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.
Watch the account "Outwitted by the British Secret Service" 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:
- The War Clouds Break: July 29 - Aug 9 1914 Chapter/Playlist 1
- Mons: The Going Up to Battle: August 9 - August 23, 1914 Chapter/Playlist 2
- Mons: The Fighting Retreat: August 24 - September 6, 1914 Chapter/Playlist 3
- The Marne and the Aisne: September 5 - September 22, 1914 Chapter/Playlist 4
- The Antwerp Adventure: September 25 - October 13, 1914 Chapter/Playlist 5
- The First Battle of Ypres: October 14 - November 11, 1914 Chapter/Playlist 6
- Last Days of the Year: November - December 1914 Chapter/Playlist 7
- Winter and Neuve Chapelle: January 1 - March 13 1915 Chapter/Playlist 8
- Gallipoli: Bombardment and Landings: March 17 - April 27 1915 Chapter/Playlist 9
- Ypres: The Second Battle: April 22 - May 7, 1915 Chapter/Playlist 10
- Gallipoli: Summer Interlude: May - July, 1915 Chapter/Playlist 11
- The Western Front: Summer 1915 May 9 - August 13, 1915 Chapter/Playlist 12
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.
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