Evening star., 1942-08-09
BY the Associated Press.


German submarine anchored a few
hundred yards off the beach at
Amagansett, Long Island, about 125
miles east of New York City, in the
early hours of June Is. They wore
German military fatigue uniforms,
which soon were exchanged for
American made civilian clothes.
The men came ashore in rubber
boat manned by two German sail
ors. and with them came an amaz-
ing store of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS,
ircendiaries, fuses, detonators, tim
ing devices, acids-and $4,000 for
expenses and bribes. They were
equipped for a two-year campaign
of sabotage and had a list OF prime
obiectives, such as light metals
plants, vital railroad areas, water
supplies, bridges. "s@
Immediately on landing, the
group went to New York and met
the contacts named for them by the
German high command. The men
had been trained for weeks in a
sabotage school near Berlin. They
knew precisely where to do the most
damage to Americas war produc-
tion.
Landing in Florida.
An almost identical landing oc-
Cured on June II at Ponte Vedra
Beach near Jacksonville, Fla There
were four men trained in sabotage
and equipped with explosives and
incendiaries, and well financed
Some of this group went to Chicago,
where headquarters was to have
been established In q North Side
home.
On July 2, President Roosevelt
barred the civil courts, to the eight
men and ordered them tried by a
military commission of seven gen.
erals. He named Attorney General
Biddle and the Judge Advocate Cen
eral OF the Army, Maj Gen. Myron
g. Cramer, as prosecutors. To de-
fend the prisoners he appointed Col.
Cassius NJ DoWell and COLI Ken
meth c. Royal. x~
Just, before the. trial started on
July 8. special counsel. Col. Carl
L. Ristine, was appointed for
George John Dasch, leader of the
Long Island team, who, with Finest
Peter Burger, teammate, was most
frequently mentioned in reports
that one or two Of the prisoners
were aiding the Government.
Formal Charges Filed.
Filing of formal charges, alleging
violations of the law of war, the
8lst and 82d articles of war, and
conspiracy to commit those viola
tions, took place Gay after tstsb-
lishment of the commission, and
five days later the trial began.
The interest in the trial was
heightened by the fact that it was
the first of its kind since the Civil
War and involved the first actual
landing of spies fru-, an enemy war
ship
The proceeding, which took r,ace
In an FBI assembly room in the
Justice Building, was 80 hours old
before it was formally announced
It might never have been made
known officially if Maj. Gen. Frank
r. Mccoy, president of the. trial
panel, had had his way. To insure
his plan for utmost secrecy. he
swore to silence. every participant
in the proceeding.
Tried to Keep Secret.
However, the new Office of War
Information, a tremendous story at
hand. sought to open the trial to
the public, or at least to obtain a
running account of the proceeding
Gen. Mccoy refused to see repre-
sentatives of owl Director Elme,
Davis, who thereupon went to Mr.
Roosevelt.
The outcome, generally considered
victory for the generals, was al
agreement that Gen. Mccoy issu.
after each session a statement or
the progress of the trial. Gen. Nc.
Coy's statements were masterpiece.
OF brevity. Information concerning
anything but the hours of con.
vening and adjourning seldom re.
quired more than two or three sen.
tences.
The Coast Guards story of it
part in the case was announced
July Is through Owl. 1t told hov
Coast Guardsman John C. Cullen
Il, walking his 6-mile patrol on /;
lonely Long Island beach, encoun
tered three men, one ashore il
civilian clothes and two wearin:
bathing suits standing knee deep il
water.
At first Mr.. Cullen was threatened
but later the strangers offered hin
a bribe which he pretended to &C
cept as. a means, Of escape MI
Cullen had no gun. He returne,
to the Coast Guard station. Sool
half dozen Coast Guardsmel
were at the scene, distributed be
hind sand dunes with orders t
resist invasion"
Found German Cigarettes.
They saw, the account sale
through rift in the fog, a Ion
thin object. about 10 feet loni
about $50 feet offshore,' and hear
'the noise of powerful diesel en-
gines. The noise died away, an
the. Coast. .Guardsmen searched tn
beach
They found some cigarettes c
German make in the sand, and nc
long after they came on the still We
area where the explosives and in
cendiaries were buried.
The real high light of the tri;
occurred during a three-day rece:
between conclusion of evidence an
the final arguments. Defense cour
eel took to the supreme Court
whose members were gathered frol
vacation retreats for an extraord
nary session probably without para
le1-their contention that the pri.