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New exhibition tells secrets of Edinburgh secret agent

A secret agent’s spy kit goes on display for the first time at the National Records of Scotland in an exhibition on German espionage in Scotland before the First World War.

The exhibition tells the story of Dr Armgaard Karl Graves, who undertook a secret mission to Scotland in 1912 under orders from Berlin to obtain vital information about the Royal Navy’s latest weaponry and strength.

Graves’ covert activities are revealed at the exhibition, which opened friday (14 November 2014), through his code books, secret messages and intercepted letters. The exhibition uses intercepted documents and items seized from Graves to demonstrate how MO5, the forerunner of MI5, carried out its surveillance and capture of foreign agents.

The Germans targeted Scotland because of the shipbuilding industry – the Rosyth naval dockyard was under construction and some of the main builders of Britain’s latest warships and naval guns were based on the Clyde.

Graves was operating at a time of international crisis. The era of the Dreadnought battleship had just begun and fears of German invasion and networks of German spies were rife. The British secret services were created to respond to the perceived threat, and the Official Secrets Act was passed in 1911 to help protect national interests.

Graves sent information about ship movements in the Firth of Forth, and naval gun production at Beardmore’s works in Glasgow, to his German spymasters.

He was caught partly thanks to his landlady in the Morningside area of Edinburgh who alerted the police to her suspicious lodger. Graves was later captured and his trial in the High Court was the first in Scotland under the Official Secrets Act 1911.

Tim Ellis, Registrar General and Keeper of the Records of Scotland and Chief Executive of NRS, said:

“National Records of Scotland holds fascinating historical material from a range of Scottish organisations, both public and private. This exhibition uncovers some of our unique archives to tell an exciting story of espionage and to provide an insight into Scotland’s role in the naval arms race that preceded the First World War.”

‘The Kaiser’s Spy in Scotland: Naval espionage before the Great War’ is on show at General Register House, 2 Princes Street, Edinburgh, from 14 Nov until 31 Dec 2014, entry free.

Notes To Editors

The National Records of Scotland

The exhibition draws on the archives of the Crown Office, the High Court of Justiciary, the Scottish Office, and photographs of warships built by John Brown & Co at Clydebank, all held in the National Records of Scotland.

National Records of Scotland is a Non-Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. It holds and gives access to the nation's archives, oversees the registration of births, marriages and deaths, produces statistics on Scotland's population and conducts the Scottish Census. It is a centre of expertise on data handling, record keeping and archives.