Last month, I reviewed a radio show in which Punt P.I. (a gumshoe of the British airwaves) investigated the story of Bella in the Wych Elm. The radio show was quite good, but a newspaper article that preceded it had a few errors, some more glaring than others. The article, entitled Punt P.I. Investigates Midlands […]
Article Review – Express & Star Newspaper – Punt P.I. Investigates Midlands Riddle Read More »
One would naturally expect that any German spy who arrived in England during World War 2 would have been relatively fluent in English. If a spy wanted to blend into English society, language would have formed an important part of their disguise. Unfortunately, most of the German spies who arrived in England were less than
Language Skills of a German Spy – Josef Jakobs’ Metoula Sprachführer Read More »
N.B. 2020 11 06 – I have since learned that that the transmitters displayed at the IWM and their captions, may not be entirely accurate. This post should therefore not be taken as accurate. I am working with some ham radio buffs who are trying to tease apart the different sending/receiving apparatus used by the
The Tenuous Thread of Communication – Spy Radios Read More »
In the early morning hours of 15 August, 1941, Josef Jakobs was seated in a wooden Windsor chair in the miniature rifle range at the Tower of London. A circular target was attached to his chest by the doctor attending. After the execution, the target disappeared. Rumours Over the years, various stories have emerged around
A Circle of Lint – Target for Death Read More »
When German spy Josef Jakobs landed near the village of Ramsey on 31 January, 1941, he had planned to make his way to London. Naturally, given his broken ankle, his plans came to naught. But what if he had not injured himself, during his descent from the German aircraft. Would it have been feasible for
Long Odds – The Proposed Journey of Josef Jakobs from Ramsey Hollow to London Read More »
In researching the circumstances surrounding Josef’s life and death, I have sought information from a variety of sources. One aspect of Josef’s death that stymied me for the longest time was the procedure for a military execution by firing squad. It was easy enough to find an American military procedure, less easy to find a
British Procedure for Military Executions by Firing Squad (1950) Read More »
One of the last people to see Josef Jakobs alive on the fateful morning of his execution was Lt. Col. William Edward Hinchley-Cooke. Cookie, as he was affectionately known by his MI5 colleagues, later noted that he was impressed by Josef’s calm pluck on the morning of August 15. In fact, Cookie was fluent in
Britain’s Spy-Catcher – Lt. Col. William Edward Hinchley Cooke Read More »
After the previous post on Colonel R.W.G. Stephens was published, a magazine I had ordered online almost a month previous finally came in the mail. It had a four page article on Robin Stephens written by Chris Bilham. Review The article was quite extensive and stitched together the scanty facts of Robin’s life into a
Article Review – Medal News – Two Gurkha Officers: Part II – May 2014 Read More »
When Josef Jakobs arrived at Camp 020 in 1941, he was interrogated by Tin-Eye Stephens, commandant of the Camp. Lt. Col. Stephens was a fearsome man who had little patience for fools and was rather xenophobic in his relations with people of other nationalities, particularly Germans. Who was this man and how did he come
Interrogator at Camp 020 – Lt. Col. Robin William George Stephens Read More »
Shortly after midnight, in the early hours of Friday, 15 August, 1941, Josef Jakobs sat in a cell at Wandsworth Prison and wrote his final letter to his family. A few hours later, around 3 am, Fr. Edward Jackson Griffith heard Josef’s last confession and then celebrated Mass with him. For Josef, the date was
Execution of Josef Jakobs – 15 August, 1941 Read More »