Outwitted by the British Secret Service, by Captain von Rintelen

The 'I Was There!' episodes which are being narrated by WFA volunteers cover many aspects of the Great War. Although most of the episodes are personal reminiscences of British, Commonwealth or allied officers or men who were in the front line, some of the episodes are slightly unusual, which is the case with the latest video we have published.

In episode 82 we hear from (German) Captain von Rintelen who was on the Naval War Staff in Berlin when war broke out. In 1915 von Rintelen was sent on a secret mission to the United States to prevent "by any means in his power" the shipment of munitions to the Allies. He was recalled by telegram to Berlin, but the British Naval Intelligence tracked him down and took him off a Dutch liner in the English Channel.

The following is a potted history of von Rintelen: 

Fellow field agent Franz von Papen (the future Chancellor of the Weimar Republic) sent a telegram to Berlin complaining about Captain von Rintelen and in doing so may have blown his cover. The telegram was intercepted and read by the code breakers in ‘Room 40’. As a result Captain von Rintelen received a telegram summoning him to Berlin from the German Imperial Admiralty Staff and when he sailed back to Germany on 3 August, his liner was diverted to Southampton where he was arrested

Despite his eloquent denials, during interrogation with the head of Room 40, Admiral W. R. "Blinker" Hall, Captain von Rintelen cracked and confessed. As a result he was interned then extradited to the United States, tried and found guilty in a Federal court in New York, and imprisoned.

Captain von Rintelen returned to Germany in 1920, a forgotten man and moved to Britain 13 years later when Hitler came to power.

Captain von Rintelen died on 30 May 1949 in London.

To watch the account "Outwitted by the British Secret Service" click on the icon below.

The videos are being grouped (following the format in the original magazine) into 'Chapters' (on YouTube these are 'playlists') and can be seen here:

Searchable Magazine Archive

I Was There! magazine was originally published in 51 weekly issues between 1938 and 1939. The Western Front Association has undertaken a long-term project to digitize and narrate these historical accounts. The digital scans are available to members as PDF files in the Searchable Magazine Archive.

Not a member? Join us and get access to a wealth of digitised resources.

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