Werner von Janowski

Werner Alfred Waldemar von Janowski, (Abwehr-codenamed "Bobbi"; Allied-codenamed WATCHDOG), was a German Second World War Nazi spy and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's first double agent. He was landed by submarine at New Carlisle, Quebec on 9 November 1942 but quickly captured.

Mission Janowski was trained in espionage and sabotage by Nazi Germany's Abwehr agency and sent to Canada to operate in Montreal. He successfully disembarked from the submarine at Chaleur Bay, four miles (6.4 km) west of New Carlisle, Quebec, around 5 a.m., on 9 November 1942. Janowski tried to leave New Carlisle on the first available train after a quick rest and clean-up in a local hotel.

Capture At 6:30 a.m., under the alias of William Brenton, Janowski checked in at Hotel New Carlisle asking for a room with a bath. The son of the hotel owner, Earle Annett Jr., grew suspicious of him, due to inconsistencies with the German spy's story. The man said he took the bus that morning before walking to the hotel, but the bus was not going through New Carlisle that day, and even if it had, it would have dropped him off at the hotel. Annett also noticed that he spoke English with a Parisian accent, his clothing had European styling, and that he paid for his cigarettes with an obsolete Canadian dollar bill that had not been in circulation for quite some time. The stranger also had a strange smell on him; he was using Belgian matches that did not carry the Canadian government seal that was applied to matchbooks at the time. Less than three hours after his arrival and before Annett could confirm his suspicions, the stranger paid his bill and made his way to the New Carlisle train station where he had a coffee while waiting for the next train. Janowski provided little significant intelligence to the Allies, although the Canadian experience of running a double agent prepared the RCMP with experience to better manage Igor Gouzenko, the Soviet spy who defected to them three years later. Within a year operation Watchdog was shut down. but no evidence has emerged to support this idea. After Operation Watchdog was discontinued, Janowski was sent to England in late August 1943 where he was incarcerated at Camp 020. He remained there for the duration of the war. He was repatriated to an internment camp in the British Zone of Germany in July 1945.

Later life Released in 1947, Janowski had no home to return to, as Allenstein and most of East Prussia had become part of Poland, owing to Joseph Stalin's redrawing of Poland's borders; most of the German population was expelled. He eventually found work as a translator, and in the 1960s worked for the German Navy. Janowski died in Spain in 1978 while on a holiday.