''Oren'' was the codename assigned to a Baltic-German

double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...

in South-East Asia by British Intelligence during

World War I 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 ...

Identity

Although his true identity is unknown, he is believed to be a man of

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

descent. Author Nigel West states that he was a Baltic German.

Espionage

''Oren's'' intelligence passed on to the British Consul in

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

, W.E. BeckettAlec Gordon article, "Rising Profits and Fears of Forfeiture in Neutral Netherlands East Indies during World War One", ''Social Scientist'' Vol. 42, No. 7/8 (July–August 2014), pp. 47-61 along with the intelligence passed on by another German agent Vincent Kraft, was instrumental in uncovering parts of the

Hindu–German Conspiracy The Indo–German Conspiracy (Note on the name) was a series of attempts between 1914 and 1917 by Indian nationalist groups to create a Pan-Indian rebellion against the British Empire during World War I. This rebellion was formulated betwee ...

, especially the plans to ship arms to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

on board the in June 1915. ''Oren'' also passed on information on the operations of

Jatindranath Mukherjee Bagha Jatin (; ) or Baghajatin, born Jatindranath Mukherjee (); 7 December 1879 – 10 September 1915) was an Indian independence activist. He was the principal leader of the Jugantar party that was the central association of revolutionary i ...

's agent

Narendranath Bhattacharya Manabendra Nath Roy (born Narendra Nath Bhattacharya, better known as M. N. Roy; 21 March 1887 – 25 January 1954) was an Indian revolutionary, radical activist and political theorist, as well as a noted philosopher in the 20th century. Roy ...

with German ministers in South-East Asia, and of Jatin's plans for revolt in the Indian Army in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

in August 1915. Based on Oren's intelligence, the ''Maverick'' was seized. Meanwhile in India, police destroyed the underground movement in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

as an unaware Jatin proceeded according to plan to the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...

coast in

Balasore Balasore or Baleswara is a city in the state of Odisha, about north of the state capital Bhubaneswar and from Kolkata, in eastern India. It is the largest town of northern Odisha and the administrative headquarters of Balasore district. It i ...

. He was followed there by Indian police and on 9 September 1915, he and a group of five revolutionaries armed with

Mauser Mauser, originally Königlich Württembergische Gewehrfabrik ("Royal Württemberg Rifle Factory"), was a German arms manufacturer. Their line of bolt-action rifles and semi-automatic pistols has been produced since the 1870s for the German arme ...

pistols made a last stand on the banks of the river Burha Balang. Seriously wounded in a gun battle that lasted seventy five minutes, Jatin died the next day in the town of Balasore. Oren's true identity was never disclosed by Beckett.

References

Footnotes

Notations

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oren World War I spies for the United Kingdom Double agents Hindu–German Conspiracy Revolutionary movement for Indian independence Year of birth missing Year of death missing World War I spies for Germany