Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 19

Today in World War II History—April 15, 1940 & 1945

Women and children, former inmates of Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, after liberation, Germany, 17-18 Apr 1945 (Imperial War Museum: BU3805)

85 Years Ago—Apr. 15, 1940: Germans appoint Administrative Council to run the Norwegian government.

Off Narvik, Norway, British destroyers Brazen and Fearless sink German submarine U-49; documents about the Enigma machine float to the surface and are captured by the British.

80 Years Ago—Apr. 15, 1945: In Germany, British liberate Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

US Eighth Air Force B-17 & B-24 heavy bombers hit German strongpoints in Royan, France, with the Eighth Air Force’s only use of napalm during the war.

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Today in World War II History—April 14, 1940 & 1945

Men of US 101st Infantry Regiment running past a burning fuel trailer in square of Kronach, Bayreuth, Germany, 14 Apr 1945 (US National Archives: 111-SC-206235)

85 Years Ago—Apr. 14, 1940: In Norway, first British and French troops land, near Narvik and at Namsos, to assist Norwegians against the German invasion.

80 Years Ago—Apr. 14, 1945: US Fifth Army launches final offensive in Italy, toward the Po Valley.

US Third Army takes Bayreuth, Germany.

In the Netherlands, Zwolle is liberated singlehandedly by Canadian Private Léo Major on a reconnaissance mission.

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Today in World War II History—April 13, 1940 & 1945

Battleship HMS Warspite and a British destroyer during Second Battle of Narvik, 13 Apr 1940 (Imperial War Museum: 4700-01 A 38)

85 Years Ago—Apr. 13, 1940: Second Battle of Narvik (Norway): British Royal Navy sinks eight German destroyers.

British Royal Marines land in Danish Faroe Islands for occupation duty under agreement with Danish governor.

Soviets begin deportations from Poland to Kazakhstan: 61,000 farmers, tradesmen, civil servants, judges, professors, and family members of officers massacred at Katyn.

80 Years Ago—Apr. 13, 1945: Soviets secure Vienna, Austria.

US B-29 fire raid on Tokyo burns 13 square miles in arsenal district and damages the Imperial Palace.

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Today in World War II History—April 12, 1940 & 1945

United Artists theatrical release poster for the 1940 film Rebecca (public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—Apr. 12, 1940: In Norway, German army strikes out from Oslo.

Movie premiere of Rebecca, starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine (Alfred Hitchcock’s first film made in America).

Harry Truman being sworn in as the President of the United States, White House, Washington, DC, 12 Apr 1945 (Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum: 73-1909)

80 Years Ago—Apr. 12, 1945: President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in Warm Springs, GA, of a cerebral hemorrhage. Harry Truman is sworn in as president.

Over Okinawa, US Marine land- and carrier-based aircraft shoot down 77 Japanese aircraft, the Marines’ highest number of victories in a single day during the war.

Japan forms Volunteer Army of men ages 15-55 and women ages 17-45 to combat invasion.

Recruiting poster for pilots for the US Marine Corps, WWII

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Today in World War II History—April 11, 1940 & 1945

Three German Neubaufahrzeug heavy tanks at Oslo, Norway, 19 Apr 1940 (German Federal Archive: Bild 183-L03744)

85 Years Ago—Apr. 11, 1940: German bombers strike Elverum, Norway, where the Norwegian royal family is hiding.

Prisoners at Buchenwald concentration camp, Germany, 16 Apr 1945; Elie Wiesel is in the second row up, seventh from the left, next to the bunk post (US National Archives: 208-AA-206K-31)

80 Years Ago—Apr. 11, 1945: In Germany, the US Third Army liberates Buchenwald concentration camp, and the US Ninth Army reaches the Elbe River near Magdeburg, 60 miles from Berlin.

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Today in World War II History—April 10, 1940 & 1945

Seabiscuit on workout with George Wolf (public domain via Seabiscuit Heritage Foundation)

85 Years Ago—Apr. 10, 1940: Icelandic parliament grants full powers to Icelandic cabinet, effectively declaring independence from German-occupied Denmark.

British Military Application of Uranium Detonation (MAUD) Committee first meets, under Henry Tizard.

Seabiscuit is placed in retirement, horse racing’s all-time leading money winner to date.

