| Surname: | Ford |
| Initials: | G J |
| Rank: | Warrant Officer II |
| Army Number: | 471 |
| Notes: | MFP. Served Home. Enlisted in the Dorsetshire Regiment. No. 3014, 11/2/1890. Born Wincanton, Somerset, occupation Butcher, age 18 years. Served Home 10/2/1890 to 20/9/1898, Malta 21/9/1898 to 20/11/1899, South Africa 21/11/1899 to 3/4/1900, Home 1/5/1900 to 9/2/1911 to discharge, time expired, age 39 years, served 21 years, address: The Canteen, Kneller Hall, Hounslow. Re enlisted 28/9/1914, served Home 28/9/1914 to 25/1/1919. 28/9/1915 Colour Sgt, 14/10/1916 CSM A/RSM, 20/11/1918 reverts to CSM inefficiency. He died 26/2/1957, age 78, address: Tower Green, HM Tower of London, occupation Yeoman Gaoler. He has a medal card showing award of the Meritorious Service Medal with annuity dated 18/4/1946. Also awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, Army order 254 of 1903. Transferred to MFP 10/2/1896. Info from Pension Index Card:- 18703. Ford, George James, MFP, 471, Code Z/MFP/122, 25/1/19 to class Z reserve, received 19/2/19, Rejected. 58 St. Philips Street, Battersea, London. George James Ford. He has the same No. as L/Cpl J Elliott MMP. Extract from the Sheffield Independent . 23/12/1918. Fate of Eight Spied. One Hanged and Seven Shot at the Tower. In the possession of a sergeant major of the British Military Foot Police is a peculiarly made leather strap with which German spies, caught in this country and condemned to death, were fastened in a special chair at the Tower of London prior to being shot. There were a great many spies in England both before and after the war, acting on behalf of the Kaiser. Most of them were neutrals, and came originally from South American States. Nearly all of them attempted to forward their information by post. But thanks tot he astuteness of the Censor's staff it was rarely these letters, even although written in invisible ink, went undetected. The British Secret Service, ever considerate, allowed them to send and receive letters and collect information, but it reserved the privilege of opening the correspondence both ways and making alterations likely to be of more use to the Allied than German. Eight German spies were executed in this country. after the secret trial and condemnation to death the spy was taken to the Tower, there to await the dread summons in the early hours of the morning. Taken fro his cell by a party of military police the spy was strapped to a chair in a quadrangle of the Tower. There, facing him, about 10 paces distant, was a party, usually eight men, from the battalion of Guards on duty at the time. The preliminaries were soon arranged. The spy was placed in the chair and his body and limbs were tightly strapped to it. Then his chest was bared to receive the bullets. Some of the spies took their execution stoically; others, again made a last despairing fight and went to their death shrieking and cursing their Maker. One of these, latter was a man called Muller, who was arrested while acting as a waiter in an hotel at Blackpool. During his incarceration in the Tower Muller broke down completely, and was carried out struggling and shouting, cursing himself for his stupidity and reviling the grim little part in the quadrangle. One spy was hanged at Wormwood Scrubs Prison; other seven were shot. The hanging cost about £20 and coming to the conclusion that it would be just as effective, to say nothing of considerably cheaper, it was decided to shoot all spies at the Tower. The female spies, like the men, succeeded in getting comparatively little information of value out of the country. Most of them, neither young nor beautiful like the spy of the story writers are languishing behind prison walls and will remain there for some years to come. Extract from the Sunday Post. 5/6/1921. Advert for the Weekly News. Secrets of the Tower, My experiences with condemned Spies. By Sergeant-Major G J Ford. Sergeant Major Ford was the senior non commissioned officer of the Military Police in the London District during the war, and in that capacity he was charged with the responsibility of executing captured German spies to and from their place of trial, and when they had been found guilty from their prison to the Tower of London, where he had to supervise the arrangements for their execution. Sergeant Major Ford had some extraordinary experiences with the spies who went to the fatal chair. n this weeks issue of the "Weekly News" he deals with the spies, Janssen and Roos, who were within the space of a few minutes. There were extraordinary last minute scenes Janssen pacing up and down, pacing up and down his cell, calmly smoking a cigarette, the time he knew his accomplice was in the fatal chair. Article has as small picture of Sergeant Major Ford and Robert Rosenthal executed for espionage. |
Decoration Record: | |
| Decoration: | Queen's South Africa Medal (London Gazette: QSA Medal Roll WO 100/234 Page: 202 Oct. 2, 1901) |
| Citation: | Clasps: Tugela Heights, Relief of Ladysmith. 4/00 enteric fever to England. |