Who performed the post-mortem on executed German spy Josef Jakobs?

Josef Jakobs was executed by firing squad at 7:12 am on Friday 15 August 1941, at the Tower of London. After the execution, a post-mortem was conducted and on Monday 18 August 1941, Jakobs was buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Kensal Green. There is some uncertainty as to who conducted the post-mortem on Jakobs. […]

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Major P.D.J. Waters – Commander of the Firing Squad that Executed Josef Jakobs

In the early morning hours of August 15, 1941, Josef Jakobs was escorted to the Tower of London for his execution. The firing squad that carried out the execution was drawn from members of the Scots Guards Holding Battalion. The commander of the firing squad was Major P.D.J. Waters. Philip Duncan Joseph Waters Philip Duncan

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Dr. Harold Dearden – Psychiatrist at Camp 020

On the afternoon of February 2, having spent the night in Brixton Prixon Infirmary, Josef Jakobs was brought to Latchmere House (Camp 020) for a preliminary interrogation. Dr. Harold Dearden, the camp doctor and psychiatrist took note of Jakobs’ physical attributes (height, weight, etc.) and formed part of the panel that questioned Jakobs. The interrogation

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Inspector Horace Jaikens – Huntingdonshire Constabulary

AcknowledgementMany thanks to Martyn Smith, grandson of Horace Jaikens, for kindly sharing information and photographs about his grandfather. On 1 February, 1941, Josef Jakobs, erstwhile German spy, was found by a couple of farm workers in a potato field southwest of the town of Ramsey, Huntingdonshire. The farmers found Harry Godfrey, a member of the

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Book Review – A History of Modern Espionage by Colonel Allison Ind (1965)

The Book A History of Modern Espionage: the growth and operation of Secret Service in all parts of the world, Allison Ind, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1965. Review One of the first books to mention Josef Jakobs was published in 1965 by Colonel Allison Ind, a US Air Intelligence Officer who had been station in

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Court Martial of Josef Jakobs held at Duke of York’s Headquarters, Chelsea

On the morning of 4 August, 1941, Josef Jakobs was driven from Wandsworth Prison to the Duke of York’s Headquarters. His court martial convened at 10:30 am and concluded at 1 pm the following day. The Duke of York’s Headquarters is a building located on King’s Road in the Chelsea area of London, just southwest

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Equipped to Jump into the Unknown – Parachute Equipment of a German spy

On the evening of 31 January, 1941, at 7 pm (British Time), Josef Jakobs departed Schipol Aerodrome in Amsterdam in a two-engined German aircraft. The three-man air crew flew the plane toward England and at 8 pm, over fields of Huntingdonshire Jakobs jumped from the air craft at an elevation of 3000 feet. Jakobs had

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