German WWII-era Messerschmitt Me 262A jet at Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, McMinnville, OR (Photo: Sarah Sundin, March 2019)

80 Years Ago—Apr. 10, 1945: US Eighth Air Force sends 1,315 bombers to strike German jet bases, which leads to the essential end of the jet program; ten bombers fall to jets, the highest loss to jets during the war.

In Germany, US Ninth Army takes Hannover, Düren, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, and Essen.

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Double Cross – Britain’s Double Agents in World War II

Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt Stop #4

THIS HUNT IS NOT YET LIVE. WE’RE STILL WORKING OUT OUR LINKS. WE GO LIVE AT NOON (MST) on April 10. PLEASE RETURN AFTER THAT!

Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all the stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 5 grand prizes!

The hunt BEGINS on April 10, 2025 at noon Mountain with Stop #1 at LisaTawnBergren.com.Hunt through our loop using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer).There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all weekend (until Sunday, 4/13 at midnight Mountain)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books and learn new things about them.Submit your entry for the grand prizes by collecting the CLUE on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your answer in the Rafflecopter form at the final stop, back on Lisa’s site. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way (LIKE ME – SEE BELOW!)

Welcome! I’m Sarah Sundin, and my award-winning novels explore the drama, daring, and romance of the World War II era. I live in Southern California, where my husband and I traipse the trails with our rescue dogs and play with our adorable grandson. When I’m not writing, I teach Sunday school, volunteer in women’s ministry, and serve as co-director of the West Coast Christian Writers Conference. You can learn more about me and my books here on my website and on Facebook and Instagram. My latest novel is the bestselling Midnight on the Scottish Shore…

As the German war machine devours the Netherlands, the only way Cilla van der Zee can survive the occupation is to do the unthinkable—become a spy for the Germans. Once dispatched to Britain, she plans to abandon her mission and instead aid the Allies. But her scheme is thwarted when naval officer Lt. Lachlan Mackenzie finds her along the Scottish shore and turns her in to be executed. Yet perhaps she is more useful alive than dead. British intelligence employs her to radio misleading messages to Germany from the lighthouse at Dunnet Head in Scotland—messages filled with naval intelligence Lachlan must provide. If the war is to be won, Lachlan and Cilla must work together. But how can he trust a woman who arrived on his shores as a tool of the enemy—a woman certain to betray both him and the Allied cause?

In this novel, Cilla becomes a double agent through Britain’s MI5 Double Cross program – a program full of the most improbable characters you could imagine, who accomplished some outstanding feats!

Double Cross – Britain’s Double Agents in World War II

When World War II began, the United Kingdom was rightly worried about German spies in their midst. Britain’s MI5 (Military Intelligence, Section 5) was tasked with counterespionage–to find and capture enemy agents before they could send dangerous information to Germany. Although capturing and executing these spies made the nation feel more secure and sent a message to Germany, MI5 decided many of these agents might be more useful alive than dead.

58 St. James’s Street, London, site of MI5’s London Headquarters in World War II (Photo: Sarah Sundin, 9 May 2024)

In September 1940, MI5 began the “Double Cross” program, to “turn” enemy agents to become double agents. The ideal double agent would send messages to Germany using his German radio and codes or via letters written in secret ink to addresses in neutral countries – but these messages were provided by MI5. At first a new double agent sent “chicken feed,” containing information that was true and verifiable, but not harmful to the British war effort. Since Germany could purchase British newspapers in neutral Portugal and could verify certain facts by aerial reconnaissance, relating truthful information built trust in the eyes of the agent’s German handlers.

As the war progressed, MI5 even allowed their double agents to commit fake sabotage, blowing up buildings of no importance at vital locations. Since the local authorities and the press weren’t aware of what was actually happening, reports of suspected sabotage in the newspapers and aerial photos of the damage further built up the agents’ reputations in German eyes.

The more the German Abwehr trusted their agents, the more these agents were able to participate in strategic deception, feeding blatantly false information to deceive the Germans about Allied military plans. This reached its culmination on D-day, when an intricate web of deception, including messages from the most trusted double agents, convinced Germany that the Allies would land in the Pas de Calais region of France rather than Normandy. “Knowing” this, Hitler refused to release reinforcements for several weeks after D-day, saving countless Allied lives.

