Englandspiel

Quick answer: What was the Englandspiel in World War II?

The Englandspiel, which the Germans called Operation North Pole, was an Abwehr deception that turned captured SOE radios in the Netherlands against London. Captured operator Huub Lauwers left out his security check to signal capture, but London replied “you have forgotten your true check.” About fifty-four agents sent in were captured; few survived.

In March 1942, in a room in The Hague, Huub Lauwers, a twenty-three-year-old Dutch wireless operator trained by Britain's Special Operations Executive, sat at a German-controlled radio. He'd been captured with his set and codebook, and the Abwehr gave him a choice: send what we dictate, or we kill you and use someone else. SOE had taught him one last-resort trick, a security check he could drop if captured. He left it out. In Baker Street, the Dutch section noticed. But instead of shutting down the circuit, London replied: YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN YOUR TRUE CHECK. German officer Hermann Giskes read the reply, learned about the second check, and from then on every message carried both. Giskes turned more captured radios into a phantom resistance network that asked for weapons, money, and agents. British aircraft dropped men into fields where German reception committees waited. About fifty-four SOE agents were sent into Holland; all were captured, and only a handful survived. John closes with their names.

Why it matters for leaders: A warning only works if someone at the other end is willing to act on it, even when acting is inconvenient.

Q: Who ran the German side of the Englandspiel?

A: Hermann Giskes, a career Abwehr intelligence officer, who learned of the second check after London's reply.

Q: How did the deception come to light?

A: Pieter Dourlein, a captured Dutch agent, escaped from Haaren prison in August 1943 and broke the pattern.

Read the full essay on Substack → https://heroespath.substack.com/p/englandspiel

By John Fenzel, founder and CEO of Heroes' Path Foundation