From David Knight's Book - Full Text Of Alexander Scotland Chapter
The following account of Alexander Scotland's supposed exploits as a spy in World War II was written by David C. Knight in 1978. It was the fourth chapter of his book, "The Spy Who Never Was, And Other True Spy Stories". No bibliography, footnotes or references were included. (The book was written for children and young adults.)
From our 2007 vantage point, this story seems highly improbable - at least in its entirety - but people believed it back in 1958, when The Two-Headed Spy was filmed, and continued to believe it for a long while. I'm posting all of chapter four here at IMDb for easy reference: true or not, this is our only known written source on Alexander Scotland's WWII career as a spy, and this book is out of print and very hard to find - even those libraries listing it are probably missing it from their shelves in many cases.
(By David C. Knight)
Chapter 4.
ALEXANDER SCOTLAND
The Master "Sleeper Agent" Who Spied In Two Wars
A "sleeper agent" is a spy who lives and works in a foreign country, spying little or not at all, waiting for his real country to give the order to "wake up" and go into operation.
A "sleeper" can do great harm to the country he spies against. He is trusted by the people in that country. Having lived there, sometimes for many years, he is fully accepted. Often he has a family who do not suspect he is a spy. In a way, he is like a time bomb, set to go off when and where he can do the greatest damage.
Few spy stories can equal that of the British undercover agent, Alexander Scotland - a sleeper who posed as a German Army officer for thirty years. Actually, Scotland led a dangerous double life. Planted in the German Army as early as 1915, he rose to the rank of lieutenant general in World War II. Yet he was also a British Army colonel at the same time.
A Young Englishman Joins The German Army
In the years before World War I, relations between Germany and Britain were friendly and peaceful. Both countries had colonies in South Africa. It was in that country that Alexander Scotland happened to be traveling in the year 1911. He was just fifteen years old and he was in search of adventure.
Even though he was English, young Scotland - on an impulse - enlisted in the German Army in Southwest Africa. Proving himself an excellent soldier, he soon won a commission as an officer in the German colonial cavalry.
A tall, friendly, athletic young man and a fine horseman, Scotland became quite popular with his fellow officers in the remote German colony. Before he had enlisted, his German had already been good. But after spending three years in a German-speaking regiment, it became flawless.
When World War I broke out in 1914, Scotland's situation changed abruptly. The young Englishman was suddenly regarded as an enemy alien. Since British and South African forces, under General Louis Botha, were not many days' march away, and thinking he might escape and join these forces, Scotland's commander thought it best to lock up the Englishman in the outpost's stockade. (Botha, who had fought against the British in the Boar War years before, was now fighting on their side.)
Scotland pretended not to mind being locked up, but when he learned that General Botha was advancing on the German outpost, a daring plan began to take shape in his mind. It was the first of many that he would carry out in his lifetime
Scotland bided his time until one night when he learned General Botha was very near the German garrison. Slipping quietly out of the stockade, he tiptoed across the parade ground to the arsenal. Luckily it was unguarded. Scotland entered and armed himself with a machine gun. Then, touching a match to a keg of powder, he blew up the outpost's entire store of weapons and ammunition.
Scotland could easily have escaped into the night, but he did not. Instead, he leveled his machine gun menacingly at the Germans as they came pouring out of their quarters following the explosion. Scotland fired a couple of bursts over their heads to show them he meant business. Then he herded the entire garrison into the stables with the horses.
Scotland, with the machine gun cradled in his arms, settled down to await the arrival of General Botha. Keeping a sharp watch on the stables, he prayed the General would arrive quickly. All that night Scotland fought to stay awake. If he fell asleep, he would surely be killed by his former comrades. From time to time, he fed the Germans with bread that he tossed into the stables and gave them water in canteens.
Another day and night passed and still Botha's forces did not come. Scotland was beginning to despair when, around dawn, he saw a column of mounted men coming over the veldt. As they drew nearer, he recognized General Botha at their head.
Mounting one of the horses outside the stables, Scotland rode out to meet the General. With him he carried the keys to the fort and his machine gun. Botha listened with amazement to the young Briton's story, then rode to the fort to see for himself. There, as Scotland told him, was the whole garrison of Germans locked in the stables. So General Botha, who had expected a hard fight, took the fort without a single casualty.
Scotland Agrees To A Dangerous Mission
After his exploit, Scotland asked for, and was given, a commission in the British Army. In 1915, he was ordered back to England. News of his daring feat had reached those in high places, and one day he was summoned to meet the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill.
Regarding the tall, slender officer thoughtfully, Churchill asked him a rather strange question. "Scotland", he said, "have you ever parachuted from an airplane ?"
Scotland replied that he had not. In 1915, the parachute was still a very new device. Few fliers, even those who risked their lives in combat over the Western Front, wore the bulky and uncomfortable parachutes.
"How would you like to try it ?", Churchill asked him.
"If you wish me to, sir," Scotland answered.
"Fine," said the First Lord. "Here is how we will proceed. You will be given one practice jump in England, then we shall make arrangements to drop you in Germany. You see, my boy, we're sending you back to rejoin the German Army."
