The Hornet's Sting (55 page)

Note 1: Page 9, Lines 21-23: “and had the opportunity . . . most westerly port.” Sneum was there to protest at attempts to deny him the right to use a firearm for hunting on Fanoe.

Note 2: Page 10, Lines 1-6: Dialogue as told to the author by Tommy Sneum during interviews between 1998 and 2006.

Note 3: Page 10, Lines 28-30: “He had met Goering . . . where Sneum was stationed.” There are many photographs in existence to confirm that Goering visited Denmark in an official capacity in 1938.

Note 4: Page 11, Lines 21-29: Sneum’s account as told to the author during numerous interviews between 1998 and2006

Note 5: Page 12, Line 34 to Page 13, Line 22: “Look ... Meinicke or not.” Dialogue as told to the author by Sneum during numerous interviews between 1998 and 2006.

Note 6: Page 14, Lines 1-29: “Indeed it is . . . make life much easier.” Dialogue as told to the author by Sneum between 1998 and 2006.

Note 7: Page 15, Lines 10-19: “I only gave them . . . ‘You’re nice people.’” From Sneum’s interviews with the author 1998-2006.

Note 8: Page 17, Lines 10-29: “Are you afraid . . . come in unobserved.” Dialogue as told to author, 1998-2006.

Note 1: Page 18, Lines 18-19: “But she wanted Tommy . . . awkwardness of the situation.” Else’s thoughts and feelings are described here just as she explained them to Tommy, and as Sneum in turn explained them to the author. (Else Sneum passed away before the author wrote the book).

Note 2: Page 23, Lines 1-2: “ . . . Kaj’s wife Tulle . . . ” Her Christian names were Annemarie Elisabeth. “Tulle” was easier.

Note 1: Page 26, Lines 15-16: “ . . . Harwich in England to Esbjerg . . . ” Harwich, in East Anglia, is one of England’s most easterly ports, while Esbjerg is Denmark’s most westerly port.

Note 2: Page 27, Line 10: “Her sister-in-law, Inger Pasborg, later claimed . . . ” The author interviewed Inger Pasborg in 2008.

Note 3: Page 27, Line 37 to Page 28, Lines 1-2: “ . . . it came in two pieces, which you could quickly assemble or fold away as you liked . . . ” In Sweden an archer by the name of Kjellson had designed an all-steel bow and in 1935 this was put into production by the Swedish steel company, Seefab. Tommy Sneum’s bow was a Seefab and it survived the war. The bow remains a highly prized item within the Sneum family to this day. Its handle is made of cork to achieve a better grip, and it is 168 centimetres high when fully assembled and stood on one end. But it wasn’t just the Swedes who had seen the potential of this silent killer during World War Two. Strong rumours suggest that British Commandos uses a similar design, with the bow coming apart, and made by Accles and Pollocks of Oldbury, England.

Note 4: Page 29, Lines 15-22: “In 2007, Tommy’s son, Christian, asserted . . . ” The source for these remarks is Christian Sneum’s interview with the author, Mark Ryan.

Note 5: Page 30, Lines 10-11: “Oda was blown up . . . Peter Group . . . ” Inger Pasborg revealed Oda’s sad fate in her 2008 interview with the author. The Peter Group was essentially a terrorist organisation formed at the end of 1943 on the instigation of the Nazis in order to deter the Danish population from acts of sabotage against the occupying forces. The Waffen SS chose Untersharfuhrer Otto Schwerdt (a German) to lead this group of 13 people. He called himself Peter Schafer, and thus gave his name to the Peter Group. As part of their programme of reprisals they carried out: 94 murders of anti-Germans, resistance figures and Danish intellectuals. Among these was the much-loved priest and playwright Kaj Munk, who spoke against the Germans in his sermons. 25 attempted murders. 8 trains derailed, often using explosives, causing the loss of 26 lives—including that of Oda Pasborg. The destruction of 157 buildings, among them the cinemas and concert halls of Copenhagen’s historic Tivoli Gardens, causing more than 100 million kroner worth of damage.

Note 6: Page 30, Lines 21-24: “ . . . It would have come as little consolation . . . for their part in the senseless death and destruction . . . ” Most active was a man called Henning Bothilsen Nielsen. After the war he and seven other Danish members of the Peter Group were caught and sentenced to death. The eight men were shot on 8-9 May, 1947.

Note 1: Page 31, Line 20 to Page 31, Line 3: “I wrote to Hitler . . . closer to Germans, particularly their youth.” Source: author Mark Ryan interviewed Ronald Turnbull several times between 1999 and 2003. Turnbull died in 2004.

Note 2: Page 33 Lines 29-30: “A couple of days later . . . ” The author is in possession of Sneum’s stamped passport/visas for this journey, containing the precise dates.

Note 3: Page 34, Lines 27-8: ‘She was still in love with Henry . . . ’ Turnbull interviewed by author 1999-2003.

Note 4: Page 35, Line 34 to Page 36, Line 38: ‘Well done on the sea planes . . . They take moving pictures.’ Dialogue as told by Sneum to author 1998-2006.

Note 1: Page 41, Line 31, to Page 42, Line 3: ‘I crouched down . . . Then he walked off.’ As told to the author by Sneum on many occasions 1998-2006.

Note 2: Page 43, Lines 8-9: “ . . . he sprinted for the base of the tower . . . ” As described by Sneum to author in interviews 1998-2006.

Note 1: Page 48, Lines 7-15: Sneum’s feelings as described to the author 1998-2006.

Note 2: Page 49, Lines 1-21: Dialogue as recalled by Sneum in several interviews with the author 1998-2006.

Note 1: Page 52, Lines 7-8: “Turnbull wants jerking up . . . SO2 work?” From the SOE Files, National Archives, Kew, London, England.

