Read All the King's Men Online
Authors: Robert Marshall
12
Colonel Reile, August 1982.
13
Memo with report from Lieut-Colonel G.S., Armv Intelligence Section. COSSAC/IX DX/1N (US–NA).
14
Enemy reactions to Starkey, C OSS AC/41DX/Int. (MMR US–NA).
15
Records of the US JCS, CCS 385, MMR US–NA.
16
Von Runstedt’s daily situation report,
Lagebeurteilungen OB West
, AL 1704 at Imperial War Museum.
17
Operation ‘STARKEY’ – Appreciation of Prospects. COSSAC (43) 44 in MMR US–NA.
18
Handwritten note from ‘AB’ to ‘Gl’ (Intelligence Branch COSSAC HQ). Given seq number 60 1406 in MMR US–NA.
19
MOST SECRET CYPHER TELEGRAM, Concrete 736, WO 106/4241 – in the PRO.
20
Dr Götz, 26 November 1982 – and
Lagebeurteilungen OB West
, for September 1943. AL 1704 at the IWM.
21
Army Film Unit, Secret Dope Sheet, 9 September 1943, in the IWM Film Library.
22
The 59th Staffordshire Infantry Division’s ‘War Story’, p. 35.
23
SOE in France
, M. R. D. Foot, p. 308; ‘D-Day 1943’ by Campbell, p. 219, published in
The Canadian Journal of History
, 12: 207–37, December 1977.
CHAPTER XV
1
Amongst the Déricourt papers is a manuscript entitled,
De l’espionage, considere comme l’un des beaux arts
. It purports to be an account of one ‘Gilbert’ and his reflections on the work he does. It is a rough and aimless ramble, wherein Gilbert is clearly meant to be one of the greatest spies of all time. Not a source of factual material, but there is some insight into an attitude of mind. The MS is dedicated to: Colonel Boddington (sic). ‘Sans lui,
l’invraisemblable eut été moins vrai.’ Loosely translated as: Without whom the improbable would have been less true.
2
‘I remember well when Boemelburg was telling me about GILBERT, I thought, Why me now?’ Dr Götz, 26 November 1982.
3
ibid.
4
‘I was used for, say, routine contacts, Lysander dates etc. Boemelburg had contacts with Déricourt for much more important things: large war strategy etc.’ Dr Götz, 26 November 1982.
5
Dr Götz, 3 December 1982.
6
Tony Brooks, December 1985.
7
ibid.
8
According to Clément, imprisonment by the SD was his most frightening experience of the war. He still trembles when he describes it. Interview with Clément, 24 February 1986.
9
Interview with André Watt, January 1986.
10
This account was constructed from an interview with Clément in January 1986 and from
SOE in France
, M. R. D. Foot, pp. 295, 300–1, based on Frager’s interrogation 22 October 1943.
11
Final report from Sen tor on Frager’s interrogation, 30 October 1943, from Foreign Office 28 November 1985.
12
ibid.
13
SOE in France
, M. R. D. Foot, p. 299.
14
ibid., p. 311.
15
Foreign Office, 28 November and 17 December 1985.
16
Interview with Rolfe Boemelburg, December 1986.
17
SOE in France
, M. R. D. Foot, p. 295 and Bony–LaFont interrogation, October 1945, in Déricourt trial papers.
18
Mme Déricourt, 9 May 1982.
CHAPTER XVI
1
The full text is published in
A Cross-Channel Attack
, Gordon Harrison, Appendix D. The shift in German priorities is discussed in
British Intelligence during the Second World War
, Hinsley
et al
, p. 23.
2
An informal committee meeting on 27 January 1944, chaired by Winston Churchill, at which representatives from the FO, MEW and de Gaulle were present. Bourne-Patterson and Sporborg were there to put the SOE case. Playing upon Churchill’s enthusiasm for unorthodox warfare the case was easily won. Churchill commented, ‘Brave and desperate men could cause the most acute embarrassment to the enemy and it was right that we should do all in our power to foster and stimulate so valuable an aid to Allied strategy.’
