under its own power and makes a noise as if a squadron of heavy bombers were approaching'. Slightly garbled, that same description was to turn up in Jones' most secret report to Mr Churchill in July 1943. 'The torpedo ... was said to be motor driven and released over the beach with the noise of a squadron at low altitude.' Roth's letters continued to be a very valuable source of information for the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) (MI6). 'Pierre 8360' and his deputy, 'Hubert 8362', used to come to the Belgian frontier personally to collect them from Leon. Leon kept the originals, hidden in a safe place. The two agents received copies, which Leon hoped might save his son if 'Pierre' and 'Hubert' were captured. When Leon-Henri returned from Peenemuende in 1943, the RAF 'Squadron' the SIS's own agentdropping force, offered to collect him from a secret air strip near the village of Sure. Henri declined. If the Gestapo discovered he was gone, his father and family would suffer, thus, he stayed. Already under suspicion, Roth thought that service in the German forces would be the best way to 'go underground' without endangering his family. He served for some time in Russia before being transferred to the German cruiser Admiral Scheer. At the end of March, 1945, the Scheer was torpedoed. Information was received from Leon Henri Roth and Dr Schwagen, both Luxembourgish enrolés de force (forced labourers), who had worked at Peenemünde and smuggled out letters describing rocket research, giving conflicting accounts of the size, warhead range and means of propulsion of the device. Despite the confusion, there was little doubt that the Germans were working on a rocket and in April 1943, the Chiefs of Staff warned operational HQs of the possibility of rocket weapons. Death Roth was killed by American army fire in 1945 while escaping with two Frenchmen in a German military car, after deserting Admiral Scheer. Per the ship's captain, Roth deserted on March 20. He was re-interred in Luxembourg in 1968 and awarded the highest decoration of the resistance. See also Operation Hydra (1943) References People from Echternach World War II resistance movements Luxembourg in World War II Luxembourg Resistance Peenemünde Army Research Center and Airfield World War II strategic bombing of Germany Conflicts in 1943 1922 births 1945 deaths