SPY-PLANTING SECRETS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 793, 14 October 1929, Page 13

SPY-PLANTING SECRETS

HOW AIRMAN DROPPED THEM IN GERMANY AMERICAN’S WAR ADVENTURES Lieutenant Bert Hall, an American soldier of fortune, who was one of the original members of the famous Lafayette air squadron on the Western front, reveals some of the secrets of spy-planting behind the German lines in his breezy diary, “One Man’s War,” recently published in London. Hall must be almost the first of all military airmen, for in 1913 he constituted the entire Turkish air service, having rented himself and his plane at £2O a day to the Turks during the Balkan War. When they reduced his pay he flew over to the enemy, joining the Bulgars at the same price. On the outbreak of war in 1914 he was flying in France, and immediately joined the Foreign Legion, hut soon transferred to the French Air Service, and with brother Americans formed the Escadrille Lafayette. He became a pioneer in one of the leading modern innovations in espionage—the use of airplanes in planting spies behind the German lines and picking them up later. The usual method was to land the spy along with a box of carrier pigeons so that he could send back word when to be picked tip. “The first trip to Rocroi was uneventful. I landed, the spy jumped cleat; o£ the plane, fished out his

pigeon box, and ran away into the nearby woods. I turned round and took off. . . . Three days later a message came in from Intelligence Headquarters that my spy was ready | to return, and I was given orders to pick him up.” Hall returned to the field at Rocroi at the appointed hour and landed. “There was no spy to be I was about to take off again when I saw a wild-looking thing running through the grass. It was apparently a German soldier. “Before I could open up my motor and get under way the running figure had overtaken me and with one bound landed himself in the rear cockpit. “It was my spy all right; he had appropriated a German - uniform for j safety’s sake and hadn’t had time to change.” ! The next effort was not so success--1 ful. Hall landed his spy safely, but I when he went back to pick him up j there was no spy, b.ut a hot reception j from the enemy, who “shot at me with everything in the German army.” Fortunately they opened fire before I the plane had landed, and Hall got I away with a wound in the thigh and j a perforated plane. Hall was convinced that that spy was a counter espion working for the Germans, but the story that reached headquarters was that the spy had been captured and gave details of the airplane trips in hope of escaping execution. Another spy Hall came in contact with was the famous Mata Hari. “She was a beautiful woman,” he writes. “She may be a spy, but as long as I have known her she never asked me a single question about the war. And I knew her well —very, very well, in fact. ' “I don’t believe she ever loved me, ! but it makes me feel all creepy when i I think of her standing up before the firing squad, particularly after we had , made such violent protestations of ■ affection to one another, and had j spent such wonderful times together.’ At the beginning of 1917 Hall was | sent to Russia on a special mission, | and was in Petrograd when the revolution broke out. He tells a story of how, during the I Karensky regime, Trotsky tried hard Ito buv his American passport for £2,000. and a beautiful pear-shaped j diamond, but Hall refused to barter. 1 asked hint where he got the diamond, and he reared up, and in his • very best East-side English said, | ’Lieutenant Hall, there are times when one does not ask damn-fool questions! * n i Hall escaped from Russia via the I Trans-Siberian Railway—and 18-day I journey during which he had for comi pany a Russian general’s wife who j was fleeing to civilisation with an ' untold fortune in platinum and jewels i hidden for the greater part in Hall's 1 luggage. The airman had his reward. “When ; we went ashore at Yokohama, Mme. Sackarloff (the general’s wife) at once i went to computing the value of my | protection. Ido not know how she arrived at the final figure, but it was very satisfactory to me. The figure was 38,000 dollars (about £7,600).” Truly a. soldier of fortune. ..