Snow (5 page)
Authors: Madoc Roberts
‘Don’t answer unless you want to…’ cautioned Hinchley-Cooke, obviously aware of the impact Owen’s incriminating admissions would have at any future criminal trial.
‘I am quite prepared to do everything,’ said Owens. ‘I want you to know that I knew the danger. I want to give help, but I won’t take chances unless I am prepared. I am only trying to explain to you that I have always done everything I could for this country. Probably my system is different from yours but I have always had one object in view and that was to help the country when I could. I can now. I risked my life to get it for you, at least I deserve a little thanks. I am prepared to go on and I will take further chances if you wish it, but I will do no more – it isn’t worth it.’
‘You wish to go on and you know our view?’
‘Of course, and I know what the view on the other side was and I know the danger there was. My duty at that time was to get all I could and be in a position to help this country. And I have taken that risk.’
Later in the interview the police inspector referred to a written report and started to read from it, quoting Owens:
‘I will start from where you stated you were appointed chief operator. “I have been appointed chief operator in England with authority to travel to America with a special German Secret Service code and I am to receive here in England a special secret transmitting set which will enable me to be in direct touch with secret German headquarters in the Rhine district.”’
‘Now, who appointed you actually?’
‘The heads from Hamburg. I am going to give you them.’
‘Well, why not give them now so that I can get the story in correct sequence?’
‘I will give you them in time.’
‘Why not now?’
‘I would like to see the end of these questions… My duties will consist of receiving, coding and sending to Germany, information supplied to me and information which I may obtain in connection with general war activities and political information…’
‘How does this code work?’
‘It is very complicated and after we are through here I will do all that.’
‘All right, Inspector,’ said Hinchley-Cooke, inviting the police officer to
continue
reading.
‘… and I am also to have sole charge of all secret addresses of German agents in European countries and to be in charge of a bureau in England for the purpose of distributing information.’
‘Where is that bureau supposed to be?’
‘Well, wherever I wish. I could rent a room anywhere.’
‘You haven’t settled on that, have you?’
‘No, as soon as I got all that I came right to you.’
The quality of information that Owens was promising far exceeded anything that he had offered hitherto, and must have been entirely new to the Security Service, despite the mail intercepts and surveillance. Of course, Owens’ motives were far from clear and the reason for his visit to Scotland House at this time was hard to discern, although the deteriorating political situation in Europe made any clues to Nazi intentions a priority. Up until this point it would seem that all Owens really wanted was MI5’s approval for his visits to Germany, holding out the prospect that this would yield more
information
which presumably he would continue to disclose. Although he had not mentioned the issue of money, a further motive would soon be revealed when Owens asked Hinchley-Cooke why his son had been questioned.
‘Never heard of your boy. I don’t know the first thing you are talking about,’ replied the MI5 officer.
‘You have a boy? A son?’ asked the police officer.
‘Yes. You sent him to a certain office in the city and he had quite a lot of questioning and was kept there for four hours.’
‘What office?’
‘Somewhere around the Monument district.’
‘Who questioned him? For what purpose?’
‘He was sent up there by the Labour Exchange.’
‘And they questioned him?’
‘They wanted to know all about me, my business and so on.’
‘That’s strange,’ remarked Hinchley-Cooke.
‘The strange part was that the names given to him were the same names – the same names as were given to me by a certain gentleman near Victoria Station. I came here on account of that.’ Apparently the name used by the man who had questioned Owens’ son was Jackson, this and the description of the man matched the identity of a German agent that Owens knew.
‘Where are those names of the agents in Europe?’ asked Hinchley-Cooke.
‘They are to be given to me.’
‘When?’
‘When I go back.’
‘When do you propose to go back?’
‘I thought of going back next week, but I don’t know, it all depends.’
The interview continued with a discussion about the type of information that Owens was being asked to supply in addition to the material that was to be transmitted, and this included the nature of photographs he had been asked to take, and the location of airfield plans he was to supply. Owens explained that he was to be informed which cities in England were to be the first to be bombed, and he had been asked to let the Germans know the location of power stations and steel works in these cities.
Owens was then questioned over what he knew about German agents already operating in England, and he revealed that he knew of two men. One was very dangerous and operated as a taxi driver in London, using a sweet shop as a cover. The other was a man who travelled around the country, only ever staying at hotels. Owens did not know their names but promised to find out. He then told them that he had seen the Luftwaffe’s plans for a manned attack on British aerodromes.
‘Did you see them secretly or openly?’ challenged Hinchley-Cooke.
‘I saw them openly. It is a kind of list, together with a map, and all those aerodromes are marked with two crosses. Others with one. I was told: “You need not be too particular about them. We want immediate information at once of these aerodromes. You go on a train to these aerodromes and get the men and machines concentrated there, and send them when we tell you.” The ones to be attacked first are marked with three crosses.’
‘The list was marked on the map itself?‘
‘They had a list here and a map there, regarding all these aerodromes.’
‘Where were these aerodromes, do you remember?’
‘There were a large number, including Mildenhall, Chichester – they were very particular about Chichester – and there were two aerodromes… Thornaby and Felixstowe.’
Owens then explained how the transmitter was to work, saying that it was portable and that he was to travel by train whenever possible. If he had to, he could hire a car and install the set in it by running two wires out of the window. He would then gather the information required and transmit it using the code. Owens said that he had not seen the receiver which was kept in a big office, but that the Germans had explained how it worked.
‘You won’t be able to receive messages?’ asked the MI5 officer.
‘No, not on that; that is merely for transmitting.’
‘Where do you get your juice from?’
‘From small batteries.’
‘And it is all amplified up?’
‘Yes, the machine is only about that big. You set whatever wavelength you want to transmit to, the forty meter band for example – it only takes about half a minute – and then you send to them.’
