German spies parachuted into Britain

[Brian]

Hi guys

Do we know the names of German spies parachuted into Britain (and Ireland) during WWII; also the dates they arrived and captured?

Importantly, do we know the unit/units responsible for dropping them? Was there just one unit involved, or many?

Any help obviously appreciated.

Cheers
Brian

[Clint Mitchell]

Josef Jakobs the last person to be executed at the Tower of London on 15 August 1941.

Link to Story

I presume the unit responsible for the drop would have been KG200.

I hope others will comment due to my limited knowledge of the subject.

Regards

Clint Mitchell

[Brian]

Thanks for that, Clint

Most interesting. Let's hope other reports will be as enlightening.

Cheers
Brian

[Brian Bines]

Double agent Eddie Chapman parachuted in June/July 1944 to report on if V1's were hitting their target, MI5 codename ZIGZAG. I think After The Battle magazine has some artcles on German spies their website lists all editions and the contents of each magazine.

[Brian]

Hi guys

I've been Googling and have found two interesting early spies:

Willem ter Braak (Dutch) parachuted into England on night of 2/3 November 1940; eventually committed suicide 29 March 1941.

Leniham (Irish) parachuted in to Ireland, near Dublin, in July 1941, but handed himself in to Northern Ireland authorities.

Clint, KG200 not formed until later in the war, so not responsible for early incidents.

PS: Were there any recorded flights by, say, He115s or other seaplanes to land spies in UK?

Cheers
Brian

[Brian Bines]

Brian,

After The battle issue 011 German spies in Britain lists what they call The Unlucky Sixteen,

Regards

Brian Bines

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Clinton78

Josef Jakobs the last person to be executed at the Tower of London on 15 August 1941.

I presume the unit responsible for the drop would have been KG200.

Regards

Clint Mitchell

Not in 1941, KG 200 didn't form until a lot later so this drop was probably made by one of the various elements that were later reorganised into KG 200.

BTW, there's a display case in the Imperial War Museum with items associated with the spies infiltrated into Britain in both World Wars.

[Brian]

Thanks guys

I have amassed a wealth of information thanks to your assistance, which I am now sorting through.

Cheers
Brian

[Martin Gleeson]

Hallo Brian,
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German agents parachuted into neutral Ireland during WW2.
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This is not an area I have carried out any research into. However I have compiled the following from a number of books and some notes I made while checking files not directly related to the subject in question. The books of particular value here are;
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1/ Defending Ireland; The Irish State and its enemies since 1922 by Eunan O'Halpin. Oxford University Press, 1999.
2/ MI5 and Ireland, 1939-1945; The Official Report edited by Eunan O'Halpin. Irish Academic Press, 2003.
3/ Ireland in World War Two edited by Dermot Keogh and Mervyn O'Driscoll. Mercier Press, 2004.
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The first publication listed is the most useful and provides a list of the 12 German agents who arrived in neutral Ireland from August 1939 to December 1943.
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Five of the twelve were parachuted into Ireland.
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1/ Hermann Goertz. Landed in County Meath on 12 May 1940 ( according to this list but most sources agree it was 5/6 May 1940 ). Arrested 12 November 1941.
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2/ Guenther Schutz (alias Hans Marschner). Landed in Co. Wexford on 12 March 1941, but the intended drop zone was near Naas, Co. Kildare some 60 miles away. Arrested 13 March 1941.
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3/ Joseph Lenihan. Landed in Co. Meath on 18 July 1941. Surrendered himself to the British Authorities in Northern Ireland 23 July 1941.
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4/ John Francis O'Reilly. Landed near Kilkee, Co. Clare on 16 December 1943. Arrested 16 December 1943.
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5/ John Kenny. Landed near Kilkee, Co. Clare at approximately 3.00 am on 19 December 1943. Arrested 19 December 1943.
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It is possible there was another arrival in 1942, one James Cromwell O'Neill, but he is not on the list of 12 mentioned above. Nor can I find any confirmation that he actually landed in neutral Ireland or by what means if he did. It seems he surrendered himself to the British Authorities; but when, where and how I do not know.
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I hope the above is useful and perhaps my colleagues Tony Kearns and Dennis Burke can add more to what I have written. Any details on the Luftwaffe flights would be of great interest to us.
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Regards,
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Martin Gleeson.

[Brian]

Many thanks Martin

There certainly seems to be a lack of in depth information regarding these flights - hopefully more will come to light.

Cheers
Brian