German Abwehr SE88/5 spy radio (Photo: Crypto Museum)

One of the reasons the Double Cross program was so successful was because MI5 knew the Abwehr did indeed trust their agents. Because the Abwehr transmitted reports from their agents in Britain verbatim over the radio, codebreakers at Britain’s Bletchley Park were able to break the Abwehr code on December 8, 1941. Reading Abwehr radio traffic showed Mi5 which agents were trusted and which weren’t, which messages were believed and which weren’t, and – this was as shocking then as it is now – every single German agent sent to British soil was “in harness” – either in prison or working as a double agent.

It is believed only one Abwehr agent escaped capture during World War II—and he didn’t have a working wireless transmitter and committed suicide. Of the German agents captured throughout the war, sixteen were executed, but about three dozen were turned to become double agents.

With a great deal of ingenuity and organization, Britain’s MI5 was able to take one of their greatest fears and turn it into one of their greatest assets.

Here’s the Stop #4 Basics:

If you’re interested, you can order Midnight on the Scottish Shore on Amazon, Baker Book House, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBook or at your local bookstore!

Clue to Write Down: are singing.

Link to Stop #5, the Next Stop on the Loop: Joanna Davidson Politano’s site!

EXTRA GIVEAWAY!

But wait! Before you leave, I’m giving away FIVE sets of two novels each to FIVE more people! I’m offering paperback copies of BOTH Embers in the London Sky and Midnight on the Scottish Shore. All you need to do is subscribe to my author newsletter – or be a current subscriber. See the sign-up form at the bottom of this page, where it says “A Free Gift for You.” US mailing addresses only, please. Giveaway runs through April 13, 2025 Winners will be notified by email by April 22, 2025. Enter via the Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Today in World War II History—April 9, 1940 & 1945

German Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft over Denmark, 9 Apr 1940 (public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—Apr. 9, 1940: Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Invasion of Denmark is the world’s first combined invasion by air, sea & land and the first use of combat paratroopers in history.

Denmark falls in less than six hours, with 16 Danish soldiers killed and 20 German soldiers killed. Read more: “Denmark in World War II.”

In Norway, Germans take Oslo, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim, and Narvik.

At the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen, Georg von Hevesy dissolves Nobel medals belonging to Max von Laue & James Franck to protect them from the Germans.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1940 (public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—Apr. 9, 1945: Nazis execute German resistance members pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Adm. Wilhelm Canaris, Hans von Dohnanyi, and Gen. Hans Oster in Flossenbürg concentration camp.

Soviets take Königsberg, Germany, after a long siege.

British Eighth Army opens its final offensive in Italy near Bologna.

US Eighth Army lands unopposed on Jolo in the Philippines.

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Today in World War II History—April 8, 1940 & 1945

British destroyer HMS Glowworm under attack by Admiral Hipper German heavy cruiser off Norway, 8 April 1940 (public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—Apr. 8, 1940: German invasion fleet arrives off Norway; in heavy fighting, British destroyer HMS Glowworm is sunk while ramming German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, and two German troop transports are sunk by a Norwegian destroyer and by a Polish submarine.

Gallup poll: 84% of Americans want Allies to win, 2% want a German victory, but only 23% want US to join the war.

80 Years Ago—Apr. 8, 1945: The Royal Air Force bombs Lützkendorf in the final raid in the Allied campaign against the German oil industry.

Soviets surround Vienna, Austria.

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Today in World War II History—April 7, 1940 & 1945

US 10-cent postage stamp of Booker T. Washington, issue of 1940 (public domain via US Post Office)

85 Years Ago—Apr. 7, 1940: Booker T. Washington becomes first African-American man to appear on a US postage stamp.

Precious metals, paintings, and other loot hidden by Germans in a salt mine near Merkers, Germany, photographed 15 Apr 1945 (US National Archives: 239-PA-6-34-2)

80 Years Ago—Apr. 7, 1945: The world’s largest battleship, Japan’s Yamato, on a suicide mission, is sunk by US Navy Task Force 58 planes off Okinawa (3055 killed); TF 58 aircraft also sink a Japanese light cruiser and four destroyers.

US Third Army finds German art and gold stash in salt mine in Merkers worth $500 million.

US P-51 Mustang fighter planes based on Iwo Jima escort B-29 Superfortress bombers over Japan for the first time.

Battleship Yamato under aerial attack in the East China Sea, 7 Apr 1945 (US Naval History and Heritage Command: L42-09.06.05)

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