BRITAIN FIGHTS SPIES

Taranaki Daily News, 8 November 1932, Page 15

BRITAIN FIGHTS SPIES

SPY HYSTERIA VICTIM A LOYAL GERMAN IMPRISONED. VON HISSING'S BROKEN HEART. (By An Ex-Secret Service Officer. — Copyright.) Baron Von Bissing’s case is an outstanding example of how emergency legislation, spy mania, and the fact that no distinctions were drawn by the authorities between rich and pOor, combined to place many worthy people under lock and key in this country. Baron von Bissing was interned, but a few hours before he was taken away lie made the following remarks at his home at Hove: “The Kaiser is a cad. I have known him all my life. He has vile manners, and even with the aid of the most sympathetic imagination he could not be called a gentleman. I dislike and despise him, and. I feel that his presence on the German throne must for ever belittle any German aspirations and degrade the projects of her greatest men. There are good Germans, but their influence is degraded, by the sovereignty of this monster. For any cause that is his cause I have nothing but detestation. This war is his cause. .To me it has brought suffering and the loss of friends. It has ruined the careers of many fine men, destroyed some of the best things in life, and bred pain and discord in the world. I am not saying this to divert suspicion frdm myself, I know that I am a marked man. I had only one ambition —to end my days quietly among the gentlemen of England. Now it seems I must end them behind iron bars, and all because of this madman Of Potsdam.” These words of BarOn von Bissing, that England-loving brother of the other Baron von Bissing who, as the German Governor of Brussels, earned the hatred of the Belgians and the contempt of the civilised world, have never appeared in print because the Baron’s legal advisers thought that they might cause further trouble. HIS LOVE FOR ENGLAND. There are few residents of Brighton and Hove who will not remember the name of Baron von Bissing. For many years before the war he and his English wife were prominent members of local society, and their dinner parties were an outstanding feature of Brighton’s social season. The Baron was a wealthy, cultured man of the world, who made friends easily, and who, in spite of his German origin, had a passion for everything English. Even now it is hard to believe that a pure-blooded German could have been almost fanatical in his love of his adopted country, but the fact remains that- if Lord Haldane’s spiritual home was in Germany, Baron von Bissing’s was in England. He proved his loyalty to his country in the disposition of his fortune, in the arrangements he made for the education of his children, in the patience with which he bore the martyrdom of internment, and the resignation he showed when death found him bereft of all but a few trusted friends.

Naturally, the war brought about a change in the Baron’s position in Hove. His house became, less popular. His

dinner parties were not such a success as they had been in the past, but during the first few months of the war he lived a quiet ■ life free from molestation. About the middle of 1915 England fell into the grip of spy hysteria. The Secret Service, which hitherto had worked in secret efficiency, began to find its hand forced. Anybody with a German name became a marked man. Therefore it was not long before attention was directed to the Hove house of Baron von Bissing. WIRELESS AND MOTOR BOAT. Unfortunately, there was a fertile field for suspicion. The Baron was a wireless enthusiast —one of the earliest. Rumours began to circulate. It was said that he had erected a large aerial on his roof. It was further said that lie had been seen on his roof at midnight signalling to submarines in the Channel. The fact that he owned a fast motor-boat added to the general suspicion. .The Military Intelligence Department interned the Baron, mainly for his own sake, first in Islington and later in ■ the Isle of Man. During his internment he was well treated, as it was fully realised that he was merely pne of the many victims of spy hysteria. He was allowed such opportunities as were possible for mental relaxation, and. it is on record in the archives of the Secret Service that' his conduct was exemplary. But it is also on record that internment affected some of his

finei* spirits to the point of insanity. Baron von Bissing did not lose his reason, but he dragged out three miserable years in prison and came out a broken man. He returned to Hove and took up life again. Courageously, he never uttered one word of complaint, but if such a thing is possible, he died of a broken heart. It will seem a strange jump from the Baron to the centuries-old atmosphere of a monastery near London, but it illustrates the extraordinary diversity of Secret Service ■ work, and the great trouble which was taken to investigate everything suspicious. SUSPECTED MONASTERY. One day, during the summer of the last year of the war, my chief sent for hie and. informed me that a certain monastery on the northern outskirts of. London had fallen under suspicion. He told me the department had formed the impression that this monastery was a storm-centre of dissaffection and a possible channel of communication with the enemy. A certain Brothor Jerome was, he said, causing the trouble, and one of his letters, which had been intercepted,

