In the battle against Hitler, he was one of the more unlikely figures - a German astrologer who claimed he could predict the Fuhrer's war plans.

Astonishingly, Louis de Wohl was hired by British intelligence after convincing spymasters that Hitler was obsessed with horoscopes and had tried to recruit him to provide readings.

Secret documents released yesterday show that de Wohl, who arrived in Britain in 1935, persuaded MI6's forerunner the Special Operations Executive to employ him so he could tell them what German stargazers would be telling the tyrant.

After the outbreak of war he was hurriedly made a captain in the British Army and put in charge of the new Psychological Research Bureau, effectively a department for astrological warfare.

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Between 1941 and 1943 he submitted hundreds of would-be horoscopes for Hitler to British intelligence chiefs and outlined what impact he believed these would have on Nazi plans.

In wartime papers released by the National Archives in Kew, officials concluded that he made some "useful predictions", although it is unclear how much information was acted on.

De Wohl claimed that Hitler had been advised by astrologers since 1923 and that "it is entirely irrelevant whether we ourselves regard astrological advice as valuable and scientific, or as useless nonsense. All that matters is that Hitler follows its rules".

In fact, some historians now believe that de Wohl's claims were a spectacular ruse and that Hitler had no interest in astrology.

But the papers reveal that de Wohl had also influenced "high-placed British intelligence officers" for whom he also began to write horoscopes.

He claimed to have inspired the Royal Navy's victory in the crucial Battle of Matapan by predicting that Admiral Andrew Cunningham was likely to have a great success between March 27 and April 5, 1941.

Cunningham duly attacked on March 28, sinking five Italian cruisers and destroyers and in a single stroke neutralising Mussolini's Mediterranean naval threat.

De Wohl was also used for propaganda, outlining bad horoscopes for Hitler while on a tour of the U.S.

But the files reveal that de Wohl was regarded by some senior British agents as a "complete scoundrel" and a "dangerous charlatan and confidence-trick merchant".

Officials described de Wohl's prewar history as "murky" but said he was born in Berlin in 1903 to Hungarian parents.

He worked as a banker and then novelist in Germany while all the time studying astrology.

After the war de Wohl left England. He is believed to have died in Switzerland in the 1960s.

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