DOINGS OF GERMAN SPY

Hawera Star, Volume LII, 1 February 1933, Page 8

DOINGS OF GERMAN SPY

PUTTING BOMBS IN SHIPS. RINTELEN TELLS HIS STORY. On the top floor of a London apartment house near Paddington railway station, a tall, leanly-buiit German with close-cropped- grey hair sits writing for hours on end. He is captain F. von Rintelen, whose chief occupation during the war was putting! incendiary bombs in ships leaving A civ York with supplies foil the Allies, He has gone to London to write a book about it. .. , .. A * sinister reputation was built round Captain von Rintelen’s- activities during the war. He was described as a cunning fiend 1 who had baffled the keenest 'bra-ins- of the British secret •Service. , . „ He is an exceedingly jolly person — talkative, but not boastful. “I was just a little mischief--maker, he said with a- chuckle to' a “Sunday Excess’ representative recently. My job was to delay the transport of supplies for Russia, and I did it with my little fire bombs. I was caught and was sent to an American prison for four Years. Afy work irritated the British Secret Service, but it was comparatively a, small matter.” Then Captain Rintelen related' how, posing as “E. Gibbons,” a British importer, he had placed his- bombs' in the holds- of 32 vessels. “My activities never caused a death,” he said. ‘‘Three or four of the boats' were sunk, hut no lives were lost.” T The interviewer interrupted: But I thought youl were tlie master brain. b-e----bind all'German espionage in the United States. It is -said that youtook orders from the Kaiser bim-self. ‘‘Master fiddlestick's!” retorted Captain Rintelen. T never spoke to, the Kaiser in my life. X jwsifc on with 1 mYi work. iMy -success was mainly due to bluff. How .1 bluffed everybody in New York Ha! ha! ha! “My work was -stormed after live months, but J. did my "hit rather well.”