RootsChat.Com
General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: smfletcher on Tuesday 18 August 15 03:08 BST (UK)
-
My grandfather, Anthony Foster, was a British spy during WW2. From what we've heard he was stationed at the Berlin train station, selling stockings, so he could eavesdrop and gather intelligence.
He has long passed and never told anyone in my family of his service past, and therefore, we have no records.
Does anyone know where I can gather more information about his history as it pertains to the war and him being a spy?
-
Welcome to rootschat smfletcher.
Your grandfather sounds like an interesting man and must have had some amazing experiences.
There may be a period of time before you are able to access records if such records exist - I imagine this would have passed long ago though. Do you know if Anthony was enlisted in the forces in any capacity? If so, his service records would be available, though logically you would not expect any mention of him being a spy.
This looks useful:
https://www.mi5.gov.uk/home/about-us/who-we-are/mi5-history/world-war-ii.html
It looks like the National Archives might the first port of call.
-
Don't forget MI6:
https://www.sis.gov.uk/our-history/official-history.html
Imber
-
Did he remain in or return to Berlin after the war? If so there may be a reason why his name doesn't appear in the national archives yet i.e. still serving in an intelligence role.
S_L
-
It's difficult to imagine a British person successfully carrying out such work 24/7 within Nazi society at that time. British agents or whatever had a hard time surviving for long in France so Germany would seem even more daunting. A German national would seem more likely to survive. Is there a possibility that he was in Berlin during the tensions of the post war period? You don't tell us much about him such as age etc. Where would have learned to speak faultless German. Could he have been recruited directly from university perhaps, or was he already serving in the forces and was handpicked? Perhaps if you work through his education and thereafter some possibilities may start to emerge. You could always put his name and dates etc etc on here and see if it results in anything.
Imber