Memorandum, J. Edgar Hoover (FBI) to William J. Mitchell (DOJ), Background of Stanley Johnston, June 18, 1942
National Security Archive
Hoover’s June 18 1942 memo flags a Chicago Tribune reporter as a possible German spy, revealing the FBI’s early wartime scramble to police the press.
Source: Memorandum, J. Edgar Hoover (FBI) to William J. Mitchell (DOJ), Background of Stanley Johnston, June 18, 1942 Date: Jun 18, 1942 Archive: NARA, RG-60, Case File 146-7-23-25, box 2, file: “Serial 2: June 12, 1942.” Collection: Secrecy And Leaks: When The U.S. Government Prosecuted The Chicago Tribune Oct 25, 2017
Editorial Analysis
Original analysis by the DriftSeas editorial desk. The complete primary-source document, transcribed from the National Security Archive scan, appears in full below.
A Wartime Leak Probe in the Shadow of the Chicago Tribune
The June 18 1942 memorandum from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to DOJ’s William D. Mitchell is a terse cover sheet for a much lengthier dossier on Stanley Claude Samuel Johnston. The memo itself does little more than signal that a “June 17 memorandum” with additional background is attached, but the surrounding paperwork reveals why the Bureau felt compelled to compile a detailed personal history of a foreign‑born journalist who had become a freelance stringer for the Chicago Tribune.
The immediate trigger: the “Johnston case”
In late 1941 the Tribune published a series of stories that disclosed Allied naval movements and the disposition of U.S. war material before the United States had formally entered World War II. The articles, later identified as originating from a source codenamed “Saxon,” prompted the Justice Department to launch a criminal investigation for violations of the Espionage Act. Hoover’s FBI was called in to assess whether the leak stemmed from a foreign intelligence operative embedded in the American press. The attached dossier, dated June 17, was the Bureau’s answer: a painstaking chronology of Johnston’s itinerant life, his multiple passports, and his alleged contacts with German and Dutch intelligence services.
A peripatetic life that raised red flags
Johnston’s biography reads like a pre‑war spy novel. Born in Australia, he allegedly served in the Australian army, then bounced between gold‑mining in the Outback, experimental turbine work in England, and a brief stint as a press correspondent for the Chicago Tribune in London. By 1939 he was in Paris, claiming to sell a “hair curler” in Germany and to own an estate there—details conspicuously omitted from his U.S. visa application. The memo notes that Dutch intelligence suspected him of being a German agent responsible for “leaks” from French General Headquarters to Berlin. His frequent travel between Holland and France, combined with a reputation for heavy drinking and boasting false military credentials, made him a person of interest to both British and Dutch services.
The “second wife” as a possible conduit
Equally intriguing is the file’s focus on Barbara Beck Incagnolli, described as Johnston’s “so‑called wife” and a “specialty dancer” turned alleged German‑passport holder. The memorandum lists her naturalization date, prior marriage to an American, and alleged contacts with German officers and the Gestapo while in occupied Paris. British authorities reportedly denied Johnston a continental visa, offering only a return to Australia, yet he later resurfaced in London working for the Tribune’s representatives. The FBI’s emphasis on Barbara’s dual passports and claimed consular work in Lisbon suggests that investigators saw her as a potential “go‑between” for transmitting information to Axis contacts.
Why the dossier mattered to the wartime security apparatus
Hoover’s memo is more than a bureaucratic hand‑off; it signals the FBI’s attempt to map a network that could compromise Allied operational security. The document’s meticulous enumeration of dates, passports, and immigration violations reflects a broader DOJ‑FBI strategy: to establish a pattern of deceit and foreign affiliation that could support a prosecution under the Espionage Act. The memo’s reference to a prior clearance by Army and Navy intelligence—later disputed by a Mr. Maloney—highlights inter‑agency friction over who bore responsibility for allowing Johnston into the United States.
