Ognition for role in dramatic capture
said, ‘Agh’ in such a my grandfather knew was something amiss. y were German spies m. He was told to keep the police came. They de, even though my d them a seat in the
tes before the local rieve came – he had d to be roused. had no idea Drucke had a gun and a knife and could have killed him at any time.”
John’s intuition not only led to the capture of the pair but also the arrest of Walti, who was caught at Edinburgh’s Waverley Station a few hours later.
Drucke and Walti were found guilty of treachery in a trial at London’s Old Bailey and were executed at Wandsworth Prison on August 6, 1941.
Eriksen was never charged, escaped execution and disappeared into the ether, resulting in dozens of conspiracy theories – including she was a double agent for the British.
Historian David Tremain, 67, said: “Eriksen could almost rival World War I spy Mata Hari and the various Bond girls.
“Like most spies, nothing about her background is straightforward. Many of the facts surrounding her life are contradictory – some are speculation, or simply fantasy, the rest have been removed from her official MI5 files and few can be verified absolutely.
“She is perhaps best summed up by Winston Churchill’s remark about Russia, ‘A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.’
The Canadian wr iter, who has written The Beautiful Spy: The Life and Crimes of Vera Eriksen, said: “Even her fate at the hands of British intelligence is contentious.
“Why was Eriksen never charged as a spy or executed with the other two? Had they employed her against the Russians after the war? If so, for how long, and under what name? This seems implausible as when she was in captivity, she became disillusioned and vowed to ‘get out of the racket’. Another theory has her working for MI6 after the war.
“There is a death certificate for a Vera von Wedel, one of her aliases, in Hamburg in 1946 and while researching my book, I spoke to a Danish journalist who had proof the certificate is real. I therefore bel ieve the theory she returned to Germany after the war but in what capacity we might never know.”
Documents show that Eriksen was born Vera Schalburg in Siberia, Russia, in December 1912 and lived there until the October Revolution of 1917 when she fled with her family to Denmark.
She then moved to to Paris, where she made a living as a dancer.
It is unclear when she was recruited as a spy but she spent time in England in 1938 before her return and capture two years later in Buckie in 1940.
Tremain said: “Her whole life, including her origins, is a mystery. Her official MI5 files are heavily redacted and there are pages missing. Is it ever possible to know the whole truth in a spy case?”
Meanwhile, John wants his granddad’s war effort to be recognised. He said: “Station master John Donald has been honoured, as has Bob Grieve and Willie Merrilees, who arrested Walti in Edinburgh – why not my grandfather?”