World War II Mutt & Jeff Double Agents MI5 Files

Description

Mutt and Jeff: A British Double Cross Story

Timeline of Events

• May 13, 1919: John Herbert Neal Moe is born in London.
• 1921: Moe moves to Norway with his parents.
• Pre-1939: Moe makes short visits to his British grandparents in Cheshire.
• Pre-June 1939: Moe works as a hairdresser in his father’s business in Norway.
• June 1939: Moe goes to England for a longer visit, working at Max Factor’s studio in Denham as a make-up artist until the outbreak of war.
• Post-June 1939: Moe returns to Norway and works in his father’s business and at J. A. R. Film Studios.
• 1939: Tor Glad is initially recruited by the Germans to spy on British agents in Southern Norway, though he claims to have done no spying and was soon dismissed.
• July 1940: Moe is virtually unemployed due to the German invasion and the resulting economic downturn in Norway.
• July 1940: Moe is introduced to Tor Glad, who is now working as a postal censor for the German occupation government in Oslo.
• Post-July 1940: Glad is approached again by German intelligence to spy on Norwegian loyalists. He claims to have received pay but did no spying.
• Sometime After Introduction: Moe begins working at the postal censorship office, where Glad already works.
• Three Months After Joining: Moe is fired from the censorship office after being suspected of stealing a black list and providing it to a Norwegian loyalist.
• One Month After Moe Fired: Glad leaves the censorship office because he finds the work boring.
• Post-Leaving Censorship: Glad suggests to his German handler that he be sent to England as an agent.
• Post-Proposal: The Germans agree with Glad’s proposal and suggest he work as part of a team and Glad suggests Moe be his partner.
• Pre-April 1941: Moe and Glad undergo training in wireless communications and sabotage by the Germans.
• April 1941: Moe and Glad land by seaplane off the coast of Scotland and are taken to Aberdeenshire by rubber dingy and immediately surrender to local police.
• Post-April 1941: MI5 convinces Moe and Glad to work as double agents for the British.
• Post-Recruitment: Moe is codenamed “MUTT,” and Glad is codenamed “JEFF.”
• Post-Code Names: Mutt and Jeff are tasked with relaying false information to the Germans that would lead them to believe the allies were planning an invasion of Norway.
• Over the Next Four Years: MUTT successfully operates as a double agent. JEFF is considered unreliable by MI5.
• During the Four Year Period: Fake sabotage operations are set up, which fool the Germans into believing Mutt and Jeff are valuable agents and several airdrops of cash, equipment and radios are sent to them.
• End of War: JEFF is interned for the rest of the war.
• Post-War: JEFF is returned to Norway and prosecuted for his dealings with the Germans, though the charges are later dismissed.
• Post War: Mutt’s work is considered a success in the British Double Cross System.

Cast of Characters

• John Herbert Neal Moe (MUTT): Born in London of mixed Norwegian and British parentage. He was a hairdresser and make-up artist before the war. He was recruited by the Germans but immediately turned by MI5 to be a British double agent. He was deemed reliable and successful during his four years as a double agent.
• Tor Glad (JEFF): Norwegian, initially recruited by the Germans to spy on British agents in Norway. He worked as a postal censor for the German occupation government. He suggested being sent to England as an agent. He was considered unreliable and a security risk by MI5 and was interned for the rest of the war, due to a possible double cross.
• Karl Andersen: Norwegian Abwehr (German Secret Service) controller for Mutt and Jeff.
• Pauloski: Abwehr tutor to Mutt, training him in Morse and wireless telegraphy.
• John Cecil Masterman: Chairman of the Double Cross Committee. Author of “The Double Cross System.”
• ‘Tin Eye’ Stephens: MI5’s chief interrogator who questioned both Mutt and Jeff.
• T. A. R. Robertson: MI5’s chief architect of the Double Cross System, who expressed concerns about Jeff’s loyalty.
• Herbert Morrison: Home Secretary and Minister of Home Security who signed Jeff’s detention order.

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This 531-page collection of MI5 files details the World War II activities of double agents codenamed Mutt and Jeff.

John Herbert Neal Moe, born in London in 1919 to a British-Norwegian family, moved to Norway with his parents in 1921. Moe’s father opened a hair salon, and Moe frequently visited his grandparents in England. After his education, he worked in his father’s salon.

