Eddie Chapman, Triple Agent

There have been many double agents in the long history of espionage, the world’s second oldest profession, bu Eddie Chapman must the only triple agent.

He was born in the North-east of England in 1914 and joined the Coldstream Guards when he was 17.  He found the military life boring and deserted into the Soho underworld and a life of crime.

Chapman took occasional jobs as a film extra or boxer, but the bulk of his income came from theft.  He quickly became an expert safe cracker, using gelignite.

He was often in prison and the Germans found him in a Jersey cell when they occupied the Channel Islands.  They recruited him for spying missions and sabotage tasks in Britain.

Chapman was parachuted into Cambridgeshire to blow up the De Havilland Aircraft Factory.  He quickly went to police station and offered his services to MI5.

They called on the specialised skills of top illusionist, Jasper Kaskelye who devised a camouflage scheme that made the plant look as though it had been put out of action on aerial photographs.

MI5 returned Chapman to Germany where he gave seminars on sabotage to the Nazi High Command.

Chapman’s secret services were recognised by the award of the George Cross by Britain and the Iron Cross by Germany.

Just which country was he loyal to?  Only Eddie Chapman knew the answer to this question and he took his secret to the grave with him when he died in 1997.