A REMARKABLE SPY
Of the many cases of espionage which have come before the British
public recently, surely none exceeds in interest and importance that
of Carl Hans Lody, who, after trial by court-martial, was shot in the
Tower of London early in November. Lody was the first secret-service
agent shot in England after the outbreak of war, and the first person
executed in the Tower since the middle of the eighteenth century.
Lody, beyond all question, was a very remarkable man. Before going into
the details of the charge against him, it is well worth while to recall
some of the leading features of his career.
Born in Berlin, he was only thirty-five, yet he had seen enough of life
and the world to have satisfied many men of double his age. There is
hardly a corner of the civilised world into which he had not travelled.
He had been much in America, and it was a considerable help to him,
in his work as a secret-service agent, that he spoke English with a
decidedly American accent. This, no doubt, explains the fact--of which
more presently--that he posed as an American, and used an American
passport, which really belonged to a certain Mr. Charles A. Inglis.
It was as Mr. Charles A. Inglis that Lody arrived in England early in
August. He knew England and Scotland well, and he is believed to have
been in this country once or twice earlier in the year. Originally, he
served in the German Navy; after he left he became a steward on the
liner "Hamburg." In the meantime he married a very handsome American
woman, to whom, apparently, though the marriage did not turn out very
happily, he was very deeply attached.
When the Hamburg-Amerika Line established a series of personally
conducted tours from Berlin, Lody secured an appointment to take charge
of a party of rich Americans who were going round the world. He made a
similar tour in 1913 and in the summer of 1914, and when the American
medical societies held an International Conference in London, Lody was
one of the guides who helped to show them round England. None of the
Americans, it may be mentioned, ever doubted that he belonged to their
country.
It was in August, as I have said, that Lody came to England on the
mission that led him to his death. He travelled as Mr. Inglis, though
to an American acquaintance who chanced to meet him he was still Lody.
It was some weeks before the attention of the Confidential Department
was drawn to him, and then began a game of hide-and-seek, which was
not without a humorous side.
From August till the middle of September, Lody was in Edinburgh, a
district prohibited to enemy aliens, though not, of course, to an
American. Thence he sent, to Stockholm, a telegram which aroused
suspicion. On September 7th he was followed from the neighbourhood of
Rosyth, and with magnificent "bluff" he went direct to the police and
complained. So well did he play the part of an injured and innocent
American citizen, that the police actually apologised to him. He
slipped away and, for a time, all trace of him was lost.
Then he went to London and began an examination of the steps that had
been taken for the protection of the principal buildings. Again the
Intelligence Department got on his track, and from that moment his doom
was sealed. No doubt he thought he had shaken off all suspicion, but he
was soon to be undeceived.
After a visit to Scotland about the end of September, Lody went to
Liverpool, no doubt to pick up all he could about the Mersey defences,
and then over to Ireland in the guise of an American tourist on a visit
to Killarney. But the police had their eye on him all the time, and
he was arrested and detained until the arrival of Inspector Ward of
Scotland Yard. His trial and conviction followed.
The public will never know the full extent of Lody's doings as a spy,
but it is beyond question that he was a most daring and dangerous man.
The reports he made have not yet been published, but they were of such
a character that, in the interests of the State, much of the evidence
was taken in camera, and those who have been privileged to read them
declare that, in their keen observation and clear expression, they
are among the most remarkable documents that have ever come into the
possession of the War Office. The Confidential Department did its work
well, and it is worth noting here that after grave suspicion fell upon
Lody, he was so closely shadowed that none of his reports left the
country, and they were produced in evidence at the trial.
Lody's task was to travel about England and to send to Germany news
about our naval movements, about our losses and the steps that were
being taken to repair them. One message he tried to send from Edinburgh
read:--"Must cancel. Johnson very ill last four days. Shall leave
shortly." Innocent enough! But to Berlin, as Lody admitted at his
trial, it meant that the British Fleet, in four days, would be leaving
the Firth of Forth.
What, we may well wonder, was to be cancelled!
There was a dramatic scene in the ancient Guildhall when the
court-martial assembled to try Lody for his life--a scene strangely
unfamiliar in a country which, for a generation, has had little
experience of military trials. The court was composed of Major-General
Lord Cheylesmore as President, and eight officers in uniform. In the
dock stood Lody, guarded by two khaki-clad soldiers with bayonets fixed.
The following were the charges on which Lody was accused:--
The accused, Carl Hans Lody, alias Charles A. Inglis, an enemy
civilian, is charged--first charge--with committing a war crime,
that is to say, war treason, against Great Britain, in that he at
Edinburgh, on or about September 27, 1914, attempted to convey to a
belligerent enemy of Great Britain--namely to Germany--information
calculated to be useful to that enemy by sending a letter headed
Edinburgh 27/9/14, and signed Nazi, addressed to one Karl J. Stammer,
Berlin, which contained information with regard to the defence and
preparations for war of Great Britain. The second charge is that of
committing a war crime in that he on or about the 30th of September
attempted to convey to a belligerent enemy of Great Britain--namely
to Germany--information calculated to be useful to that enemy, by
sending a letter, headed Dublin and signed Nazi, and addressed to
Karl J. Stammer, which contained information with regard to the
defences and preparations for war of Great Britain.
