Spy and a Girl

Manawatu Times, Volume LVI, Issue 7065, 26 January 1933, Page 10

Spy and a Girl

OLD WAR MYSTERY SOLVED,

Sixteen years after the battle of the Somme of July 1, 1916, the mystery of the unexpected opposition by the Germans has been cleared up, says the Sunday Chronicle. It was due to the innocent mistake of a little French girl who worked in an estaminet.

The plan of the offensive was that Irish troops of the Ulster Division in the Thiepval region should make a surprise attack on the German trenches. Instead of surprising the enemy they were met by heavy lire and a determined opposition. It is now revealed, from documents ia possession of the French Government that a few days before the great offensive was to start Irish troops brought in several prisoners from whom it was hoped to obtain some valuable information regarding the enemy’s strength.

Ono of the prisoners, a German officer, gave his escort tihe slip, and for days roamed behind the English lines. He was afterwards proved to be an important member of the German Secret Service. Somehow or other he managed to secure the uniform of a British officer, and, speaking English perfectly, mixed with the British troops quite openly. In an estaminet one evening a little French girl who was serving 'confided that she had in her possession a pocketbook that had been dropped by a British officer the previous evening. She showed it to the German, who immediately stated that he knew the owner intimately, and that he would return the book to him. when he went back to the line that night. The pocket book contained tlic main plan for the attack in that sector on July 1. A few hours later the German had managed to got back to his own lines, and the pocket-book was in the hands of the enemy chiefs. Almost every detail of the proposed offensive in that region was known to the enemy, Hew troops were rushed into the German lines, and extra batteries of heavy artillery were stationed where they could bombard the area in which the supporting troops were waiting. When the Irish troops went "over the top” that fateful morning they were met by a murderous fire, and in spite of the heroism of the attacking troops little was accomplished.

The official French historians of the war have stated that the unexpected opposition encountered by the Irish troops was responsible for the comparative. failure of the battle to achieve the results counted upon.