by Nigel West
As Rimann was trying to get in touch with his wife, Mrs Rimann’s name was put on check. Some correspondence between herself and Mr J. Enerson of Twyer’s Wood, Hedon, Hull, allowed that the latter was taking care of her interests. The two families were evidently very intimate.
The Chief Constable of Hull knew that Mrs Rimann was trying to get back to Germany and suggested that she should be subjected to special search, but she managed to get away while MO5 were concluding arrangements for the same.
Enquiry about Rimann was renewed in November 1914, when Sepp Hoftbauer of Messrs. Riccardo Hirschfeld & Co. of Milan, wrote asking him to have his baggage forwarded abroad through the American consulate. Sepp Hoftbauer had been staying at Hull with Rimann, and had left hurriedly on the outbreak of war. His baggage had been examined carefully and nothing suspicious found in it. He was said to have been a student and this seemed likely as he had a quantity of books such as a student would possess.
More interesting was a report which came to hand in August 1918, that Captain Strasser, the commander of a Zeppelin which was destroyed off the north-east coast, had been seen at Walter Rimann’s house in Hull before the war. His portrait was identified by a resident of Hull, whose statement received support from a local policeman. The policeman did not remember the face, but he had been told that Strasser either lived in Spring Street or ‘had a pal in Spring Street’.
Three questions referring to information imparted by him at a meeting with Steinhauer in Germany. The verbal explanations had not been understood. The answer to this letter shows that the subjects of these questions were mines, minelayers and sweepers.
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Charles Frederick Wagener stated that he was born in Germany on 8 May 1879. He came to this country from Antwerp, and from 1899 followed the calling of ship’s steward. Existing official papers, however, bear varying statements as to the city of his birth and his identification papers are said to confirm his claim to German nationality, and also to prove that he was employed for some years as interpreter to Messrs. Thomas Cook & Son.
He was at Plymouth in 1909. In 1910 he occupied a room at 9 Shirley Road, Southampton and occasionally made a trip on an American boat. During that year Wagener was receiving letters and money in £10 and £5 cheques (? notes) from Germany; he himself despatched a good many registered packets and corresponded with a man in Berlin named Tobler, who had precise and correct information of his journey from New York on board the SS Philadelphia in April 1911 and hoped to meet him in Brussels in May 1911. Wagener had then left Southampton saying he was returning to Germany but instead he had opened a shop in Portsmouth.
MO5’s attention was called to Wagener at the end of January 1912 when letters were intercepted that Wagener was trying to renew intercourse with Tobler. Several of his letters seem to have slipped through the post unnoticed, but the replies of ‘T’, which came via Karl Ernst, showed that the employers did not trust the man and insisted upon obtaining the exact titles of confidential books about wireless, torpedoes and submarines before making further arrangements. A meeting at Ostend was proposed for 16 March; it fell through owing to Wagener’s dilatoriness in posting. A ticket and journey money were then sent for a meeting on the 31st, but Wagener did not go. In reply to an indignant letter from ‘T’, Wagener wrote to Mr Henri Adam, Petit rue des Longs Chariots 10, Brussels, a lying excuse that his home and all his papers had been burned and he himself injured in a disastrous fire and this he supported with a newspaper cutting. He gave a new address: c/o Mr Rosenthal, 71 Queen Street, Portsea, Portsmouth. A third meeting was proposed for May and Wagener hoped to bring confidential books as well as the list but by May he had not even obtained the list.
In July ‘T’ wrote again to ask Wagener what ‘his friend’ had provided. The reply came that nothing could be done for the moment as ‘the friend’ was away but he would return the following week; Wagener also acknowledged receipt of £5. There the correspondence seems to have ended. Other letters now in the Reimer file of Wagener’s correspondence should be ascribed to Heinrich Schutte and, possibly, to Carl Ernst.
The address Henri Adam, 10 Petite rue des Longs Chariots, Brussels, had been used by Patricia Hentschel in her correspondence with ‘T’ in March 1912. Enquiry was instituted at Portsmouth on naval lines. As the first two letters came in, Mr Ohlson called at the dockyard police station and showed the police copies of them. In return, very excellent and full reports were received from Inspector Savage. Wagener it appeared had come to Portsmouth in 1911 and had opened a business as a silhouette cutter in Queen Street, Portsea.