was, the cause of the inquiries I was asked to make. The fact that the letter had fallen into our hands was one more illustration of the great value of our co-operation with the Postal Censorship. It had been discovered that this Brother had written a large number of letters containing strongly pro-enemy sentiments to a friend outside the walls. In order to make my visit as quiet as possible, I went to the nearest railway station and then walked to the monastery, a large house in extensive grounds, which had been purchased by the Brotherhood stone years before the war. The door was opened by a monk, who when he saw my staff uniform, Showed every sign of disquietude. “A CENTRE OF TREASON.” I I demanded to see the Father Superior, who drifted into the room as silently as a visitor from another world. We sat together at a long table. He was a gentle old man with an unworldly face and large luminous eyes. I at once concluded that whatever had been going on in the monastery the Father Superior knew nothing of it. Nevertheless I had iny job to do, so I informed him brusquely that the military authorities had information that the monastery was a' centre of treason and that I desired to see Brother Jerome. Whereupon Brother Jerome'was sent for. Here was a mail who might have stepped straight out of the Middle Ages. He was a tall, cadaverous old man in a black habit with scapula. "His face was long, and lean, his ■ lips coarse' and tremulous, and it seemed to me that his eyes were furtive. He was. tonsured but had a day’s growth of grey beard, and when-1 addressed him he answered with a foreign accent. I informed him that we had intercepted his correspondence, and I quoted some of the things he had said. Sentiments hostile to this country and prayers that the Kaiser’s army might be blessed with success. Feebly he defended himself. He was not a man of great intelligence, and I at once formed the opinion that whatever he had Mid he could do no real harm to this country.. The Father Superior, Who clearly did not know what had been going on, regarded him searchingly and warned him of impending monastic penalities. And, broken and humbled, the unhappy Brother was dismissed from the room to meet whatever was in preparation for him.

DANCING GERMAN ON CITY ROOF.

CONCRETE GUN PLATFORMS.

When spy mania, gripped Britain M.I. was faced with one of its most; difficult and unwelcome problems. The work of the department and those .co-operating with it, particularly the police, was often hampered by spy rumours. 1 do not Know what really brought about this spy mania. To a large extent, it must have been due to the fact .that very few people knew that we had any tiling but an apology for a secret service. Moreover, in sensational pre-war novels and in certain newspapers after war had broken out, foreign spies were credited with almost superhuman powers and skill. The fact remains that the department was inundated by reports, duo to spy mania. . Most people will remember the tennis courts in London which were supposed to mask concrete beds for guns. There was also the report that secret instructions tor invading armies had been placed behind numbers of metal signs advertising a certain popular patent food. Groups of people all' over the country spent days taking down these notices and searching for messages. Often the wall to which the notices had been screwed had made marks on the back which the searchers were convinced were code messages. Actually, the searchers found nothing of the slightest value, but all their wild suggestions had to be investigated. Often the authorities had to bow to popular clamour, with the result that people were'interned for very little reason. Also, we found ourselves up against the emergency legislation which had. to be operated, frequently with hardship. ARTIST’S DILEMMA. There is the outstanding case of Philip Laszlo de Lambos, the distinguished portrait painter. A single act of ordinaty human kindness made this man a victim ■ of spy mania, and placed him within the meshes of the military despotism which was bound to treat great and small alike. This famous artist is of Hungarian origin, but early in life he became a naturalised British subject. In 1900 he married into one of the best families in this country, and ten years later he was created M.V.O. At no time was there any question, of his great loyalty to his adopted country.' Yet he was interned. One evening he was sitting in his

