Larry Loftis's Blog, page 4

Love Letter to a Spy

In Ian Fleming's "From Russia With Love," a Russian agent (Tatiana Romanova) is assigned to feign love to and seduce MI6's top agent, James Bond.  Romanova, of course, is swept away by Bond and actually falls in love with him.  It is likely that Fleming remembered Dusko Popov as he wrote this novel.  After all, Popov's way with women was common knowledge in British Intelligence circles.  Fleming's boss, Director of Naval Intelligence Admiral John Godfrey, sat on both committees which supervised

WWII Spycraft: Mega Money

TODAY 1944, MI6 London received an unusual delivery—a diplomatic bag originating from Lisbon and containing cash.  A lot of cash.  Fifty thousand dollars (about $700,000 today), to be precise.  From a German spy. The money was for Britain's greatest operative, double agent Dusko Popov (code name, TRICYCLE), and had been sent by Abwehr agent Johann Jebsen (whom the British had code named ARTIST).  Popov, who had been recruited by Jebsen to spy for Germany, had for three and a half years so

7 Irresistible Traits of the Man Who Inspired 007

What's the secret of sex appeal?  Countless studies for years have confirmed that confidence is the most alluring trait of a man.  Add to that Hollywood attractiveness, money, charm, and intelligence, and the recipe for animal magnetism is said to be complete.  Yet, while all of these attributes in one man are uncommon, they are not rare.  So what was it about the man who inspired Ian Fleming's James Bond—MI6 agent Dusko Popov—that made him absolutely irresistible to women?  He was handsome,

Simone Simon: Living Casablanca

   In old Hollywood's greatest movie, Casablanca, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) had a short but passionate romance with Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) in Paris in 1940, just before the German invasion.  Against all odds, the two would meet again in Morocco in December 1941, the flame would rekindle, and Rick would send his married lover off to Lisbon in a bittersweet farewell.  Little did the actors know as they filmed that summer of '42, the scene was being played out on a much bigger stage.  While

WWII Spycraft: Invisible Ink

[Scroll over the image for details.]   "Give me the secret ink von Karsthoff gave you," Abwehr agent Johann Jebsen said to Dusko Popov in Rome on November 21, 1940.  Popov did and watched as Johnny poured it out.  "We have a new and better formula," Jebsen said, "with pyramidon." Dusko listened carefully as Johnny explained how to prepare the concoction, memorizing the ingredients and application (see Chapter 4 of INTO THE LION'S MOUTH for the precise formula).  Over the next four and a half

What car did the REAL James Bond drive?

If there is any item synonymous with 007, it is the car.  After all, who can forget the classic image of Sean Connery and that beautiful Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger? That MI6 agent Dusko Popov was Ian Fleming's inspiration for James Bond is beyond question; it was well-established in INTO THE LION'S MOUTH.  The origin of the famous casino scene seems proof enough (ICYMI: bit.ly/1SMKTSG).  But what about the cars of Bond?  Fleming loved cars and none was more beautiful than the Aston Martin.

Tale of Two Casinos

[This article first appeared on April 13, 2016 as a feature for The James Bond Dossier.] After the iconic beach scene from Dr. No, perhaps no other image conjures up visions of James Bond more than a casino.  For Ian Fleming, however, the order would probably be reversed.  The first words of the Bond world, we must remember, came on this date, 1953, in Casino Royale:             "The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning."  Fleming was remembering, of

Espionage High Life

On this day, 1941, two spies dined at Horcher's, one of Madrid's finest restaurants.  Abwehr agent Johnny Jebsen was to let British double agent Dusko Popov know how things were going, and, in particular, how agent IVAN's (Popov's German code name) last report was received.  On the way, Johnny informed Dusko that the restaurant was German-owned, and that vases at each table contained a hidden microphone.  Dinner talk was to be light, unless praise was being heaped on Hitler.  During the evening,

MI5 and the Bondish Agent

Guy Liddell, head of MI5's B Section (counter-espionage overseeing double agents), was the only British intelligence officer allowed to keep an official war diary.  On this day, March 15, 1941, he made a journal entry which hinted at frustration over a new playboy now in his stable. "Skoot [the initial code name for double agent Dusko Popov] left for Lisbon this morning taking with him notes on his questionnaire and the Ministry of Supply circular for which he was asked and certain particulars

Gone in the Wind

TODAY 1943, a civilian flight (KLM Royal Dutch Airlines/BOAC Flight 777) from Lisbon to Bristol, England was shot down over the Bay of Biscay by a German Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88, killing all seventeen aboard.  One of the passengers was beloved English actor, Leslie Howard, famous for portraying Ashley Wilkes in 1939's Gone With the Wind.   Whether the Germans particularly targeted Howard remains the subject of considerable debate.  Throughout the war, Lisbon was the hotbed of spies and the