‘And you do that by Morse?’
‘Yes. There is a special key for it about that big and you cannot pick up the click.’
‘Do you know Morse?’
‘Well – in the Scouts – I knew a bit. I can learn, I know a few letters; I practise at all hours to work up a speed. They said you have to work up more speed than I had – about sixty.’
Having covered the matter of the radio transmitter, they then moved on to Owens’ curious approach to the British Union of Fascists and, once again, Owens had an answer ready for the inspector.
‘You mentioned the BUF?’
‘I was rather interested in joining the BUF, which I did.’
‘Did you join the BUF at the request of Hamburg?’ asked Hinchley-Cooke.
‘Yes.’
‘Well, did they tell you why?’
‘They were always interested to know things in England as regards the fascist organisation and it was possible to get a lot of information regarding the
Communists
because they have men in Communist organisations.’
Owens next went on to claim that the Germans employed a special method of bringing small documents across borders. Hinchley-Cooke asked if this was ‘the old capsule?’ but Owens said that this was not how the Germans did it, and neither did they write with invisible ink or use rice paper which could be swallowed. The German method involved writing ordinary ink on material that was similar to cigarette paper which went hard when folded up and could be put in the mouth. It was quite possible to talk with it in the mouth and could be swallowed if anyone became suspicious. Owens was also questioned about the use of cameras, and he explained that he had not been given one, as it was too easy to get caught using one. He claimed that the only time he did use one, he was sent to a reserve aerodrome which was little more than a field. An aircraft had crashed in the field recently so he photographed that. He had been told that there was another agent who would do any photography required.
Owens tried to raise the stakes: ‘… you understand that I am trying to work with you people and that my life is not worth two hoots if there is any slip made?’ He proceeded to explain how the code worked and the meeting concluded with what was in effect an acceptance on the part of
Hinchley-Cooke
that Owens would carry on in the way he had been working with the Germans.
‘Just carry on in the way you intended to,’ instructed Hinchley-Cooke.
‘It might be possible to get information regarding this transmitter.’
‘Well, you might be able to collect your transmitter?’
‘Well, that is a bit dangerous. There is a terrific lot of stuff coming in. If you let me carry on, I shall bring this vital information regarding the towns to be bombed. I am just wondering whether I had better leave at the beginning of the week.’
Here the interview ended, no doubt leaving MI5 perplexed about Owens’ disclosures. He had admitted collecting information about RAF airfields, and was holding out the prospect of gaining access to a German wireless transmitter and some secret codes. By any standards, these were tempting prizes, but could the Welshman be relied upon? The other concern, perhaps the most significant of all, was the political dimension. With Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain convinced he had reached a settlement with Adolf Hitler, the government believed ‘peace in our time’ had been achieved. But if Owens’ account was accurate, the Germans were on the brink of some major
offensive involving an airborne attack on specific towns and selected RAF airfields. If his version was true, the implications were momentous indeed.
Only a few days later, Owens was again in contact with the police, this time with news of a leak. A Commander Kennedy, who worked for a camera company in London, had approached the Security Service with information about a German who was due to come over on technical work from
Dusseldorf
. Owens told the police the information given to the Security Service by Kennedy was now known in Germany, and moreover he said that the Germans were also in possession of a report on recent naval manoeuvres, and knew about a new method of artillery attack known as the ‘Skip Method’, where one line-of-fire leap-frogs the other. Worse still, they knew about the mass movement of troops from the east to the west coast, and the details of a tactical plan to funnel attacking German bombers towards British fighter aircraft. The plan involved creating a ‘channel’ through the defensive aircraft guns, lining it only with searchlights. The German bombers were intended to fly down this channel where the British fighters would be waiting for them.
According to Owens, the Germans wanted their agents in Britain to report daily on any changes to this arrangement. The Welshman insisted that his contacts were waiting for his instructions regarding the channel, and then added rather chillingly, ‘To a degree my instructions will govern the position of attack on London, and I would like some advice on the matter.’
Owens also offered details of the location and personnel of Dr Rantzau’s German Secret Service office, naming them as: Naval – Dr Becker; Army – Dr Laurance. Owens also promised to write to Dr Wentzel asking for details of their addresses, their call signs and instructions regarding the transmitter.
Now, for the first time, Owens was supplying tangible details about German personnel, and his warning about the leaked report proved that at least some of the information supposedly gleaned from his contacts in Hamburg was authentic. In political terms, Owens was now anticipating a massed aerial offensive aimed at London, and this was bound to be highly controversial. The German air-raids on Madrid, and the Italian air attacks on Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War, had moved modern warfare into a new realm, with centres of population enduring heavy airborne
bombardments
, and it was precisely these tactics that Owens was predicting would be applied to London. There had been much discussion about what protection could be afforded to the capital’s civilian inhabitants, and the need to fortify certain key administrative centres, but the debate about the construction of deep shelters and the degree to which residential areas would become
military targets in any future conflict was highly-charged. Once again, Owens had demonstrated a talent for making claims that were guaranteed to attract attention at the highest levels.
In these circumstances Owens was requested to stay in regular touch with Special Branch over the coming weeks as uncertainties grew during the crisis, and their meetings were usually arranged in public houses. At each encounter the opening gambit was to remind Owens that the caution given to him by Hinchley-Cooke still stood, that he was not employed in any way by the British Security Service, and that whatever he did was entirely on his own initiative. At these meetings Owens supplied information about individuals he described as German Secret Service personnel in Hamburg, and on one occasion he also showed the content of the letter he had written to Dr Wertzel, prompting the Special Branch officer to note that ‘it appeared to me that S for reasons best known to himself, desires to ingratiate himself with the British authorities.’