Scotland was dumbfounded. "But, sir, the Germans would kill me. I'm sure news of what I did back at that fort in South Africa has reached Germany by this time."
"Probably so," said Churchill. "It will not be an easy mission. However, we have a plan that I think will work. If it does, the work you could do for England would be well worth the risk involved."
Churchill outlined the plan. After parachuting into Germany, Scotland would make his way to the German High Command in Berlin. There he would present himself as a former colonial officer reporting for duty. He would explain that what he had done in Africa had been done in anger at being locked up.
Then, Churchill continued, he was to tell the Germans he had gone back to England. But he would also say that the situation he had found there disappointed him. He was now sure that his true loyalty was to Germany.
"Say at every opportunity how much you hate and despise the British," urged the First Lord. "Act in every way like a German officer. Once you have convinced them and they accept you, the military information you can send back will be of the greatest value to Britain."
Despite the dangerous risk to himself, Scotland said he was willing to give it a try. As promised, he was given one practice jump from an airplane over England. Then he found himself being flown over the North Sea toward Bremen. Somewhere near that city he jumped and landed safely in a field.
Dressed in civilian clothes, Scotland walked to the railroad station in Bremen and bought a ticket for Berlin. He used German money given him by the British secret service. Once in Berlin, he went directly to army headquarters. There, by the sheerest good luck, Scotland was interviewed by an officer he had known and looked up to in South Africa. He explained his position to this officer, emphasizing his disgust for the British and his wish to rejoin the German Army. Evidently Scotland did a good job, for soon he was back in the gray uniform of a German officer.
Scotland In The German Army Again
Scotland knew the Germans would keep a sharp eye on him because of what he had done in South Africa. In fact, he was not given a combat assignment, but duties in the supply corps. In such a position, the German secret service could watch him for any signs of disloyalty.
The young British counteragent threw himself into his work with a will. He soon proved himself an outstanding supply officer. He found he had a gift for planning what material was needed where - and getting it there on schedule. Even while he was being watched, his superior officers predicted a brilliant army career for him. In the space of a year, he was promoted and given greater responsibilities.
In time, even the German secret service was persuaded that Schottland - his name in German - was completely loyal to the Fatherland. Scotland found this out one day when an officer of the secret service came to see him.
"Ja, Schottland," said this officer, "we have been watching you. Could you blame us after that trick you played on us in South Africa ? But you don't need to worry any more. Your supply work here has been brilliant. But that is not what brings me here."
Scotland asked the officer what he meant.
"Simply this, Schottland," the officer said, lowering his voice. "We want you to go back to England, join the British Army, and send military information back to Germany. How do you like the idea ?"
Scotland very nearly burst out laughing. Here were the Germans asking him to do exactly the same thing for Germany as he was now doing for England. He pretended to give deep thought to the proposal, then gave his reply.
"You'll have to excuse me," Scotland said. "I don't think I could bring it off. I am a plain man, an army officer, not an actor or a spy. I loathe the British so much that they would see through me. I'm sorry. I can be of far more value to the Fatherland here."
"If that is the way you feel," replied the officer, "perhaps you are right. As I told you, your work here has been very satisfactory." Then he rose and left.
From that time on, Scotland's loyalty was no longer questioned. As a result, he became more effective as a spy. His method of getting information to London was unique. He would send newspaper clippings about the progress of the war to "friends" in South Africa. To them he would attach notes saying how stupid the English were and how the Germans could never lose the war.
The "friends" were, of course, British agents. By a prearranged code - which has been kept secret to this day - the agents put together parts of the clippings with parts of Scotland's biting comments. The result was military information that quickly found its way to England.
Important Messages Reach London
In the spring of 1916, Scotland found out something extremely valuable. The German Fleet, bottled up in German ports since the beginning of the war, was planning to sail out into the North Sea. Scotland quickly relayed this information to London. As a result, the British Home Fleet was able to intercept the German warships in the Battle of Jutland. Although their losses were greater, the British Navy won the battle and the German ships were forced back to their ports for the rest of the war,
Toward the end of World War I, Scotland became a recognized expert in war-supply matters. He continued to be promoted in the German Army. Only in his mid-twenties, he was finally assigned to the German General Staff's Supply Section. This was the highest post he had yet attained.
In this position, a great deal of important information came Scotland's way. Early in 1918, he was able to learn of General Erich Ludendorff's plans for a massive German push toward the Somme River. Scotland tipped off British Intelligence in time and the German offensive was one of the last of the war. Her army exhausted and her people starving at home, Germany soon asked for peace terms.
After the Armistice in November, Scotland looked forward to going home to England. He had been leading a dangerous double life for over three years. Impatiently he waited for orders from London to come. Day after day passed. Had his superiors forgotten him ?
Orders to return to Britain never came. But other orders did. Scotland was directed to continue pretending to be a German. The orders went on to say that he was free to live anywhere in the world that he wished - except the British Isles.
Scotland was sick with disappointment. He thought of quitting the army and going home anyway. But in the end he did not. As a soldier, he accepted the orders. He realized what British Intelligence was doing. It was saving him as a valuable sleeper agent for use in the future.
