Arbitrary Times… and Facts?

Came across another little site called Arbitrary Times that has a short post on the Last Execution in the Tower. I’m not sure of the information source for this article but there are some inaccuracies.

The last execution in the Tower of London took place during World War II when Josef Jakobs, a German soldier, was captured while parachuting into England.

After a quick trial in Brixton [trial actually held at Duke of York’s Headquarters], he was convicted of espionage, brought to the Tower, held overnight [brought to the Tower on the morning of his execution], and executed by firing squad on August 14, 1941 [Nope, August 15, 1941].

The chair in which he sat during his execution is still on display.

Jakobs was one of hundreds who were executed at the Tower of London during its 900 year history, and as a result it has gained a reputation as one of the most haunted locations in Britain. [I don’t know about hundreds – according to the Capital Punishment UK site – confirmed executions from 1388 to 1780 were 122 with another 11 in the 20th Century. Not sure if 133 counts as hundreds. As well, those actually executed within the confines of the Tower (and not Tower Green) are much fewer – only 10 from 1388 to 1780 and then the 11 spies from WWI and WWII.]

Even a quick glance at the Wikipedia entry for Josef Jakobs would have corrected the inaccuracies.

N.B. 2021 05 27 – the ArbitraryTimes website is no longer active and just has a notice saying it is down for maintenance, a long one.

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