Werner von Janowski
Title: Werner von Janowski
Subject: Double-Cross System, Camp 020, German submarine U-518, Operation Accumulator, Operation Cascade
Werner Alfred Waldemar von Janowski
Royal Canadian Mounted Police mug shot of a 38-year-old Janowski.
Operation(s)
Codename(s)
ca 1903/1904
Allenstein, East Prussia
Benisa Alicante, Spain
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]
Capture in New Carlisle
Janowski disembarked from the U-518 submarine at Chaleur Bay, four miles west of New Carlisle, Quebec, around 5 a.m., on November 9, 1942. His destination was Montréal, 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 himself in at Hotel New Carlisle. The son of the hotel owner grew suspicious of him, due to inconsistencies with the German spy's story. He used an out-of-circulation Canadian note when paying his bill to the owner's son and when he left to wait at the train station the suspicious son of the hotelier followed him.[3][5][6]
Constable Alfonse Duchesneau of the Quebec Provincial Police was alerted of the situation, and he boarded the train car just as the train was leaving the station. Duchesneau intercepted Janowski, who maintained he was William Brenton, a radio salesman from Toronto. Upon the searching of his baggage, Janowski immediately revealed he was a German officer. He said to Duchesneau, "Searching my luggage won't be necessary. I am a German officer who serves his country as you serve yours."[6]
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 the U-518 submarine.[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. 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
^ a b c d
Agent handling
Field agent
Non-official cover (strawperson
sockpuppet)
Official cover
Resident spy
Intelligence assessment (cognitive traps
competing hypotheses)
Devices and
Concealment device
Covert listening device
Dead drop (USB)
Numbers station
One-way voice link
Steganography (microdot)
Black operation (black bag
Wetwork)
Eavesdropping (SIGINT
MASINT)
Interpersonal (HUMINT) intelligence (interrogation
surveillance)
World War II spies for Germany
Canadian spies
Year of birth missing
People from Olsztyn
People from East Prussia
World War II, Canada, Cryptography, Sabotage, History
Canada, Ottawa, Pierre Trudeau, Law, Elizabeth II
World War II, Steganography, Espionage, Internet, Germany
Double-Cross System
Abwehr, Double agent, Portugal, World War II, Mi5
Camp 020
World War II, Torture, Latchmere House, South London, Robin Stephens
German submarine U-518
United Kingdom, United States, Hamburg, Nazi Germany, Brazil
Operation Accumulator
World War II, Channel Islands, Operation Fortitude, Operation Overlord, Royal Canadian Navy
Operation Cascade
World War II, Operation Bodyguard, Military deception, Camoufleurs, Western Desert Campaign