This was not a success so he took to canvassing for and executing orders in public houses. His customers were chiefly lower-deck naval men. At night he would call on a stationer named Abraham Eisner whom the police viewed with suspicion. He would stay talking with this man till 11.55 p.m. On one occasion Eisner noticed observation was being kept and tried to find out the reason.
Having seen the letters from Germany, the police knew exactly what was aimed at and accordingly supplied MO5 with a list of the titles of confidential naval books on the required subjects, including the Manual of Wireless Telegraphy and a document entitled ‘Instructions for Fitting W/T in Destroyers. M.I.C. 2. W/T’.
As no evidence against Wagener was obtained, and as these titles could easily be sent by post, Inspector Savage thought Wagener would be trying to obtain the books themselves. He therefore suggested stopping the man and searching his effects if he were seen about to leave Portsmouth for Ostend on the day proposed. But Captain Kell advised taking no action. Wagener was to be discreetly and quietly watched, to he followed to town, and pointed out to Melville.
The police reported also that on 28 March Wagener had proclaimed that he had received a ticket and journey money from his mother, who wished him to go to Germany and from that date till 4 April he had spent money lavishly on drink and entertaining his friends. He had also stated that instead of going to Germany he would sell his ticket in London.
Meanwhile, on 29 March, he had visited the shop of Levi Rosenthal, a barber of 71 Queen Street, in Portsea. A month later Wagener gave this to ‘T’ as his postal address and he was still using it in July when the correspondence closed. Now Levi Rosenthal was the informer and chief witness in the William Klare case. To anticipate events, in May 1913, MO5 made enquiry about Wagener’s correct address stating that the police had given two addresses, 8 Bishop Street and 13 North Street, Portsea, and that a third address: 35 Paradise Street, Landport, had been received from a source not stated. It will be noticed that no mention of Levi Rosenthal’s address was made.
The police kept observation for about a month without obtaining any direct evidence of espionage; Wagener frequented low haunts and conversed much with naval men but it was not possible for the police to overhear the gist of these conversations. Therefore they suggested discontinuing the risky business of continuous observation and employing a naval man as a kind of agent. MO5 would not allow this; they required only occasional reports as to Wagener’s whereabouts and observation was discontinued.
When MO5 enquired about Wagener’s address in 1913, the police stated he was living in Southampton in a common lodging house and was said to be employed on a mail boat. Mrs Wright, his fanner landlady, was referred to; she supplied the information given above, allowed copies to be made of Tobler’s letters to herself enquiring about Wagener’s movements, and gave the police a photograph of Wagener.
Renewed enquiry in September 1913 elicited the fact that he had left Southampton and, on 17 July, had applied at the General Register and Record Office of Shipping and Seamen for information about his discharge book which had been stolen the week before. In his application he stated that he was born at Magdeburg and had last served as saloon steward on board the Oceanic. The Agreement Paper of the Oceanic showed that he claimed to be a native of Hamburg, that he had served as carver steward on the Oceanic from 16 April to 3 May 1913, and that he had served previously on the Philadelphia
. On leaving Southampton he expressed the intention of obtaining a post as interpreter with the Orient Steamship Company and returning to Southampton in December.
Since 1911 Charles Wagener had been an object of suspicion to MO5 who had in that year placed him on the SWL under the heading ‘Arrest’ but after July 1913 he never returned to Southampton and no action could be taken under the general preventive order of 4 August 1914. It was afterwards found that he had transferred his operations to the north-east coast.
In March and April 1914 he had been in trouble for various offences committed at South Shields. In July he went to North Shields and the Tyneside police placed his name on their register on 23 August 1914. On 3 September he was charged under the third schedule of the ARO and was sentenced at Newcastle to two months’ hard labour. When released he was taken to the infirmary and the Board of Guardians then tried to recover his identification papers which had been deposited some years before as security for a loan with Alfred George Mills, a stationer in Portsmouth. There is no record of whether the papers were recovered but Mills made a signed statement as to their contents. After leaving the infirmary Wagener was taken to the internment camp at Lancaster in April 1915 and in 1917 he was at Alexandra Palace.
