Episode #1 – The Life and Lies of Fritz Joubert Duquesne with Andrew Blasco.
Born in South Africa in 1877, Fritz Duquesne fought in the Second Boer War of 1899-1902 as a Boer officer; but that was only the first act of his incredible story. A man of seemingly no real loyalty or morals other than a burning hatred of the British empire, time and time again throughout his life he was found in conflict and conspiracy, always reinventing himself to suit any situation.
He was captured and imprisoned on several occasions, but escaped every time. He killed his first man at the age of 12, when a Zulu warrior attacked his mother.
The act for which he is most famously known occurred on June 5th, 1916. The British ship HMS Hampshire exploded and sank on its way to Petrograd, Russia. On board was Field Marshal Horatio Kitchener, the supreme commander of all British forces. Only 12 of the 655 passengers and crew onboard survived. Kitchener was not among them. Duquesne’s involvement in the sinking has never been verified.
Following the sinking of the Hampshire, Duquesne was recruited by Germany as a spy and saboteur. He sabotaged merchant ships in American East Coast harbors, sinking as many as 22 of them with hidden bombs. He was arrested in 1919 but faked paralysis in prison for two years before escaping by dressing himself as a woman and slipping away.
After many more adventures he was caught in 1941 as the headof the Duquesne Spy Ring, directing more than 30 spies at the behest of NaziGermany. It is still considered the largest espionage case in US history.
For episode #01 of the Spycraft 101 podcast, I talked about Duquesne with Andrew Joseph Blasco, author of Kill Kitchener, the first in a series of novels based on Duquesne’s incredible life. Andrew has worked hard to pin down the truth behind the many legends surrounding Fritz Duquesne, and it turns out a surprising number of them are true.
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The Ultimate Spycraft and Espionage Reading List: https://amzn.to/3XkWRNh
Find the Spycraft 101 book series here: https://shop.spycraft101.com/products/spy-shots-volume-i-101-true-tales-from-the-world-of-espionage
