Larry Loftis's Blog, page 3
September 3, 2016
FBI SKULLDUGGERY: WAS J. EDGAR HOOVER CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT OR TREASONOUS?
SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO TODAY—September 3, 1941—the stage was set for the biggest scandal in American history. On this date, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover received from his lab a report detailing the findings regarding several items given to the Bureau two weeks earlier by British double agent, Dusko Popov. Among the items—which included Virginia Woolf'sNight and Day, used by the Germans for transmitting code—were four microdots hidden on innocuous papers.
The microdots were significant in two ways. First, the dots represented an ingenious form of spycraft perfected by the Germans. On a spec of collodion film no larger than a period, secret messages up to half a page of typewritten text could be placed. Attached to paper—a letter, invoice, or utility bill—the dots were virtually undetectable. When a spy reached his ultimate destination, he would place the paper and dot under a microscope to read the entire text.Second, the microdots carried by Popov were of vital national security interest as they contained the entire text of a two-page German questionnaire, Popov's instructions while he was in the United States. Forty percent of the questionnaire pertained to the defenses at Pearl Harbor. No less than eleven times Hawaii, Pearl Harbor, or individual sites (i.e., Hawaii's airfields—Wickam, Wheeler, Luke, Rodgers, PanAmerican—and Kaneohe naval air base) were mentioned. The Germans wanted to know Pearl Harbor's water depth, layout of the submarine station, number of mooring berths, location of munitions storage, details of torpedo nets, and much more.
In the image above, the top two dots reveal the first half of Popov's questionnaire, andpertain primarily to Hawaii and Pearl Harbor. The dots on the bottom row, which pertainto U.S. and Canadian aircraft production and pilot training, is what Hoover sent to FDR.What Hoover would have quickly realized is that the microdots contained the exact text of the questionnaire forwarded to him on August 19, 1941 by FBI Assistant Director, Earl Connelley. As Connelley noted in his letter, he and FBI Special Agent Charles Lanman had met with Popov and his MI6 supervisor, Dick Ellis, the day before at New York's Commodore Hotel. In that three-hour meeting, Connelley wrote, Popov and Ellis provided the Americans with a translated copy of Popov's questionnaire. Connelley attached the questionnaire to his letter.Popov passed along his spycraft—codebook, secret ink crystals, and microdots—to agent Lanman in a separate meeting at the Lincoln Hotel on August 19. Six days later, on August 25, Lanman personally delivered the items to the FBI lab in Washington, which forwarded the results to director Hoover on September 3.What Hoover didn't do with Popov's information is alarming enough; he didn't forward the questionnaire—the answers to which were to be passed by Popov's German supervisor to the Japanese—to President Franklin D. Roosevelt or to Naval Intelligence. He didn't send a copy of the document to the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Husband Kimmel. He made no phone calls. Hoover told no one. Ever.What Hoover did do—as one former Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet wrote after reading details in Into the Lion's Mouth—bordered on treason. When the FBI director received the lab report on September 3, 1941, he sent a letter to Major General Edwin Watson, FDR's secretary, for presenting to the President. Did the letter contain Popov's Pearl Harbor questionnaire, which the director received two weeks earlier? No. Did the letter contain the reproduction of all four microdots, revealing the questionnaire in full? No. Did Hoover warn the president about the content of the questionnaire or microdots? No.J. Edgar Hoover made no mention of the questionnaire, and only identified the microdots as a new form of German secret communication ... which the FBI secured "in connection with a current investigation." Not only that, he actively hid the sections of the questionnaire pertaining to Hawaii. Of the four dots, two were comprised almost entirely of requests relating to the Pearl Harbor naval base and supporting airfields. But what Hoover sent to FDR was the translated text of the other two dots, which pertained to U.S. and Canadian aircraft production and pilot training.
After the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, Hoover continued to keep Popov's questionnaire classified. There were eight Pearl Harbor investigations over the ensuing years, and not once did Popov's name or questionnaire surface. The British, Hoover knew, could say nothing due to their Official Secrets Act, the violation of which entailed fine and/or imprisonment.Through sleight of hand and subterfuge, it seems, Hoover had perfected Lord Chesterfield's axiom: "There are some occasions when a man must tell half his secret in order to conceal the rest."Full details of the story, with pertinent documents, are included in Larry Loftis's new book,INTO THE LION'S MOUTH: The True Story of Dusko Popov—World War II Spy, Patriot, and the Real-Life Inspiration for James Bond(Berkley, June 14, 2016).
