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certain office in the city and he had quite a lot of questioning and was kept there for four hours.’
    ‘What office?’
    ‘Somewhere around the Monument district.’
    ‘Who questioned him? For what purpose?’
    ‘He was sent up there by the Labour Exchange.’
    ‘And they questioned him?’
    ‘They wanted to know all about me, my business and so on.’
    ‘That’s strange,’ remarked Hinchley-Cooke.
    ‘The strange part was that the names given to him were the same names – the same names as were given to me by a certain gentleman near Victoria Station. I came here on account of that.’ Apparently the name used by the man who had questioned Owens’ son was Jackson, this and the description of the man matched the identity of a German agent that Owens knew.
    ‘Where are those names of the agents in Europe?’ asked Hinchley-Cooke.
    ‘They are to be given to me.’
    ‘When?’
    ‘When I go back.’
    ‘When do you propose to go back?’
    ‘I thought of going back next week, but I don’t know, it all depends.’
    The interview continued with a discussion about the type of information that Owens was being asked to supply in addition to the material that was to be transmitted, and this included the nature of photographs he had been asked to take, and the location of airfield plans he was to supply. Owens explained that he was to be informed which cities in England were to be the first to be bombed, and he had been asked to let the Germans know the location of power stations and steel works in these cities.
    Owens was then questioned over what he knew about German agents already operating in England, and he revealed that he knew of two men. One was very dangerous and operated as a taxi driver in London, using a sweet shop as a cover. The other was a man who travelled around the country, only ever staying at hotels. Owens did not know their names but promised to find out. He then told them that he had seen the Luftwaffe’s plans for a manned attack on British aerodromes.
    ‘Did you see them secretly or openly?’ challenged Hinchley-Cooke.
    ‘I saw them openly. It is a kind of list, together with a map, and all those aerodromes are marked with two crosses. Others with one. I was told: “You need not be too particular about them. We want immediate information at once of these aerodromes. You go on a train to these aerodromes and get the men and machines concentrated there, and send them when we tell you.” The ones to be attacked first are marked with three crosses.’
    ‘The list was marked on the map itself?‘
    ‘They had a list here and a map there, regarding all these aerodromes.’
    ‘Where were these aerodromes, do you remember?’
    ‘There were a large number, including Mildenhall, Chichester – they were very particular about Chichester – and there were two aerodromes… Thornaby and Felixstowe.’
    Owens then explained how the transmitter was to work, saying that it was portable and that he was to travel by train whenever possible. If he had to, he could hire a car and install the set in it by running two wires out of the window. He would then gather the information required and transmit it using the code. Owens said that he had not seen the receiver which was kept in a big office, but that the Germans had explained how it worked.
    ‘You won’t be able to receive messages?’ asked the MI5 officer.
    ‘No, not on that; that is merely for transmitting.’
    ‘Where do you get your juice from?’
    ‘From small batteries.’
    ‘And it is all amplified up?’
    ‘Yes, the machine is only about that big. You set whatever wavelength you want to transmit to, the forty meter band for example – it only takes about half a minute – and then you send to them.’
    ‘And you do that by Morse?’
    ‘Yes. There is a special key for it about that big and you cannot pick up the click.’
    ‘Do you know Morse?’
    ‘Well – in the Scouts – I knew a bit. I can learn, I know a few letters; I practise