German Spy Who Put Bombs in Ships

Manawatu Times, Volume LVI, Issue 7063, 24 January 1933, Page 7

German Spy Who Put Bombs in Ships

On tho top floor of a London apartment houso near Paddington Tailway station a tall, Icanly-built German with eloso-cropped grey hair, Sits writing for hours on end. Ho is Captain F. Von Rintelen, whoso chief occupation during the war was putting incendiary bombs in ships leaving New York with supplies, for tho Allies. He has gone to London to write a book about it.

A sinister reputation was built round Captain Von Rintelcn’s activities during the war. He was described a’s a cunning fiend who had baffled the keenest brains of the British Secret Service.

He is an exceedingly jolly persontalkative, but not boastful. “I was just a little mischiefmaker,” he said with a chuckle to a Sunday Express representative recently. “My job was to delay the transport of supplies for Russia, and *1 did it with my little fire bombs. I was caught and was sent to an American prison for four years. My work irritated the British Secret Service, but it was a comparatively small matter.” Then, Captain RigMca, related iWDSj

posing as “E. Gibbons,” a British importer, he had placed his bombs in tho holds of thirty-two ves'sels. “My activities never caused a death,” he said. “Threo or four of tho boats were sunk, but no lives were lost.”

The interviewer, interrupted: “But I thought you were the master brain behind all German espionage in tho United States. It is said that yon took orders from tho Kaiser himself.” “Master fiddlestick's 1” retorted Captain Rintelen. “I never spoke to the Kaiser in my life. I just carried on with my work. My success was mainly due to bluff. How I bluffed everybody in New York! Ha! ha! ha!“My work was stopped after five months, but I did my,..bit rather well,"