The microdots were significant in two ways. First, the dots represented an ingenious form of spycraft perfected by the Germans. On a spec of collodion film no larger than a period, secret messages up to half a page of typewritten text could be placed. Attached to paper—a letter, invoice, or utility bill—the dots were virtually undetectable. When a spy reached his ultimate destination, he would place the paper and dot under a microscope to read the entire text.Second, the microdots carried by Popov were of vital national security interest as they contained the entire text of a two-page German questionnaire, Popov's instructions while he was in the United States. Forty percent of the questionnaire pertained to the defenses at Pearl Harbor. No less than eleven times Hawaii, Pearl Harbor, or individual sites (i.e., Hawaii's airfields—Wickam, Wheeler, Luke, Rodgers, PanAmerican—and Kaneohe naval air base) were mentioned. The Germans wanted to know Pearl Harbor's water depth, layout of the submarine station, number of mooring berths, location of munitions storage, details of torpedo nets, and much more.In the image above, the top two dots reveal the first half of Popov's questionnaire, andpertain primarily to Hawaii and Pearl Harbor. The dots on the bottom row, which pertainto U.S. and Canadian aircraft production and pilot training, is what Hoover sent to FDR.What Hoover would have quickly realized is that the microdots contained the exact text of the questionnaire forwarded to him on August 19, 1941 by FBI Assistant Director, Earl Connelley. As Connelley noted in his letter, he and FBI Special Agent Charles Lanman had met with Popov and his MI6 supervisor, Dick Ellis, the day before at New York's Commodore Hotel. In that three-hour meeting, Connelley wrote, Popov and Ellis provided the Americans with a translated copy of Popov's questionnaire. Connelley attached the questionnaire to his letter.Popov passed along his spycraft—codebook, secret ink crystals, and microdots—to agent Lanman in a separate meeting at the Lincoln Hotel on August 19. Six days later, on August 25, Lanman personally delivered the items to the FBI lab in Washington, which forwarded the results to director Hoover on September 3.What Hoover didn't do with Popov's information is alarming enough; he didn't forward the questionnaire—the answers to which were to be passed by Popov's German supervisor to the Japanese—to President Franklin D. Roosevelt or to Naval Intelligence. He didn't send a copy of the document to the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Husband Kimmel. He made no phone calls. Hoover told no one. Ever.What Hoover did do—as one former Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet wrote after reading details in Into the Lion's Mouth—bordered on treason. When the FBI director received the lab report on September 3, 1941, he sent a letter to Major General Edwin Watson, FDR's secretary, for presenting to the President. Did the letter contain Popov's Pearl Harbor questionnaire, which the director received two weeks earlier? No. Did the letter contain the reproduction of all four microdots, revealing the questionnaire in full? No. Did Hoover warn the president about the content of the questionnaire or microdots? No.J. Edgar Hoover made no mention of the questionnaire, and only identified the microdots as a new form of German secret communication ... which the FBI secured "in connection with a current investigation." Not only that, he actively hid the sections of the questionnaire pertaining to Hawaii. Of the four dots, two were comprised almost entirely of requests relating to the Pearl Harbor naval base and supporting airfields. But what Hoover sent to FDR was the translated text of the other two dots, which pertained to U.S. and Canadian aircraft production and pilot training.After the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, Hoover continued to keep Popov's questionnaire classified. There were eight Pearl Harbor investigations over the ensuing years, and not once did Popov's name or questionnaire surface. The British, Hoover knew, could say nothing due to their Official Secrets Act, the violation of which entailed fine and/or imprisonment.Through sleight of hand and subterfuge, it seems, Hoover had perfected Lord Chesterfield's axiom: "There are some occasions when a man must tell half his secret in order to conceal the rest."Full details of the story, with pertinent documents, are included in Larry Loftis's new book,INTO THE LION'S MOUTH: The True Story of Dusko Popov—World War II Spy, Patriot, and the Real-Life Inspiration for James Bond(Berkley, June 14, 2016).
July 16, 2016
Hollywood, The Stork Club, and Accidentally Outing WWII's Top Spy
SEVENTY-FOUR YEARS AGO TODAY, one of America's most powerful men accidentally exposed British double agent Dusko Popov, an MI6 agent on loan to the FBI. Walter Winchell, in his nationally-syndicated "On Broadway" column, created a firestorm this day with Popov's German handlers when he wrote: "Dusko Popov (which isn't double-talk, at all) of the Yugoslavian Govt is Simone Simon's new toy."
The Abwehr, German military intelligence, knew of Winchell's ubiquitous presence and influence—his column was seen by virtually every household in the country, his radio show was the nation's most popular, he had starred in two movies (as himself), and he had an open invitation to the White House and FDR's ear at his pleasure—and his choice of words surely raised eyebrows.
Winchell had starred in 1937's "Love and Hisses" with French leading lady Simone Simon, and surely salivated about disclosing the new handsome man on her arm. In all likelihood, Winchell saw them at his favorite haunt—The Stork Club, also a favorite of Popov's.
While Popov's playboy lifestyle irritated the FBI (and was tolerated by MI6), his German masters were more than alarmed by Winchell's article. Abwehr messages intercepted by British intelligence had already warned that the Germans were suspicious that Popov was doubling. And what did Winchell mean by "and that's no double-talk"? Why would Popov's role as a diplomat suggest "double-talk"? And why was Popov cavorting with a French actress, hob-nobbing about town, when he was supposed to be establishing a German spy network?To find out what happened, you'll have to follow Popov ...into the lion's mouth.Larry Loftis is the author ofINTO THE LION'S MOUTH: The True Story of Dusko Popov--World War II Spy, Patriot, and the Real-Life Inspiration for James Bond(Berkley, June 14, 2016).
