Hitler's Lost Spy (2 page)

Jack related his experiences in New Guinea during World War II and provided a commanding insight into ‘the greatest battle of all time' – the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Finally I raised the question, and that was enough – his face revealed a striking level of animation.

‘Ahhhhhh … yes', he said slowly while smiling broadly and moving his head as if agreeing to something. ‘Madame Wagner', he continued, still smiling and using the German pronunciation.

So Jack's story began. How he met Annette in 1938 at the Sydney branch of Alliance Francaise, and her request that he fly her to Newcastle, resulting in Jack's brief involvement with the authorities. His detailed and tantalising recollections flowed with remarkable precision, and all accompanied by a persistent smile. His vibrant spirit embodied the realism and historical impact of her story.

Following Jack's captivating accounts I departed, but another ten years passed before I finally commenced the process of locating information on the lady. This led to the unearthing of her security file in the National Archives of Australia that had remained silently undisturbed since 1946, somehow evading regular archival sweeps by researchers of that period.

Hitler's lost spy had not faded from history, but the talents exercised in her covert operations ensured obstacles were fashioned for those who may attempt in the future to define the lady. Security agents suspicious of her pre-war activities were guided down a challenging path, and for those who came after, she managed to remain under the historical radar for nearly seventy years.

Paris Police Headquarters, July 1946

Apart from how it ended, little is known of Annette Wagner's last day. It had been alleged that her husband, Robert Wagner, had been unsuccessfully sought by the French police for questioning in regard to pro-Nazi activities during the War. Unable to trace him, Annette had been summoned to the Police Headquarters on the Île de la Cité, an island in the Seine and one block from the Louvre, to discuss his whereabouts. What occurred during the course of her questioning is unknown, but the interrogation concluded with Annette moving to a window, and lurching herself onto the stone pavement three floors below. Whether she died immediately or later, is not known.

It was early July in Paris and the day may have been very warm. Not being air-conditioned, the opening of windows in this type of building was common practice during the summer. An open window, an uneasy police interrogation and Annette, for reasons posterity may only speculate upon, chose to end her life.

Annette Wagner had arrived in Australia in early 1938 and departed two years later. During this period she established her credentials, in various ways, including the remarkable feat of building nation-wide radio audiences through programs she scripted and produced. Her unique association with radio continued until the commencement of World War II in September 1939.

On 6 July 1946 the Sydney newspaper,
Smith's Weekly
, produced an article on Annette Wagner's demise. The article was titled:

BEAUTIFUL WOMAN SPY WHO WAS SYDNEY

BROADCASTER – ANNETTE WAGNER SUICIDES

IN PARIS.

Terse cable message recently, which stated that an Annette Wagner had thrown herself from the third floor of Paris Police Headquarters, recalls the activities in Sydney of a glamorous woman of the same name who caused much concern to intelligence officers during early days of the war.

Message to Australia stated that Wagner, at the time of her suicide, was being interrogated as to the whereabouts of her husband … That adds to the mystery and complexity of a story Australian investigators would like to have in full.

The Wagner in Australia described by security officers as dark, beautiful and reassuring, was an enigma to them. She gave the impression of ingenuousness, but had a certain air of mystery, and her activities at times appeared singular
¹
. However, she remained without restriction.

She related experiences as a medical missionary in South Africa but apparently refrained from divulging that she had been a language translator for the Japanese at the League of Nations, Geneva, and had once worked with the Japanese Embassy in London. It may have been for the latter reason she was refused a passport to Japan just before the Nips came into the war.

Anyhow, Australia had had enough of her by 1940, whether guilty of subversive work or not, so, prevented from going to Japan, they saw that she got to Colombo. Her excuse was a desire to return to Madagascar to divorce her husband.

There was a period of detention in Colombo, and (she) next found herself shipped to Vichy France. From there she faded from the picture, until news of her tragic death.

It doesn't all link up, but now a Commonwealth dossier can be stored away – sealed, but not solved.

Not solved, that is, until recent research confirmed she was a spy. What has also been established is the ‘certain air of mystery' was found by authorities to be subtle on occasions, but at other times frustrating. During the early examination of Annette's activities in Australia, unanswered questions immediately arose. But as these progressively increased, security concerns, secrecy and clandestine behaviour would be added to her ‘air of mystery', resulting in Annette Wagner joining a growing group of individuals in the late 1930s assessed as warranting surveillance. In beginning to understand the lady it is necessary to explore the origins of her motives, and this demands an examination of her personal life during the few years prior to arriving in Australia. It commences with the impact of her husband, Robert.

The Nazified Robert Wagner – Influence or
Attraction?

Robert Wagner was born in the German territory of Alsace, the historically disputed region bordering on, and sharing the direct influence of, both France and Germany. At the Versailles Conference following World War I, Alsace was returned to France and Wagner's family opted for French citizenship. The post-war economic and political chaos in Germany offered a poor option to those residents who preferred to live under a German administration.

He joined the French Civil Service, and at the time of meeting Annette was a district officer in the then French colony of Madagascar.

The origin of his pro-Nazi beliefs is unknown. These may have evolved from a single source – his German birthright – or simply a drift to Nazi ideology that had enticed millions throughout Europe in the 1930s. Whatever the source, or sources, they were conceivably powerful enough to contribute to Annette's attraction to him, or else sufficient to convert her to his political beliefs. It may have been neither, but the likelihood is that Robert would have introduced Annette to Nazi sympathies, or merely consolidated her own advanced admiration for Hitler and National Socialism.

When questioned in Australia about her husband, Annette did not refer to his political predisposition.

