206 • GIBRALTAR
of the cases involved individuals who were never in a position to pro-
cure intelligence of any value. Among the more suitable people the
Germans recruited or attempted to recruit were four ex-officers, four
businessmen, and four members of the armed forces; most of them
reported the approach to the authorities immediately.
The Germans recruited by responding to small ads in the newspa-
pers, especially those from ex-officers, businessmen, and specialists
with a technical knowledge seeking jobs. The Germans themselves
also placed advertisements in British papers offering jobs for com-
mercial and technical experts. From 1936 the Hamburg Abwehrstelle
stepped up its efforts, so that 26 of the 30 known cases came to MI5’s
notice between 1936 and the outbreak of war. Of these, three oc-
curred in which Germans acted as recruiters and their addresses (one
in England, one in Scotland, and one in Eire) were used by the Ham-
burg Abwehrstelle as mail drops where it received messages from
agents in the United States and France.
Of the 30 agents identified, 11 told MI5 about the German ap-
proach, nine were exposed by mail intercepts, five were denounced
by private individuals whose suspicions had been aroused, one was
reported by an immigration officer, and one was denounced by an
anonymous informant; the other two were uncovered by accident. Of
the 11 agents who reported they had been recruited by the Germans
(who would probably have escaped detection), six were approached
via a personal contact.
Three post office boxes, registered in the names of different
women, yielded a great deal of information. Mrs. Duncombe in Lon-
don received intelligence collected in France. Mrs. Jessie Jordan was
used as a mail drop in the United States for Gunther Rumrich. When
Rumrich’s brother was arrested in Prague, he was found to be in pos-
session of the address of a Mrs. Brandy in Dublin; this was the third
mail drop. Clandestine examination of her correspondence showed
that she was receiving accurate and therefore dangerous intelligence
messages from a French merchant navy officer named Aubert, who
was arrested at the end of 1938 and shot.GIBRALTAR.During and after World War II, Gibraltar was an impor-
tant strategic base for British Intelligence. Various agencies were rep-
resented there, includingMI5in the person of thedefence security