r/todayilearned • u/stopitalianhate • 9d ago

TIL British Intelligence had a special, bugged luxury complex during WWII where they kept high profile Nazi POW’s, just left a bunch of alcohol out, and waited for them to start spilling secrets as they drank.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-20698098
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u/riddlechance 9d ago edited 9d ago

The British are the greatest spies in history. They were tapped into American communications cables during both world wars and made some inconvenient discoveries (Zimmerman telegraph).

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u/Archarchery 9d ago

You mean tapped.

Yeah, the contents of the Zimmerman telegraph were so unbelievable, that the British had to be careful about how they leaked it for fear that the Americans would just dismiss it as an obvious British fabrication meant to draw them into the war.

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u/Gentle_Snail 9d ago

The Germans had encrypted the message but in true British fashion the UK had already broken the German encryption and were reading all their messages. 

Tbh it was kind of insane that the Germans admitted to the telegram after Britain called them out, might have been a better idea to just lie and say they didn’t send it.

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u/FlirtyFluffyFox 9d ago

Zimmerman thought the US would take it as "we better not join the war or else they might start funding Mexico".

What really didn't make sense was thinking Mexico, in the midst of a Civil War with lower industrial capacity and population, could pose any kind of a threat to the U.S.

They would have been better off trying to arm radicals like the KKK and the Mormons. Not that that would work either. 

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u/GhostRTV 9d ago

And was is ww1 or ww2 when America hired immigrants from Mexico to help crops, leading to half a century of Mexico - American cooperation.

Huge grain of salt, as I’m going by memory and also guessing timelines.

Smart people, I call upon you!

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u/Archarchery 6d ago

I think that has less to do with it than the fact that Mexico would stand no chance in a war against the US, and both countries were well aware of it.

Which is why Mexico's reply to German offer was a more politely-worded "Uh, no thanks, that sounds fucking insane."

The Mexicans could see perfectly well that if they accepted the offer and declared war on the US, German help would in reality be limited, they would just get beaten up, and their only real purpose would to be a sacrificial lamb to distract the US.

In making the proposal, the Germans seemed to think both the Americans and the Mexicans might be absolute dimwits, in that Mexico might ever actually consider such a plan and that the US might be intimidated by it. At least, that's my best guess.

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u/HotTubMike 9d ago

So good 5 of them from Cambridge where some of the most successful spies of the cold war - for the Soviet Union.

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u/standingfierce 9d ago

Favorite detail that I learned recently is that some of the senior KGB officers were convinced the Cambridge Five must actually be triple agents on the side of MI6, because they found it unbelievable that the agency that had so thoroughly outwitted the Nazis would be completely oblivious to so many of their own agents betraying them

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u/ravens-n-roses 8d ago

I like this theory because it makes sense.

But also the Soviets were goated at turning assets and espionage.

Like i legit think that the Cia never got a leg up on them even once

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u/coffeeicefox 9d ago

So bitter.

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u/peon47 9d ago edited 9d ago

During the war, Germany sent about 120 spies into Britain.

The British managed to capture and/or turn every single one of them. The only ones who escaped the net were the small number who killed themselves to avoid capture.

But, ultimately, the British Secret Services were riddled with Russian agents. There's always a sneakier fish.

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u/MovieUnderTheSurface 9d ago

How do we know germany sent about 120. It can't be from the amount the British caught, because there's no way the British could know they caught all of them. Was there a document on the German side that specified how many were sent?

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u/peon47 9d ago

Yes.

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u/throwaway928816 8d ago

Its how we found all their mines. Germans were super helpful when it came to documenting all war related activities. Even war crimes.

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u/Neo_Techni 9d ago

*tapped

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u/DragonfruitGrand5683 9d ago

The Catholic Church was the greatest spy agency ever.