Horst von Pflugk-Harttung

Horst Gustav Friedrich von Pflugk-Harttung (17 June 1889 – 9 March 1967)[1] (alternate spelling Pflug-Hartnung) was a German intelligence officer and spy.

Many German veterans felt disconnected from civilian life and joined a Freikorps in search of stability within a military structure.

His duties included many covert tasks, one being keeping a close eye on the German exiles in Denmark, with the Danish police co-operating with him by using go-betweens.

In 1938, information revealed by Ernst Wollweber to the Danish authorities, along with further investigations by the police led to the arrest of Pflugk-Harttung,[6][7] along with eight other Germans and three Danes, who were charged with operating as spies in Copenhagen.

Investigations proved that the spy ring had been involved in the sabotage and sinking of Spanish trawlers on behalf of General Francisco Franco and his Nationalist Navy, which was operating from German ports.

The acts included the use of the spying apparatus to shell and sink the SS Cantabria off the Norfolk coast by the Nationalist auxiliary cruiser Nadir.