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. […]
Spy Radios – Teasing apart a Decades Long Puzzle 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 »
I’ve been doing some follow-up work on some the individuals involved in the black market passport racket run by Jürgen Ziebell in 1938 in Berlin. I had come across a possible result on the MyHeritage site and signed up for a free two week subscription. One of the resources mentioned was the 1939 German Minority
A Useful Resource – the 1939 German Minority Census Read More »
Sooo… given that someone successfully submitted an FOI request to the Metropolitan Police about Arthur Albert Tester… I thought… why not see if they have anything on Josef Jakobs. I did some digging and found the original MetPol file number for Josef’s case and sent an email off to their FOI department a few weeks
MetPol FOI request regarding German Spy Josef Jakobs Read More »
I received an email today saying that The National Archives at Kew were reopening on July 21… I had a bit of a panic attack about the digitized files… Because while TNA has been closed, all of the digitized files have been free… but when I actually read the email… I heaved a sigh of
National Archives reopening… Read More »
Whilst searching for information on Arthur Albert Tester and his shady associates, I signed up for a trial subscription to FindMyPast.co.uk. They appeared to have some info on Tester and I wanted to have a look at it. Imagine my surprise when up popped a record from the Gestapo’s arrest list for their planned invasion
Nazi Germany’s Arrest List for the 1940 Invasion of England Read More »
A few weeks ago, I took advantage of the free digitized files from the National Archives at Kew. I had a happy little downloading streak bouncing between several different email addresses that I own. The archives limits downloads to 10 files/day/registered user with a maximum of 50 files every 30 days. I admit I did
Research during a Pandemic Read More »
A few weeks ago, I had posted a blog about The National Archives having free downloads of their digitized files. This was exciting news although… as the weeks went by, and there was no hint of this news on their website I began to think that it had been a cruel April Fool’s Day joke
Free downloads from The National Archives Read More »
Fellow author Tony Percy sent me a link a few weeks ago which piqued my interest. According to the latest Queen’s Speech, given by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the UK is looking at updating the antiquated Treason Act (1351). The UK recognizes that the Treason Act (and the Official Secrets Act (1911)) are rather antiquated
Britain’s Plans to Revamp the Treason Act Read More »
Introduction For a few years now, I’ve been researching a gentleman named Kenneth Clifford Howard and his mysterious association with the two German spies, Josef Jakobs and Karl Theodore Drücke. His association with Josef seems to be based on a filing error at the National Archives (or MI5). Two small notebooks belonging to Kenneth can
The Unsealed 1939 National Register entry for Kenneth Clifford Howard Read More »