Standing Well Back
20th Century

Massive Explosion in New Jersey

….In 1916

Following the blog posts about Tunney and Eagan, a number of correspondents have asked for more detail about the German saboteur campaign in the US of the period. I’ve recently undertaken an analysis of this campaign (and one other from history) to compare current C-IED “Attack the Network” strategies with previous C-IED Attack the Network efforts.  The German saboteur campaign is fascinating not only for the parallels with modern terrorism and the lessons learned and since forgotten, but some very interesting operational aspects from both the enemy and friendly forces.

This campaign by German saboteurs saw a number of cells operating in the New York and New Jersey areas attack 47 factories, 43 ships and a number of docks and railway facilities over about a 2 year period from 1915- 1917. They used both explosive IEDs and incendiaries.  Many German ships were being blockaded in US ports by the British and the sailors provided ample human resources for the German authorities efforts to prevent the industrial might of the US from providing munitions for the French, British and Russians fighting Imperial Germany, before the US entered the war in 1917.

There were many interesting attacks which I will blog in the future. The biggest was an arson attack on the Black Tom munition loading facility on the New Jersey shoreline, right opposite The Statue of Liberty.  Incendiaries were set by German agents and there is strong evidence to suggest that some local watchman were paid to turn a blind eye, at the very least. Some time later the fire took hold and caused a detonation of 1000 tons of explosives. The Statue of Liberty was damaged, windows were broken across Manhattan and the explosion heard as far away as Philadelphia and Maryland. According to one source it was measured at 5.5 on the Richter scale. Remarkably few people were killed however.

 

 

After the war a reparations committee sat for many years and argued whether the Black Tom explosion was sabotage or not.  Eventually in 1939 the German government agreed to pay reparations – but WW2 intervened and a $50 million reparation was finally paid in 1979.

A memorial stone at the scene, within sight of lower Manhattan records the incident calling it “One of the worst acts of terrorism in American history”.

After the war the response to the German Saboteur threat was assessed in retrospect (leading eventually to the formation of the FBI under Hoover), and I rather like this quote from the former New York Police Commissioner, Tunney’s former boss:

“The lessons to America are clear as day. We must not again be caught napping with no adequate national intelligence organization. The several Federal bureaus should be welded together into one, and that one should be eternally and comprehensively vigilant.”

Arthur Woods, former Police Commissioner NYPD 1919

1860-1870

The British Spy who became an officer in the American Army and then a senior IRA military commander

……in 1864

Another interesting personality from the history of counter-terrorism is this chap, Dr Henri Le Caron aka Thomas Billis Beach.

 

 

Born in Colchester, England, he moved as a young man to Paris and then to the US where he joined the Union Army – rising to the rank of lieutenant and heading up a scout unit in the Civil War.  After the war circumstances caused him to have the opportunity to join and spy on the Fenian Brotherhood, and later the Clan na Gael, another militant Irish revolutionary organization.

Le Caron was “commissioned “ as a Major and “military organizer” in the IRA on 60 dollars salary a month and $7 per diem expenses. He was subsequently promoted to Colonel and became the Inspector General of the IRA, then Brigadier and Adjutant-General while all the time feeding information back to England and also to the Canadian authorities about Fenian activity including the Fenian “invasions” of Canada in the 1860s and 70s. The invasions failed miserably in part due to the information passed by Le Caron. At one stage every document issued from the Irish Brotherhood organisation was passed by Le Caron to his handler in England, the infamous Mr Anderson.

Le Caron’s book about his 25 years undercover is available free on-line, here, and gives many still valid tradecraft tips built from his experience.  In places it’s also highly amusing, and it is remarkable that he was so deep under cover and he lasted so long. His descriptions of the leaders of the “terrorist” group are insightful.

Of course, depending on your view of history, Le Caron is either a forgotten hero, or a scoundrel and a traitor. You take your pick, it’s long enough ago to be history

Le Caron wasn’t the only military leader in the Irish republican movement to be a spy feeding information to the British – more about the other guy in future blogs. (before anyone gets twitchy :- ), his name was “General” Frank Millen and his military career started as a Gunner in the British Army in the Crimean war.) Millen’s story is even more remarkable, so wait out for that.

1900-1910

New York’s IED Task Force 1905-1919

The article below on Inspector Eagan garnered quite a response so here’s another interesting character for the same city, within a similar line of work. This is Inspector Thomas J Tunney.

 

In 1905 the NYPD set up an organization to deal with the emerging threat of IEDs from the Italian “Black Hand” extortion gangs. This “Italian Squad” led by the famous New York Italian Cop Joe Petrosino played a significant and successful role in addressing the threat. In many ways they were an “IED task Force”. Tunney was assigned to this squad as a young police officer.

