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—[Pg 139]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-[Pg 140]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[Pg 141] 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 genera[Pg 142]tion, 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[Pg 143] 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.
[Pg 144]
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.[Pg 145] "And I am willing not to conceal ............