Lody's movements were very clearly traced at the trial by Mr. Bodkin,
who prosecuted for the Crown. It was shown, by the visé on the American
passport he was using, that he had been in Berlin as recently as August
4th. Another document found on him proved that he was in Bergen, in
Norway, on August 20th. In all his movements he passed as Charles A.
Inglis. It is not necessary to follow him in detail, but it may be
mentioned that apparently he reported both to a man named Burchard,
at Stockholm, and also to Stammer at Berlin. There were found in
his notebook not only a copy of the "Johnson" telegram, but also
particulars of British losses in battle and in the naval fight in the
North Sea, a list of German cruisers and German ships sunk up to date,
and also copies of four other communications to Burchard.
Mr. Bodkin made it clear that, through the Post Office officials,
certain letters to and from persons abroad had been examined and
copied, and in some cases delivered; since August 4th letters for
Norway and Sweden posted in any part of the United Kingdom were sent
to London and there examined. Several of these were to and from the
prisoner.
The main part of the evidence against Lody was taken in camera and
has never been made public, but that it was overwhelming there can be
no doubt; indeed, Lody himself admitted that he had had a fair trial,
and was quite justly dealt with. It was, however, mentioned that his
letters contained reports on such places as Queensferry, near the naval
base at Rosyth, and various other places round the coast.
There was a very remarkable incident when Lody himself gave evidence,
an incident which gives us a good deal of insight into the real
character of this remarkable spy.
Having admitted that his name was on the German Navy List, he said
that when he went to Berlin at the end of July he reported himself to
"a certain department," making a request that he should not be sent
on active service as he was an invalid, having undergone a serious
operation some years before and being unfit to do any fighting.
Narrating events in Berlin, Lody said, "A proposition was put before me
by a certain person."
"Are you willing," counsel asked him, "to give the name of that person?"
Then for the first time Lody's iron nerve broke down. He burst into
heavy sobs, and in a voice almost choked with emotion, replied: "I have
pledged my word of honour not to give that name, and I cannot do it.
Although names have been discovered in my documents, I do feel that I
have not broken my word of honour."
"Are you unwilling," counsel asked, "to tell us the position in life
that person occupies?"
Again Lody hesitated; then he added quietly that the person was a
superior naval officer. "I was summoned to see him," he said; "and I
had three or four interviews with him."
Then came a question which provoked a very remarkable reply. "Are you
willing," asked counsel, "to tell the court what took place at those
interviews with your superior officer?"
"I am willing to tell the court," said Lody. "And I am willing not to
conceal anything, but I should like it not to be in public, as I shall
certainly refer to very essential and important affairs."
Lody was then asked to give the "principal instruction" that he
received, and he did so readily. He was to remain in England until
the first engagement had taken place between the two Powers, and send
information as regards the actual losses of the British Fleet. Then
he was at liberty to go on to New York; he had previously asked for
permission to do so. He was also told to get all the information he
could with regard to the movements of the Fleet, and what was going on
in England, but was specially warned not to go and "spy round," but to
see as much as every traveller could see.
Lody added that he was very reluctant to undertake this work, as he
felt he was not well fitted for it. He pointed this out, he said.
It was put to him that pressure was applied to him to induce him to
undertake the mission, to which he replied: "There was no pressure, but
there is certainly an understanding. If they make a suggestion you feel
obliged to obey. I have never been a coward in my life, and I certainly
won't be a shirker."
Let us give credit where credit is due--even in espionage. I think
everyone will admit that, whatever view we may take of this spy's
offence--and views on the subject of espionage will always vary
widely--Lody behaved as a brave man. He was, in the first place,
absolutely loyal to his chiefs; there was about him nothing of the
craven wretch as willing to sacrifice his own country as any other if
he could hope by so doing to win any favour for himself. Nor would he
even speak in open Court of matters which, as he thought, might have
been prejudicial to us. One cannot but recognise his chivalry. It is
not often that the man in the dock deserves all his counsel says about
him, but Lody was an exception, and the eloquent plea on his behalf
made by Mr. George Elliott, K.C., who defended him, deserves to be
remembered, not only for its references to Lody, but as a tribute to
British justice, which placed at the service of a dangerous adversary
the skill of one of the most brilliant members of the English Bar.
Whatever his fate might be, said Mr. Elliott, he hoped the accused
would remember to the last hour of his existence that he had received
from the country whose interests he came to betray a trial which, for
fairness, was unrivalled in history. He said, quite frankly, that he
came to this country in the service of his own--as a German actuated by
patriotic German motives. He had told the Court all that he could tell,
refusing to speak only where it clashed with his word of honour as an
officer and a gentleman. He was not a man who had sold his country for
gold, and he had not attempted to corrupt a single British subject or
official.