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The nationality of William Klare, of 33 Osborne Street, Southsea, was not identified. He was in London working as a kitchen porter in 1902. He married in June 1905, at a registry office in Camberwell and made no declaration of German nationality. Even before marriage he had lived on his companion’s earnings as a prostitute. The pair went to Portsmouth in September 1905, and in October 1907 took a house in the name of May, the name used by Ellen Klare. About August 1910, Klare took a separate lodging at 33 Osborne Road, a house rented by W. E. Roast, Stoker Petty Officer, of HM Yacht Victoria and Albert. He stayed with the Roast’s more than two years and moved with them to 44 Oliver Road, Eastney, in April 1912. It was his habit to visit his wife daily and to have meals at her house. In 1911 he served on the Olympic as steward or cook’s mate. He also worked during eighteen months for a German dentist in Victoria Road. When this man left, Klare set up some apparatus at his own lodgings and put a dentist’s plate on the gate. He did very little work however and went out at irregular hours. In 1910-11 he received only about one postcard, but in 1911-12 he had more letters and he frequently received letters from Southampton.
In April 1912 Klare took a house for his wife at Southampton. She was there three months, he spending the weekends with her. In July she went to 17 Sydney Street, Plymouth for a month. Klare spent the last fortnight of the month, with her, and wrote to the Roasts giving them that address for forwarding letters. After leaving the Roasts on 19 July he called there five or six times for letters and in September 1912, two letters did come and were given to him.
In September the Klares had returned to Portsmouth and were together in 7 St Paul’s Road until mid-November, when Klare moved to 57 Hudson Road, and Mrs Klare to 1, Unity Place. While at Hudson Road he received a few letters. One was from Germany.
In November 1911 a letter from Portsmouth signed ‘W. H.’ was intercepted on its way to Herr. G. F. Steinhauer, Potsdam. ‘W. H.’ offered the services of a dentist, who had been ‘here’ ten years, knew many naval officers and artificers, had opportunities and leisure for obtaining useful information, and was a trustworthy man. A good deal of correspondence passed before the name and address of the dentist was discovered. Then a letter from ‘Richard’, posted in the Hanover train from Berlin, was stopped, presumably owing to the handwriting having been identified as that of Mrs Seymour’s, Parrott’s correspondent. It was addressed to William Klare, Dentist, 33 Osborne Street, Southsea, and it gave directions for the ‘transport of a patient to Ostend’ and for a meeting, day and hour to be previously wired by addressee, at the Hotel d’Allemagne. The patient would need a rest of twelve to eighteen hours after the journey. For seven months nothing more was intercepted.
In July 1913 ‘C’ wrote to Richard Hugo Dinge Esq., Furbringerstrasse 21, Berlin, that he had not yet attained his object but the doctor’s expenses had continued up to the 25th and a promise had been given to carry out the poor chap at the first opportunity. Everything else was ‘good’. In December a substantial Christmas present was promised to Klare if the operation was carried out by then. A new address, J. Sturtz, Bornemann’s Hotel, Hanover, was to be used for letters, the telegraphic address remained as before.
Six weeks after, ‘Allen’ replied that the operation could be carried out, but only between Wednesday and Saturday, and £20 must be sent to arrive on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning. But if addressee had lost confidence, which would not be surprising, he was to send one of his friends to look into things. The right doctor had now been found.
As there was no reply, ‘Willi’ wrote again suggesting that a friend should be sent to investigate; all was prepared but the doctor would not operate without sanction from the principal. Willi’s assertion was supported by a postscript in another handwriting and by a letter from W. H. certifying that the business was genuine this time.
Willi wrote again on the 5th to suggest carrying out the operation on his own initiative, and on the 12th he wrote his address at the head of the letter and begged for an answer: ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
Then he wired – but the message passed unperceived by the authorities. In reply there came a wire accepting this proposal and this was followed by a letter which explained the delay. Owing to an accident to the intermediary, Klare’s letters had never been forwarded until enquiry had been instituted on receipt of his telegram. A new address for letters was given: H. Peters, Potsdam, Brauerstraase 1/2. If Klare agreed to a meeting at the Hotel Cosmopolitan, Bristol, he was to wire merely the date; if he was also bringing the patient he was to add ‘Yes’ after the date.
