The discussion has centred on German spies landed by U-Boat in the U.S.A. but in 1941, a U-Boat landed a German spy off the North-East coast of Scotland, in Aberdeenshire.The guy landed succesfully at night by rubber dinghy and found his way to a railway station on the main Aberdeen to Edinburgh railway line.
However, his trouser leg turnups were still damp from sea water and that- combined with his European accent- alerted a railway station employee who reported this to the local police.
The local police phoned the Edinburgh police and the Edinburgh Constabulary staked out Edinburgh's Waverley Station.
THe Edinburgh cops waited until the German spy entered a telephone booth in the station concourse when William Merrilees-who became, in the 1960's, Chief of Police in Edinburgh, Scotland, pounced, jamming the guys arm, which held a Luger pistol, in the 'phone booth door.
The guy was subsequently taken south to the Tower of London and executed for espionage.
Merrilees was commended for his gallantry and his spy catching exploit looked good too, on his C.V. or Job 'Resume' as Americans call it, when he applied for the Chief Constable's job in the 1960's
However, does anyone know which U-Boat deposited this German spy succesfully onto the beach on the Scottish coast in 1941?. Note-Colonel Oreste Pinto deals with this incident in the Waverley Station in 1941, in his book 'Spycatcher' but Pinto wrongly calls Willie Merrilees 'McNeill' in his book.
P.S. Mr McDaniels-your ancestors who fled the 1745 rebellion-did they perchance join the 12,000 Gaelic speaking Scottish Highlanders who inhabited Cumberland County, North Carolina in 1776.?.