Book Review - Shot in the Tower by Leonard Sellers (1997)

By -
Shot in the Tower - book cover.
Shot in the Tower - cover.
The Book
Shot in the Tower: The Story of the Spies executed in the Tower of London during the First World War, Leonard Sellers. Leo Cooper, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, 1997.

Review
Eleven German spies were executed in the Tower of London during World War I. Their stories are ably recounted by Sellers in this book. Drawing on several books published in the 1920s and the declassified MI5 files, Sellers paints touching portraits of each of the erstwhile spies. Some were courageous, some were cowards. The espionage activities of some where comical while others were more accomplished.

Tucked at the end of the book is a brief appendix which mentions Josef Jakobs. While not executed during World War I, Jakobs was the last person executed in the Tower. While the MI5 files on Jakobs had not yet been declassified, the information provided by Sellers is accurate.

Josef Jakobs was the only spy to be executed in the Tower of London in the Second World War. At 8:20 am on Saturday, 1 February, 1941, two farm-workers were walking across Dovehouse Farm, Ramsey Hollow, Huntingdonshire, when they heard what appeared to be three pistol shots. They found a man, Jakobs, lying on his back, covered by a camouflaged parachute - he had broken his leg. The man threw the weapon into a steel helmet, saying that he came from Hamburg and was in no war. But he had torn up a code and had buried an attache case under his body. The case contained a wireless transmitter that could work both short and long waves. Jakobs also had in his possession a small torch with a flashing device, and a map that was marked in positions corresponding to the RAF aerodrome of Upwood and the satellite airfield of Warboys.

Jakobs went before a court martial on 4-5 August, 1941, at the Duke of York Headquarters, Chelsea. He was found guilty and sentenced to death by shooting. He was executed in the Tower of London on 15 August, 1941.
Summary
A sobering read, Seller's book gets high marks for historical accuracy, particularly as regards Jakobs.

Review Score
4 out of 5 - The piece on Josef, while short, is accurate.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Clara Bauerle is Finally Laid to Rest

By -
Image
It has taken me a few years, pursuing many leads, but I can finally say that Clara Bauerle has been laid to rest.

Clara did not die stuffed into a Wych Elm in England. She was not Bella in the Wych Elm. She was a German actress and singer who passed away in a Berlin hospital on December 16, 1942.

A while ago, I ordered the birth registration for Clara, from the Standesamt in Ulm. That record gave her death registration number in Berlin.

With that in hand, I wrote to the relevant Standesamt in Berlin and, after a lengthy wait, received her death registration in the mail last week. Translation follows below...


The actress Hedwig Klara Bauerle, Protestant, living in Berlin, Bleibtreustrasse 32, did, on 16 December 1942 at 12:15 in Berlin-Oberschoneweide, Konigin-Elisabeth-Hospital, die.
The deceased was born on 27 August 1905 in Ulm (Standesamt Ulm/Donau Nr.../...).
Father - Fruitseller Adolf Bauerle, deceased, last living in Ulm.
Mother - Dorothea Barbara Bauerle, born Schaufele,…
Read more

Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

By -
Image
Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

On 18 April 1943, near the town of Stourbridge, four young boys in search of bird nests in Hagley Wood found a hollow elm tree (a Wych Elm or Scots Elm). One boy climbed up and peered into the hollow trunk and found a human skull staring back at him. Despite a pact of silence, one boy, Tommy Willetts, told his father about their grisly discovery and the police were quickly called.
The Worcestershire County Police recovered a skeleton from the trunk, along with some fragments of clothing and finger bones scattered around the trunk. A pathologist concluded that the remains belonged to a woman  who had been placed in the tree about 18 months previously (October 1941) while still warm. She had likely been asphyxiated due to the taffeta stuffed inside her mouth.


The woman was thought to be 35-40 years old. She was five feet tall with mousy brown hair and a deformed lower jaw. She wore a cheap gold wedding ring, no more than four years old, and had …
Read more

Bella in the Wych Elm - The Story of Jack Mossop

By -
Image
Who was Jack Mossop? Did he and an accomplice murder a woman after a night of drinking at the Lyttleton Arms near Hagley? Did they stuff her still warm body into a wych elm in Hagley Wood? Did the memory of this traumatic event drive Jack mad? Did he die of an overdose in a mental hospital in 1942?

So many questions. So many suppositions and rumours. It's hard to tease apart fact and fiction. But let's give it a try. Before we get started, I am deeply indebted to Duncan Honeybourne. for sharing his information on the Mossop clan. Duncan's grandmother was a first cousin of Jack Mossop and he has conducted extensive interviews with the elders in the Mossop-Crump family.

Family
It all begins in Ireland, as most great stories do. Maurice Mossop and his wife Mary, both born in County Mayo, emigrated to England with their three young sons, sometime between 1847 and 1851. The family settled in Eccleshall, Staffordshire and Maurice worked at various jobs including agricultural labo…
Read more