Bertrand Stewart (December 1872 – 18 September 1914) worked as a solicitor in London and was also a military officer in the

Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry The Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry was a British Army regiment formed in 1794. It served in the Second Boer War and the First World War. It amalgamated with the Royal East Kent (The Duke of Connaught's Own) Yeomanry (Mounted Rifles) to form the ...

, he fought in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

and the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In between the two wars he volunteered to spy on German naval actions. He was famously arrested in Germany on 2 August 1911 and sentenced to four years in prison. Stewart and another British spy, Captain Trench, were pardoned and released by the German Kaiser as a present to Ernest Augustus the Duke of Brunswick when Augustus married the Kaiser's daughter, Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia. He died fighting off a German attack near the River Vesle during the Battle of the Marne.

Early life

Stewart went to school at Eton (Durnford's House). He then went up to

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, leaving in 1892. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1897 and joined the firm of Markby, Stewart & Co., of Coleman Street, London.

Military career and spycraft

When the Boer War started, Bertrand joined the West Kent as a private. He fought in British operations at Cape Colony, Orange River Colony, and the Transvaal. In 1906 he became an officer in the

. In 1911, Stewart volunteered to spy on Germany while he pretended to be a tourist. He was arrested after receiving a code book from a turned German double agent. Stewart had accomplices but was the only one arrested in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

. He was then trying to gain information about the defences of the East Frisian islands and the Weser estuary. Stewart was tried by the Supreme Court of the Empire at

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

on 31 January 1912. After four days, he was found guilty and sentenced to three-and-a-half years in the Glatz Fortress. Stewart and another British spy, Captain Trench, were pardoned and released by the German Kaiser as a present to Ernest Augustus the Duke of Brunswick when Augustus married the Kaiser's daughter, Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia. (They married on 24 May 1913). Stewart was annoyed at his capture and sued the British government for £12,500 for damage to his health. Some consider Stewart to have been a fantasist.Bertrand Stewart
, Christ Church, Oxford University. Retrieved 23 September 2014 When the Great War started, he was quickly given a position in the Intelligence Department on the Staff of Major General Allenby. During the Battle of the Marne, in the opening months of the war, his unit was facing fierce German attacks when he grabbed a rifle and went to help the men at the front lines. He was found dead by a future author and member of the same unit, Frederick Coleman, near the River

Vesle The Vesle () is the river on which the city of Reims stands. It is a fourth order river of France and a left-bank tributary of the Aisne. It is long, and rises in the ''département'' of Marne through which it flows most of its course. Geography ...

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * - Total pages: 544 * - Total pages: 160 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Bertrand 1872 births 1914 deaths People from Belgravia British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British military personnel killed in World War I Pre–World War I spies People convicted of spying Incarcerated spies Prisoners and detainees of Germany British people imprisoned abroad Recipients of German royal pardons Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry officers People educated at Eton College World War I spies for the United Kingdom 20th-century English lawyers 19th-century English lawyers Military personnel from London