The German Secret Service in America 1914-1918Jones, John Price
History
The German Secret Service in America 1914-1918
Jones, John Price
World War, 1914-1918 -- Secret service -- Germany
He eluded the vigilance of the Allies by using a false passport. His
sister Emily had married a Swiss named Gasche. Erasing the "y" on her
passport he journeyed in safety to England as "Emil V. Gasche," a
harmless Swiss, who observed a great deal about England's method of
receiving munitions. Then he evaporated to Norway. His arrival in the
United States was forecast by a wireless message which he addressed
from his ship on April 3, 1915, asking an American friend of his to
meet him at the pier. The American owned a factory in Cambrai, France,
which had been closed by the German invasion on August 29, 1914. The
American had hastened to Berlin in late 1914 and asked his friend
Rintelen to see that the plant be opened. Rintelen had succeeded,
and was come now to break the good news, knowing perfectly well that
the American would be under deep obligation and would secure any
introductions for him which he might need. When the ship docked, the
friend was not there, for some casual reason. But Rintelen, always
suspicious, hired a detective, who spent a week investigating; then the
friend was discovered, and became Rintelen's grateful assistant.
So it happened that "Emil V. Gasche," the harmless Swiss, dropped
out of sight for the time being, and von Rintelen assumed the parts
of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." "Dr. Jekyll" visited the Yacht Club
and called upon wealthy friends, proving a more charming, more
delightful von Rintelen than ever. He met influential business men
who were selling supplies to the Allies. He was presented to society
matrons and débutantes whom he had use for. To these he was Herr von
Rintelen, in America on an important financial mission. "Mr. Hyde"
sought information from von Bernstorff, Dr. Albert, von Papen, Boy-Ed,
Captain Tauscher and George Sylvester Viereck about the production
of war supplies. Astounded by what he learned from them and had
corroborated from other sources, he began to realize how utterly he had
misjudged America's potential resources and what a blunder he had made
in his predictions to the General War Staff. He saw with a chilling
vividness the capacity of America to hand war materials to the Allies,
and her rapidly increasing facilities to turn out greater quantities
of ammunition and bullets. The facts he obtained struck him with
especial force because of his knowledge of the greater strategy. It
is upon a basis of the supplies of munitions in the Allied countries,
particularly Russia, as von Rintelen knew them, that his acts are best
judged and upon this basis only can sane motives be assigned to the
rash projects which he launched.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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