John Codd was an Irish-born British Army corporal during World War II, who went on to serve in the German Intelligence service (Abwehr) and the Sicherheitsdienst, the foreign intelligence arm of the SS.
Early life
Codd was born in Mountrath, County Laois in 1912. Although he had limited formal education, he was a gifted linguist and knew French, German, and Spanish. He emigrated to Canada in 1929, but moved to Britain in 1931 and enlisted in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
World War II experience
1940 capture
He served with this unit in the Far East until 1938 and was recalled to service in the Army in 1939. In 1940, he was dispatched with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to serve in France. He was wounded and captured by German forces.
After he had been treated in a German field hospital, he was transferred to Stalag III B at Lannesdorf and interned from December 1940 to January 1941. Stalag III B acted as a screening camp for another camp Stalag XX A (301) at Friesack, also known as "Friesack Camp".
Recruitment to German service
Friesack Camp was a special prisoner of war camp, where a number of British Army POWs of Irish nationality were congregated after expressing an interest in volunteering for service with the German military.
The training and selection by Abwehr II and the German Army occurred during 1940-43. The German military was attempting to raise a fighting force of Irish volunteers, along the lines of the World War I attempt to raise an Irish Brigade involving Roger Casement.
It was then hoped that suitable volunteers could engage in operations on the island of Ireland and in Great Britain. The selection process was administered by Abwehr II, a section of German Military Intelligence tasked with seeking groups in opposing nations who would assist the German war effort.
Helmut Clissmann, an NCO from the Abwehr II commando unit, the Brandenburgers, was involved in the selection of the candidates for training. Clissmann explained how the proposition of working for the German authorities was phrased to the POWs:
Codd was one of the ten men who were eventually selected for service with the Abwehr. He received sabotage, espionage, and radio equipment training. Upon his arrival in Friesack, Codd was visited by a Herr Bruckner, who made the initial approach about volunteering for service. He was promised that he would receive "freedom, money and an eventual return to Ireland."
Abwehr officials/agents, Dr. Jupp Hoven, Helmut Clissmann, and dual Abwehr/Foreign Ministry representative Kurt Haller also visited and spoke with Codd to win his allegiance. Following these approaches, Codd, along with another POW, Fusilier Frank Stringer, agreed to work for the Germans; and he was assigned an Abwehr handler or liaison: Harald Leichtweiss. To provide a cover for the transfer of Codd and Stringer to Berlin, a fight was staged in the camp canteen.
Mission assigned
Codd was assigned an Abwehr mission almost immediately after recruitment. The Abwehr war diary records for 6 October 1941 that Codd was to take part in Operation Innkeeper. ("Unternehmen Gastwirt" in German).
Hoven explains that on arrival in Berlin:
Codd, along with the other recruits, was courted by the Abwehr using a lavish expense account, fine wine and meals, a shared apartment block in Berlin, and meetings with officials in the Abwehr. While preparing for his mission, Codd was also provided with a salary of 400 Reichsmark and relative freedom around Berlin.
During his training, he was moved to Düsseldorf, with some suspicion that he had been neglecting his duties in favour of carousing. His training through to the summer of 1942, when the operational loss of Abwehr agents including those of Operation Pastorius changed Abwehr priorities; and a decision was taken to halt operations involving personnel recruited via Friesack Camp.
Prison
Around the time of the cancellation of Operation Innkeeper, Codd was arrested in Düsseldorf by the Gestapo and thrown in prison, after sending a letter to an Abwehr official demanding extra pay and privileges and threatening to terminate his agreement. Codd remained in prison, receiving visits from Frank Ryan, who was using the pseudonym "Mr. Maloney", and Kurt Haller. Due largely to Ryan's efforts, the Germans agreed to release Codd, although the Abwehr refused to employ him again.