SPY’S TROUBLES

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19373, 23 December 1932, Page 2

SPY’S TROUBLES

DISCLOSURE OF IDENTITY. TREASONABLE ACTS DENIED. It was stated by the “Daily Express” on October 4 that it was at liberty to reveal that Mr “X,” a former German spy, who was prosecutor in a case of criminal libel at the Old Bailey which ended on October 3rd in the defend - ant being sent to prison, is Mr Courtenay Henslow de Rysbach. Mr de Rysbach, a British subject, was sentenced in 1915 to life imprisonment for attempting to convey information to Germany. His activities and imprisonment for espionage formed formed an important part of the libel case. He recounted in the witness box many of the incidents leading up to his trial and conviction. For the first time Mr de Rysbach stated after the case the facts of his life and his struggle to clear himself of the stigma of “spy” and “ex-convict,” and gave the “Daily Express” full authority to publish his name. He is now a successful advertising agent in London.

“Have I at last earned the right to live my own life and hold up my head without shame among my countrymen?” Mr de Rysbach asked first. “Has the retelling of the story of my conviction and imprisonment at last given me the chance to work secure in the knowledge that no one may now point an accusing finger at me and say, ‘Traitor,’ ‘Spy.’ ‘Ex-convict’? Has it done that —or do I have to sell up the business I am building and go to another country, and hope that there, at least, ‘my identity may never become public? “I was born at Singapore 45 years ago. My father was a high official in the service of the Sultan of Johore. I was educated at Harrow and the Lycee Commerciale in Paris. I ran away to join the British Army when I was 16, and for five years I was a soldier of this country. I was discharged honourably, and studied music with my uncle in Switzerland until I decided to try the stage. For two years I was a principal in ‘The Girl on the Film’ at the Gaiety Theatre. I had found what I thought was my vocation in life. I was climbing to success. A foreign tour was suggested—l was a specialty dancer —and I was in Berlin doing my act w T hen war was declared. “Destitute, friendless, alone in a foreign country at war with rny own! I was flung in prison and twice tried before German courts as a spy. Broken in health and spirit, after a tenmonths’ nightmare I was offered my return to London if I would become a spy in fact. I would have jumped at anything to get out of Berlin. I accepted the offer. Wouldn’t you? I had no intention of giving accurate information. I never did—but that is all dead and finished with. I was found out at my first attempt—l wrote two letters in invisible ink on music paper. I was tried twice at the Old Bailey. Lord Birkenhead prosecuted the second time, after the jury had disagreed. The man before me. also charged with espionage, was shot. “In Wandsworth awaiting trial I saw men being led off to the firing party. For eight years I lived in the hell of Dartmoor. I came out without a penny. A fellow-convict introduced me to a man who gave me a job in a club in Wardour Street. In a few months I built it up. and it is now one of the best in the West End. Then I was told I would have to go. Someone had heard I was an ex-convict and and a spy. “Once again I had to start afresh. I did dancing and singing acts on the halls—at the Bedford. in Camden Town, in Worthing, in Bristol, in other theatres. I formed my own company with money I saved —a revue called ‘The Idle Rich.’ It failed. I tried again with another revue, ‘The Joyous Hours’ —it was a success. After a fortnight the general strike was declared and again I was broken. “I became a steward in an oceangoing ship. At the end, of the voyage I was told that I had been excellent, but .... Always there was someone who would find out about me. I had to visit police stations to report myself, I was an ex-convict. It was enough. “I tried selling things on commission. At last I made some money. I thought I had found my real job. I would be a salesman. I worked night and day —I forged ahead. I made my connection. I started business on my own account. I fashioned a home in London—then came this case. “Have I not paid in full for my crime? The Recorder pointed out several times during the case that it was I who was on trial just as much as the man in the dock. A jury has cleared my character. Will my own countrymen allow me Courtenay Henslow de Rysbach, the freedom of the free, or am I always to be the spy who was a convict?” Mr de Rysbach trades under an authorised business name. ‘.‘Wicked and Malignant Libel.” In the libel case referred to Ronald Watson Black was found guilty at the Old Bailey and sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment for libelling Mr “X,” as Mr de Rysbach was styled in the case. The Recorder, in passing sentence, described the case as a wicked and malignant libel, one of the very worst he had ever known in the course of his professional experience. It was stated that Black, an advertising contractor, wrote a letter saying that Mr “X,” was an ex-convict and had been dismissed for dishonest conduct. Black, who pleaded not guilty, and justification, said in his evidence that he regarded Mr “X” whom he had employed as a canvasser, as having behaved dishonestly toward him and his customers. He believed the statements in his letter were true, and that they were published in tlie public interest. Replying to questions. he said that he meant to convey by his phrase in the alleged libellous letter, “reverting to tvpe,” that Mr “X” was returning to dishonest practices. He had heard rumours that he had been convicted of espionage, but had discredited them. He thought Mr “X” had gone to prison for something to do with dishonesty. The Recorder: “Have you any sort of regret for having dragged up this man’s past?"—“l should regret it most terribly if I had not considered it my duty to do it.”