Executions
of Spies
****
In the First World War spies were usually shot at the Tower of London
by a firing squad comprising of eight soldiers of the garrison. Eleven
spies were dispatched in this way and a twelfth Spy was hanged at Wandsworth
in 1915.
The prisoner would be strapped into a chair at one end of the Tower
rifle range, sited in front of a sand "Bullet-catcher". An attendant medical
officer would be required to pin a white aiming mark or target over the
position of the heart. Working to hand signals of the officer in charge,
the firing party would ease forward their safety catches (their weapons
were always pre-loaded by the officer), take aim and fire in one volley.
All spies shot at the Tower are buried in the East London cemetery at Plaistow.
*****
|
Name
|
Age
|
Date
|
Where executed
|
|
Carl Hans Lody
|
37
|
6th November 1914
|
Tower of London
|
|
Karl T Muller
|
?
|
23rd June 1915
|
Tower of London
|
|
Wilhelm Johannes Roos
|
?
|
30th July 1915
|
Tower of London
|
|
Haike Marius Petrus Janssen
|
?
|
30th July1915
|
Tower of London
|
|
Ernst (or Emil) Waldermar
Melin
|
49
|
10th September 1915
|
Tower of London
|
|
Agusto Alfredo Roggin
|
?
|
17th September 1915
|
Tower of London
|
|
Fernando Buschmann
|
?
|
19th October 1915
|
Tower of London
|
|
Georg T Breeckow
|
31
|
26th October 1915
|
Tower of London
|
|
Irving Guy Ries
|
55
|
27th October 1915
|
Tower of London
|
|
Albert Mayer
|
22
|
2nd December 1915
|
Tower of London
|
|
Ludovico Zender y Hurwitz
|
?
|
11th April 1916
|
Tower of London
|
|
Robert Rosenthal
|
?
|
15th July 1915
|
Wandsworth
|
|
Roger Casement
|
?
|
3rd August 1916
|
?
|
|
Jose Waldeburg
|
?
|
10th December 1940
|
?
|
|
Carl Meier
|
?
|
10th December 1940
|
?
|
|
Charles Kieboom
|
?
|
17th December 1940
|
?
|
|
George Armstrong
|
?
|
9th July 1941
|
?
|
|
Robert Petter
|
?
|
6th August 1941
|
?
|
|
Karl Drucke
|
?
|
6th August 1941
|
?
|
|
Josef Jakobs
|
?
|
14th August 1941
|
?
|
|
Karel Richter
|
?
|
10th December 1941
|
?
|
|
Alphonse Timmerman
|
?
|
7th July 1941
|
?
|
|
Joe Key
|
?
|
7th July 1941
|
?
|
|
Duncan Scott-Ford
|
?
|
3rd November 1942
|
?
|
|
Johannes Dronkers
|
?
|
31st December 1942
|
?
|
|
Franciscus Winter
|
?
|
26th January 1943
|
?
|
|
Oswald John Job
|
?
|
16th March 1944
|
?
|
|
Pierre Neukermans
|
?
|
23rd June 1944
|
?
|
|
Joseph Van Hove
|
?
|
12th July 1944
|
?
|
|
John Amery
|
?
|
19th December 1945
|
?
|
|
William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw)
|
?
|
3rd January 1946
|
?
|
|
Theodore Schurch
|
?
|
4th January 1946
|
?
|
Carl Hans Lody
A Lieutenant in the German Navy, Lody arrived in England shortly before
the outbreak of war and was travelling under an American passport in the
name of Charles Inglis. The passport, which had been reported stolen, led
officers from the Secret Service to take an interest in the current holder.
Lody was traced to Killarney, Eire, and arrested as a spy. He was tried
by a Court Martial that was held "In Camera" at Westminster Guildhall although
no information was made available.
Karl T Muller
Along with his accomplice, a baker named Hahn from the East End of London,
Muller collected information on troop movements and naval convoys, which
they relayed to their contact in Holland. One letter was intercepted by
the Secret Service and contained information written in invisible ink.
Muller was chased to Newcastle where he was arrested as a spy and later
convicted. Hahn was convicted on a lesser charge and sentenced to five
years in prison. For a time, Secret Service agents concealed details of
Muller's apprehension and continued to use his communication channel as
a means to disinform.
Wilhelm Johannes Roos
A Dutchman who, working under cover as a cigar dealer, conveyed military
intelligence to the enemy in Rotterdam. The contact operated behind the
front of a company called Dierks & Co. Roos used a code whereby the
different types of cigar he ordered represented the naval strength in various
ports. His cover was eventually blown and he was arrested in a London public
house.
Haike Marius Petrus Janssen
Following the arrest of Roos, the Secret Service checked post offices throughout
the south of England for any other letters addressed to Dierks & Co
and it was discovered that a telegraphed order to the company had been
placed at Southampton. The communication was intercepted and never sent.
Officers quickly traced Janssen to his room in Southampton and he was arrested.
