The Spy Net by Henry Landau

Author:Henry Landau [Henry Landau]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781849549585
Publisher: Biteback Publishing
Published: 2015-12-02T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

SURPRISES OF THE COAST PATROL — THE WIRELESS TORPEDO BOAT

TO THE GERMANS the coast of Belgium was of enormous importance, for it supplied them with bases from which their submarines and torpedo boats could sally forth to prey on Allied shipping. These bases were located at the harbours of Ostend, Zeebrugge, and Blankenberghe, and of these the first two were by far the most important, since they were connected by canals to Bruges, where the lighter craft could retire in case of Allied attack, or where submarines could be assembled from parts sent from Germany. Realising the value of the Flanders Coast to her, Germany did everything within her power to make it impregnable by studding it with heavy gun batteries, and by supplementing them with a vast number of aircraft which were also used for raids on England.

It was our duty in Holland to complete the work of aeroplane reconnaissance by supplying the admiralty with all possible information about the location of the various coastal batteries and aerodromes. We had four sources of information: spies, German deserters, Belgian refugees, and our own direct observation. The Dutch frontier was only 7 miles distant from Zeebrugge, and so with a good telescope, even on a fairly misty day, it was possible to watch the German activities at this small artificial port.

For the duration of the war one of our experts kept daily watch with a powerful telescope from Kadzand in Holland, the nearest point of approach, on all points between Zeebrugge and the frontier. He reported the coming and going of the twenty-odd submarines and torpedo boats stationed at Zeebrugge, and activities of the mine layers and dredgers operating there. This was of great value to the admiralty, which thus came to know the exact strength of the enemy, in small craft, at this base; and by knowing the direction of departure and return of the submarines and torpedo boats, the British patrol boats were able to be in wait successfully for them.

The position of the batteries could only be approximately located by our frontier agent, and then only when they went through target practice, as they were all carefully camouflaged. Their rough locations were valuable, however, as they helped us to check up on the reports from refugees and deserters, especially the latter, and also supplied GHQ and the admiralty with objectives for aeroplane reconnaissance and subsequent bombardment.

By far the most valuable information we obtained about the coastal batteries came from two deserters from the German Marine Corps, which for the duration of the war permanently occupied the Flanders Coast. One morning to my delight, I found them waiting for me in one of our office cubicles. Our frontier agent, near Kadzand, had seen them crossing the frontier, and contrary to instructions had himself conducted them to me in Rotterdam. Interviewing them in separate cubicles, I was able to check the story of the one against that of the other, and then compare their joint information with what we already knew.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.