study when a servant announced that man who had given no name was waits ing outside to see him. The man wasj asked into the room. He was dusty, uni shaven, and unkempt. His clothes were tofn, and his face showed that he was suffering and excited. He spoke, and to the horror of the artist, revealed that he was an escaped Austrian prisoner of war. All he asked was that he should be fed and sheltered for the night. Rhilip do Laszlo debated with himself whether he should hand the man over to thai authorities, or let him out in the morn-, ing to take a chance. In the end he allowed his humanity to win, and he sent the fugitive off with some food in his pocket and a sovereign. A few hours later Philip da Laszlo’s feelings were calmer, and he realised ha iiad done a very serious thing. He had broken the law, but he did' not attempt to hide his innocent breach of the war’s emergency .legislation. Honouraby,. he communicated with the authorities and confessed. HARMLESS LETTERS. There was a great fuss. This quiefi and celebrated man whom no one had even remotely suspected of enemy sym-, pathies became the object of the deepest distrust. The Secret Service ®et td work and discovered what on the faca of it appeared to be a fact of great moment. The artist was communicai ting with people abroad. The sensation was even greater when it was discovered that for this purpose he had made use of the “diplomatic bag." As a matter of fact, lie was writing harmless letters to his relatives, and the courtesy of highly placed friends had enabled him io get! the letters through diplomatic channels, Much, however, was made of these com-, munications, and he was interned as oria “whose continuance at. liberty was si danger to his Majest’s realm and people” Even men like Lord Balfour and Lord Esher, his intimate friends, were unaMd to help him. They spent ■ weeks exerting powerful influences, for they knew how; preposterous it was to suppose that the public’s suspicions were in any sense justified. They offered guarantees fog the artist's good behaviour, but the technical charge was too much for them, and the famous man had to be interned, The internment was galling, but he seJ> vived it with philosophic calm, and with-, in a few months of regaining his liberty he was as popular as ever in and further honours were sub'sequentlj showered upon him.

LONDON RIOTS. . / Tliis case alone is sufficient to' show what sometimes happened as a result, of, spy, mania and emergency legislation, but others were more humorous. Some of them will still be remebered by those who served as special constables. In the early days of the war the following official communique was published, and in my view it did much to cause the wave of spy mania: “Tn carrying out their duties the military and police authorities would expect that persons having information of cases of suspected, espionage would communicate the grounds of the suspicions to the local military authority or to the local police, who are in direct communication with the Special Intelligence Wepartment, instead of causing unnecessary alarm and possibly giving warning to.the spies by letters to the Press.” The authorities began to receive -.-a flood of communications from the public, containing the most fantastic allegations. Neighbours began to look askance at one another. Anybody with a foreign name was labelled a epy. Rioting broke out in London. The shops of small bakers, newsagents and tobacconists were wrecked. Waiters were regarded w'ith suspicion, and one Swiss waiter who had drawn a plan of his tables on the back of a menu card was accused of having in his possession a plan of an important naval base. WHEN THE ZEPPS CAME. Here are a few samples of the sort of allegation the authorities were asked to investigate by patriotic people suffering from bad attacks of spy mania: It was stated on the occasion of one air raid a woman in Streatham had been seen signalling to the invading aeroplanes with “a triangular instrument.” Anybody who has seen the earth from a few thousand feet up will realise the utter futility of such a statement. Another case was that of a woman in Bermondsey who : was a great dog lover. But her dogs did not like Zeppelin raids, and used—like a good many other dogs—bo put their heads w r ell back and howl dismally when aircraft approached. Her neighbours, remarking on the fact that the woman had a foreign name, told the authorities that she had trained the dogs to aid and direct the enemy by howling and barking whenever the Zeppelins came. Thera were, of course, many reports of signalling during air raids. In nearly all cases it was found that the wind or a child had flapped the dark curtains covering- th.-© windows, so that of light were allowed to shine out for a fevv moments. One of the strangest .'spy mania stories was that which alleged that a respectable city merchant with a German name had been seen to dance on the roof of his office singing “Deutschland Über Alles” while bombs dropped all round the building during one of the daylight raids. In many such cases the hand° of M.I. was forced, and these people had to be interned for their ownt safety. ‘ .