Tried at the same Court Martial as Roos (above), both were executed on
the same morning but not together. One man was executed at 6am, the other
at 6.10am.
Ernst (or Emil) Waldermar Melin
Little is known about this spy except for the few details recorded on his
death certificate. His occupation is listed as a ship broker; and the cause
of death as "Violent gun shot wounds in chest. Shot by order of General
Court Martial. Justifiable homicide."
Agusto Alfredo Roggin
Roggin operated under the disguise of a Uruguayan farmer in Britain to
purchase agricultural equipment. After he was seen in the vicinity of Loch
Lomond while secret naval tests were being carried out, a watch was kept
on his mail and a letter to Norway eventually intercepted. The letter contained
information written in invisible ink about the trials at the Loch. Upon
his arrest he protested that he was a farmer attempting to secure an equipment
order to be shipped to Uruguay but under interrogation he was unconvincing
on details of either farming or his supposed homeland. He was tried alongside
Melin (above), although it is not known whether their arrests were linked.
Roggin was due to be shot on the same morning as Melin but for some reason
he was granted a stay of execution for a week.
Fernando Buschmann
A trained spy, was in Britain posing as a Dutch violinist. He tried, unsuccessfully,
to obtain work in and around various naval bases. His enquiries aroused
the suspicion of the Secret Service and his mail wasintercepted. In one
letter home, military information written in invisible ink was discovered
alongside lines of ordinary news.
Georg T Breeckow
The son of a German piano tuner, Breeckow was a naval war volunteer who
graduated from an enemy spy school at Antwerp. He travelled to London on
a forged foreign passport and his ability to speak fluent English allowed
him to settle into a well-known London hotel under the assumed name of
Reginald Rowland. A frequent companion of Breeckow's was a Mrs Lizzie Wertheim,
and it was she who first caught the attention of the Secret Service as
a result of making a number of trips to the Rosyth Naval Base in Scotland.
She was suspected of being an enemy agent and through his association with
her, Breeckow's mail was intercepted. One letter to an address in Holland
was found to contain hidden messages written in invisible ink. A search
of Breeckow's room produced other espionage equipment and his passport
was identified as a forgery.
Breeckow admitted that he had volunteered to travel to London as a spy
in order to escape a prison sentence. On September 20, both Breeckow and
Lizzie Wertheim were convicted of spying; he was sentenced to death, while
she received a 10 year prison sentence. (She died from natural causes in
Aylesbury Prison in 1921.) An observer at Breeckow's execution claimed
that the prisoner died of heart failure before the firing squad had taken
aim. His last request was that a handkerchief of Lizzie's be used to blindfold
him.
Irving Guy Ries
Otherwise known as C P J Hansel, Ries was a former commercial traveller
from Germany convicted by Court Martial of spying.
Albert Mayer
Albert Mayer was only 22 when he was convicted as a spy and shot. His cover
had been that of a commercial traveller.
Ludovico Zender y Hurwitz
A Venezuelan citizen, of Peruvian extraction, recruited by the Germans
to pass on information of troop movements and convoy strengths. Unlike
many spies convicted, he could not claim any patriotism in his acts as
he was motivated purely by money, being paid some 30 a month for his services.
Like Roos and Janssen above, Hurwitz was also caught after sending coded
messages to Dierks & Co in Rotterdam.
Confusion surrounds this execution as a spent bullet engraved with the
words "H Zender January 1916" was found washed up close to the Tower.
The following spy was hanged at Wandsworth.
Robert Rosenthal
A German who was convicted of treason at Middlesex Guildhall before Mr
Justice Chaylemore on 6 July. Rosenthal had been arrested on board a ship
just as it was leaving British waters. It was alleged at the trial, held
'in camera', that he had entered the country with the purpose of obtaining
military and naval information which he was to take back to German intelligence.
Hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint, and a new assistant called Robert Baxter.
Rosenthal was the only spy convicted during the war to be hanged because
he was tried by a civilian court. Eleven other spies listed above who were
tried and convicted by the military were shot at the Tower of London. The
names of other persons executed for Spying or Treason are as follows :-
Roger Casement - 3rd August, 1916 Jose Waldeburg - 10th December, 1940
Carl Meier - 10th December, 1940 Charles Kieboom - 17th December, 1940
George Armstrong - 9th July, 1941 Robert Petter - 6th August, 1941 Karl
Drucke - 6th August, 1941 Josef Jakobs - 14th August, 1941 Karel Richter
- 10th December, 1941 Alphonse Timmerman - 7th July, 1941 Joe Key - 7th
July, 1941 Duncan Scott-Ford - 3rd November, 1942 Johannes Dronkers - 31st
December, 1942 Franciscus Winter - 26th January, 1943 Oswald John Job -
16th March, 1944 Pierre Neukermans - 23rd June, 1944 Joseph Van Hove -
12th July, 1944 John Amery - 19th December, 1945 William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw)
- 3rd January, 1946 Theodore Schurch - 4th January, 1946
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For more information contact:
Gregg Manning
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