A vital part of every war or conflict for both
the sides is to gather information about the opponent to ensure their winning. History
has been the witness to numerous ways formulated time and again for bringing
out that vital information.
Here are 6 ways through which secret
intelligence services gathered information in the past:
Sardines
Secret intelligence activities paved way
from World War 1 by different world powers. One such clever method was used by
the Germans to use sardine shipments. Ludovico Zender was a German spy who used
sardine shipments as a disguise for describing British shipping movements.
In 1915, he ordered a big shipment of
Norwegian sardines, requesting to be sent to Peru. However, the shipment went
to Oslo, which was the collection point for German intelligence. The British
intercepted Zender’s shipment and he was exposed because it was not the season
for sardines.
Silver Bullets
It was during the American War of
Independence that both the parties developed amazing techniques to sneak in for
information. One of such techniques was to write information on tissue papers
and stuff it into small hollow objects like buttons or silver balls. The catch
here was that in case the messenger was caught, these balls could easily be
swallowed.
Music and Spies
The medieval times had a number of elite musicians
making money by performing in the royal courts. The fact that they were simply
musicians proved them to be the perfect picks for spying. Pierre Alamire was a
famous musician employed by Henry VIII in 1515.
His job was to collect information during
the War of Roses about Richard de la Pole who waged war against the British
later. Alamire hence went to Metz in France where Pole was. However, the twist here
came when Alamire somehow ended up being a double agent and passed information
to both the sides.
Captain Allan Mclane
Captain Allan Mclane was the bravest spy
for George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. McLane would
disguise himself and go behind enemy lines whenever Washington wanted vital
information. His first disguise was when Washington wanted information on where
the British planned to go after Philadelphia in 1778.
Hence, McLane disguised himself as a farmer
and imitated to stroll into a British camp. On gaining access he gathered quite
imperative information which helped Washington to attack Monmouth
Courthouse.
His other disguise was as a country bumpkin
to enter the Stony Point Front which was under British that time. From whatever
he saw, he created a battle plan that helped the Americans win the fort in mere
25 minutes.
The Black Spies
Jefferson Davis and his wife Varina lived
in the White House throughout the Civil War in Virginia. However, what they
were oblivious about was that every part of their lives was listened to and
closely watched by the black servants they had employed.
In 1862, their coachman William Jackson
somehow escaped and revealed full details of Jefferson’s plan for the war. Another employ of Davis’s was Mary Elizabeth
Bowser planted as a waitress with an extensive network of Union spies. Her
efforts along with her network did provide essential military information to
her Union.
Sylvanus Morley
Sylvanus Morley played a pivotal role in
preventing the Germans entering in Mexico during World War I. Morley was an
archaeologist first and hence travelled Central America taking pictures of
ancient structures and ruins.
He reached Honduras in 1917 and tried
taking a picture of the old Spanish fort, but was stopped by the soldiers. He actually
argued he was up to the Honduran president to be allowed to continue with his
photography.
He was finally allowed to photograph,
little did the Hondurans knew that he was in turn identifying the German
agents, hunting German broadcasts, and photographing submarines. It took him
3,200 kilometres to document through his pictures the presence of Germans in
Central America. Historians owing to Sylvanus Morley’s
efforts identified him as the best secret agent United States have had during
World War I. His methods in turn became the prototype for efforts in World War
II.
Irrespective of the times, the work of
spies as secret Intelligence agents is daring and extremely perilous. It does
require a great valour and determination to be able to do justice with their job.
