The Spy Net by Henry Landau Read Free Book Online Page A

France. The time and composition of each troop train was noted; at each junction we followed the movement, and so were able to trace each division from its point of entrainment to its place of detrainment. Troops coming from the Russian Front on their way to the Western Front were reported as they passed Herbesthal; from our Liège posts we knew whether the fifty-two trains which composed the division had branched off to Namur or to Brussels; at Namur or Brussels we caught them again and followed them through the various junctions until they detrained. By a system of duplicate train-watching posts we were able to check any errors, and special agents definitely settled in the detraining centres and rest areas identified the troops as they arrived. Divisions coming from a distance invariably went into a rest area before being put into the front line; or, in the case of an offensive involving several divisions, they were first concentrated in the back areas. Movements in the front line could be checked by taking prisoners, or by seizing letters and documents, but back of the Front it was chiefly on careful watchers that the High Command depended for its information.
    It will be shown later how our train-watching posts caught all the east to west, and west to east movements. Even though there was often a delay of three to four days before we got the reports, this was of no importance, as it took weeks for the Germans to concentrate for an offensive. The transfer of a division through a given junction required at least two days, and as a rule four or five days, since, in addition to the fifty-two troop trains comprising the division, there were the trains carrying food and war material which had to be run through as well. Many divisions were required for an offensive; so it can readily be seen that we could get our reports out in ample time for GHQ to be warned about the various movements.
    As I shall indicate later, we also obtained a variety of other information, such as enemy plans for the launching of offensives, the formation of new divisions and regiments, change in equipment, new inventions and new types of guns, new methods of attack, the arrival of drafts to replace losses, and targets for aerial bombardment; but by far our most important achievement was the continual check on the movements of the enemy, and the identification of the units involved. The interest and excitement of this service developed into a terrific tension toward the end of the war, for it became common knowledge that the German Command was working toward a climactic movement, the big offensive, designed to bring the war to a crashing and decisive end. It was a matter of chief importance to detect any traces of plans or first movements toward the big offensive, and we were on the alert constantly to note any massing of troops which might indicate the location chosen for it and the types of service troops destined to serve in it.
    This, then, is a résumé of our objective, the difficulties we had to contend with, and a few of the technical details which I have had to explain in order to enable a better understanding of the tales of secret service which I am able to narrate. In order to avoid repetition, I intend mentioning only a few typical organisations. During the last two years of the war we had over 2,000 agents in our employ at different times; it would be impossible for me to relate the individual exploits of each one of them, or even to tell about all the organisations which we mounted.

CHAPTER 4
VAN BERGEN STARTS MY FIRST ORGANISATION
    O N MY ARRIVAL in Holland in May 1916, in view of the total lack of information coming through from occupied territories, I decided to begin by interrogating all refugees crossing the frontier. There were a few of them braving the electric wire from time to time on dark nights under the guidance of passeurs , who, knowing the frontier well, and having a supply of rubber gloves, got from 500 to 1000 francs from