Spy story

Edith Cavell: nurse, martyr, and spy?

At dawn on 12 October 1915 the British nurse Edith Cavell was killed by a firing squad, after a German military court found her guilty of helping Allied soldiers escape from occupied Belgium. It was strongly implied that she was also involved in espionage, passing information about German military movements and plans back to the UK. The British Government denied that she was a spy, but recently the ex-head of MI5, Dame Stella Rimington, has revealed new evidence that strongly suggests Cavell was involved in smuggling information as well as men.