Henry Landau (British Army officer) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Henry Landau |
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| Allegiance | Great-Britain  |
| Service | Royal Field Artillery, SIS (MI6) |
| Active | 1914-1916 Royal Field Artillery, 1916-1920 SIS (MI6) |
| Rank | army captain |
| Operation(s) | World War I |
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| Born | 7 March 1892 Bethel, South African Republic |
| Died | 20 May 1968 (aged 76) Chilapa, Mexico |
| Nationality | South African  |
Henry Landau (born March 7, 1892 – died May 20, 1968) was a South African who helped the British during World War I. He first joined the British army. Later, he became a spy for a secret group called MI6. He was famous for leading a very successful spy network called La Dame Blanche. After the war, he wrote popular books about his time as a spy.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Henry was born in South Africa. His mother was Afrikaner and his father was English. His father fought in the Second Anglo-Boer War, a conflict in South Africa.
Henry studied at Caius College, Cambridge University in England. He earned top grades in Natural Sciences. This was before World War I began.
Henry Landau in World War I
In August 1914, Henry went to France. He joined a group that helped in hospitals. Later, he became an officer in the British army's Royal Field Artillery.
After getting sick, he went to London. There, he met a secretary for the head of MI6. This leader was Captain Mansfield Smith-Cumming, known as "C." Henry was then asked to join MI6.
He was sent to Rotterdam, a city in the Netherlands. From there, British spy networks in Belgium, France, and Germany were managed. Henry worked under Richard B. Tinsley.
Leading a Spy Network
Henry became the head of the military intelligence office in Rotterdam. His main job was to connect with Belgian resistance groups. His biggest success was leading La Dame Blanche. This group had over a thousand Belgian and French agents.
They watched German troop trains moving to and from the Western Front. The group was named after a mythical White Lady. Her appearance was thought to predict the downfall of the German royal family.
Many people believe La Dame Blanche was the most effective spy operation of World War I. According to "C," this group provided 70 percent of all Allied information about German forces worldwide.
Life After the War
After the war, Henry was sent to Berlin, Germany. He was supposed to lead the passport control office there. This was an important job in MI6.
However, Henry did not like the office work. He resigned from the military in 1920. He then worked for a British shipbuilding company. He helped them find new inventions.
Later, he went back to South Africa. In 1923, he moved to the United States. There, he worked as a teacher. He became a U.S. citizen in 1933. After that, he worked as an investigator for government agencies.
Writing Books
In 1934, Henry wrote a book about his experiences as a spy leader in World War I. The book was called All's Fair. In it, he wrote about Karl Krüger. Krüger was a former German naval officer. He was one of MI6's most important spies during the war.
Henry did not reveal Krüger's real name. Krüger was still working as a spy. Even so, MI6 was not happy with Henry for revealing these secrets. His book was published in the U.K. in 1938. It was called Spreading The Spy Net. The Story of a British Spy Director.
All's Fair became a very popular book. Henry then wrote two more books. These were Secrets of the White Lady (1935) and The Enemy Within. The Inside Story of German Sabotage in America (1937).
