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Jim Sullivan interviews Hugh Price who is researching the story of Sydney Gordon Ross who, in 1942 as 'Captain Calder', was responsible for starting a rumour that the Nazis had landed and were planning to quietly sabotage New Zealand. Ross managed to fool many of the top military, defence and political leaders of the time.
Hugh Price begins by explaining the origins of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Bureau, with the hiring of Englishman Major [Kenneth] Folkes in 1941. He was not a success according to Price, as he was unsuited to the job and New Zealand staff found him pompous and superior. He fell victim to Syd Ross's hoax.
Syd Ross was a conman and formulated his elaborate hoax during a spell in jail. On his release in March 1942, he began by phoning Bob Semple [the Minister of Public Works] and convincing him that Nazi agents from a submarine had landed in Taranaki. He managed to convince him to go to the Prime Minister with the story and ultimately to Major Folkes.
Price discusses Ross's character and abilities as a conman and how the hoax unravelled.