3
Stephenson telexed me on 27 March 1986: ‘It was common knowledge in the intelligence community that Dansey was intent on destroying the SOE. Gubbins discussed with me his concern about Dansey and I warned Menzies that I was going to have to report it to WSC [Churchill] unless he ordered Dansey to behave.
‘Gubbins came to me with his problems on my many visits to London because he knew of my close association with Winston.’
Stephenson expanded in a separate telex, ‘I came to the conclusion that a warning from Menzies to Dansey in May 1943, as a result of a threat from me at that time, resulted in Dansey intensifying his attacks on the SOE.’ Stephenson then goes on to describe the subsequent SOS from Gubbins (p. 236), which he received around September 1943, the text of which he sent to me on 18 March 1986.
4
Telex from Stephenson, 14 February 1986: ‘I believe this final threat by me resulted in Menzies ceasing to be a puppet of Dansey, who, in my view and that of many others, was an evil man.’
5
Foreign Office, 28 November 1985.
6
ibid.
7
Foreign Office, 17 December 1985.
8
See note 5 above. The Foreign Office revealed, for the first time, that Déricourt was not recalled, as the official history states, because of Frager’s report, or Yeo-Thomas’, or because of anyone from the SOE – but on the basis of reports from MI6.
9
Verity, 31 October 1985.
10
This account was compiled from an interview with
Clément, 13 April 1982 and from
SOE in France
, M. R. D. Foot, p. 297, based on the Knacker report, 4 February 1944.
11
Dr Götz, 3 December 1982.
12
ibid.
13
Rolfe Boemelburg, who recalled Braun telling him: ‘We were parked in a quiet spot. He handed over a huge sum of money. Imagine I could have killed Gilbert and taken all that money for myself.’
14
Mme Déricourt, 9 May 1982.
15
Clément, 24 February 1986.
16
Verity, 31 October 1985.
17
ibid.
18
Foreign Office, 17 December 1985.
19
SOE in France
, M. R. D. Foot, p. 301.
20
Interview with Mr and Mrs Verity, September 1985.
21
Vogt’s statement to the DST, undated but pre-21 January. 1947.
22
Foreign Office, 17 December 1985.
23
Sporborg, 21 March 1982.
24
ibid.
25
ibid.
26
Colonel Z
, Read and Fisher, p. 12.
27
Foreign Office, 28 November 1985.
28
Private information.
29
SOE in France
, M. R. D. Foot, p. 301.
30
Vogt’s statement to DST.
31
Most Secret
– Security Clearance, SHAEF/17508/Ops(C) GCT 322–1 (SAS), issued from SHAEF HQ G–3 Division, 28 August 1944, in the Déricourt papers.
32
Déricourt’s
Etat Des Services
, in the Déricourt papers.
33
Dr Götz, 26 February 1986.
34
Confirmed by Foreign Office, March 1986.
35
Sporborg, 21 March 1983.
CHAPTER XVII
1
An account of SOE personnel lost in German concentration camps is in
SOE in France
, M. R. D. Foot, Chapter XIII, ‘Aftermath’.
2
There is some dispute over the date of this interview.
According to Foot in
SOE in France
, it is 19 January 1947. However Atkins’ own recollection, corroborated in no uncertain terms by the SAS man who arranged the interview with Kieffer, Freddy (Dusty) Rhodes, places it no later than Spring 1946. I am inclined to believe the latter.
3
Confirmed by UN Reference and Archives Unit.
4
Letter from Peter Belgeonne, 13 January 1986.
5
This account is compiled from the police report and the newspaper accounts of his hearing and trial –
Croydon Times
, 20 and 27 April 1946;
Croydon Advertiser
, 26 April 1946.
6
ibid.
7
Awarded 27 July 1946 and recorded in Déricourt’s
Etat Des Services
, in the Déricourt papers.
8
DST report of their investigation, 23 September 1947, in the Déricourt trial papers.
9
Déricourt’s first statement to the DST, undated 1946.
10
See note 8 above.
11
Knochen’s DST interrogation, undated but pre-21 September 1947, DST investigation papers.
