Edward Arnold (Eddie) Chapman (1914–1997) — AKA Agent ZigZag — Gangster, double agent. German Iron Cross holder. Photographed by MI5 after being parachuted back to England, 1942. (Image source: Public Domain).
On the 16th of December, 1942, a man parachuted onto a field in Cambridgeshire, England. With him, he had a revolver, a wireless transmitter, 1000 GBP in cash, fake ID papers, and a cyanide capsule.
By orders of the German Military Intelligence (Abwehr), he was to blow up the De Havilland aircraft factory and return to Germany.
Instead, he made immediate contact with British MI5 and spent the following two years operating as a double agent, becoming a solitary British spy deeply embedded within the German Secret Service.
Inside the traitor lay a core of unwavering loyalty, and inside the apparent villain resided a true hero.
He was, and remains, the only British citizen ever to have been awarded…
