Spotting spies

Sunday August 23rd., at Thorpe-le-Soken

A tale yesterday that eighty men had been engaged all day in searching for a spy who had not been found (in this neighbourhood that is)!

Spying in WW1 - Defence of the Realm German spies that were caught in the UK during World War One (1914-8) were dealt with under various sections of the Defence of the Realm  legislation. It was for acts committed under this law, that the leaders of the Irish Easter Uprising were courts-martialled. Roger Casement, who was tried and executed in 1916, was tried  under the High Treason Act. The condemned spies were shot by firing squad either in the  old miniature rifle range in The Tower of London or The Tower's ditch.  The rifle range was demolished for office space in 1969, and later  converted into car-parking space. All the executed spies were  buried in East London Cemetery, in Plaistow, London. The following table list the people executed by firing squad  at the Tower of London during World War One. Name Trial Type Executed Karl Lody Courts-Martial 6 November 1914 C.F. Muller Old Bailey 23 June 1915 W.J. Roos courts-martial 30 July 1915 H.P.M. Janseen courts-martial 30 July 1915 E.W. Melin courts-martial 10 September 1915 A.A. Roggin courts-martial 17 September 1915 F. Buschman courts-martial 19 September 1915 G.T. Breeckow Old Bailey 26 October 1915 I.G. Ries courts-martial 27 October 1915 A. Meyer courts-martial 2 December 1915 L.H. Zender courts-martial 11 April 1916

Sullivan said that he had an enormous belief in the British Expeditionary Force, and that he thought it would "cause consternation"!

The British Expeditionary Force or BEF was the force sent to the Western Front during World War I. Planning for a British Expeditionary Force began with the Haldane reforms of the British Army carried out by the Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane following the Second Boer War (1899–1902).^[1]

The term "British Expeditionary Force" is often used to refer only to the forces present in France prior to the end of the First Battle of Ypres on 22 November 1914. By the end of 1914—after the battles of Mons, the Le Cateau, the Aisne and Ypres—the old regular British army had been wiped out, although it managed to help stop the German advance.^[2] An alternative endpoint of the BEF was 26 December 1914, when it was divided into the First and Second Armies (a third, fourth and fifth being created later in the war). B.E.F. remained the official name of the British Army in France and Flanders throughout WW1.

German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm, who was famously dismissive of the BEF, reportedly issued an order on 19 August 1914 to "exterminate...the treacherous English and walk over General French's contemptible little army". Hence, in later years, the survivors of the regular army dubbed themselves "The Old Contemptibles". No evidence of any such order being issued by the Kaiser has ever been found. It was likely a British propaganda invention, albeit one often repeated as fact.

Nevertheless, Sullivan was sure that the Germans would get to Paris, and he bet me a present worth £5 that they would.

Herbert ('Bertie') Thomas Sullivan (13 May 1868 – 26 November 1928) was the nephew, heir and biographer of the British composer Arthur Sullivan. After his uncle's death, Sullivan became active in charitable work. He was co-author of a biography of Arthur Sullivan, well regarded in its day, but later discredited because of its glossing over of the composer's gambling and philandering.

Herbert Sullivan (on the right) with his uncle