Strange Intelligence: Memoirs of Naval Secret Service

by Hector C. Bywater

Overview

Hector C. Bywater was perhaps the British secret service's finest agent operating in Germany before the First World War, tasked with collecting intelligence on naval installations. Recruited by Mansfield Cumming, the first 'C' (or head of what would become MI6), Bywater was given the designation 'H2O' in what was a rather obvious play on his name - and the equivalent of James Bond's '007'. Indeed, the charming, courageous Bywater probably came as close to the popular image of Ian Fleming's most famous character as any British secret agent ever did. Originally written up in 1930 as a series of thrilling articles in the Daily Telegraph, his experiences were soon turned into a book, with the help of Daily Express journalist H. C. Ferraby, collating Bywater's espionage endeavours in one rollicking tale of secret service adventure. Although the identities of the British spies carrying out the missions in Strange Intelligence are disguised, we now know that most of them were in fact Bywater himself. Ahead of a war that was to put the British Navy to its sternest test since Trafalgar, Bywater reveals how he and his fellow agents deceived the enemy to gather vital intelligence on German naval capabilities. His account is a true classic of espionage and derring-do.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849549387
Publisher:	Biteback Publishing, Ltd.
Publication date:	06/09/2015
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Hector C. Bywater: A British journalist and military author, Hector Charles Bywater is best known for his 1925 book The Great Pacific War, a fictional naval conflict between the United States and Japan that anticipated many of the actions undertaken by the two sides during World War Two. He died in 1940.

H. C. Ferraby: H. C. Ferraby was a journalist with the Daily Express. He authored or co-authored a number of titles on espionage and intelligence including The Immortal Story of Zeebruge and Ostend.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Preface xv

Chapter 1 The Hidden Menace 1

Chapter 2 The Men Who Did The Work 19

Chapter 3 While Germany Prepared for War 31

Chapter 4 'selling The Dummy' 47

Chapter 5 'The Song of the Sword' - and Howitzers 59

Chapter 6 Hue and Cry! 75

Chapter 7 Why Jutland Was Indecisive 91

Chapter 8 Some Notable 'Scoops' 109

Chapter 9 Probing Dockyard Secrets 127

Chapter 10 Unriddling the Sands 143

Chapter 11 Famous 'Spy' Trials 161

Chapter 12 Watching the High Seas Fleet 179

Chapter 13 The Men Who Heard the U-Boats Talk 193

Chapter 14 Adventures in Counter-Espionage 209

Chapter 15 The Lighter Side of ID Work 227

Chapter 16 Fighting the Wreckers in America 243

Chapter 17 Gambling on 'the Day' 259

Chapter 18 False Dawn 275