Impression sketch; recruitment of Swiss spy Felix Malherbe.
From neutral Switzerland
came source
Of subjects,
willing to sell services
For purposes of Germany's
war intent.
Exact numbers to
be then classified
By the French
army - for their missions
Such recruited
spies travelled miles.
A subject of Switzerland
Felix Malherbe,
An electrician,
later confessed how his
Involvement as a
spy began - six months
Of war had passed, when in February
1915, Felix
Malherbe was sat on a bench.
A man came to him
asking his situation.
Felix Malherbe had no work or money.
The stranger
talked to him asking about
His past, his knowledge
and his ability
To speak French -
studying his passport
Malherbe evidenced
he could freely travel
About France - did he want to earn money?
In agreeing to idea of taking work Malherbe
Was asked to
report to a brewery in Geneva.
On arrival there he met
a German man from
Loerrach - being a German
city close to the
Swiss border - Malherbe learned from him
About the German
Intelligence Service.
Given 100 francs Malherbe then agreed
To go on an
initial trip across France - war
Was still young
and battles over frontiers
Had happened - in
the proximity of Cernay
With the battle
of Mulhouse, Malherbe
Was issued with
specific orders to follow.
This was to be a trial to see how well he did
Various tasks - Malherbe
was requested
First to travel via Bellegarda to Lyon, Dijon
And Duchy of
Bar, to finally reach Troyes.
A return
journey to take in Belfort and Delle,
Having gained information
to make a report.
Specifically Felix Malherbe was ordered
To find out about
cost of raw materials,
Commodities and
resources - to observe
The French state
of mind at Villefranche;
Where the
engineering company Vermorel
Was engaged in manufacturing
of shells.
The Germans
wanted to know how many
Worked there - age groups and if men
Or women. At
Dijon Malherbe had to find
How well the army
shops were supplied -
Onwards to Neufchâteau, where he would
Discover that a
woman of the intelligence
Group had been
arrested, as suspected.
At Brienne-le-Château Malherbe
learnt
About artillery
ammunition of the French.
With the trip
going to plan, he returned to
Loerrach via Troyes
- here questioned
At length - Malherbe was given 800 francs.
Next he was asked
to travel to Cherbourg.
21 March 1915 Felix Malherbe set upon
A mission - meeting a woman of German
Secret Service
who had passed him
A newspaper - a
series of codes had been
Written In the
margin that he conveyed
To Basel. Next he
travelled to Cherbourg.
There he looked
into state of naval guns,
Then onto
Saint-Malo - Malherbe passed on
Information -
along to coast from Manche
Into Brittany to arrive
Brest; here to discover
About Bretagne Battleship progression and
Goods and coal
being shipped to England.
Other boats
Malherbe looked for information
On were
transatlantic SS Paris, along with
SS France; turned
into a merchant cruiser.
Also in Brittany
Malherbe arrived in Nantes,
To spy on imports
of British steel and state
Of plants; idle by lack of labor or materials?
After passing on
information to a German
Spy in Nantes,
Malherbe soon travelled
To Paris - to
meet four German officers
Disguised as
British Red Cross - at end
Of March Malherbe was back in Loerrach,
Providing the
secret service with a report.
Handed a total of 1,100 francs Malherbe
Was asked to
travel again - at Villefranche
His mission to
look into Vermorel plants.
There
discovering amounts of shells
Being made, also to find about industrial
Goods produced
and moved out by train.
Journeying to
Poitiers central France, the
Experienced spy
Malherbe looked into
French army
enrollment and movements
Across to Evereux
in Normandy - after
To Rouen, where
20,000 British 40,000
French troops were being moved to front.
Whilst in Normandy, Malherbe found out
About shipping
boats origins and cargos,
To observe unloading of army supplies
By the British -
then he looks into numbers
Of wounded or
sick troops, to consider
French women’s
morality for reference.
German
newspapers intentions to say
French
immorality was rife and debauchery
Existed in the country
- after trying to find
About barracks to
house recruits, Malherbe
Moved onto
Valbonne southeast France,
To spy on
colonial and Montluel troops.
Close to Rhone Alps city Lyon, he sought
Information of
troops stationed at Banne
Camp - in same
region Malherbe paused
At a station of
Saint-Germain-des-Fosses,
To watch troop
transports and presence
Of artillery - noting details of an airfield.
After Orleans he found where British were
Stationed - Malherbe back in Paris delved
Into the city’s
economy - from 29 March
Spy Malherbe had covered
many miles -
Throughout April
he had asked questions
To then look at
Paris' people and defences.
On 4 May Malherbe
journeyed to Troyes,
North central France
- his subject there
To look into how
factories operated again
And the moves of
transport - this talented
Electrician
started to falter, running out
Of luck; to be stopped at the train station.
With routine passport checks done more
Thoroughly, Felix
Malherbe was detained
And quizzed - due
to lack of a diplomatic
Signature - a further
search of the Swiss
Subject had found he possessed
details;
Regiment numbers
and other information.
Imprisoned at Troyes Malherbe underwent
A trial -
providing all details of his activities.
In his defence he
made an appeal to Troyes
Protestant Chaplin
- but charges were held;
Felix Malherbe
had conspired with enemy
In 12 months. 12 May 1916 came sentence.
Whilst no immediate execution was made,
He sought a
presidential pardon; time ran out.
Monday 9 October
1916 spy Felix Malherbe
Aged 41, finally
faced his firing squad 5 a.m.
At Hauts-Clos,
Troyes - to be given a small
Paragraph in the
English Daily Telegraph.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1916. Spy
Shot In France. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 10 October 1916. P.6. Col.6. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213413/Daily-Telegraph-October-10-1916.html>
[Accessed: 16 October 2016].
Source: File: Une affaire
d'espionnage à Troyes.
Available at: <http://www.jschweitzer.fr/notre-histoire/espionnage/m>
[Accessed 16 October 2016]
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 16 October 2016).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Spies
