In WWI, a young Belgian nurse risked her life spying for the British, gathering secrets from the enemy—and ultimately foiling a devastating German attack on London.
This is the story of Marthe Cnockaert—the woman who saved London:
When Marthe Cnockaert (later McKenna) was first approached by her friend, Lucelle Deldonckto, to spy for the British she was horrified.
Unbeknownst to her, Lucelle was operating as a courier behind enemy lines after German forces had occupied Belgium in August 1914.
In January 1915, Marthe started work as a nurse at the hospital in Roulers, a city in West Flanders Hospital, where she helped wounded German soldiers from the frontline.
Her life became more complex after the Germans asked her to betray fellow Belgians.
Born in Westroosebeke, Belgium in 1892, she hated the occupation and secretly wanted to support the Allies but, as she admitted, she was afraid of a German firing-party in the cold dawn.
For a short time, she became a spy for both the Germans and the British.
She offered information to the Germans which she believed would not harm Belgians or the British, but which her handler ‘Otto’ would believe to be important.
She was honest about the dilemmas she faced and admitted to feeling guilty if the intelligence she passed to the British led to the fatality of German soldiers.
Her bravery changed after the sudden death of her German handler.
Her double life ended and she made a decision to work solely for the British. Overcoming her fear of a firing squad, she went on to provide British intelligence with information that would ultimately save London.
Soon after her handler’s death, she and another secret Belgian agent undertook a dangerous task of dynamiting a German ammunition depot.
By day, she gathered intelligence from wounded German soldiers in the hospital. In the evenings she worked as a waitress at her parents’ café and this gave her the opportunity to pick up information from the conversations of German officers and soldiers.
The intelligence was passed to an intermediary.
Marthe worked with two other female agents, one whom she only knew as ‘Canteen Ma’, a vegetable seller, and the other an agent called ‘No. 63’.
‘Canteen Ma’ was an older woman whose activities did not rouse suspicion as she travelled the countryside selling her vegetables. She was able to deliver coded messages and instructions to Marthe.
'Canteen Ma’ disappeared and her fate remains unknown.
Marthe never met ‘No.63’.
She dropped weekly reports for the Allies through the window of a small shop in Westroosebeke.
As a result of her intelligence work, the Allies were able to bomb military targets, ordnance train and ammunition depots.
In May 1916, she was in the shop when German Commander Fashugel entered with one of his lieutenants. He spoke about a church parade for a whole battalion of German soldiers the following day.
He turned to Marthe and asked if she would bring some of the wounded soldiers to the service.
She knew that if she passed this information to the chemist on the square, it would be over the frontier by dawn and a coded message sent to Allied commanders, such that Westroosebeke would receive a visit from Allied bombers.
The additional danger that she was going to be at the parade with wounded German soldiers did not deter her action.
The following day, just as the bishop was finishing the morning service, there was the roar of Allied aircraft overhead, dropping their bombs.
Marthe survived and no one suspected her, but the planes had virtually wiped out the battalion, including Commander Fushugal, with a few survivors and deserters.
The German NCOs and officers collected their heavily wounded casualties to one area and awaited the ambulances.
One of the officers dispatched Marthe with a lorry to the German hospital to nurse them.
The irony for Marthe was not lost – she had been responsible for the intelligence that had led to the attack.
It was also a traumatic experience and she coped by refusing to let herself think.
In the autumn, the German authorities asked her to requisition medical supplies which she was to collect from Rumbelle aerodrome.
It was the perfect excuse for her to observe the aerodrome for intelligence for the Allies, without arousing suspicion. For weeks, she had received messages asking for intelligence on the airfield and now was her chance.
The hospital porter who delivered the requisition form commented to her that all gossip in the canteen pointed to a massive raid on England soon that would cripple the country and evoke fear in the British population.
This was supported by comments from Sergeant Schweitzer who had been posted to the aerodrome and already knew Marthe from the hospital.
She charmed Schweitzer, and he boasted that a colossal raid on London was planned for 1 October and Heinrich Mathy, Commander of Zeppelin air raids on London, was to lead eleven Zeppelins.
Two would leave from Bruges and the rest from Germany.
Schweitzer then started to made advances, grabbed her and smothered her with kisses. She struggled and screamed. It alerted one of the pilots on duty nearby who rushed to her aid.
The pilot recognised her as she had nursed him when he was wounded. Schweitzer was dealt with harshly for advancing on her. The pilot invited her to come back that same evening to dine with him at the aerodrome.
At dusk, as she crossed the complex, she ‘photographed’ in her mind the scene around her.
Her eye caught sight of five single-seater biplanes of a type that she had not seen before.
She made an innocent comment to the Lieutenant about the planes.
He had already consumed a fair amount of alcohol, trusted her and said that the planes were little Albatrosses and were designed for speed.
He told her, ‘They climb like rockets, answer to the slightest touch, and what is better, go a good twenty miles faster than anything the Allies can put in the air.’
After supper, whilst the Lieutenant left the room to shout to his batman for more brandy, Marthe saw two sets of papers; one was authorization for the Lieutenant’s leave for Germany, and the other was a half-written report on the new biplanes.
She swapped the papers inside each envelope, knowing that the report on the biplanes would mistakenly be sent to the Brigade Major (who was supposed to authorise the form for the Lieutenant’s leave).
Marthe knew the clerk (Stephan) to the Brigade Major, and although the clerk was not working for the Allies, he liked her and occasionally passed her useful information.
She knew that he would copy the report for her.
The Lieutenant drank more brandy and became looser with his tongue.
He regaled her with tales of his bravery and how that coming Friday he was due to escort some heavy bombers on a night raid against the British line at Poperinghe in the region of West Flanders.
Marthe left the aerodrome and went straight to the chemist shop to send a coded message about the Zeppelin raid on London and the bombing of Poperinghe.
These were dangerous times as there was a curfew in place.
There was a tense moment as she was detained by the police outside the chemist shop.
She had a permit to travel in and out of the hospital, but not to private houses or shops.
She made an excuse about needing urgent medicine for her father and the police allowed her into the chemist.
The following morning, she used a trusted contact called Alphonse to contact the clerk at the aerodrome for a copy of the report on the biplanes.
Within hours, Stephan came to the shop with the report. But it was too big to pass over the counter without arousing suspicion. Marthe cut the A4 sheets into strips and numbered them.
She then sewed them into the hem of an old skirt.
When ‘Canteen Ma’ arrived the following day with vegetables, the old skirt was handed over to her.
After receiving this intelligence, British bombers headed for Rumbelle aerodrome to attack the biplanes before they could take off. They arrived too late and met the German bombers already en route for Poperinghe.
A furious dog-fight took place overhead, with losses on both sides.
The Germans planes continued to Poperinghe but the town was prepared with its defensive barrage.
One German aircraft fell and the others left without inflicting any serious damage. Poperinghe survived.
At 5pm on 1 October, Marthe heard the drone of Zeppelin engines overhead.
As she stared up into the darkening sky, she prayed that Commander Mathy and his Zeppelins would fail.
She did not hear about the result of the raid until years later. Mathy died that night.
The defences of London were well prepared and the Zeppelin L31 shot down over Potter’s Bar (north London).
Through the intelligence she had passed to the British via her channels, Marthe saved London and Germany lost its foremost air commanders.
(end).
Comments