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A very interesting story of a German spy who parachuted into England in 1941 only to be exposed by his own accident on landing!!
Not commonly known is that 3 out of the five members of the Scots Guards firing squad had their rifles pre loaded with blanks!
Josef Jakobs - 1898-1941: Story of Josef Jakobs
Very interesting story, albeit a bit strange. That guy was not fluent in English, as it appears. At least it does not seem that he could have been taken for an Englishman if he'd had to talk to someone.
I thought the Germans were using extremely well trained people for such missions, as shown during the Ardennes offensive.
In any case, I always get the shivers when I think about someone being executed. It really must be a horrible experience...
I spoke to the Police Sergeant who had retired by the time I joined after Army service, who actually took him into custody. He landed in a remote area outside the village of Ramsey in Cambridgeshire in the depths of winter, and as he had broken his ankle on landing, he knew his time was limited in bleak weather conditions, so he fired his pistol in the air to attract attention of some farmers, who then handed him over to the Home Guard.
Whilst waiting for transport to Huntingdon Police Station, he admitted that he had been tasked to look very closely at RAF Upwood which was then an RAF Pathfinder Squadron just freshly setup operating Stirling Bombers, and report back daily by radio. Sadly his short lived spy career ended abruptly, and he became famous, insofar, he was the last man to be executed in The Tower of London, which was sadly a great honour, when you consider its past in executing many Kings/Queens and noblemen in our illustrious past.
Might have to start that again if they don't get BREXIT right :lol::lol:
Well, get ready then, my friend.
The outlook on that doesn't seem to be that good at all.
I must say that, when I heard about the results of the vote, I was delighted, because Europe needed a slap in the face like that. But I hoped for a good management of the process.
I imagine that it must be a terribly difficult task, but the way it's been handled so far has caused many Europeans to revalue the "Soviet European Union".
This, without any real improvement on the EU side yet. So this is a really big damage to all remaining countries and to the UK as well.
The classic lose-lose situation.
What a pity.
Sounds like the worst possible candidate to conduct espionage. The Germans probably used him as a "dangle" to get MI5 do something they wanted.
I think it was more like he was released from Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp on a promise to perform certain duties for the Abwehr. A no lose opportunity for them...appears they didn't train him at all.
Jim,
Exactly to the point and what I thought at the time, a sacrificial lamb to the slaughter. ;)
Example, an hour in hand, you could instruct a man to do a simple static line jump and probably come out in decent shape.
Jim agreed. He was dropped literally at the end of the runway. How he expected to never be found...................only history could tell. Luckily for the newly formed RAF PATHFINDERS he was injured and couldn't continue. I know of other stories locally where, flashing torch lights were seen signalling German bombers from the top of church towers........beggers belief what they knew during the war and who was out there sending the intelligence on the ground doesn;t it. His sad occupation and task sadly was disclosed through a bad landing and the injuries he incurrred??.......................Thank God who knows what he could have passed on!!!
"...3 out of the five members..." Usually just one with blanks or just one with a live round. Not that it'd matter. Anybody would know they fired a live round or a blank by the recoil or lack thereof.
Interestingly enough, the use of some blanks was part of the procedure for "Execution by Musketry" in DA Pam 27-4Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunray
Exactly, that's common knowledge. I seriously doubt a man would be able to tell you after if he had recoil or not for sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by old tanker
Agreed.Quote:
Originally Posted by browningautorifle
Each of the firing party will have already fixed in his mind (emotionally and psychologically) that he either fired a blank, missed on purpose, or shot to kill. The mind is wonderous thing. It has in-built mechanisms to protect itself. One of those is the ability to lie to itself if it needs to. Another, is submitting to confusion (sensory overload and shutting down the thought processes) in high stress situations.
Old Tanker,
One has to assume the Musketry pages that came from #11 above, are dated, but nevertheless still relevant in 1941.
It was a strange decison one might think, after the trial of Herr Jakob, that hanging was not the favoured choice of the time. One has to assume therefore, because he was found guilty of being a Spy for a foreign power in War time, that he should be despatched by a bullet.......or two??
Interesting case in many ways, when one knows now that the Tower of London was expressly off the target list, made by Adolf Hitler himself, as he believed that all high ranking German captured officers were being held at the tower.
Thereafter, one bomb did land in the grounds of the Tower of London and knocked a Guards contingent off their feet with no injuries, whilst conducting the Ceremony of the Keys. The German pilot responsible history has it, was treated seriously by Hitler himself, and therafter, nomore bombs fell on the historic castle.
Quite interesting twists and turns this case had alround.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED WHEN BREAKER MORANT WAS SHOT BY FIRING-SQUAD
Still prefer the legend...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgnCiV31tYg
Nothing wrong with holding hands, great film :lol:
Interesting how history works. I wonder how procedures for executions were handled in that case? Was it a military exercise? Who issues the governing regulations?Quote:
Originally Posted by Gil Boyd
The particular reference I quoted (Department of the Army Pamphlet 27-4) is from 1947. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, until recently, hanging had been the 'official' method of execution. Whether, a matter of convenience or tradition, the method of execution chosen was sometimes based on the nature of the crime. Broadly, offenses that were generally criminal, such as rape and murder execution was by hanging, as befits a dishonorable miscreant.
Crimes that were somehow considered military in nature, desertion, espionage, compelling surrender, or mutiny a firing squad was often the chosen method.
The US Army has not hanged a prisoner since Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged in 1961 at Fort Leavenworth prison in Kansas, convicted of raping and attempting to kill an 11-year-old Austrian girl. The execution order was signed by President Eisenhower, as required by the UCMJ.
Attachment 97869Attachment 97870Attachment 97871
Yes appears to be nothing recorded as to who made the decision to execute by firing squad. Tough call, when the man hadn't even got on plot to spy and send anything back to Germany!!
This whole story has always fascinated me because he spilled the beans very quickly as to his mission in full detail, but as the war was only in its infancy, I suppose he thought, he would surrender and he would be repatriated or some other life saving method where he would live for years!!
Not so my Nazi friend.
I would imagine he was shot as the Brits probably believe he was a German soldier in civilian clothes.
The article explains why he was shot rather than hanged. Simply, the Treason Act stipulated mandatory trial and penalty requirements - civil court and hanging for non-military, and court-martial and firing squad for military.
Paul,
If you dwell deeper, the question of whether he was in fact a civilian or indeed a uniformed "spy" is what it hung on, sorry for the jibe!
Gil, No worries Mate.
I suspect that he 'assisted' MI-5 with their enquiries played a part in the decision making process that led to a court-martial and a more honourable (and somewhat more dignified) death by firing squad. I also suspect that the publicity of his capture played a role in his appeal being refused.
and...............................of course Rudolph Hess. Now there is another very interesting story.
To fly over 1000 miles from Bavaria to Scotland in a Messerschmitt Bf110 on his own, parachute out and get captured..............well here is the story.
Of course he never made it in front a firing squad at the Tower of London as he met his fate at Nurenburg, wondering why???. Sorry to start the conspiracy trail but here it is:
The History Press | The Rudolf Hess flight: 10 conspiracies
There is definitely a story there that we won't see until the official files are, IF every, released.
Hess was a political leader in Germany. If the Brits had executed him at the beginning of the war. The war would have turned into a war of no quarter being given by either side as the loser would have faced execution by the winner. Germany would have fought even harder than they did against the Western allies.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gil Boyd
He cost us a fortune in Spandau Prison, Berlin, for many years as its only prisoner, dying in 1987, looked after by 2 PARA at the time on a 2 year secondment.............boredom personified for an Infantry Battalion!!