KREUGER, OTTO

Code-named TR-16 by the Secret Intelligence Service, Dr. Kreuger was a marine engineer from Godesberg who made the mistake of striking a brother officer—who happened to be related to the kaiser—and was court-martialed. He was still bitter in November 1914, when at age 39, he offered his services to Richard Tinsley at the British legation in The Hague. Kreuger proved to be an exceptional agent, with access to all the German  naval bases, Zeppelin sheds, and construction yards and with the professional skill to know precisely what he was looking at. He possessed a phenomenal memory and made regular trips to Holland to report to Tinsley without the necessity of carrying any notes over the frontier. He was also sufficiently adept to escape any suspicion, even being elected a director of the Federation of German Industries, until 1939 when he was finally trapped by the Gestapo and beheaded.