A Tailor’s Ticket Unmasked Germany’s Spy in Britain

Carl Hans Lody carried an American passport and money supplied by German naval intelligence when he went to Britain in 1914. A tailor’s ticket in his jacket ultimately gave police his real name and an address in Berlin.

The surviving emergency passport was issued in Berlin on 4 August 1914 and names Charles A. Inglis. It authorises travel in Europe and identifies its bearer through a written physical description: blue eyes, dark hair and a light complexion. The signature repeats the cover name. The National Archives now holds the American document used in Lody’s deception.

British counterintelligence had detected his first message to a Stockholm address it already knew served German intelligence. Lody continued reporting. Some misleading messages were allowed through, including a false story about Russian troops arriving in Scotland. An uncoded account of Liverpool shipping contained military information worth stopping.

Police followed his movements through Dublin to Killarney, where they arrested him on 2 October 1914. The label in his clothing supplied the identity the passport concealed. Lody admitted spying at his public trial. He was executed at the Tower of London on 6 November.