In the correspondence itself there is no evidence that Klare received money from abroad, but, as a fact, he did receive money at Christmas 1911, in February and March 1912 – in all £55 according to his own statement. Little of his correspondence was intercepted; it may have been directed to his wife, a name and address or to some agent.
In reading the correspondence two slight errors of interpretation were made. W. H.’s statement that the dentist had been ‘here’ ten years was taken to refer to Portsmouth whereas it probably referred to England. Secondly, the ‘patient’ was taken to mean a naval man who would be going abroad with Klare; in fact a confidential book was meant.
On receipt of W. H.’s letter MO5 begged the dockyard police to identify the dentist recommended as suitable for employment by the German Secret Service. This they could not do and, when his name and address became known from the intercepted letter, they were puzzled because the facts they could glean about him did not quite tally with W. H.’s recommendation. Moreover, observation was extremely difficult owing to the position of the house where Klare was lodging. Besides, it seemed an unlikely place for a dentist to live in. A supplementary report, which is not to hand, seems to have been made on 8 January. Then Captain Kell stimulated the zeal of the police by showing them copies of the intercepted letters and asking them to obtain evidence on which to base a prosecution. The police kept such observation on Klare as they were able – they supplied details of his appearance and of his life at Portsmouth, and a tracing of his handwriting which showed that he spelt his name ‘Willy Klare’. (In his correspondence the name was written in English form with a ‘C’.)
He was undoubtedly an undesirable alien but there was no evidence of his being a spy and he had not left Portsmouth by the train which would connect with the afternoon boat to Ostend. Altogether the police thought that W. H. might have been referring to another man. Further reports were sent in on 20 February and 8 March but these are not in the file. In March, it will be recollected, the case of Wagener was taken in hand and the police were fully engaged upon watching him. Only limited observation was kept upon Klare, and that showed that he frequented the same public houses as Wagener but
the two men had not been seen together and there was nothing to connect them. On 4 April, Klare and his wife had taken return tickets to Southampton; on the 6th he had been seen at Portsmouth station talking to two well-dressed Germans for three-quarters of an hour.
The case subsided until October, when Levi Rosenthal, a hairdresser of 71 Queen Street, Portsmouth made a statement to the police: on 18 October a man whose name he did not know had offered him £200, with prospects of obtaining nearly twice that sum, if he would get from the dockyard a confidential book on submarines.
To draw the man on, Rosenthal had pretended to accept the offer saying that he had done that kind of thing before and he had made an appointment with the man to call at his shop on the 21st. Then he had told the story to a town councilor named Privett, and Privett had sent the police to take down his statement.
Levi Rosenthal, it will be recollected, was known to Charles Wagener and had supplied him with a postal address for his spy correspondence. But there is no evidence in the file that either the police or MO5 remembered this circumstance. If known, it certainly would have been convenient to ignore it, if on the other hand it was unknown then it may have been due to some defect in registration or in tracing. The system of keeping Carl Reimers’ correspondence in files apart might be responsible for a slip of this kind.
The police kept in touch with Rosenthal and casual observation upon Klare but nothing further happened during November. Then in mid-December MO5 warned the police that Klare was expected to be sending information of importance abroad during the next fortnight, and the police accordingly kept him under observation as close as was compatible with safety. He was followed to many different public houses, to a hairdresser named Hammel and finally to Rosenthal’s shop, where he remained twenty minutes. He was carrying a despatch case. Soon after he had left the shop Rosenthal came to the police to tell them that the spy had called. He had said he had been unable to keep the appointment on 21 October. Rosenthal had then pretended that everything had been ready and he had been looking for Klare but could not find him. Klare said he should have asked Hammel and Rosenthal replied, ‘I didn’t know that you knew Hammel.’ Rosenthal had then offered to introduce Klare to a man who would get the book and promised to call upon Klare to arrange this matter. £30 or £40 would be given to the man.