Source: File:Lody in court.jpg, 2014. From Wikimedia Commons, the free
media repository. [online] (updated 1 October 2014) Available at: <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lody_in_court.jpg>
[Accessed: 11th November 2014].
Yet another spy trial occurred
During days of 30 October and 31,
To include 2 November -
The trial of Karl Hans Lody.
Seen as the first of it’s kind,
As a public trial -
Held at the Middlesex Guildhall,
Parliament Square, Westminster.
Karl Lody did not deny
Any of the allegations -
Leaving the prosecution
To state that this was a trial
Of ‘one prolonged plea of guilty.’
In the prisoners defence,
Was Mr George Elliott, KC,
Who made an appeal,
To the spirit of Military duty.
The two charges against Lody
Were declared as ‘war treason,’
Due to his attempts,
To provide Germany
With references of Great Britain’s
Preparation and defences for war.
Lody had posed as an American tourist,
Under the name
Of Charles A. Inglis
From New
York –
Lody visited Dublin,
Edinburgh,
Liverpool and London upon a mission -
Within 48 hours of being in Scotland
Lody sent a telegram to a Stockholm
Conspirator – then hiring a bicycle,
He visited Queensferry and Rosyth.
On arrival back in London, Lody
Made a report to Berlin,
Regarding plans
To protect the capital.
Travelling to Liverpool Lody's plan
Was ‘To have a look around.’
He sent another letter,
Of communications,
From Dublin to
Berlin.
Post Office officials –
Had intercepted all such letters.
These along with documentation
Found in his possession,
Formed the evidence against him.
The contents of the letters,
Being sensitive,
On their reading
Both press and public,
Had to leave the court.
This was also the case
When certain witnesses
Were called to stand.
With day 2 of the trial
Lody provided his evidence.
Informing the court
That he had been a Lieutenant
In the German navy.
Becoming ill,
His sea life was over.
Then in the United States
He married a woman,
Louise Storz, of German descent.
He cut all ties with Germany,
But found himself tied,
Into an unhappy marriage,
Which was finally dissolved.
Lody spoke of his work.
He went onto say a proposition
Had been made to him -
When asked by whom,
Lody replied he would not say,
To shed tears and could not
Give the name,
Having given his word.
Yet admittance came,
That it was a Superior
officer
Of the navy, who gave
Instructions to him,
To travel to England.
At first, a peace time spy,
Lody was to stay until first
Engagements took place,
Between Britain
and Germany.
Then he was to provide information
To losses of British Cruisers.
Further to report
Everything he could see,
In English movements.
Asked if he acted in compulsion -
Lody replied there was no pressure,
Just an understanding,
Of feeling obliged,
To obey - adding he had never
Been a coward or shirker.
The open nature
Of his defence, characterised
His counsel’s closing speech.
Mr Elliott spoke on behalf
Of Karl Hans Lody -
Who came to Britain,
In service of Germany -
Prompted by patriotic motives;
Also obedient to his superior
Commanding officer.
And lastly, voluntarily
And at his own expense -
Lody was here to fulfil
A mandate - made by
Vow from his service days,
When he had been an officer.
Still, his wish was to go
To his fate, as a honest man,
An open-hearted man
And a brave man.
No attempt was made,
For a plea of mercy,
Or favourable treatment.
Lody was a soldier -
Like his father,
Who had held a fortress,
Against Napoleon -
Knowing full well
He carried his own life,
In his own hands,
Lody would not be denied
By any Englishmen,
The respect for courage
He had shown.
In this sprit, he stood
Before the gathered court,
Which he faced as a man.
The court retired,
To consider the statement.
A court-martial sentence
Was carried out.
On 6 November -
Karl Hans Lody, proclaimed
A German spy.
Lody approached his fate,
To those observers,
In manner he had shown,
During his trial -
Calmness and courage.
Refusing a blindfold,
He faced the firing squad,
In the Tower of London's shadow.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1914. The Spy Lody – Shot at the Tower
on Friday Morning. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 11 Nov. p.9. Col.6. Available
at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11214348/Daily-Telegraph-November-11-1914.html
[Accessed: 11 November 2014].
Anon.,1914. Story of the Trial – ‘Prolonged
Plea of Gulity’. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 11 Nov. p.9. Col.6. Available
at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11214348/Daily-Telegraph-November-11-1914.html
[Accessed: 11 November 2014].
Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by
Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 11 November 2014).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem
#GreatWar #ww1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1London
