Britain's Spy-Catcher - Lt. Col. William Edward Hinchley Cooke

One of the last people to see Josef Jakobs alive on the fateful morning of his execution was Lt. Col. William Edward Hinchley-Cooke. Cookie, as he was affectionately known by his MI5 colleagues, later noted that he was impressed by Josef's calm pluck on the morning of August 15. In fact, Cookie was fluent in German and was one of the few people with whom Josef could speak his native tongue. How Cookie, himself half-German, came to be Britain's master spy-catcher is an intriguing story. Early Life Sir Arthur Grant Duff Minister Resident, British Legation (From National Portrait Gallery ) William Edward Hinchley Cooke was born to a British father and a German mother around 1894. The exact circumstances of his parentage and birth are shrouded in mystery, hidden under a veil of secrecy in the MI5 personnel files. Cookie was either born in Germany or went to Germany as a young boy, for in later years he could speak German fluently and his English was tinged with a German