. Rennie was rather unsure about the man's answer, but asked him to get into the car, which he did with no hesitation. Rennie took him to the Police station where Sergeant Tye was.

Sergeant Tye had already received two phone calls and someone had alerted PC P. Flisher, who was in Coronation Square. Sgt. Tye questioned Meir, who replied, 'I am a Dutch subject. I have landed on the beach in a boat. I came from France. I have left a sack of food in a boat on the beach, and if you like I will show it to you'. Sgt Tye with PC's Cooper and Carpenter, escorted Meir to Dungeness, where he had hidden his belongings. In all this time Meir never said anything about the presence of Waldberg, but Sgt. Tye had naturally been alerted about the two spies caught at Dymchurch and thought there was possibly a second spy at Dungeness. One of his constables Fred Jones, was a wildfowler and very familiar with Dungeness, so Sgt Tye asked him to change into civilian clothes and have a wander around with his shotgun. Although PC Jones stayed out all night, he saw and heard nothing.

The next day Sgt Tye deployed most of his constables in the Dungeness area and soon one of them noticed a man walking along the beach. He shouted to him and alerted Sgt Tye, who went over to the man and asked him where he was going. He replied in French. Sgt Tye asked him, 'Coucher?', meaning 'Where did you sleep?' The man pointed to one of the large holly bushes about 400 yards from the Lydd-Dungeness Road. The policemen searched the tree and in one of its forks two cases were found, one containing five batteries and the other a transmitter set and a morse key. There were also two suitcases and a raincoat and an aerial running from one bush to another. Sgt Tye arrested the man and the constables gathered all the equipment and returned to Lydd police station, where the man was detained. Mr George Bunston, a local fisherman, had already discovered some German equipment under a fisherman's dinghy and handed it over to the police.

In November 1940 all four spies were tried at the Old Bailey. It was revealed during the trial that Waldberg had already transmitted some messages in French: 'Arrived safely. Document destroyed, English patrol 200 meters from coast beach with brown net and railway sleepers at a distance of 15 meters. No mines, few soldiers, unfinished blockhouse, new road, Walberg'. Another communication read 'Meir prisoner, English police searching for me, am cornered, situation difficult, I can resist thirst until Saturday if I am to resist, send aeroplanes Wednesday evening, 11 o'clock 3 kilometers north of point. Arrival, long live Germany, Waldberg'. A further message read, 'This is the exact position yesterday evening 6 o'clock. Three Messerschmitts fired machine gun in my direction, 300 meters south of water tower painted red. Prisnoner. Long Live Germany'.

There was much in any of their defences; they were caught red-handed. Kieboom, Waldberg and Meir were found guilty and sentenced to death. Pons, for some unknown reason, was reprieved. Possibly it was thought that he was of more use as a double agent. In total about thirty spies were caught in the British Isles during the war, including 'The Marsh Four'.

 

Some more info on the above story:

On the 3rd of September 1940, four German spies landed near the town on the coast between Hythe and Dungeness.....
Lydd - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

With the threat of a Nazi invasion looming, there was no room for compassion in dealing with foreign spies.....
Hanged, the Nazi spies who came to Britain in a pair of rowing boats | Mail Online

Treachery during World War Two

 

Interestingly the Russians has spys operating in UK during WWII - Kim Philby was one who got away with it, Jack Klugman was suspected of distorting reports from Yugoslavia, Captain Ormond Uren HLI an SOE officer in the Hungarian Section was caught passing information to the Russians and jailed for seven years he served four.

 

The Kent/Wolkoff incident is also mentioned IIRC in Peter Fleming's Operation Sealion.

EDIT: just checked; Wolkoff was arrested after sending a letter the William Joyce - Lord Haw Haw - at the Rundfunkhaus in Berlin. Written in a makeshift code, it included a number of pretty good ideas for improving the effectiveness of German propaganda, and included some general observations about public morale in the UK. Unfortunately she gave it to one of her friends - who was keeping her under surveillance for MI6! - who passed it to the security services! They let it go through when they saw how general it was. in content.

it also contained an instruction for Joyce to confirm its arrival by mentioning Carlyle in one of his broadcasts; he did...and she was subsequently arrested on May 18th 1940! She was tried in camera and was imprisoned for ten years.