First Scotland took up residence in Switzerland for a while. Then, still posing as a German, he went to Argentina and went into business. He had only one contact with his superiors in England. Once each year a check reached him from a bank in the United States. It was his pay as an officer in the British Army.
After he had spent nearly twenty years in Argentina, England had need of Alexander Scotland again. By 1937, Adolf Hitler was firmly in power in Germany and war clouds were gathering in Europe. That year Scotland received new orders from the British secret service. He was to return to Germany and join the Wehrmacht - Hitler's modern, mechanized army.
Scotland Goes To Work Again As A Spy
Now in his early forties, Scotland went to Berlin and presented himself to the German General Staff for recommissioning in the Wehrmacht. To everyone he saw he voiced hearty approval of everything the Nazi Party was doing. Many of the older officers remembered Scotland and his brilliant work in the last war. It was not long before he was back in uniform - this time as a general. Ironically, a few days later he received secret word from London that he had been promoted. In his own army, Scotland was only a lieutenant colonel.
General "Schottland" played his role as a German officer of the old school to the hilt. He had his head shaved in the old Prussian manner. He wore a monocle. His boots shone and his uniform was always dapper. He perfected the Nazi salute and spoke glowingly of Der Fuhrer. His voice was always the loudest when the Horst Wessel song was sung at military messes. No one, to outward appearances, was more German than General Schottland.
Meanwhile, Scotland was picking up military information and relaying it to London. Not until the war started in 1939 did he start using a radio transmitter. With a war on, radio traffic increased tremendously and Scotland figured his own signal would be less detectable.
Yet there were times when he was nearly caught. When he wanted to send a message to London, Scotland would drive his own staff car out into the country. Picking some remote spot, he would set up the transmitter and send the message. Then he would pack up the equipment and whisk away.
Sometimes, however, German radio units in cars or trucks would pick up Scotland's signals and try to close in on him. They would set up roadblocks and attempt to catch the unknown broadcaster in a dragnet. But Scotland always managed to elude them. Resplendent in his uniform, his monocle flashing, he was always let through the roadblocks. In fact, once or twice he even joined his pursuers in their search for the mysterious broadcaster.
One day in France in 1944, Scotland's luck very nearly ran out. He was sending a message about German troop positions when a German truck screeched to a stop a few feet away from him. Three armed soldiers jumped out. Although they were respectful of his high rank, they were obviously suspicious. But before they could aim their rifles, Scotland's blazing automatic pistol dropped all three soldiers. Satisfying himself that they were dead, Scotland coolly completed his transmission and left.
Scotland Is Captured
At the end of the war, Scotland was in army headquarters in Berlin. When the Russians took the city, they captured Scotland along with many other high-ranking officers. Scotland tried to tell his Russian interrogators of his true identity. He was, he insisted, not a German general at all - but a British colonel. The Russians only laughed at him.
Finally one Russian officer agreed to get in touch with the British authorities and ask whether or not Scotland's fantastic story was true. In the meantime, the British had become alarmed about the missing Scotland. They were searching frantically for him.
It did not take the British authorities long to react when they got the Russian message about Scotland. The reply, written by Winston Churchill himself, went directly to Premier Joseph Stalin. A few days later, Scotland was flown to British Army headquarters in occupied Germany. He was met in person by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.
Resting at Montgomery's headquarters, Scotland, though relieved that his long ordeal was over, was bothered by one thought. Would he at last be allowed to go home, or would his country still need him as a sleeper agent ? Scotland had to know, so he asked permission to send a message to London. The message read simply: "May I come home ?" The reply came promptly. It read: "Come home."
A Hero Arrives Home
When the tall, gray-haired British officer with the thin mustache arrived in London, he was met by no one. His friends and relatives had considered him dead since World War I. That was what British Intelligence wanted them to think, and so they had spread the story that Scotland was: "Missing, presumed dead."
Yet Scotland's lonely homecoming was brightened by two pieces of good news. First, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for an important message he had sent to London in 1941. The message said that Hitler would attack the Soviet Union within seventy-two to one hundred hours. When this information, which was relayed to the Russians, proved correct, Britain's relations with the Soviet Union greatly improved.
The other piece of good news was that Scotland's business investments in Argentina had prospered during the war. So much so that he could now consider himself a wealthy man.
With the end of the war, Scotland's role as a double agent became known. He was able to testify against a number of high-ranking Nazi generals who were dumbfounded at the deception he had carried out for years. At the war-crimes trial of Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, for instance, Scotland gave evidence that the accused had ordered the deaths of many innocent opeople. When Scotland took the stand, Kesselring stared at him in disbelief. He had known this tall British officer as Chief of Logistics on the German General Staff. Kesselring leaned forward for a closer look. "Impossible !" he exclaimed. "It cannot be." But it was !
Alexander Scotland had spent thirty years risking his life and sacrificing everything for his country. Now his country had recognized his sacrifice and publicly decorated him for it. But nothing meant so much to Scotland as the personal letter he received from his beloved wartime commander, Winston Churchill. It closed with these words: "When I said 'never did so many owe so much to so few,' I meant you, St. George of England." share