Interpreter-Operators, 1916-1918
In the spring of 1916 the British Expeditionary Force in France was trawled for German-speaking soldiers to listen in to the enemy’s telephone conversations. Initially they retained their original regimental uniforms and insignia, but in the summer they were all transferred to the Royal Engineers (Signal Service) and designated as ‘Interpreter-Operators’. Later, in mid-1918 when trench SIGINT had declined, around half of them were moved across to the Intelligence Corps.
The role required good language skills as the Interpreter-Operators had to ‘live-log’ German messages. Unsurprisingly, men who had commercial or educational experiences in Germany were recruited to the trade. Others were native-speakers from the German community in Britain or other émigré groups. This raised security concerns, but they were outweighed by the need to collect vital frontline intelligence.
The following men have been identified as Interpreter-Operators. They are listed sequentially by their Royal Engineers service number and with the name they used during their First World War service.
108152 Bernard EP Neinhaus
148149 David C Griffiths
148302 Joseph Diamond
172621 Charles J Dalton
176014 Herbert S Dymond
196023 John L Hampson
197899 Otto J Wallis-Stolzle
197901 Harry WJ Boyce
197902 Ulrich Koch
197905 William A Smith
197914 Herbert J Benoly
197916 Thomas C Baines
198109 Joseph CW Eoll
198110 Richard H Linder
198113 Edward Hamilton
198142 Victor W Watt
198143 Arthur R Vine
198144 William Roberts
198145 Fritz V Schürhoff
198153 George N Borrow
198162 Evererd A Deal
198163 George L McLaren
198164 Richard R Short
198165 Oswald H Cohen
198166 Archibald LP Mason
199032 James R Cripps
199033 Donald M Grant
199037 Ernest H Ferris
199042 Edward E Walker
199043 Sydney F Blackwell
199044 Colin M Kerr
199048 Forester Mills
199049 Robert H Beach
199050 David G Larg
206928 Robert Liddell
206929 Harold E Loveday
206934 Ernest EG Tucker
206935 Walter Breakey
206936 William G Von Ahn
206937 Robert Dewhurst
206938 William F Auckenthaler
206941 Cecil EC Hanbury
206943 Charles C Edwards
206945 Andrew Pahl
206946 Oliver P Benkert
206947 Charles Delafield
206948 Richard Lederer
206949 William A Deakin
206950 Arthur F Barnard
206951 Roland U South
206952 Ernest White
206987 William H Morris
207372 Thomas H Gregory-Gould
207373 Robert WB Pugh
207375 George CP McGill
207377 George E Hay
207378 Stewart F Ramsay
207380 James A Milne
207384 Arthur WW Coton
207385 Joseph EE Shore
207386 John J Friederick
236799 Frederick JL Chick
236800 Robert P Jones
236801 Francis L Calver
236901 Alfred H De Swarte
236905 Carl F Juulman
236906 Alan F Jackson
236907 Isaac I Mazzier
236937 Adolph Goldberg
244934 Elcanon Sanina
244936 Raymend D Martlew
244937 Charles Rudy
244938 Jacob Grobsztein
244939 Herbert V Bush
244940 Frederick W Cox
244941 Henry W Willcox
244942 Joseph Glass
244943 Paul Fishel
244945 John Hazell
244946 Henry Madsen
244948 Charles HM Hillier
244949 Edward Treufeldt
244950 Sydney Sippert
244979 Nicol K Kempton
244981 Janno Brande
244982 Martin H Albrecht
244984 Sydney G Baines
245351 Curtis Black
245478 Clifford Ogden
245907 John Behrens
246021 Czeslas M Sztencel
246038 Clarence C Lowden
246039 Herbert O Crisp
246041 Walter L Holden
246042 Percy Hellinger
246044 Stanislas Souque
246046 William J Fortune
246048 Alfred P Cabinil
246053 Marc Rosenberg
250947 Ronald Smith
250948 James Cracknell
250950 Herbert W Needs
250951 Walter W Hilliger
250966 John Vincent Palmer
251766 Alfred J Cheyne
251767 Ferdinand Friedenthal
251768 Reginald S Stanleigh
251769 John KR Frey
251857 Ben Rabin
254447 Norman R Crute
254448 Maurice Griffe
312350 Constantin Sartinsky
341134 Frederick BV Illingworth
357731 Wilfred H Pitcher
357732 Allan Stewart
357733 Dennis L Nash
357734 Lionel HW Saunders
357735 James Taylor
357736 Edwin NDV Dawson
357738 Clifford Fuller
357739 William F Hoyle
357740 Jack Finkel
357741 Lawrence A Bisson
358105 Movcha M Slaweit
358106 Robert E Brown
358107 Fredrick C Redemann
358108 Percy EG Phillips
358109 John Patten
358110 Nathan Jacobwicy
358111 John T Stone
358113 William EG Cameron
358116 John G Lloyd
359805 Jules Meurs
360138 Wilfred N Falding
360139 Charles F Laxton
360420 Halfdan W Haines
360421 Norman Bray
360423 Charles Hennion
360578 Cecil H Todd
360579 Frank EH Dearle
360580 Leonard MB Waite
360581 James Slater
360582 William NP Hill
360583 Richard H Swinglehurst
361554 Archibald HT Mirrielees
361626 Andrew Stand
362428 Bindon CAW Lydiard
362981 Robert Klopfenstein
423193 James Anderson
458983 John HV Sutcliffe
471920 Jacob Grenbaum
547652 Charles H Tetley
547902 Rene A Sewell
547905 Aron Juwiler
547907 Paul Sherard
549614 Richard G Coates
553901 Rafael D Fermo
553902 Lazar D Fermo
562410 Albert J Salomon
Further Reading:
Jim Beach & James Bruce, ‘British Signals Intelligence in the Trenches: Part 2, Interpreter Operators’, Journal of Intelligence History (forthcoming, open access).
