John Brown (spy)

John Brown (spy)

John Henry Owen Brown DCM was a Non-Commissioned Officer in the Royal Artillery in the British Army, who served in France at the beginning of the Second World War. Prior to the war he was a member of the British Union of Fascists, another fact that helped him ingratiate himself with the Germans. He was captured on 29 May 1940 and remained a prisoner of war until 1945. He volunteered to serve at Blechhammer camp in Upper Silesia, and generally ingratiated himself with the Germans. In due course he was transferred to the camp at Genshagen, which he effectively ran for the Germans. This move allowed him access to Berlin.

Throughout all this time, while being distrusted by the British P.O.W.s, he was reporting to MI6 by coded letters, giving guidance on targets for bomber attacks. More particularly he was engaged in subverting the German proposal to form a British Free Corps to fight for Germany. He was instrumental in identifying the British traitor John Amery, and had contact with William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw).

After the war he was a witness at the trials of a number of traitors. He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his services.He wrote of these events in "In Durance Vile" (Hale 1981), concluding "...I was only able to do what I did because of my Christian belief which sustained me in my durance vile through not only the danger, but the hopeless dreariness of prisoner-of-war life".


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • John Brown — may refer to:PoliticiansAmerican(Listed in alphabetical order by state, office)* John Y. Brown, Sr., U.S. Representative (1900–1985) * John Y. Brown, Jr., Governor, 1970s (born 1933) * John Y. Brown, III, Secretary of the State, 1990s * John Y.… …   Wikipedia

  • John Henry (spy) — John Henry (c. 1776 ndash; 1853), was a spy and adventurer of mysterious origins. It is reputed that he was born in Dublin, Ireland, probably between 1750 and 1775, although 1776 is the more accepted year.Henry came to Philadelphia about 1793,… …   Wikipedia

  • John Brown of Pittsfield — Colonel John Brown (October 19, 1744 – October 19, 1780), often known as John Brown of Pittsfield because of his common name, was a Patriot, spy, soldier, and military leader, in the American Revolutionary War. He played a significant role as a… …   Wikipedia

  • John Henry — may refer to: *John Henry (folklore), the steel driving man , is an American folk heroReal people* John Joseph Henry (1758–1811), American Revolutionary War soldier * John Henry (Maryland), an 18th century U.S. Senator from and Governor of… …   Wikipedia

  • List of people with surname Brown — Brown is a common English language surname derived from the color brown as a personal feature. This list provides links to biographies of people who share this common surname, organized by area of endeavor.Activism* H. Rap Brown, American civil… …   Wikipedia

  • John Wagner — Infobox Comics creator imagesize = 150 caption = birthname = birthdate = 1949 location = Pennsylvania deathdate = deathplace = nationality = American area = writer alias = John Howard T.B. Grover Mike Stott Keef Ripley Rick Clark Brian Skuter… …   Wikipedia

  • John Zorn — Zorn performing in 2006 Background information Also known as Dekoboko Hajime, Rav Tzizit Born September 2, 1953 …   Wikipedia

  • John Miljan — En 1940 (photo promotionnelle) Données clés Nom de naissance …   Wikipédia en Français

  • John Phillips Marquand — (* 10. November 1893, Wilmington, Delaware; † 16. Juli 1960, Newburyport, Massachusetts) war ein amerikanischer Journalist und Schriftsteller. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben und Wirken 2 Soziale und populäre Literatur …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • John Qualen — Dans La Dame du vendredi (1940) Données clés Nom de naissance …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”