WWII Blasts Helped Spies Fool Germans

British intelligence allowed two World War II double agents nicknamed Mutt and Jeff to bomb two buildings in Britain to maintain their cover, according to wartime documents from the MI5 agency released today.

The previously classified papers, released by the Public Records Office, show that a power station and a food store were bombed to convince the Germans that the two agents they believed were theirs were operating effectively.

In reality, the agents had been captured and “turned” by MI5, the papers show.

The double agents also fed the Germans false information, including that Britain was planning to invade Norway.

The agents involved were identified as Norwegians Helge Moee and Tor Glad, who arrived in Britain by rubber dinghy at a beach in northern Scotland.

The documents stated, “It was obvious that if the case were to be kept going, a faked act of sabotage would have to be committed.”

Security officials warned people away before the store was bombed. At the power station in Bury St. Edmunds in eastern England, an incendiary device was placed in an area not likely to cause serious damage.

There were no casualties in either bombing.