List of English-language broadcasters for Nazi Germany


Rundfunkhaus was a radio station based in Berlin. It was used for broadcasting Nazi propaganda by the Ministry of Propaganda.
Broadcasters included: -
NamePrevious OccupationDetailsProsecutionAlias/ Pseudonym/ Nickname
John Ameryfilm producerDeath sentence at the Central Criminal Court for high treason, executed December 1945
Norman Baillie-Stewartsoldier - subaltern in the Seaforth HighlandersFive years' penal servitude at the Central Criminal Court for offences under the Defence Regulations"Sinister Sam"
Leonard Banningteacher in Germany at the outbreak of warTen years"John Brown" and "William Brown"
Margaret Frances Bothamley"member of the Ealing Branch of the pre-war pro-Nazi group The Link'She... stayed, broadcasting Nazi propaganda alongside William Joyce.''She was tried in March 1946 but, unlike Joyce, she was only handed down a year's imprisonment.
Edward Salvin BowlbyLiving in Budapest at the outbreak of war, where he hoped to start at language school Not prosecuted - partly because he had been born in IrelandBroadcast under his own name
Elsa Gertrude BrietzmannDual national - British and German - lived in Germany from 1923Bound over for two years at the Central Criminal Court
Arthur Chapplesoldier - Sergeant in the Royal Army Service Corps - mobilised Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes manager.One of a group of 'Service renegades been employed in editing, writing scripts, and broadcasting for the enemy, and in certain cases the same men also employed in journalism. The National Archives Security Service file 15 years' imprisonment, which was later reduced to 10 years
"Lang"
James ClarkeschoolboyBound over for two years at the Central Criminal Court for offences under the Defence Regulations
William Colledge alias Wintersoldier - member of the North Somerset Yeomanry'continued to broadcast until 1943.' - penal servitude for life"Winter"
Roderick Anton Eduard Dietzebroadcaster born in Glasgow of a mixed German-British-Hungarian family background, - "son of a German father and Scottish mother... in the early 1930s he became the BBC's commentator in Berlin"The National Archives Security Service file "in view of his nationality, it was decided not to prosecute him as a renegade"
Patrick Joseph DillonMerchant Seaman - Fireman on SS Brisbane - "taken prisoner in 1940 after his ship was sunk"
The National Archives Security Service files - -
Ten years' penal servitude at the Central Criminal Court for offences under the Defence Regulations "Patrick Callaghan"
Frances Dorothy Eckersleywife of Edward ClarkOne year's hard labour at the Central Criminal Court for offences under the Defence Regulations
Benson Railton Metcalf FreemanRAF flying officer - No. 16 Squadron RAFAlso served in the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers The National Archives Security Service file Ten years penal servitude and cashiered
N/A - scriptwriter
Charles Patrick GilbertMoved to Germany from the Channel Islands in 1940 The National Archives Security Service file Nine months' prison sentence - "Kenneth James"
Donald Alexander Fraser Granttravelling salesman - on an exchange trip when war broke outThe National Archives Security Service file - Six months imprisonment - "Derrick Grant", "Donald Palmer", "Jock Palmer", et al., as well as his own name "Donald Grant"; dubbed: "Scotland's Lord Haw-Haw"
William Humphrey Griffithssoldier - Guardsman in the Welsh GuardsOne of a group of 'Service renegades been employed in editing, writing scripts, and broadcasting for the enemy, and in certain cases the same men also employed in journalism.Seven years penal servitude
Gerald Percy Sandys Hewittteacher of languagesa British citizen who lived most of his life in Paris and had been associated with Action Française. The National Archives Security Service file - Twelve years penal servitude at the Central Criminal Court for offences under the Defence Regulations "Smith"
Susan Dorothea Mary Therese Hilton"member pre-war of the British Union of Fascists, she was twice shipwrecked before detention in France in Autumn, 1940." Possibly the 'Plain Lady' captured by the German commerce raider Atlantis when it sank the passenger ship Kemmendine. Ulrich More, first officer of the Atlantis, says that after she had left the ship the crew learned that she was Irish and worked with William Joyce. The second shipwreck would be the Norwegian Tirranna, a prize of Atlantis, sunk by the British submarine HMS Tuna while carrying Kemmendine's passengers and crew to German-occupied Europe.Worked in Irland-Redaktion. The National Archives Security Service file - "Soon released, she worked for the German propaganda service as a broadcaster and scriptwriter until 1943, when she moved to Austria. Interned in August 1944 at her own request"18 months' imprisonment for aiding the enemy
Cyril Charles Hoskinssoldier - King's Royal Rifle CorpsThe principal speaker and writer of the 'Christian Peace Movement'. This purported to be the output of an underground organization of pacifists agitating against British involvement in an immoral war.
