Werner von Janowski

Werner Alfred Waldemar von Janowski, (Abwehr-codenamed "Bobbi"; Allied-codenamed WATCHDOG), was a captured German Second World War Nazi spy and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's first double agent.[1][2][3] He is believed to have been a triple agent by some, underscoring the RCMP's inexperience in espionage.[1]:135, 189[4] Due to power struggles between the Canadian and British intelligence agencies during the Second World War and the RCMP's inexperience, Operation Watchdog was a failure.[5] Janowski provided little significant intelligence to the Allies: no Abwehr agents were arrested and no U-boats were captured, despite his apparent cooperation.[2] Within a year the operation was shut down and Janowski was sent to a prison in Britain.[2]

Werner Alfred Waldemar von Janowski
Royal Canadian Mounted Police mug shot of a 38-year-old Janowski.
Bornca 1903/1904
Allenstein, East Prussia
Died22 February 1978
Benissa, Alicante, Spain
NationalityGerman
OccupationSpy
Espionage activity
CodenameWATCHDOG
CodenameBobbi
OperationsWATCHDOG

Espionage career

Janowski disembarked from the German submarine U-518 submarine at Chaleur Bay, four miles west of New Carlisle, Quebec, around 5 a.m., on November 9, 1942. His destination was Montreal, having first to stop in New Carlisle so he could take the first train out.[3][6]

At 6:30 a.m., under the alias of William Brenton, Janowski checked in at Hotel New Carlisle asking for a room with a bath. The son of the hotel owner, Earle Annett Jr., grew suspicious of him, due to inconsistencies with the German spy's story. The man said he took the bus that morning before walking to the hotel, but the bus was not going through New Carlisle that day, and even if it had, it would have dropped him off at the hotel. Annett also noticed that he spoke English with a Parisian accent, his clothing had European styling, and that he paid for his cigarettes with an obsolete Canadian dollar bill that had not been in circulation for quite some time. The stranger also had a strange smell on him; he was using Belgian matches that did not carry the Canadian government seal that was applied to matchbooks at the time. Less than three hours after his arrival and before Annett could confirm his suspicions, the stranger paid his bill and made his way to the train station where he had a coffee while waiting for the next train.[3][5][6]

Annett followed him to the station, sat down beside him, and offered some cigarettes. Von Janowski lit the cigarette using the same Belgian matches he had at the hotel. Annett grew even more suspicious and alerted Constable Alfonse Duchesneau of the Quebec Provincial Police, who boarded the train car just as it was leaving the station. Duchesneau intercepted Janowski, who maintained he was William Brenton, a radio salesman from Toronto. He stuck with this story until the policeman asked to search his bags; Janowski immediately said to Duchesneau, "Searching my luggage won't be necessary. I am a German officer who serves his country as you serve yours."[6] Inspection of von Janowski's personal effects upon his arrest revealed that he was carrying a powerful radio transmitter, among other things.

After his capture and interrogation, the Canadian military attempted to locate the German submarine in which Janowski had arrived. Despite an extensive search of Chaleur Bay, both the warship HMCS Burlington and assisting Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft were unable to locate U-518.[3]

In late August 1943, Janowski was sent to England, where he was incarcerated at Camp 020. He remained there for the duration of the war. He was repatriated to an internment camp in the British Zone of Germany in July 1945.

Later life

Released in 1947, Janowski had no home to return to, as Allenstein and most of East Prussia had been annexed by Poland and its population expelled. He eventually found work as a translator, and in the 1960s worked for the German Navy. Janowski died in Spain in 1978 while on a holiday.[1]:190–1

gollark: Wow, it seems like this application is just using XML as a really poor and inefficient JSON substitute.
gollark: I'm not actually old enough to vote, and in any case the only party which appears to actually care about this is the Liberal Democrats, who are not doing well in Parliament.
gollark: Yes. Democracy in action.
gollark: I complained to my MP when the government did some particularly egregious thing... complaining about end to end encryption on the news again, or something... and got a response back... from some random minister... by letter... two weeks later... which did not address anything I said and was related only in that my email and their response were both vaguely about encryption.
gollark: Er, act. Not bill.

References
  1. Beeby, Dean (1995). Cargo of lies : the true story of a Nazi double-agent in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-0731-7.
  2. Wark, Wesley (16 March 1996). "Canada's (misad)venture into double-agentry CARGO OF LIES: The True Story of a Nazi Double Agent in Canada" (PDF). The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  3. "The Second World War". Celebrating Gaspesia's Proud Military Tradition. Canadian Heritage Information Network. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  4. Ratcliff, R. A. "Review of Beeby, Dean, Cargo of Lies: The True Story of a Nazi Double Agent in Canada". H-Net. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  5. Mount, Graeme S. (1993). Canada's enemies : spies and spying in the peaceable kingdom. Toronto: Dundurn Press. p. 66. ISBN 9781550021905.
  6. Turbide, Sophie. "Werner Alfred Waldemar von Janowski: New Carlisle's Spy". Gaspesian Heritage WebMagazine. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
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