Things

Seeing Clearly – The Reading Glasses of German Spy Josef Jakobs

Almost 80 years ago, a pair of reading glasses changed hands. German spy Josef Jakobs handed his spectacles to Lance Corporal William Chidlow, a Coldstream guardsman who was a Military Policeman with Britain’s Armed Forces. The transfer took place in the early hours of Friday, August 15, 1941, at Wandsworth Prison. Josef, found guilty of

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The Hague

The Four German Abwehr Operatives who Ran the “Finishing School” for Spies in The Hague

It must take a certain type of individual to mentor and train a man as a spy. Watching them depart on their mission, knowing that the likelihood of success is excruciatingly slim. Knowing that they have essentially been sent on a one-way suicide mission. Such were the men stationed at Abteilung I of the German

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The Cassini Code of Josef Jakobs’ Landing Spot in Ramsey, Huntingdonshire

A few months ago, I received a comment on one of my blog posts about Josef’s landing spot. The anonymous individual was writing in reference to the military map code that is contained within the MI5 files on Josef. The file notes that Josef was found at: Grid bearing 135 degrees from Dovehouse Farm. Distance

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SE 92 3 - Waltis set ATB 11 and 1704-2 - cropped

A guide to the Front Panels of Spy Wireless Transmitters / Receivers

Over the last few months, I’ve gotten a crash course in spy radios. Thomas Hoeppe, an amateur Ham radio operator, and a crafter of replica Abwehr spy radio sets, has been answering my many and varied questions on the finer details of spy radios. Naturally, I am most intrigued by the radios brought by the

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spy radio wireless transmitter abwehr

Spy Radios – Teasing apart a Decades Long Puzzle

N.B. 2021 01 31 – I’ve posted a follow-up blog on Spy Radios here. A few years ago, I reached out to the Military Wireless Museum’s Ben Nock for assistance with deciphering the schematics of Josef Jakobs’ wireless radio transmitter/receiver. After examining the electrical circuit diagram, Ben concluded that the set was an SE 88/5.

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