12
Placke’s DST interrogation, 10 April 1946, DST investigation papers.
13
Dr Götz’s deposition to the DST, 11 January 1946 plus additional questions, 24 July 1947.
14
Vogt’s DST interrogation, undated 1946, DST investigation papers.
15
Letter from Henri to Jeannot, 29 January 1948.
16
Mme Déricourt, 20 November 1982.
17
Dr Götz, 26 November 1982.
18
Censored letter from Henri to Jeannot, 29 December 1947.
19
All the plans and specifications for ‘Project Vega 439’ have survived and are among the Déricourt papers.
20
Rolfe Boemelburg, January 1987.
21
Double Webbs
, Jean Overton Fuller, pp. 47–9.
22
Copies of memos about British intransigence on this matter are among the DST investigation papers.
23
Mme Déricourt, 20 November 1982.
24
Vera Atkins, January 1986.
25
Transcript of Dr Gö’s testimony in Déricourt trial papers.
26
Transcript of Bodington’s testimony in Déricourt trial papers.
27
Mme Déricourt, 20 November 1982.
28
Vera Atkins, January 1986.
CHAPTER XVIII
1
SOE in France
, M. R. D. Foot, p. 302; from memo 5 December 1945.
2
Kopkow, 27 February 1986.
3
Déricourt compiled a large selection of newspaper reports of the accident.
4
Amongst the Déricourt papers is a false pilot’s licence issued by Air Laos and a Lebanese passport.
5
The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia
, Alfred McCoy
et al
, pp. 254–5.
6
Clément described in great detail, during an interview on 24 February 1986, Déricourt’s involvement in the heroin trade. Amongst the Déricourt papers are a dozen ‘flight requisition forms’, which state that the Beechcraft was owned by Francisci and flown by Déricourt.
7
Account statements and records of monies telegraphed to Jeannot amongst the Déricourt papers.
8
Clément was told all about the London account.
9
Translation of Reuters report to their Paris office. The Agence France version claimed he’d starred in a feature film about RAF pilots.
10
There has been a great deal of speculation about whether or not Déricourt was actually on the Beechcraft as it ploughed into the tree stumps at Sayaboury. There is a lot of circumstantial evidence to support the theory that he was not. Apart from the London bank account there is also the strange disappearance of his Vietnamese wife and child soon after the crash. However, Clément is certain Déricourt is dead. For those who are not, an unreliable rumour has it that you should look for him in Barcelona.
11
Harry Sporborg, 21 March 1983.
a
The fact that Déricourt declared his contacts with German intelligence from the very outset was confirmed in 1958 by Lord Lansdowne, a junior Minister from the Foreign Office. Since then, the Foreign Office have changed their position and now declare that Lansdowne was ‘incorrectly briefed’. However, independent sources confirm that Déricourt did in fact make this declaration on a number of occasions to different people. A series of files concerned with his arrival in Great Britain are listed at the Public Records Office. They are: Z 7300, Z 9571 and Z 9958. Unfortunately, the files themselves are not there. According to the Foreign Office, they were destroyed some time ago.
25
b
Unfortunately, unknown to Déricourt, the RAF had given the operation a black mark. Vaughan-Fowler claimed in his report that Déricourt’s strip had been too bumpy, possibly because he had laid it across some cart tracks, and the violent buffeting had caused his engine to catch fire.
c
Kopkow was also the head of the department responsible for creating forged documents.
Robert Marshall divided his career between writing books and plays, and producing arts and history programming initially for the BBC and, later, live recordings of great theatre productions for cinema release with credits over the 100 mark.
His writing career began with a series of radio plays, and a Play for Today ‘Before Water Lilies’ for the BBC in the 1970s. During the 1980s and 90s he scripted and directed over thirty programmes for the BBC, from documentaries to dramas including
All the King’s Men
(1988) which was optioned by Stanley Kubrick,
In the Sewers of Lvov
(1990) which was made into the feature film
In Darkness
, and
Storm From the East
(BBC 1994) which was top of the Times non-fiction best-selling list for over two months. He became Executive Producer for The Globe on Screen, at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.