Josef Jakobs Josef Jakobs Josef Jakobs (30 June 1898 – 15 August 1941) was a German spy and the last person to be executed at the Tower of London. He was captured shortly after parachuting into the United Kingdom during the Second World War. Convicted of espionage under the Treachery Act 1940, Jakobs was shot by a military firing squad. He was not hanged because he was captured as an enemy combatant. Jakobs, who was a German citizen, was born in Luxembourg in 1898. During the First World War, he served in the German infantry, rising to the rank of "Leutnant", in
RAF Upwood farmers after he had parachuted into the area, breaking a leg in the process. He was discovered to have maps of the RAF Upwood area, a code device and almost £500 cash in his possession. Jakobs was sent to London where, after a preliminary interrogation by MI5, he spent several months at Dulwich Hospital. Jakobs was transferred to Camp 020 in April 1941 where he was interrogated by agents of MI5. On August 4 and 5, Jakobs was tried by court-martial at the Duke of York's Headquarters where he was found guilty of treachery. Jakobs was executed by firing squad