Behind every good spy interrogator, there’s a secretary taking the notes and typing up reports. This was true for Lt. Col. Robin W.G. Stephens, commandant and interrogator par excellence at MI5’s secret wartime interrogation centre, Camp 020. While Stephens was verbally demolishing the hapless spy who appeared in his interrogation room, the exchange was always
Wartime Secretaries turned Spycatchers Read More »
Gustav Goldemann A few months ago (August 2020!), I had sent off a search request to the Bad Arolsen Archives (International Tracing Service) requesting any information that they might have on my… let’s see… great uncle-in-law (I think)… Gustav Goldemann. Gustav was the partner of my great-aunt, Johanna Catherina Knöffler. I wrote a blog post
Johannes Wolpe Follow-up Had a flurry of emails from Wayne C. of the University of Manitoba who is writing a short (500 word) article on Hans Max Wolpe. Max was the son of Johannes Wolpe who was involved in the Irish naturalization scheme with Jürgen Ziebell. Johannes, his divorced wife and his daughter Liliane were
Well… I’m not sure what to say about 2020 except that it wasn’t boring. From the flooded basement in February to Covid-19… it has definitely been a year of the unexpected. I’m hopeful that 2021 will bring a bit more routine but… who really knows. We, at least, still have our health and a health
2020 – A Year in Review Read More »
I seem to be on a bit of a Stephens streak at the moment. While re-reading Chris Bilham’s Medal News article on Stephens, I noticed this bit: “Stephens was awarded the OBE which was apparently ungazetted but was probably awarded at the end of the war.” That same information appears in the DNW write-up for
The OBE of Robin W.G. Stephens Read More »
When Robin W.G. Stephens applied to join the Security Service, he claimed to have been awarded the Star of Abyssinia medal for his service with the Red Cross during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War in the mid-1930s. The funny thing is… there is no such medal in the United Kingdom. A mystery calling out for investigation.
The Medals of Robin W.G. Stephens Read More »
If you look for Robin W.G. Stephens on the internet, you will likely come across this photo. I think it originally comes from the Imperial War Museum. Stephens, for those who may not know, was the commandant of Camp 020, MI5’s secret Second World War interrogation centre at Latchmere House (Ham Common). Stephens was a
Another View of Robin W.G. Stephens Read More »
I had a couple of comments on one of my Stephens blogs, from an anonymous individual, which suggested a few more clues/lines of enquiry into establishing the date of death of Robin William George Stephens, former commandant of Camp 020. One clue was a photograph in Geoffrey Elliott’s book, Gentleman Spymaster: How Lt. Col. Tommy
Some more Leads on R.W.G. Stephens Read More »
Still chipping away at various avenues for tracking down Robin W.G. Stephens. I thought I’d take a look at Christopher Murphy’s article on the Spy! episode again. I remembered him mentioning the names of several former Camp 020 secretaries who defended Stephens vociferously. While these ladies were alive in 1980 when the Spy! episode came
The Secretaries of Camp 020 Read More »
Still chipping away at any clue for when Robin William George Stephens passed away. Stephens had served as commandant of MI5’s Camp 020 interrogation centre during the Second World War and retired from the military in 1960 at the age of 60. I’ve investigated several dead ends and keep coming back to his second wife’s