Karl Heinrich Meier was a member of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

and a Dutchman of German origin (then aged 24), who, with his accomplice

Jose Waldberg Josef Rudolf Waldberg (born Mainz, Germany), known as Jose Waldberg, was a German national (then aged 25), who, with his accomplice, Karl Heinrich Meier, a Dutchman of German origin (then aged 24), was hanged at Pentonville Prison in London on 10 ...

, a German national (then aged 25), was hanged at

Pentonville Prison HM Prison Pentonville (informally "The Ville") is an English Category B men's prison, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Pentonville Prison is not in Pentonville, but is located further north, on the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury ar ...

in London on 10 December 1940, following his conviction at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

the previous month, having been sentenced to death by Mr Justice Wrottesley. These were the first executions under the

Treachery Act 1940 The Treachery Act 1940 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom effective during World War II to facilitate the prosecution and execution of enemy spies, suspended afterwards, and repealed in 1968 or 1973, territory depending. The law ...

. Meier and Waldberg sailed in a fishing trawler across the English Channel on the night of 3 September 1940. Carrying a radio, a pistol, secret ink, maps, food and 60 pounds sterling, they landed at

Dungeness Dungeness () is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the hamlet ...

. The following morning Meier tried to order a bottle of cider in the village of

Lydd Lydd is a town and electoral ward in Kent, England, lying on Romney Marsh. It is one of the larger settlements on the marsh, and the most southerly town in Kent. Lydd reached the height of its prosperity during the 13th century, when it was a co ...

, failing to realise that English pub regulations prohibited alcohol sales in the morning. The landlady alerted the police, who arrested Meier and then Waldberg later that same morning. They both spoke good English, and carried papers showing them to be Dutch refugees from the Nazis. The two confessed and told of instructions they had received to "observe and report on military objectives, such as aerodromes, concentrations of troops, gun emplacements, and ammunition dumps" and to "mix amongst the civilian population in trains, beffets and public houses, listening carefully to all careless talk by indiscreet civilians". The Meier case was referred to in a television documentary The Germans Are Coming that screened on the Yesterday channel in 2011.The Germans Are Coming
screened 6 December 2011 at 9pm. Retrieved 11 April 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meier, Karl Heinrich 1910 births 1940 deaths Dutch people of German descent Dutch people executed abroad Executed Dutch collaborators with Nazi Germany Nazi Party members Nazis executed by hanging People executed under the Treachery Act 1940