The Abwehr, German military intelligence, knew of Winchell's ubiquitous presence and influence—his column was seen by virtually every household in the country, his radio show was the nation's most popular, he had starred in two movies (as himself), and he had an open invitation to the White House and FDR's ear at his pleasure—and his choice of words surely raised eyebrows.Winchell had starred in 1937's "Love and Hisses" with French leading lady Simone Simon, and surely salivated about disclosing the new handsome man on her arm. In all likelihood, Winchell saw them at his favorite haunt—The Stork Club, also a favorite of Popov's.While Popov's playboy lifestyle irritated the FBI (and was tolerated by MI6), his German masters were more than alarmed by Winchell's article. Abwehr messages intercepted by British intelligence had already warned that the Germans were suspicious that Popov was doubling. And what did Winchell mean by "and that's no double-talk"? Why would Popov's role as a diplomat suggest "double-talk"? And why was Popov cavorting with a French actress, hob-nobbing about town, when he was supposed to be establishing a German spy network?To find out what happened, you'll have to follow Popov ...into the lion's mouth.Larry Loftis is the author ofINTO THE LION'S MOUTH: The True Story of Dusko Popov--World War II Spy, Patriot, and the Real-Life Inspiration for James Bond(Berkley, June 14, 2016).
June 7, 2016
Who Does the Fleming Family Think Inspired James Bond?
On September 27, 2014, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and Prince Charles-Philippe d'Orleans hosted a royal weekend gala to honor the literary legacy of Ian Fleming on the 50th anniversary of his death. A special Le Bal de la Riviera Tribute Award was presented to the Fleming Family. Another family, unconnected to the Flemings, was also invited. The fourth page of the invitation helps to explain why the second family was included. Notice that the invitation mentions only ONE name as
May 28, 2016
May 27, 2016
The Model and the Mirror
Today, May 28, in honor of Ian Fleming's birthday, we look at whether the novelist had a model for James Bond, and if so, the shadow cast in the literary mirror. The most likely candidate for Fleming's inspiration, it seems, was British double agent Dusko Popov (codenamed TRICYCLE), the incorrigible playboy who spied and lied for MI5 (counter-intelligence) and MI6 (foreign intelligence) during World War II. Popov was well-known in British Intelligence circles, including Naval Intelligence,
May 20, 2016
Birth of Bond: Where it All Began
Seventy-five years ago today—May 20, 1941—Lt. Commander Ian Fleming checked into the swanky Palacio Hotel in Estoril, Portugal's version of the Côte d'Azur. He signed in with his real name—Ian Lancaster Fleming—and listed his occupation as "Government Official." The less than subtle title was somewhat irrelevant as the PVDE—Portugal's secret police, which collected all foreigner hotel registrations—assumed that most men traveling alone were either spies or military officers. Fleming was on an
May 18, 2016
Interview with The Spy Command on the Origin of 007
In case you missed his post yesterday, here's the Q and A I had with The Spy Command's Bill Koenig. Bill: What interested you in the subject in the first place to do a book? Larry: I was working on an espionage novel four years ago and I started researching "greatest spy ever." Dusko Popov's name kept ... ahem ... popping up. The more I read, the more intrigued I became; the man's real life was more entertaining and thrilling than what I was making up. After reading my manuscript, my editor
May 13, 2016
"Is this the real James Bond?"
Forty-three years ago today, British magazine Observer asked a very important question: "Is this the real James Bond?" The man on the cover was none other than Dusko Popov, agent TRICYCLE in MI5 and MI6 circles. Just one year before, in 1972, spymaster J. C. Masterman had released his 1945 MI5 report in book format, detailing activities of the double agents run by his Double-Cross Committee. Only code names were given but Masterman was treading a thin line and the Official Secrets Act carried
May 7, 2016
Most Eligible Playboy: Bond or Popov?
Shortly before his death, Ian Fleming hosted a BBC reporter at Goldeneye, Fleming's Jamaican writing retreat. The journalist asked, in a pejorative tone, about James Bond's playboy lifestyle and the numerous women he seduced. Taking no offense, Ian reminded the reporter that, in general, Bond only had one girlfriend per novel, or one per year. The MI6 agent who had inspired Fleming's 007, Dusko Popov, surely smiled. Through Admiral John Godfrey, British Director of Naval Intelligence and
May 5, 2016
What Winston Churchill Read Today, 1944
TODAY 1944, Winston Churchill held in his hands and read the very pages you see here. It was MI5's April intelligence report [recall that MI6 handles intelligence abroad, MI5 domestic]. It was a critical time as D-Day, the secret Britain had to protect at all costs, was only a month away. Section A of the report ("Spies") dealt with captured German spies, and Section B ("Special Agents") dealt with operations of Britain's double agents. Only one agent was special, however--the only agent
