Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory (62 page)

Read Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory Online

Authors: Ben Macintyre

Tags: #General, #Psychology, #Europe, #History, #Great Britain, #20th Century, #Political Freedom & Security, #Intelligence, #Political Freedom & Security - Intelligence, #Political Science, #Espionage, #Modern, #World War, #1939-1945, #Military, #Italy, #Naval, #World War II, #Secret service, #Sicily (Italy), #Deception, #Military - World War II, #War, #History - Military, #Military - Naval, #Military - 20th century, #World War; 1939-1945, #Deception - Spain - Atlantic Coast - History - 20th century, #Naval History - World War II, #Ewen, #Military - Intelligence, #World War; 1939-1945 - Secret service - Great Britain, #Sicily (Italy) - History; Military - 20th century, #1939-1945 - Secret service - Great Britain, #Atlantic Coast (Spain), #1939-1945 - Spain - Atlantic Coast, #1939-1945 - Campaigns - Italy - Sicily, #Intelligence Operations, #Deception - Great Britain - History - 20th century, #Atlantic Coast (Spain) - History, #Montagu, #Atlantic Coast (Spain) - History; Military - 20th century, #Sicily (Italy) - History, #World War; 1939-1945 - Campaigns - Italy - Sicily, #Operation Mincemeat, #Montagu; Ewen, #World War; 1939-1945 - Spain - Atlantic Coast

31
“useful petard and a good war-winner”: Andrew Lycett,
Ian Fleming
(London, 1996), p. 158.

32
“the embodiment of drive”: David Stafford,
Roosevelt and Churchill: Men of Secrets
(London, 1999), p. 110.

33
“secret funds that were made available”: Kim Philby,
My Silent War: The Autobiography of a Spy
(London, 1968), p. 54.

34
“helped to feed the gallant”: Ibid.

35
“local police, dock watchmen and stevedores”: Alan Hillgarth Report, TNA, ADM 223/490.

36
“expendable parts of Hitler’s war machine”: Stafford,
Roosevelt and Churchill
, p. 92.

37
“took corruption for granted”: John Brooks, “Annals of Finance,”
New Yorker
, May 21, 1979.

38
“the last pirate of the Mediterranean”: Ibid.

39
“It would be a mistake to trust him an inch”: Stafford,
Roosevelt and Churchill
, p. 90.

40
“He has already had two German agents shot”: Ibid.

41
“an amphibious car”: “Spanish Help to the Germans,” records of NID12, TNA, ADM 223/490.

42
“There was not a Spaniard who would not”: Alan Hillgarth, report, TNA, ADM 223/490.

43
“The Cavalry of St George”: Stafford,
Roosevelt and Churchill
, p. 93.

44
“We must not lose them now”: Ibid., p. 96.

45
“his approval can safely be assumed”: Ibid., p. 100.

46
“German victory would mean servitude”: Donald McLachlan,
Room 39: Naval Intelligence in Action 1939–45
(London, 1968), p. 194.

47
“the Spaniard is xenophobic and suspicious”: Alan Hillgarth, report, TNA, ADM 223/490.

48
“I am finding Hillgarth a great prop”: Stafford,
Roosevelt and Churchill
, p. 96.

49
“a natural sympathy”: Alan Hillgarth, report, TNA, ADM 223/490.

50
“Handling Spaniards is a special”: Ibid.

51
“will be at a very definite”: Ibid.

52
“Even during the worst of the war”: Ibid.

53
“very reliable and well placed”: Ewen Montagu, report, August 21, 1945, TNA, ADM 223/794.

54
“to supply intelligence which”: Ibid.

55
“might compromise a very”: Ibid.

56
“The items were so chosen”: Ibid.

57
“Messig swallowed the stories”: Ibid.

58
“It was a delicate job”: Ibid.

59
“copies of all our telegrams”: Montagu,
Beyond Top Secret Ultra
, p.121.

60
“It seemed that the listening”: Ibid.

61
“Only by naval ciphers”: Alan Hillgarth, report, TNA, ADM 223/490.

62
“suborned by a woman in German pay”: Ibid.

63
“kept lists of everyone”: Burns,
Papa Spy
, p. 190.

64
“The Germans would have someone”: Tristan Hillgarth, interview with the author, January 13, 2009.

65
“very amateurish and inefficient”: Alan Hillgarth, report, TNA, ADM 223/490.

66
“Our deportment towards the German”: Ibid.

67
“The circumstances of his release”: Rankin,
Churchill’s Wizards
, p. 346.

68
“Wrangal Craker”:
Deceiving Hitler: Double Cross and Deception in World War II
(London 2008), p. 142.

69
“Herewith some photographs”: Rankin,
Churchill’s Wizards
, p. 349.

70
“sound in mind”: Crowdy,
Deceiving Hitler
, p. 143.

71
“he is just the type who imagines”: Ibid.

