london • Britain drafted a bogus Hungarian nobleman to help defeat Nazi Germany using astrology, despite serious reservations from spy chiefs, according to declassified files to be released today.

Louis de Wohl, a self-styled "modern Nostradamus", worked as a propagandist during World War II for Britain's Special Operations Executive, a clandestine outfit that was responsible for operations behind enemy lines.

But while his work for the British government has long been known — and his credentials questioned by astrologers — the secret files reveal the extent to which the country's spymasters disapproved of the appointment.

Britain's overseas espionage service, MI6, was outraged at De Wohl's claim that dictator Adolf Hitler could be defeated by exploiting his supposed belief in astrology. "One of our senior officers comments that he cannot believe that anyone is going to re-employ this dangerous charlatan and confidence trick-merchant," the agency said, according to the files.

Another agent from the domestic intelligence agency, MI5, described De Wohl as an interloper with a "mysterious, if not murky, past" who revelled in his status as an army captain.

"None of his predictions materialised, except his forecast of Italy's entry to war, which he made at a time when this became quite patent," the officer added.

De Wohl's MI5 case officer also expressed concern that the astrologer's advice was being taken seriously, not least by SOE chief Charles Hambro.

"The danger is that all this sort of pseudo-science is most insidious, and, unless you have a complete sceptic or a very strong-minded man dealing with it, quite the wrong point of view may be indulged in," he wrote.

In a memo to Hambro, De Wohl outlined a proposal to "shadow" the work of Hitler's personal astrologer, Karl Ernst Krafft, to find out what advice he was receiving.