The Pittsburgh Press (August 16, 1941)
NAZI SPY EXECUTED IN TOWER OF LONDON
London, Aug. 16 (UP) –
A German spy who landed near London by parachute, fully equipped for espionage and carrying a two-way radio outfit, was executed at dawn yesterday in the Tower of London.
The spy, Josef Jakobs of the German Army’s meteorological service, was shot on the same spot where, on a May dawn of 1915, Germany’s No. 2 spy of World War I, Hans Mueller, died before a firing squad.
The shooting of Jakobs was this war’s first execution in the Tower and the first execution by shooting, although six spies have been hanged.
Jakobs, a non-commissioned German officer, landed by parachute dressed in civilian clothes, over which he wore a flying suit. He was arrested 12 hours later by the Home Guard.