Below is a fascinating newspaper article published in 1915 about a military spy and his spying techniques. From pretending to be a butterfly hobbyist to acting like you belong where you clearly do not, here are a few of his techniques.
“Freezing” is an Essential Art for the Military Spy
Anyone who has any desire to become a military spy either for the adventure or the remuneration it brings can do no better than to consult Lieutenant- General Sir Robert Baden-Powell’s new book, which has recently been published in England and which tells how to get into fortifications, how to get out of them and how to “freeze.”
The chief scout of the English Boy Scouts was once a spy himself and his volume is full of the most tantalizing glimpses of secret service adventure which he himself has gone through.
One device which he employed to hoodwink inquisitive sentries was to assume the pose and attributes of an innocent butterfly hunter. Such a pursuit naturally takes one up hillsides and into all sorts of unfrequented places. It is therefore excusable if one finds oneself quite unexpectedly in the proximity of a new fortress.
All you need do is to produce your fly nets and sketch books. The books are full of butterflies which, however, are not all butterflies. Some are disguised plans of forts. They can be made to show the outline of a fortress and both the position and the power of the guns. The heads of these fake butterflies always point toward the north.
Sir Robert has some interesting notes on the use of “freezing” when being pursued. To “freeze” means to become absolutely immovable when close to a pursuing object. If one “freezes” well enough one can escape the sharpest eyes.
“The knowledge of this fact came in useful on one of my investigating tours. Inside a great high wall lay a dockyard in which, it was rumored, a new power house was being erected, and possibly a drydock was in course of preparation. It was early morning; the gates were just opened; the workmen were beginning to arrive, and several carts of materials were waiting to come in. Seizing the opportunity of the gates being open, I gave a hurried glance in, as any ordinary passerby might do. I was promptly ejected by the policeman on duty in the lodge.
“I did not go far. My intention was to get inside somehow and to see what I could. I watched the first of the carts go in, and noticed that the policeman was busily engaged in talking to the leading wagoner while the second began to pass through the gate. In a moment I jumped alongside it on the side opposite to the janitor, and so passed in and continued to walk with the vehicle as it turned to the right and wound its way round the new building in course of construction.
“I then noticed another policeman ahead of me, and so I kept my position by the cart, readapting its cover in order to avoid him. Unfortunately in rounding the corner I was spied by the first policeman, and he immediately began to shout to me. I was deaf to his remarks and walked on an unconcernedly as a guilty being could until I placed the corner of the new building between him and me. Then I fairly booked it along the back of the building and rounded the far corner of it. As I did so I saw out of the tail of my eye that he was coming full speed after me and was calling policeman No. 2 to his aid. I darted like a red-shank round the next corner out of sight of both policemen, and looked for a method of escape.
“The scaffolding of the new house towered above me and a ladder led upwards on it. Up this I went like a lamplighter, keeping one eye on the corner of the building lest I should be followed.
“I was halfway up when round the corner came one of the policemen. I at once ‘froze.’ I was about fifteen feet above sea level and not twenty yards from him. He stood undecided with his legs well apart, peering from side to side in every direction to see where I had gone, anxious and shifty. I was equally anxious but immoveable.
“Presently he drew nearer to the ladders, and, strangely enough, I felt safer when he came below me, and he passed almost under me, looking in at the doorways of the unfinished building. Then he doubtfully turned and looked back at a shed behind him, thinking I might have gone in there, and finally started off, and ran on round the next corner of the building. The moment he disappeared I finished the rest of my run up the ladder and safely reached the platform of the scaffolding.
“The workmen were not yet upon the building, so I had the whole place to myself. My first act was to look for another ladder as a line of escape in case of being chased. It is always well to have a back door to your hiding place; that is one of the essentials in scouting.
“Presently I found a short ladder leading from my platform to the stage below, but it did not go to the ground. Peering quietly over the scaffolding I saw my friend the policeman below, still at fault. I blessed my stars that he was no tracker and therefore had not seen my footmarks leading to the foot of the ladder.
“Then I proceeded to take notes of my surrounding and to gather information. Judging from the design of the building, its great chimneys, etc., I was actually on the new power house. From my post I had an excellent view over the dockyard, and within 100 feet of me were the excavation works of the new dock, whose dimensions I could easily estimate.
“I whipped out my prismatic compass and quickly took the bearing of two conspicuous points on the neighboring hills, and so fixed the position which could be marked on a large scale map for purposes of shelling the place if desired.
“Meantime my pursuer had called the other policeman to him, and they were in close confabulation immediately below me, where I could watch them through a crack between two of the foot boards. They had evidently come to the conclusion that I was not in the powerhouse, as the interior was fully open to view and they had had a good look into it. Their next step was to examine the goods shed close by, which was evidently full of building lumber, etc.
“One man went into it while the other remained outside on the line that I should probably take for escaping, that is, between it and the boundary wall leading to the gateway. By accident rather than by design he stood close to the foot of the ladder, and this cut off my retreat in that direction. While they were thus they were leaving the gate unguarded, and I thought it was too good a chance to be missed, so, returning along the scaffolding until I reached the small ladder, I climbed down this on to the lower story, and, seeing no one about, I quickly swarmed down one of the scaffolding poles and landed safely on the ground close behind the big chimney of the building.
“Here I was out of sight although not far from the policeman guarding the ladder; and, taking care to keep the corner of the building between us, I made my way round to the back of the lodge and then slipped out of the gate without being seen.”
Another fascinating story relates to the penetration of a certain fort — the nationality is not states, but the impression is that it was Teutonic — and Sir Robert prefaces the narrative by these hints on “How to Enter a Fort”:
“Our next step was to see this wonderful illuminant for night work, and in the course of our wanderings we came across a large fort from which searchlights had been showing the previous night. There were notice boards round this fort at a distance of about 20 yards apart stating that nobody was allowed within this circle of notices, and we argued that if once were were inside any sentry or detective would naturally suppose we had leave to be there.
“We tried the idea, and it worked splendidly. We walked calmly through camps and past sentries without a tremor and not a question was asked us. Once within this line we were able to get directly into the fort, and there we strolled along as if the place belonged to us.
“There is a certain amount of art required in making yourself not appear to be a stranger in a new place.
“In the minor matter of hat, boots, and necktie it is well to wear those bought in the country you are visiting, otherwise your British-made articles are sure to attract the attention of a watchful policeman.
“In the matter of demeanor you behave as a native would do who was accustomed to being there.
“Walking into a strange fort must be carried out much on the same lines as you would adopt in entering a strange town, only more so. You walk as if with a set purpose to get to a certain part of it, as though you knew the way perfectly, and without showing any kind of interest in what is around you. If you pass an officer or dignitary whom you see everybody saluting, salute him too, so that you do not appear singular. When you want to observe any special features you loaf about reading a newspaper or, if in a town, by looking at all you want to see as reflected in a shop window.
“The penalty for spying in this country was five years without the option of a fine or even of a trial.”
Source: The Washington herald. (Washington, D.C.), 30 May 1915.
