Günther Schütz Günther Schütz ( 17 April 1912 – 1991 ) was a German citizen who performed a mission for German Intelligence ( Abwehr ) in World War II , as part of Britain ' s Double Cross System . Early life . Schütz was born on 17 April 1912 in the Silesian town of Schweidnitz . He was born into a prosperous upper - middle - class family which owned a metal manufacturing business . Military career . He had served in the local army reserve unit during 1934 - 1935 and later attended a five week training course with the 2 / 58 Mounted Artillery Regiment at Oldenburg in 1938 . During 1938 - 1939 Schütz attended the German Commercial College at Eaton Rise , Ealing , in London and he also acted for the Abwehr while in Britain . Abwehr . His selection for Abwehr training took place when on home leave in Christmas 1938 , he had been asked to attend the Hamburg Ast . and on arrival had been introduced to Hauptmann Dr . Friedrich Karl Praetorius , the senior officer in the economic section section of Abwehr I . He was asked not to be a spy but to do his ' patriotic duty ' and to keep his eyes open . He was expected to send reports on the economic and industrial situation around him to an address in Hamburg . Schütz agreed and returned to Britain as a representative of " Remy & Co . " - an Abwehr front company . Schütz travelled up and down the country taking pictures of factories bringing with him a Portuguese man called Pierce who also shared the building where he lived . Schütz attempted to recruit Pierce and he agreed to work for the Abwehr . However , Pierce also went to MI5 and was asked to act as a double agent called " RAINBOW " with an MI5 handler based in Antwerp . The Abwehr asked Pierce to assess bomb damage from IRA S - Plan attacks , report on internal transportation facilities and British air defences . Pierce did so but in his capacity as RAINBOW he fed the Abwehr faulty information until June 1943 . Schütz returned to Germany in August 1939 and was immediately activated for military service . He was assigned to Abwehrstelle I / Wi Generalkommando Hamburg - the Hamburg branch dealing with economic espionage . As a cover , Schütz was posted to the ' translator company ' or Wehrkreis X . From December 1939 he carried out a variety of tasks for Abwehr I / Wi in particular visiting Belgium , Italy , and Switzerland primarily to collect letters from live - letter drops sent by German agents overseas . He was also sent to Spain periodically beginning in June 1940 and during this period he acted as handler for agent Werner Unland . In December 1940 Schütz was recalled to Hamburg and told about a mission to Ireland . His mission would be to collect and send weather information ( desired by Abwehr section I - L Air Intelligence ) , observe British convoy traffic ( desired by Abwehr section I - M Naval Intelligence ) , and conduct economic espionage against selected targets in Northern Ireland . In particular , Abwehr wanted data on the His mission was dependent on regular radio contact and he received training in the basics of radio transmitting . Gaelic scholar and SS officer Ludwig Mühlhausen also became involved in the orientation of Schütz . He was taught the basics of Morse code , and meteorology , and he was the first agent sent to Ireland that carried the new microdot system . He was given £1000 sterling and $ 3200 US some of which was counterfeit . In the event of trouble Schütz was to contact the German Legation for assistance . He was also to give some of his money to two Abwehr assets then resident in Ireland , Werner Unland , and Johannes Ernstberger who remained on an Abwehr retainer . Mission . Schütz ' s mission to Ireland was cancelled in July 1940 , but rescheduled in September 1940 . In further preparation he met with Oscar Pfaus and requested some Irish contact names . This request was denied by the Abwehr who made it clear to Schütz that he was not to contact the IRA for any reason . The first attempt to deposit him in Ireland failed when the He - 111 was forced to return to base in Amsterdam on 5 March 1941 . One week later however he was successfully parachuted into Ireland . The planned dropzone was Newbridge near Dublin but in fact he was dropped 100 miles off near the village of Taghmon , County Wexford . Unfortunately for the Abwehr he was spotted and reported to the Garda Síochána who on inspection of his case , discovered his transmitter , money , microscope and bottle of German cognac . He was placed under arrest . He immediately confessed everything to the police and was taken to The Bridewell Gaol then Arbour Hill Prison on 15 March 1941 . During his interrogation by Irish Military Intelligence ( G2 ) he was told about the German agents Wilhelm Preetz and Walter Simon who had also been caught - it was a sign of his unpreparedness that he was entirely unaware of these men . Through the interrogation of Schütz , G2 were able to arrest Unland although they had been aware of his activities in Dublin previously . Internment , escape & IRA . German Intelligence internees were held in a number of locations throughout " The Emergency " - - Sligo Gaol , Arbour Hill Prison , Mountjoy Gaol , The Bridewell and Custume Barracks , Athlone . Although three of them , Görtz , Tributh and Gärtner ( Operation Mainau and Operation Lobster I ) were serving members of the Wehrmacht , they were deemed enough of a security threat to be separated from the regular prison population . Schütz however was to make a few efforts to escape from captivity . The first involved digging a tunnel from Mountjoy Gaol with the help of Dutch internee Jan van Loon , but it failed after the tunnel filled with water . The second was more successful and involved enlisting the help of the IRA through internee Jim O ' Hanlon , who gave Schütz his own address and those of several other volunteers . Schütz made his escape attempt on 15 February 1942 and reached the house of Jim ' s brother Joe O ' Hanlon . From this point on he was sheltered and protected by the IRA , first by O ' Hanlon , then by Caitlin Brugha in Rathmines . Brugha wanted Schütz to re - establish contact with the Abwehr and facilitate a resupply of arms , ammunition and money to the IRA . Through Mrs . Brugha ' s contacts Schütz met with the representatives of the " Northern Group " , the Belfast IRA who had taken over the organisation following the arrest of Stephen Hayes on charges of treason . The men explained to Schütz that they had a plan ; they wanted communications equipment , arms , ammunition and money to rebuild the IRA . In exchange , they would arrange for Schütz to leave Ireland and arrive in occupied France . These arrangements were made directly with the new IRA Adjutant General Eoin McNamee and another IRA member who is presumed to be Seán McCool . The intended skipper of the vessel that was to take Schütz to France was IRA member and Irish Naval Service Captain Charles McGuinness . The departure was planned for 30 April 1942 . McGuinness was collected and taken to the vessel at Bray just south of Dublin , but the house where Schütz was staying was raided and Schütz was taken into custody by Irish Special Branch . The irony is that when they raided the property , the detectives were looking not for Schütz , but for Nóinín Brugha . Schütz was returned to the Bridewell and thence to Arbour Hill , where his room , which had once housed Éamon de Valera , had a carpet and radio . He sat out the remainder of the war in prison . Life after " The Emergency " . Schütz was put on the list for deportation after the war ended , but he married Irish citizen Una Mackey on 1 May 1947 , by this time he was on permanent parole and had a flat in Haddington Road , Dublin . He had also begun a small business making desk lamps . He appeared at the aliens ' office at the same time that Hermann Görtz committed suicide and following this was flown from Baldonnel to Frankfurt . He was taken to a US Army interrogation camp near Oberursel but was released soon after . He and his wife began all over again in Hamburg and he took up his desk lamps business again . He successfully established his own import / export business and eventually moved back to Ireland in the 1960s . For some years he ran a hotel in County Wicklow and eventually retired to his home in Avoca . He died in his sleep in Shankill , Dublin , 1991 . RTE made a dramatised television series on German spies in Ireland " ( " Caught in a Free State " ) " in 1983 . One of the four episodes focused on Günther Schütz ( in which he was played by the German actor Goetz Burger ) .