"I plead for him," said Mr. Elliott, admitting that a conviction
was unavoidable, but asking the Court whether they could not find
some extenuating circumstances, "not as a miserable coward, or as a
fear-stricken wretch, but as a man born of a land to which he is true,
whose history and traditions he cherishes. His own grandfather was a
great soldier who held a fortress against Napoleon, and it is in that
spirit he wishes to stand before you here to-day. He was ready to offer
himself on the altar of his country. I am not here to cringe for mercy;
my client is not ashamed of anything he has done. Many a man would do
for England what he did for Germany--may, in fact, be now doing it.
Whatever his fate, he will meet it bravely like a man."
The verdict, as usual in the case of a court-martial, was not announced
until some days later, when an official statement told us that Lody had
been shot. He maintained his courage to the end, and died without a
tremor. Before he died he left a letter in which he admitted he had had
a fair trial, and expressed appreciation of the fact that he had been
treated, not as a spy, but as an officer.
Now we come to the ugliest and darkest side of the Lody case. It will
be remembered that Lody was able to get about by the aid of an American
passport issued in the name of Charles A. Inglis. It was thought, at
first, that this was merely a passport obtained either by forgery or
by false pretences; as a matter of fact it was a perfectly genuine
document, but Lody had no right to it. How it came into his possession
shows the depth of degradation to which the German General Staff are
prepared to descend.
Mr. Inglis, it was ascertained after the trial, was a _bona fide_
American traveller holding a genuine passport. He left his passport
with the American Embassy in Berlin for registration with the German
Foreign Office, or some other department. The Embassy sent it in for
registration _and it was never returned_. Nor was it ever heard of
again until it turned up in the possession of Carl Lody--a spy in Great
Britain!
The German explanation to the American Embassy was that the passport
had been mislaid. The same fate, it is said, has befallen no fewer than
_two hundred_ United States and British passports in Germany, and the
corollary of this astounding announcement is that at the present moment
there may be two hundred German agents wandering about equipped with
British and American passports which are perfectly genuine, and not in
the least likely to be suspected.
The stealing of these passports by the German authorities has been the
subject of an official British communication, so that there can be no
doubt about the fact, whether the exact number had been stated or not.
"It has come to the notice of the Foreign Secretary," says the British
statement, "that some passports belonging to British subjects leaving
Germany have been retained by the German authorities. Such cases should
be reported to the Foreign Office."
I say without hesitation that I do not believe any other country on
the face of the globe would descend to such methods as this. I say,
moreover, that no nation capable of such conduct can be regarded as
possessing a shred of public honour. It is comparable only to the
white flag treachery, or the mounting of machine guns in Red Cross
ambulances, which is a feature of German warfare, to the murder
by bombs of non-combatants in districts where there cannot be any
soldiers, to the sowing of mines on the high seas, to the making of
shields for soldiers out of the bodies of miserable civilians, to the
slaughter of women and children at Louvain and Aerschot. What will the
civilised communities of the world have to say in the future to Germans
convicted out of their own mouths of disregarding every law of God and
man that may operate to their disadvantage?
But even out of the theft of the passports--no doubt regarded by them
as an excellent stroke of "kultur"--the Germans are not unlikely to
reap trouble. The United States is not a country to be played with,
and in this passport trick there lie the elements of serious trouble.
Americans will not be likely to lie down quietly while their passports
are used for espionage, and it is more than likely that the Germans
have stirred up a hornets' nest about their ears. In the meantime, it
is reported from Washington that the Government has instructed the
Embassy in Berlin to sift the Lody-Inglis incident to the very bottom.
That incident, too, has brought about much more stringent rules with
regard to passports. Henceforth no American or British passport will
be recognised as valid which does not bear the certified photograph of
its rightful owner, and extra photographs for registration purposes
will have to be lodged with the Embassy or Consulate by which the
passport is issued. In the meantime we may be quite sure that American
passports in London will be the subject of very special attention.
What diplomatic action the United States may take in the matter it is
impossible to say, but we can be fairly sure that such a proceeding as
the stealing of neutral passports and using them for the purposes of
spying in Great Britain will hardly be allowed to pass without very
serious protest.
The Lody case has had one good effect in bringing home to a public,
which is, alas! too liable to be careless in such matters, the reality
of the German spy-peril in the country. The public had been so
consistently deluded in this matter by those who were perfectly aware
of the real facts of German espionage that it was far too much inclined
to look upon everyone who insisted that there was a very real and very
urgent spy danger as a mere alarmist. It knows better now! Anyone who
glances at the columns of the daily Press must be aware that public
opinion is slowly awakening to the real urgency of the question, and,
though I and others have been bitterly disappointed that our warnings
have, to a great extent, gone unheeded, I am even now not without hope
that we shall yet see the public insist that adequate steps shall be
taken for our national safety in this respect.
It is true we may offend Germany by the drastic action the position
demands. We may even, it is true, make the lot of Englishmen still,
unhappily, in Germany, harder and more disagreeable. We shall regret
either necessity. But the safety of the country has to come first.
Germany has never shown the slightest regard for our feelings, and I
am sure that those of our countrymen who are prisoners in Germany,
military or civil, would cheerfully suffer any conceivable hardship
rather than that the safety of our beloved Empire should be jeopardised
in the hope of making better terms for them.
To think otherwise would be to assume that patriotism had entirely
departed from us.