Note 2: Lines 11-17: ‘Firstly Hambro . . . could achieve.’ From Turnbull’s interviews with author between 1999 and 2003, while Ronnie was residing in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Note 3: Page 53, Lines 15-16: “The ship was chased . . . enormous human cost on both sides.” The initial Battle of the Denmark Strait saw the British Royal Navy Battleship HMS Hood sunk with the loss of 1,415 lives. On 27 May the Bismarck was finally sunk with 1,995 German sailors lost.

Note 1: Page 61, Lines 7-14: ‘I’m leaving . . . Well, don’t be too long.’ Dialogue here and elsewhere in the chapter as told to author by Sneum 1998-2006.

Note 1: Page 69, Line 12: “ . . . new order to offer no resistance . . . ” The Danish land forces had already put up some token resistance and casualties amounted to sixteen dead before Denmark surrendered.

Note 2: Page 72, Line 1 to Page 73, Line 3: “Suddenly there was a fresh sensation . . . reached North Sea.” Sneum’s account to author, 1998-2006.

Note 1: Page 76, Line 37 to Page 77, Line 1: “The rest had been sent . . . Russia.” Sneum’s account to the author, based on what he was told by the Germans after the war.

Note 2: Page 79, Lines 25-26: “It was time . . . Messerschmidt 109 to be scrambled.” This account is based on Sneum’s claim to the author that a solitary Messerschmidt was scrambled and his understanding of what happened next. Sneum told the author that he sensed the proximity of the German fighter, though mercifully there was no visual contact with the enemy.

Note 1: Page 81, Lines 15-16: “ . . . Then the engine stopped . . . ” The account given here and subsequently is exactly as Sneum told it to the author in numerous interviews between 1998 and 2006.

Note 1: Page 92, Lines 8-18: Dialogue reproduced here as given to the author more than once by Sneum 1999-2006.

Note 1: Page 96, Lines 21- 23: “The inquisitors were Wing Commander Pringley . . . Flight

Officer Forest.” Source: A detailed report that Sneum made out later for Danish Intelligence, now in the author’s possession.

Note 2: Page 97, Lines 33-34: “It had been adapted . . . five months before.” Source: War Office Files, National Archives, Kew, London, England.

Note 1: Page 99, Lines 21-22: “Seaman Peters . . . Olaf Poulsen” Source: Sneum’s later report for Danish Intelligence and subsequent interviews with the author.

Note 2: Page 100, Lines 11-26: “I talked about my work . . . using the maps.” Source: Sneum’s written report for Danish Intelligence.

Note 3: Page 100, Lines 27-32: “At this point . . . Air Ministry Intelligence.” Sources: Sneum’s written report for Danish Intelligence, Mark Ryan’s interviews with Sneum and the book “Most Secret War” by R.V. Jones.

Note 4: Page 101, Lines 9-27: “1. Could the man be an enemy agent? . . . .4. ..yes to this question, too.” Source for the checklist: War Office Files, the National Archives, Kew, London, England.

Note 5: Page 103, Lines 9-35: ‘Nearly all my films . . . brought up the rear.’ Source: Sneum’s account to the author, verified by R.V. Jones of British Scientific Intelligence in his book ‘Most Secret War.’

Note 6: Page 105, Lines 3-6: ‘These are the first . . . moving pictures.’ Sneum’s claim during interviews with Ryan 1998-2006.

Note 7: Page 106, Lines 1-3: ‘Otto Gregory . . . Victoria Cross.’ Gregory’s claim as described by Sneum in interviews with the author 1998-2006. It was impossible to win the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest honour for valour, unless one’s bravery was shown in combat.

Note 1: Pages 108-110: “Cuthbert Euan Cecil Rabagliati . . . ” This portrait of Rabagliati is based on the conversations Mark Ryan had with the Dutch spy, Erik Hazelhoff, and with Hazel Seymour, the SIS secretary and wife of Rabagliati’s number two, Charles Seymour, in 1998 and 1999. War records from the Natioes,Archives in Kew, London, have added to the picture of this extraordinary man.

Note 2: Page 112, Lines 14-22: “On Wednesday . . . such a job.” Source: Sneum’s written report to Danish Intelligence in 1941, now in the author’s possession.

Note 1: Page 117, Line 32: ‘I regarded myself as an amateur..’ Turnbull’s interviews with the author between 1999 and 2003.

Note 2: Page 118, Lines 7-8: “... secret army . . . British attack.” For more details of the so-called “P-Plan” for a secret army and coordinated uprising against the Nazis in Denmark, see the SOE Files at the National Archive in Kew, West London, UK.

Note 3: Page 119, Lines 9-24: “On 21 June last . . . Danish garrisons.” Source: SOE Files, National Archives, Kew, London.

Note 4: Page 123, Lines 23-37: “1 Young Danish officer . . . vigorous young man.” Source: SOE Files, National Archives, Kew, London.

Note 1: Page 131, Line 14 to Page 132, Line 9: “He had joined . . . two months later . . . ” Source of this information is a detailed police report compiled by Swedish and Danish police in March 1942. Author Ryan has a copy of the report.

Note 2: Page 132, Lines 17-20: “Jorgen Thalbitzer . . . spectacular escape.” Having escaped from a German-run POW camp in Poland, Thalbitzer later made it back to Denmark. He tried to cross the Oeresund channel between Denmark and neutral Sweden in a boat so that he could eventually reach England and fight again. But he and a colleague drowned in the sea channel’s icy waters while making their bid for freedom on the night of 28-29 March, 1943.

Note 3: Page 133, Lines 1-3: ‘We don’t . . . I want to survive.’ Sneum consistently alleged that Christophersen had implied that he would cooperate with the Germans if caught. (Sneum interviews with author Ryan, 1998-2006).