Legacy of the Johnston investigation
Although the case never resulted in a high‑profile trial, the Johnston files contributed to a lasting precedent: the U.S. government’s willingness to scrutinize journalists’ foreign ties when national security is at stake. The memorandum foreshadows later Cold‑War-era prosecutions of reporters and the eventual establishment of the “national security press” paradigm. Moreover, the declassification of this memo in 2017, as part of the “Secrecy and Leaks” collection, offers historians a rare glimpse into the FBI’s early wartime intelligence‑gathering methods and the internal calculations that shaped the decision to pursue a civilian press figure for alleged espionage.
Reading between the lines
The memo’s terse language—“Very truly yours” followed by an enclosure—belies the anxiety underlying the dossier. Hoover’s insistence on attaching “additional information” suggests that the June 17 memorandum alone was deemed insufficient for a prosecutorial decision. The repeated emphasis on Johnston’s false claims, his alleged German contacts, and Barbara’s dual nationality points to an effort to construct a narrative of intentional deception rather than mere journalistic curiosity. In the absence of concrete evidence of espionage, the FBI leaned heavily on character judgments and circumstantial travel patterns to justify its case.
In sum, the June 18, 1942 memorandum is a window into the early wartime clash between press freedom and national security, a clash that would echo through subsequent decades of American legal and political history.
DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 76716
Federal Bureau of Investigation United States Department of Justice Washington, D. C. JUN 18 1942
MEMORANDUM FOR MR. WILLIAM D. MITCHELL
There is attached hereto a memorandum dated June 17, 1942, furnishing additional information in regard to the Stanley Johnston case.
Very truly yours,
J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover Director
Enclosure
146-7-23-25 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AUG 11 1950 A.M. DIVISION OF RECORDS CRIM.-INTERNAL SECURITY SEC.
[We cannot make any use of this, because Maloney has said that before employing Johnston, his name was submitted to both army & navy intelligence & given a clearance. He blames me for employing him, hardly meets with Truman's ideas. Furthermore others [illegible]]
[Nothing to indicate that Johnston was known to legal div. on his trip on U.S. mails.]
DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 76716 HOOVER ACTOR
Federal Bureau of Investigation United States Department of Justice Washington, D. C.
18 942
MEMORANDUM FOR MR. WILLIAM D. MITCHELL
There is attached hereto a memorandum dated June 17, 1942, furnishing additional information in regard to the Stanley Johnston case.
Very truly yours,
John Edgar Hoover Director
Enclosure
DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 76716
June 17, 1942
MEMORANDUM
Re: STANLEY CLAUDE SAMUEL JOHNSTON
Stanley Claude Samuel Johnston was born March 27, 1900, at Palmers Island, New South Wales, Australia, and is believed to have served in the Australian Army during the first World War. Johnston was married on March 26, 1921, to Ethyl Flew and divorced her on November 12, 1935, in Australia. He has a son, Merton Douglas Johnston, nineteen years old, in Sydney, Australia. His first wife is believed to be in London, England.
On January 6, 1938, the United States Immigration Service issued a warrant for Johnston and his wife (probably Barbara Beck Incagnolli) because Johnston had overstayed his temporary visa. The warrant was not served because the Immigration Service was unable to locate Johnston, he apparently having given fallacious references. Johnston and his wife left the United States July 27, 1938, on the S.S. Washington.
On his application for an American immigration visa, Johnston claims to have worked at the following occupations:
1925--1935 - Gold mining, Australia 1936--1937 - Building experimental gas turbines and press wireless work, England 1938--1939 - Distributing business, England 1939-1940 - Press Wireless, Incorporated, representative 1940--1941 - Press correspondent in London - Chicago Tribune
However, it is known that at the outbreak of the war Johnston came to Paris from Germany and at that time claimed to have been manufacturing and selling a hair curler in Germany. He claimed to have an estate in Germany. There is information to the effect that Johnston was in Czechoslovakia at the time it was invaded by Germany and was one of the first persons to be allowed to leave Czechoslovakia by the Germans. It is noted that on his application for an American immigration visa he shows no employment in Germany.
