Registering Deaths of Executed Spies

The British authorities had concerned about registering the deaths of people executed for treachery during World War Two. The War Office was concerned that the registering of the deaths would have involved national security issues. The General Register Office replied that various pieces of legislation, such as the Birth & Death Registration Act 1874, required the registration of deaths. The GRO suggested that a new piece of legislation would have to be passed by Parliament, if the authorities wished to withhold the registration of the deaths.

W.B. Purchase, who was the coroner for the Northern District of the County of London, had a meeting with Lieutenant-Colonel Hinchley Cooke (MI5) and Geoffery Cox to arrive at an agreed solution. They met just after the execution of Josef Jakobs who was executed at the Tower of London in August 1941. They also examined the death certificates issued for the spies executed during World War One. They eventually reached the conclusion that the deaths would be registered in the normal fashion. The trials of the spies themselves were held in camera.