Madagascar – Robert in Good Company

The German invasion and occupation of France in 1940 created two principal geographical and political zones – the area under direct German military control, and the smaller ‘free' zone centred on the town of Vichy and being, in varying degrees, allied to Germany. The activities conducted in these zones during the Occupation are well documented. Less familiar are the political responses in the French overseas territories to the German invasion. They were far away from the direct influence and control of both the Germans and a French national government, which effectively no longer existed.

In Madagascar, as with all of the French territories, the colonial government was confronted with the problem of deciding from whom to take their orders – the pro-German Vichy regime, or the Free French headed by General Charles De Gaulle in London. The authorities in Madagascar chose to support Vichy. In fact, most of the French colonies did the same
²
. Robert Wagner would have been at ease with the choice.

There was a possible, and serious outcome for the strategic regional interests of the Allies following the induced decision in Madagascar to recognise the Vichy ‘government'. This was the possible intrusion into the western Indian Ocean of a military outsider – Japan. In the months following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Germans had attempted to coerce the Japanese to occupy the island. This would have created an Axis base capable of intercepting Allied shipping crossing the Indian Ocean. The British had already concluded that the Japanese would attempt to do this and planned an invasion of the island that was to be designated
The Battle
of Madagascar
.

The historian, Martin Gilbert, described in his book,
Second World War
:

May 7 (1941) saw the climax of Operation Ironclad, a British landing at the Madagascan port of Diego Suarez, an operation aimed at denying the Japanese a base from which to dominate the Indian Ocean. The troops of Vichy France, driven from the port, still resisted, however, any further British advance across the island, and plans had to be made to renew the operation in the autumn.

The British operation was difficult, but finally succeeded five months later. Gilbert describes why the British had their fears of Japanese incursion in Madagascar confirmed (he had earlier referred to the midget submarine attack in Sydney Harbour on 31 May 1942):

That same day, more than six thousand miles to the west (of Sydney), other Japanese midget submarines, reaching Madagascar, sank the British merchant ship British Loyalty in Diego Suarez harbour, and damaged the battleship Ramillies. All the Japanese submariners were killed: as at Sydney, theirs had been, in effect, a suicide mission.

The midget submarines were carried by the large ‘I' 
class submarines and launched outside the port – in similar fashion to the Sydney attack
³
.

So what is the relevance of the
Battle of Madagascar
to Annette Wagner? The British were absorbed in a military conflict with a colony of an occupied ally, and supporting the Vichy government's decision to fight the British was undoubtedly the Nazi-sympathiser, Robert Wagner. This  was the man Annette Wagner married in late 1936 when Hitler was revitalising Germany, the economic results of which were internationally admired. Had Annette not been an enthusiast for Hitler prior to her marriage, it would have been difficult for her not to be so after her marriage when she lived with Robert in Madagascar, socialising with others possessing similar political bearings.

The British author, Richard Vinen, describes in his book,
The Unfree French,
the political affiliations of the colonial administrators of Madagascar in 1940

French people in the overseas empire were often very Petainist. An English report suggested that Leon Cayla, Governor of Madagascar, was more pro-Vichy than Petain
⁴
.

This was the mood of the political environment in which Annette Wagner lived during 1937 – the year prior to her arrival in Australia.

FOOTNOTES

1
 
Singular
in this context meaning ‘odd' or ‘unusual'

2
 In the French territory of New Caledonia, off Australia's east coast, the administration was extremely pro-Vichy and offered territory to the Japanese for submarine bases. The French settlers, however, supported de Gaulle. For several months in 1940 there was the possibility of civil war on the island.

3
 Three midget submarines entered Sydney Harbour, one of which was retrieved from Taylor's Bay, about 50 metres from Annette Wagner's residence during 1938–39.

4
 Marshall Philippe Petain was the distinguished World War I army commander who headed the Vichy government.

Operation Sidestep – Returning Home

In late June 1939, the leader of the Nazi Party in Australia, Walter Ladendorff, said his farewells to the party faithful and sailed back to Germany. Hitler's war was imminent, and Ladendorff, with many others like him in allied nations, would be more useful back home.

He had joined the Nazi Party – membership number 2844505 – and was later elevated by Berlin to head the Party in Australia through his appointment in 1937 as
Landeskreisleiter
(Land Circle Leader, or country leader). He relished the post, often posing as ‘first contact' on important consular issues.

Ladendorff was not alone in leaving Australia as war approached in Europe. There were people who needed to be removed, as little service could be offered to the Führer from a foreign internment camp. Others remained, and a meeting of the Nazi Party Council in Sydney on 18 August 1939 – two weeks prior to Hitler's invasion of Poland – discussed preparations to remove senior Nazis from Australia, and to locate ‘special places of concealment' for others. A ‘Nazi Sabotage Squad' had previously been established, and a map of Sydney, retrieved from Ladendorff's former office, had blue pencil markings against strategic installations.

Other active Nazis in Australia were not deemed to be of sufficient importance to be trusted with advanced warning of Hitler's war. Of these the most publicly recognized, and unpredictable, was Arnold von Skerst.

He had previously ingratiated himself into Nazi circles, which included editorial responsibilities for the Nazi newspaper,
Die Brücke
(The Bridge). He was interned on the outbreak of the war.

The Japanese leg of
Operation Sidestep
commenced in January 1941 by which time any serious internal opposition to Hirohito's planned war with the West had long been removed. Transfers, extended annual leave or ‘tragic family news' brought Japanese consular or business personnel home – where they remained. The Pacific War had been locked in, with only the commencement date outstanding.