GERMAN SPIES IN ENGLAND.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume IV, Issue 203, 12 August 1914, Page 3

GERMAN SPIES IN ENGLAND.

(Biy ; - “WiDiam Le Quex.”)

“The prevailing sentiment among large sections of the middle and lower class of my own people is not friendly to England.’’ Such were the words uttered by the Kaiser on October 27, 1908. And,since that date England has been overrun by German spies. That they are actively at work is well known to the authorities. Colonel Mark Lockwood the first to call the attention of thejHouse of Commons to them when*Ai 1908, he addressed questions tc the l«Si.e Minister and the Minister of War regarding the presence of German spies in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and elsewhere. It was owing to this agitation that the Official Secrets Act was amended, and the police are now able, to arrest any person on suspicion of betraying a secret of the State.

—A Perfect Organisation.— The German spy is ever with us. I state here —without fear, for I know my facts —that there are more than 5,000 secret agents of our “friends” across the North Sea resident at this moment in England. The German Secret Service—directed as it is mainly against England—is, to those “in the know,” marvellously perfect. The German may be slow, but he is thorough. _ He does not possess the subtle ingenuity of the Turk, but he is coldly awake and ever business-like. No good proposition is ever put up by a spy which Germany does not carefully consider. Personally, I have had some dealings with the spies of the Kaiser, and I wrote from my own experience. Once I wrote a book called ‘The Invasion of England,’ which was translated into no fewer than 23 languages; but the Germans even went further. It was published in handy form, and is now adopted as a text "book for German Army examinations! Truly “The Day” is the most dreamed-of event in all the Fatherland —the day when the Kaiser's army makes its sudden raid upon our shores.

-Well-paid Agents.— It has often been argued that the Germans do not require to pursue any system of espionage in England while they can purchase our ordnance maps at a shilling each. But- do these ordnance maps show the number of horses and carts in a district-, the stores of food and forage, the best way in which to destroy bridges, the lines of telegraph and telephone, and the places with which they communicate? Facts such as these, and many others, are being daily gathered by the spies who live amongst us, and elaborate, detailed reports of our armaments, the weakness of our defences, our newest inventions, and the secrets of our wireless stations are thus collected by the chief spy of Germany—who lives in London and who is well known to the authorities at Whitehall —and sent over to Berlin, where they are all classified and tabulated. Geijnan .spies in England, be they hotel waiters, servants in private employ, or in pursuit of some trade or profession, are termed “fixed posts.” To each is allotted a single and distinct task —to investigate, watch, and report upon some fact- which Germany desires to know. The “fixed post” is, in turn, controlled by a “travelling agent,” who visits him at certain intervals and collects the carefully-prepared reports, while every six montns an “inspection” is made and extra monetary grants given to those who have been most successful. The usual stipend of a German spy in England ranges from about £lO to about £3O, according to his or her position and the risk that must be run. The work is actually allotted by the travelling agent—usually a Swiss, Belgian, or Frenchman, seldom a German — and he is, in return, responsible to the chief of the Secret Intelligence Bureau living in London. The careful methocis and ever-vigilant watchfulness is astounding. From time to time German spies have been arrested and imprisoned, but the “game” goes steadily on, though our own authorities are ever watchfid, and there are few German spies in England who are unknown to us. Messieurs the German agents would be very much surprised if they only knew how much is known about them at Whitehall, and how constantly reported upon. The names, addresses, and masses of details concerning them are preserved in a certain confidential department. If published, some of this would surely form sensational reading

—Secret of the Portmanteau.— The German secret agent is fuil of Hash and daring. It is on record that the head of a certain Government department in London, on going to his office unusually early one morning in order to get his letters and catch an early train for golfing, was surprised to find" the door open and the office cleaner sweeping the room. At his writing table stood a stranger —a foreigner—calmly going through his papers. The fellow, surprised, made a hurried exit, and in response to the official’s inquiry he found that the spy —as no doubt he was —had watched the woman go to the room, and had handed her a five-pound note to allow him to glance through the contents of the desk. The woman, tempted by such a sum, had seen no harm' in it-, provided that he took nothing away! A hue-and-cry was raised, and search made for the spy, but he was never again seen. From time to time the British authorities have seized the actual notes made by German spies. In one case, in 1909, \a good-looking, middle-aged German, living in lodgings in Glasgow, disappeared without paying his landlady, and leaving behind him a portmanteau. The woman, after a month, went to the police, who opened the portmanteau and found a quantity of suspicions correspondence in German, forwarded it to London, where it was translated and the matter at once investigated. The portmanteau was found to belong to a certain Captain g, a German spy, who had evidently been alarmed by accidentally arousing the suspicions of a Glasgow* detective,

and thinking discretion the better,part of valor had fled back to. Germany without having an opportunity of destroying or seizing his papers. The papers found proved extremely instructive, for not only did they reveal the names of a number of other secret agents, but a copy of one of the ciphers was also discovered. —A Remarkable Document. —

As an illustration of how carefully Germany prepares facts concerning us—facts which will be of inestimable value to the enemy on “The Day”—l cannot do better than give a translation of one of the actual documents found in the German portmanteau in Glasgow. To those whose habit is to laugh at what they in their ignorance, term “the spy bogey,” it will perhaps prove interesting reading:—

EAST COAST OF ENGLAND—DISTRICT VI.

Memoranda by Captain W S— — 14th Regiment Westphalian Cuirassiers, on special duty, February, 1906-December, 1908. Weybourne, Norfolk, England. (Section colored red upon large scale map. Photograph series B, 221 to 386.) In Sheringham and Cromer, comprised in this district, are resident 46 German subjects, mostly hotel servants, waiters, and tradesmen, who have each been allotted their task on “The Day.”

Arms.- —A store of arms is in a house at Kelling Heath, where on receipt of the signal all will secretly assemble, and at a given hour surprise and hold up the coastguard at all statinos in their district, cut all telegraph and telephones shown upon the large map to be destroyed, wire in prearranged cipher to their comrades at Happisburgh to seize the German cable there, and take every precaution to prevent any fact whatsoever leaking out concerning the presence of our ships. Men.—Every man is a trained soldier, and has taken the oath of loyalty to your Imperial Majesty. Their leader is Lieutenant Bischoffsheim, living in Tucker street, Cromer, in the guise of a baker. Explosives for Bridges.—These have been stored at Sandy Hill, close to Weybourne station, marked on map. Landing-place.—Weybourne is the the easiest and safest along the whole coast. The coastguard station, on the east, has a wire to Cromer, which will be cut .before our ships are in sight. In Weybourne village there is a small telegraph office, but this will at the same time be seized by our people occupying an inn in the vicinity—a place which will be recognised by the display of a Union Jack. Wires. —Eight important wires run through here, five of which must be cut, as well as the trunk telephone. Direct communication with Beecles is obtained. Beach. —Hard, and an excellent road runs from the sea to the highway south. For soundings, see notes upon British soundings Admiralty chart No. 1,630 accompanying. Forge.—There is one at the end of the village. Provisions.—Grocers’ shops in village are small, therefore do not contain much stock. There are plenty of sheep, and oxen in the district towards Gunton. (See accompanying lists of amount of live stock upon each farm.) Motor Cars.—(List of owners and addresses attached.) It will thus be seen that Germany is slowly and surely preparing for a sudden attack. Those who know will tell you that in East Anglia many public-houses are now managed by Germans, and that next door to many post offices in the various towns and villages in Noriolk, .Suffolk, and Essex live foreigners in readiness to seize or cut the telegraphs and telephones as tIK-ir orders may direct.