In Paris, France, Johnston obtained a job with Press Wireless, Incorporated, which has headquarters at 439 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. While in Paris he is said to have been a heavy drinker. In that city he had been bragging that he had been an Australian Army officer, which is known to be false. He was sent to Amsterdam, Holland, by Press Wireless, Incorporated, and was accompanied by his second so-called wife, Barbara. Johnston was issued British Passport #C-127776 at Amsterdam, Holland, on November 22, 1939. While in Holland he was under investigation by the Dutch Intelligence Service. His frequent journeys from Holland to France
DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 76716
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led to the belief that he was a German intelligence agent, and it was thought that he was one of the individuals responsible for "leaks" from the French general headquarters to Germany.
In March, 1940, he went to London, England, with Mr. J. Pierson, President of Press Wireless, Incorporated. His so-called wife Barbara at that time returned to Paris, France. Barbara was born Barbara Beck on July 18, 1909, in Bavaria (Germany). She came to the United States May 31, 1926, and was naturalized March 13, 1934, at Brooklyn, New York. She is under- stood to have been a specialty dancer in New York night clubs. In 1929 Barbara married an American citizen, Albert Incagnoli at Davenport, Iowa. She was in Paris, France, when that city was occupied by the Germans. She is said to have had a German passport, as well as an American passport, while in Paris and to have been seen constantly with German officers and alleged members of the German Gestapo. Barbara claims to have worked for the American Embassy in Paris and has been under suspicion by the British authorities because of her frequent contacts in Paris with the German element.
Johnston, while in England, was suspected by the English authorities of communicating with the enemy. He is reported to have anticipated the invasion of Holland and several days prior to the invasion to have communicated with Barbara, advising her to sell her Dutch guilders. The British would not give Johnston a visa to visit the continent and apparently would issue him only a visa to return to Australia. Because of the interest which the British Intelligence Service showed, Johnston was discharged by Press Wireless, Incorporated, while in London. Thereafter he worked in London and possibly in Dover for representatives of the Chicago Tribune. His correspondences in 1940 and 1941 to contacts in the United States indicates that Johnston was very anxious to leave England and, if possible, go to Canada or Australia to set up a branch of Press Wireless, Incorporated. In 1941 Barbara was in Lisbon, Portugal, ostensibly waiting for him to pick her up on the way to America. Johnston referred to her as his "secretary" and stated that she had been working for the American Consulate in Lisbon.
Johnston left Lisbon and entered the United States on April 19, 1941, in possession of a visitor's visa. Apparently he immediately went to Chicago, Illinois, and was employed by the Chicago Tribune, writing on a piecework basis. He seemed to have some knowledge of marine and aviation engines, as well as knowledge concerning military tactics and the progress of the present war.
DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 76716
- 3 -
In November, 1941, Johnston was issued an American immigration visa, and since he was British, the State Department waived the necessity of the usual interdepartmental procedure. A Mr. Salisbury of the Department of Justice and John Parsons O'Donnell, New York Daily News correspondent in Washington, D. C., requested special consideration for Johnston in connection with the issuance of his immigration visa.
Colonel McCormick, publisher of the Chicago Tribune, reportedly has stated that he believed Johnston was a "phony." Johnston is known to be acquainted with and to have visited Mrs. Ethel Frank Brigham of New York City, who is anti-Semitic and anti-British and has been reported as having remarked that President Roosevelt should be killed. Mrs. Brigham has also been reported as fanatically pro-Nazi and in favor of rule of the world by Hitler.
Johnston has been described as a ruthless, tough, heavy drinker, a "phony", a confidence man, and a "gaudy liar."
Recently Barbara, his alleged wife, divorced her former husband at Calumet City, Illinois. Johnston married her September 22, 1941, and is reported to have obtained American citizenship under suspicious circumstances before leaving to write articles on the war in the Pacific.
It is reported that in February, 1942, Johnston left for Honolulu, Hawaii. He was an accredited correspondent of the Chicago Tribune on the U.S.S. Lexington during the Coral Sea battle, and his articles dealing therewith are currently appearing in the newspapers. The Secretary of the Navy granted authorization to Admiral Nimitz to allow Stanley Johnston to take passage on ships of the Pacific fleet for the purpose of obtaining news material.
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