Raymond Davies HughesRAF warrant officer - Air gunner"he was shot down over Germany and imprisoned. He aided the enemy in various ways including broadcasting propaganda." - see The National Archives Security Service files and "In 1945 he was court martialled, sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and reduced to the ranks."
"John Baker", "George Becker", "Raymond Sharples"
Reginald Arthur Humphriesteacher in Germany at the outbreak of war or seaman on HMS Royal Arthur (shore establishment), Skegness"he was interned and made broadcasts from Germany from 1943 onwards under the names, 'Father Donovan' and 'Jeffries'." - see The National Archives Security Service file and Home Office file Five years' penal servitude at the Central Criminal Court for offences under the Defence Regulations "Father Donovan"
Lewis Barrington Payne JonesSee Home Office file The National Archives Security Service files to "After his arrest in April 1945 he claimed to have adopted German nationality in 1939 and he was therefore not prosecuted"
Margaret JoyceWife of William JoyceThe National Archives Security Service file Not prosecuted - naturalised as a German citizen in 1940Broadcast under her real name from 1942
William JoyceDirector of Propaganda of the British Union of FascistsDeath sentence at the Central Criminal Court for high treason, executed January 1946"Lord Haw-Haw"
Kenneth Vincent Landerteacher at Hermann Lietz Schule, Schloss Bieberstein, near Fulda, Germany at the outbreak of war - broadcast for the New British Broadcasting Service'Let go with a warning as to future conduct.
John LingshawSalvation Army social worker on JerseyFive years' penal servitude at the Central Criminal Court for offences under the Defence Regulations
Francis Paul Matonsoldier - Corporal in the Royal ArtilleryThe National Archives Security Service file Court martialled in 1945, he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for voluntarily aiding the enemy.
Martin James MontiUnited States Army Air Force pilot25 years in prison at Leavenworth Penitentiary for treason. - paroled in 1960
Professor :de:Ludwig MühlhausenProfessor of Celtic languages at Frederick William University, Berlin
Liam MullallyNot prosecuted - Irish citizen
John O'ReillyIrish seasonal worker stranded on JerseyIrish section of German radio - Irland-RedaktionTaken into Garda Síochána custody on 17 December 1943 - 'effectively interned'...in the military prison at Arbour Hill in Dublin... until the end of the war"Pat O'Brien", then under his own name
William James Edward PercivalAir correspondent - travelled to Berlin and Cologne in late August 1939 to write on German aviation industryThe National Archives Security Service file -
Ralph PowellTeacher in the NetherlandsTranslator and newsreader in the German Foreign MinistryNot prosecuted - "claimed that he was forced to work for the Nazis by threats of reprisals against his German wife's family"
Suzanne Louise Provost-BoothWas living in France when it was overrun by the Germans in 1940"Mrs Evans"
Roy Walter PurdyMerchant Navy officer, serving as a sub lieutenant in the Royal Navy on an emergency commissionpropaganda broadcaster and informer at Colditz "reprieved on the grounds that had been in treason rather than ... released from prison... in December 1954" - died in 1982. Security Service files on him are held by the National Archives under references to .Death sentence at the Central Criminal Court for high treason
10 JCL 182 - reprieved
- released 1954
"Pointer"
Ronald Spillmansoldier - lance-corporalOne of a group of 'Service renegades been employed in editing, writing scripts, and broadcasting for the enemy, and in certain cases the same men also employed in journalism. The National Archives Security Service files to Seven years penal servitude
Vivian StrandersRAF Captain
previously Lieutenant, Kent Fortress Royal Engineers,
"broadcast on the English Section"Not prosecuted - had been naturalized as a German citizen in 1933
Francis StuartLecturer in English and Irish literature at Berlin UniversityNot prosecuted - Irish citizen
Jack Trevor actorR v Steane
The National Archives Security Service files to
Three years' imprisonment but the sentence was quashed on appeal as he was held to be acting under duress.
Pearl Vardonteacher on JerseyNine months imprisonment at the Central Criminal Court for offences under the Defence Regulations -
John Alexander Wardtranslator in Frankfurt "gave 'defeatist' talks""Private Donald Hodgson" of 3rd Battalion, the Gloucestershire Regiment.
"e went to Germany with his family in 1939 before war was declared and refused to return. Interned from July 1940 to November 1942, he was released and worked for German Radio in 1943-1944." - see The National Archives Security Service files to ."Sentenced in 1945 to four years' imprisonment for acts likely to assist the enemy, his appeal against conviction and sentence was dismissed." -
P. G. WodehouseauthorNot prosecutedBroadcast under his own name
Edward Vieth SittlerEducatorNot prosecuted. Remained in the US, employed by the University of Chicago in 1960 where another brother, Joseph Sittler, was also employed.

Edward Vieth Sittler