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Lt. Richard Townsend onboard N51, dressed as a French fisherman. British naval codes and ciphers were easily penetrated during the early stages of the Second World War. Well before the outbreak of hostilities the German Kriegsmarine developed its ‘B-Dienst’, or ‘Beobachtung-Dienst’ (‘Observation Service’). The service was minute and had little contact with the other German […]

The inspection of a V1, which had landed in Sweden after a test flight, debris from early attacks on London and finally the overrunning of launch sites near Cherbourg after D-Day had given the Allies considerable information about this new weapon. By the time the main V1 offensive ended on 5 September 1944, eighty-three per […]

A note dropped through a private door in Oslo barely two weeks after the Second World War led to one of the most remarkable documents of the war – the Oslo Report. The note was sent to Captain (later Rear Admiral) Hector Boyes, Britain’s naval attaché in Norway. Its message was brief: if Britain wanted […]

Niccolò Machiavelli Machiavellian is a word often used in context with Walsingham and it is believed he came into contact with the Italian’s writings while in Italy. The Florentine Niccolò Machiavelli was responsible for a number of important works, including the notorious Il Principe (The Prince), which was partly based on the exploits of Cesare […]

Running concurrently with the plot to snare Mary, Walsingham had been successful in obtaining intelligence on the Spanish preparations for invasion. The first of his successes was in the running of the double agent, Sir Edward Stafford. Sent to France as Elizabeth’s ambassador in 1583, Stafford was quickly snapped up by the Spanish who exploited […]