72
“It is time to pass from the defensive”: Alan Hillgarth to Edmund Rushbrooke, TNA, ADM 223/490.

73
“more or less any naval intelligence”: Ibid.

74
“the Axis was allowed with little”: Ibid.

75
“I have found a good man”: Ibid.

76
“All operations are, if I may say so”: Ibid.

77
“You and your staff have shown”: Edmund Rushbrooke to Alan Hillgarth, TNA, ADM 223/490.

78
“undesirable and unnecessary”: Ibid.

Chapter Twelve: The Spy Who Baked Cakes

1
“ubiquitous”: Tomas Harris,
Garbo: The Spy Who Saved D-Day
(London, 2004), p. 18.

2
“All classes were represented”: “Spanish Help to the Germans,” records of NID12, TNA, ADM 223/490.

3
“In the higher ranks there”: Ibid.

4
“Indeed, the reports went”: TNA, ADM 223/490.

5
“particulars on each”: Kim Philby,
My Silent War: The Autobiography of a Spy
(London, 1968), pp. 54–55.

6
“for a very large sum”: Ibid.

7
“precious source”: Ibid.

8
“very high indeed”: Ibid.

9
“I had to fight to get an extra £5”: Ibid.

10
“the cause of death”: Ian Colvin,
The Unknown Courier
(London, 1953), p. 42.

11
“examined hundreds of corpses”: Ibid., p. 41.

12
“Nothing happened in the Abwehr station”: MI5 interrogation of captured Abwehr officer Hans Joachim Rudolph, in Kühlenthal MI5 files, TNA, KV2/102.

13
“fleshy, boneless cheeks”: Ibid.

14
“curved hawk-like”: Ibid.

15
“blue piercing eyes”: Ibid.

16
“a dark brown French four-seater”: Ibid.

17
“carefully manicured”: Ibid.

18
“a very efficient, ambitious”: Harris,
Garbo
, p. 69

19
“contrived to push Leissner”: TNA, KV2/102.

20
“became a mere figurehead.: Ibid.

21
“He was an extremely able man”: Ibid.

22
“the esteem and reputation”: Ibid.

23
“by far the best man in Group I”: Ibid.

24
“sent a personal message”: Ibid.

25
“extremely busy and that his visit”: Harris,
Garbo
, p. 46.

26
“careful not to underestimate”: Ibid., p. 50.

27
“would be a very long war”: Ibid., p. Ibid.

28
“There are people in Glasgow”: Ibid., p. 58.

29
“We have absolute trust in you”: Ibid., p. 250.

30
“My dear friend and comrade”: Ibid., p. 257.

31
“the democratic-Jewish-Masonic”: Ibid.

32
“England must be taken by arms”: Ibid., p. 237.

33
“With a raised arm I end this letter”: Ibid.

34
“His characteristic German lack”: Ibid., p. 70.

35
“the star turn”: Ibid., p. 128.

36
“With good wishes to Odette”: Ibid.

37
“I did the lettering myself”: Ibid.

38
“made cakes which were unpleasant”: Ibid.

39
“vast information” Ibid.

40
“As a keen and efficient officer”: Ibid., p. 69.

41
“We had the satisfaction of knowing”: Ibid.

42
“the many incredible things we ask”: Ibid., p. 95.

43
“the more sensational the reports”: Ibid., p. 146.

44
“In some cases where messages”: Ibid.

45
“Felipe had become our mouthpiece”: Ibid., p. 72.

46
“an invaluable channel”: Ibid.

47
“conviction that the Isle of Man”: Most Secret Source report, TNA, KV2/102.

48
“invented by Felipe himself”: TNA, KV2/102.

49
“The information provided”: TNA, KV2/102.

50
“one of the people who make up”: Guy Liddell,
The Guy Liddell Diaries, 1939–1945
, ed. Nigel West (London, 2005), March 10, 1944, p. 179.

51
“There are officers in Spain”: Statement of Josef Ledebur-Wichelin at Camp 020, November 25, 1944, TNA, KV2/102.

52
“leaving a good job as manager”: TNA, KV2/102

53
“he could not serve in the Army”: TNA, KV2/102.

54
“Aryanised”: TNA, KV2/102.

55
“He has been created an Aryan”: Telegram Berlin to Madrid, July 18, 1941, TNA, KV2/102.

56
“since there appeared to be no”: Telegram Berlin to Madrid, May 4, 1941, TNA, KV2/102.

Other books

Savage by Thomas E. Sniegoski
Kindling by Abigail Colucci
Under Her Brass Corset by Brenda Williamson
Fight For Me by Hayden Braeburn
1944 - Just the Way It Is by James Hadley Chase
Rise and Fall by Kelleher, Casey
BEG 1 by Kristina Weaver
Ice Dragon by D'Arc, Bianca
The Keeper by Luke Delaney