35. Infiltrating the Kaiser’s War Machine
Kaiser Wilhelm II’s expansion of Germany’s war machine in the early twentieth century – especially his naval buildup – alarmed the British. However, British intelligence knew precious little about what was going on inside Germany’s war plants. So in 1909, Sidney Reilly was sent to Essen to gather intelligence.
Under the cover name Karl Hahn, he got a job as welder in the Krupp Gun Works, hoping to photograph the plant and the sensitive plans and information in its drawing office. However, the office was too heavily guarded during the day, so he volunteered for the fire brigade during the night shift. Then he strangled the head of the night security detail, knocked out another guard, and got into the drawing room. Seizing the plans before the alarm was raised, he caught a train, then a boat, and made it back to Britain with his valuable intelligence haul.