In 1939, Moe extended his stay in England, working as a makeup artist before returning to Norway and working in the family business and at a film studio. Following the German invasion of Norway in 1940, Moe became unemployed due to the decline of his father’s business and the closure of the film studio. In July 1940, he started working alongside Tor Glad.

Glad, a Norwegian recruited by the Germans in 1939 to spy on British agents, claimed he was dismissed after a week for inactivity. After the occupation, the Germans again approached Glad, this time to spy on Norwegian resistance members; Glad asserted that despite receiving payment, he did no spying. His German handler subsequently transferred him to a postal censorship office, where Moe soon began working. Moe lost his job at the censorship office after three months due to suspicions of theft and treason. A month later, Glad quit because he was bored.

Glad proposed to his German contact that he be sent to England as a spy, a suggestion that was accepted, with the addition of a partner. He nominated Moe for this assignment. The Germans then provided Moe and Glad with training in radio communication and sabotage.

In April 1941, a German aircraft dropped Moe and Glad off the Scottish coast in a small boat. Their mission involved sabotage and reconnaissance, specifically targeting food stores and factories, disrupting power, and generally causing chaos. They were also tasked with reporting on airfields and the impact of German air raids.

Upon landing, they immediately surrendered to the police. MI5 quickly recruited them as British double agents.

Moe received the codename MUTT, and Glad became JEFF, a playful reference to the bumbling cartoon duo, reflecting their unexpected surrender. British agents were tasked with deceiving the Germans by using German-supplied radios to broadcast false invasion plans for Norway. To maintain their cover as genuine German agents, they staged fake sabotage events.

The Germans requested the destruction of a power plant; in response, a controlled demolition targeted only outdated equipment. The British media publicized this event, successfully attributing it to the agents, Moe and Glad, while Mutt and Jeff were the true perpetrators. This deception tricked German intelligence into four resupply missions by parachute.

Mutt and Jeff’s actions were part of the highly successful British Double-Cross System, a major intelligence triumph of World War II. According to John Cecil Masterman, MI5 effectively controlled the German espionage network in Britain. The Double Cross Committee, also known as the Twenty Committee due to its Roman numeral designation, achieved this by monitoring and recruiting German agents dropped into Britain. This was facilitated by pre-war counter-intelligence and wartime signals intelligence. Wireless telegraphy was the main method of communication, but other methods, including invisible ink, tiny photographs, and direct enemy contact, were also used. The Double Cross System, initially for counter-intelligence, proved so effective that it became a key tool for strategic deception, most notably in Operation FORTITUDE, the D-Day deception plan. This operation successfully convinced the Germans that the Allied invasion would land at Pas de Calais, not Normandy.

MUTT’s four-year operation was highly successful, providing crucial deception capabilities and valuable counter-intelligence for British Intelligence.

MI5 always viewed JEFF with suspicion. His lack of full disclosure regarding his contacts with German intelligence in Norway led to his internment for the duration of the war. Post-war, Norway prosecuted him for his collaboration with the Germans, but the charges were eventually dropped.

The documents detail graphic accounts of deception operations, including German paratrooper drops to their agents and simulated sabotage in southern England. Images show Mutt, Jeff, and their German intelligence handler, Karl Andersen. A photo also depicts Mutt’s Morse code training with instructor Pauloski. The documents include Moe’s British birth certificate. A case summary, arrest report, and a written account of their fabricated cover story are included, along with details of Operation Porridge, a German airdrop. Further operations, Haggis and Oatmeal, are mentioned. Records detail fake sabotage operations, including Guy Fawkes, Omnibus, and Pyramid. A questionnaire for interrogating other saboteurs and a signed Official Secrets Act declaration are also present.

A key MI5 interrogation report by Captain ‘Tin Eye’ Stephens is available, as is a report by T.A.R. Robertson expressing concern about Jeff’s loyalty. MI5’s worry about Jeff intensified due to a security breach and his knowledge of their deception plans, leading to his internment at Camp WX. A letter from Glad criticizes MI5’s handling of information leaks. Glad’s file contains photographs, a forged registration certificate, his Norwegian passport, a forged national registration card, and a detention order from Herbert Morrison. Beyond the 531-page main text, this compilation features a previously classified, 17-page book review of J. C. Masterman’s “The Double Cross System.” This review appeared in the CIA’s internal publication, “Studies in Intelligence,” specifically Volume 18, Issue 1.