Petrosino was eventually assassinated while on a mission in Italy in 1909.

In August 1914 the NYPD Commissioner formed a “Bomb Squad” made up in part from the remnants of Petrosino’s Italian squad. Thomas J Tunney was assigned to command the Unit.  To be clear this was not a bomb disposal unit at the time but, in essence, a detective division.

Tunney’s job initially was to continue the focus on Italian/mafia extortion gangs using IEDs, and the continuing anarchist revolutionary threat – and the emerging threat from German saboteurs.  Tunney coordinated a significant effort from his team of 34 detectives, and led the use of double agents and detectives working under cover as well as extensive surveillance operations..   His team prevented an attack on St Patrick’s cathedral by some anarchists in 1915 when the bomb planters were arrested “in the act” by undercover police officers, one of whom pulled the fuse from the IED to prevent the explosion.

Tunney’s work expanded significantly in 1917 to counter the IED threat from German saboteurs. As the US entered the war Tunney was transferred directly into the Military Intelligence Service, along with 20 of his squad and indeed along with a number of senior NYPD officers. A significant proportion of the Military Intelligence Service (which before the war had consisted of three people) was then assigned in essence to Homeland protection duties to counter the German IED threat.

This military Unit, with Tunney as a Major had significant responsibilities for Investigations and security, combining some of the modern roles of Police, DHS and FBI in one unit.  I think we can tell from Tunney’s stern demeanor that he was a competent man, and indeed the press reports of the time rate him very highly.  Tunney toured the nation establishing special squads to deal with the German saboteur threat and the remaining threat from anarchists and other revolutionaries.

In 1919 he returned to the NYPD and wrote a book about his investigations, available on line here.  However at this time he fell foul of NYPD politics (!) was demoted and assigned to the pickpocket crime division. His deputy, Barnitz, was also demoted, and assigned back to uniform.   Tunney soon resigned and set up a private detective agency.

The following year saw a very significant VBIED attack on Wall Street, which as a crime was never solved. It is tempting to think that had Tunney been in charge he might have got to the bottom of it.

I have gathered some significant material on the German saboteur’s IEDs of 1915-1917 in New York and New Jersey (and elsewhere in the US) and will return to this subject in future blogs.

19th Century

The EOD operator who dealt with more IEDs than anyone else

I’ve been researching the IED history of New York, and it’s pretty fascinating.  I think there have been more IEDs in New York’s history than any other city in the world – it’s certainly up there with Baghdad and Belfast. I’ve already posted some details earlier about the Irish revolutionaries based in New York, in the 1880s and in fact there were two IED training schools in Brooklyn alone in those days, sending IEDs and trained bomb makers to England.  In the early 1900’s Italian extortion gangs used IEDs extensively in the city, and later there were anarchist devices and a very extensive IED campaign by German saboteurs between 1915 and 1917.  There’s lots of great stories, which I’ll put up posts about in coming weeks. For now here’s an image of Inspector Owen Eagen, of the New York Fire Department Bureau of Combustibles, who was in effect New York’s Bomb Tech between 1895 and 1920.  He dealt with over 7000 (yes seven thousand) IEDs between 1895 and 1920.  He lost a couple of fingers along the way.  I think you can tell by the jaunty angle of his hat and the twinkle in his eye that he was a guy who enjoyed the good things in life and maybe the occasional lunchtime tipple.  He has on the desk at his side, I think, a German incendiary IED.  He died in 1920 from “acute indigestion” whatever that means.  As an aside there was an NYPD police bomb squad from 1914, but they focused more on the investigations rather than the render safe.

Eagen was a remarkable man.

1930-1940

Sharp Knives on 40ft poles and tubs of water – IED response in the 1930s

I came across this edition of “Popular Mechanics” from July 1932 with a couple of interesting IED related articles – the first is the invention of a postal x-ray machine for IED detection, and then a longer article on IEDs including some postal IEDs that killed an amateur bomb tech, working with a sharp knife on the end of a 40 ft pole.  Also detailed is an IED that was placed in a tub of water in Milwaukee police headquarters – it detonated, killing 14 policemen.  On page 110 there’s also interesting reference to biometrics on IEDs, and the exploitation of evidence from them.

The article also makes reference to the famous New York Bomb Disposal expert Owen Eagen who died of natural causes in 1920 after a career where he is said to have dealt with over 7000 IEDs – a good indicator that New York was once a hotbed of anarchists and criminals who very often resorted to IEDs. I’m currently researching Eagen’s efforts as an early bomb tech and will blog on this in the future. Suffice for now to say there were more than 125 IED incidents in New York between January and October 1913.

Close Me
Looking for Something?
Search:
Post Categories: