Intelligence Operations & Units During WW2

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Elinor wrote: "May I humbly suggest my own novel Bird's Eye View, about a woman who becomes an interpreter of aerial photographs? In my opinion this was a fascinating branch of Intelligence...."

Hi Elinor,
In your reserach did you come across Constance Babington-Smith? She is credited with discovery the V1s at Peenemunde.

Her book on this is: Evidence in Camera: The Story of Photographic Intelligence in the Second World War by Constance Babington Smith

Her obituary from the London Daily telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obitu...

[Jerome]

A June release:

by Bill Lascher (no photo)
Description:
The unforgettable true story of two married journalists on an island-hopping run for their lives across the Pacific after the Fall of Manila during World War II—a saga of love, adventure, and danger.

On New Year’s Eve, 1941, just three weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese were bombing the Philippine capital of Manila, where journalists Mel and Annalee Jacoby had married just a month earlier. The couple had worked in China as members of a tight community of foreign correspondents with close ties to Chinese leaders; if captured by invading Japanese troops, they were certain to be executed. Racing to the docks just before midnight, they barely escaped on a freighter—the beginning of a tumultuous journey that would take them from one island outpost to another. While keeping ahead of the approaching Japanese, Mel and Annalee covered the harrowing war in the Pacific Theater—two of only a handful of valiant and dedicated journalists reporting from the region.

Supported by deep historical research, extensive interviews, and the Jacobys’ personal letters, Bill Lascher recreates the Jacobys’ thrilling odyssey and their love affair with the Far East and one another. Bringing to light their compelling personal stories and their professional life together, Eve of a Hundred Midnights is a tale of an unquenchable thirst for adventure, of daring reportage at great personal risk, and of an enduring romance that blossomed in the shadow of war.

[Jerome]

A recent release:

by Dennis Deletant
Description:
British Clandestine Activities in Romania during the Second World War is the first monograph to examine the activity throughout the entire war of SOE and MI6. It was generally believed in Britain's War Office, after Hitler's occupation of Austria in March 1938, that Germany would seek to impose its will on South-East Europe before turning its attention towards Western Europe. Given Romania's geographical position, there was little Britain could offer her. The brutal fact of British-Romanian relations was that Germany was inconveniently in the way: opportunity, proximity of manufacture and the logistics of supply all told in favour of the Third Reich. This held, of course, for military as well as economic matters. In these circumstances the British concluded that their only weapon against German ambitions in countries which fell into Hitler's orbit were military subversive operations and a concomitant attempt to draw Romania out of her alliance with Germany.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Nice one Jerome - a very niche subject that looks interesting.

[Jerome]

A June release:

by Larry Loftis
Description:
On a cool August evening in 1941, a Serbian playboy created a stir at Casino Estoril in Portugal by throwing down an outrageously large baccarat bet to humiliate his opponent. The Serbian was a British double agent, and the money―which he had just stolen from the Germans―belonged to the British. From the sideline, watching with intent interest was none other than Ian Fleming…

The Serbian was Dusko Popov. As a youngster, he was expelled from his London prep school. Years later he would be arrested and banished from Germany for making derogatory statements about the Third Reich. When World War II ensued, the playboy became a spy, eventually serving three dangerous masters: the Abwehr, MI5 and MI6, and the FBI.

On August 10, 1941, the Germans sent Popov to the United States to construct a spy network and gather information on Pearl Harbor. The FBI ignored his German questionnaire, but J. Edgar Hoover succeeded in blowing his cover. While MI5 desperately needed Popov to deceive the Abwehr about the D-Day invasion, they assured him that a return to the German Secret Service Headquarters in Lisbon would result in torture and execution. He went anyway...

Into the Lion’s Mouth is a globe-trotting account of a man’s entanglement with espionage, murder, assassins, and lovers―including enemy spies and a Hollywood starlet. It is a story of subterfuge and seduction, patriotism, and cold-blooded courage. It is the story of Dusko Popov―the inspiration for James Bond.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Good add Jerome, the author has recently joined the group.

[Betsy]

Have just started BETWEEN SILK AND CYANIDE by Leo Marks. It's sub-titled A CODEMAKER'S WAR 1941-1945. So far it is interesting because at the time, the author was a rather irreverent young man who had his own ideas about codemaking.

[Derek]

Jerome wrote: "A September release:

by Max Hastings
Description:
Examining the espionage and intelligence stories in World War II, on a global basis, bringing t..."

I've posted a review of this on Goodreads and my own web site. Personal view is that it's excellent within the limits flagged in the subtitle - Hastings is interested in spies, saboteurs and sigint. Other aspects of the intelligence war get a passing nod if that. Still an impressive first foray though.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Thanks Derek, good to hear some details about Max Hastings book, he is usually a pretty decent historian/author.

[Derek]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Thanks Derek, good to hear some details about Max Hastings book, he is usually a pretty decent historian/author."

I fully agree and don't mean to damn it with faint praise - just to point out that it's not the whole story (and it would be unreasonable to expect that in a single volume!)

[Erik]

Anyone have an opinion on:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

I have had this on my shelf for a while but have had quite a few others jump in front of it for reading. German espionage was not particularly great, but might prove to be a good contrast to the Soviet and Allied efforts.

[Derek]

Room 39: Naval Intelligence In Action 1939 45 I've just finished reading Don McLachlan's book and posted a review. As head of NID 17Z (propaganda) the author knew what he was writing about and must have walked VERY close to the line in terms of what was publishable in 1968. There are a few things you could add now but nothing you'd need to change.

[Dj]

Erik wrote: "Anyone have an opinion on:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

I have had this on my shelf for a while but have had quite a few others jump in front of it for reading..."

Well I have it on my shelf and from time to time have taken it down to help smooth rough edges on some paperbacks, but other than that can't say I have any real opinion on the book itself.

[^]

Betsy wrote: "Have just started BETWEEN SILK AND CYANIDE by Leo Marks. It's sub-titled A CODEMAKER'S WAR 1941-1945. So far it is interesting because at the time, the author was a rather irreverent young man who ..."

One of my all-time favourite books! I first read a hbk edition borrowed from my local public library. Some years later that same library placed it on the 'For Sale' shelf, where I was lucky to find it for disposal at UK £1.90. Yes, of course I bought it!

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Erik wrote: "Anyone have an opinion on:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

I have had this on my shelf for a while but have had quite a few others jump in front of it for reading..."

Sorry Erik not One I have read.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Derek wrote: "Room 39: Naval Intelligence In Action 1939 45 I've just finished reading Don McLachlan's book and posted a review. As..."

Thanks Derek this is one for me. I also have this to read at some stage:

Very Special Intelligence by Patrick Beesly

Description
Operational Intelligence Centre was the nerve centre of the British Admiralty in World War II, dedicated to collecting, analysing and disseminating information from every possible source which could throw light on the intentions and movements of German naval and maritime forces. OIC laboured tirelessly, despite early disappointments, to supply the Navy and RAF with the intelligence that would enable them to defeat Hitler and his admirals. Patrick Beesly, an insider drawing on considerable personal knowledge, reveals, in full, the compelling story of OIC. He throws light on dramatic episodes such as the hunt for the Bismarck; the tragedy of Convoy PQ17; the long war against the U-boats; and on many other significant events critical to the course of the war. Very Special Intelligence, here presented with a new Introduction which sets the work in context and takes account of new research, is the fascinating story of an organisation which contributed so much to Allied success.

[Derek]

Geevee wrote: "Derek wrote: "Room 39: Naval Intelligence In Action 1939 45 I've just finished reading Don McLachlan's book and poste..."

Thanks - definitely one to pick out!
He was there and may well have had access to the selection of papers now declassified as 'OIC Formation and History' (ADM 223/286) in the National Archive. It makes fascinating reading!

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Derek seeing you're in the UK I wondered if you had seen or read anything on HMS Forward and its tunnels near Newhaven?

I knew of the place as my Dad grew up here during the war and he showed me some years ago the (west) entrance which lies next to the main road out of Newhaven (Denton/South Heighton).

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/si...

http://www.secret-tunnels.co.uk/

[Derek]

Geevee wrote: "Derek seeing you're in the UK I wondered if you had seen or read anything on HMS Forward and its tunnels near Newhaven?

I knew of the place as my Dad grew up here during the war and he showed me ..."

Thanks - this is a new one on me and absolutely fascinating. I must look for the book. There were voice and morse interception stations (at least) at Dover, Portsmouth and Portland which presumably fed into Forward and the other integration centres.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Yes I think so. Unfortunately it isn't open but I believe there are some exhibits/info at Fort Newhaven.

My Dad has memories of the Canandians coming back from the ill-fated Dieppe operation and seeing them and making friends with them behind his farmhouse in the months before D-Day.

[Michal]

Got this for $1.19 plus shipping Like New!

Disciples: The World War II Missions of the CIA Directors Who Fought for Wild Bill Donovan

by Douglas C. Waller

[Mike, Assisting Moderator US Forces]

Great deal Michal, on a recently published book!

[Derek]

Derek wrote: "Geevee wrote: "Derek wrote: "Room 39: Naval Intelligence In Action 1939 45 I've just finished reading Don McLachlan's..."

Thanks for the tip Geevee. I've just read Very Special Intelligence by Patrick Beesley and posted a review - it makes an excellent complement to McLachlan's work.

[Erik]

Anyone ever find any reading on Italian intelligence operations in WW2?

[Jerome]

Here's two, Erik:


by Giuseppe Conti
by Manuela A. Williams

[Erik]

Thank you Jerome, very much appreciated.

[Larry]

WWII Spycraft: Invisible Ink.
For inquiring espionage minds, I just posted an article on WWII secret writing and secret ink (from WWII's greatest spy). Here's the link and one of several samples from the MI5 files: http://bit.ly/1Qnwjzk



And for those of you who want to MAKE invisible ink, the formula used by the Abwehr is in Chapter 4 of my book.



Cheers,
Larry Loftis

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Pretty interesting indeed!

[Derek]

While working in the local library I spotted British Interrogation Techniques in the Second World War by Sophie Jackson. Instantly borrowed it and read it, and have now posted a review. Unfortunately it's a bit of a curate's egg - she's good on Camp 020, fair on London District Cage and at times actively misleading on CSDIC. She can also be a bit cavalier with her references ('PRO records' really won't do - there's a lot of them at Kew - and WO208/4117-4197 in the Bibliography doesn't narrow the field enough).

Taking it on its own terms, as a focus on techniques, the book is nonetheless worthwhile even though it doesn't mention the early (and discarded) experiments with drugs.

Now to find time to get back to the library and look at Harry Hinsley's magnum opus. They won't let that one out of the door!

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Thanks Derek. I couldn't see your review though.

[Derek]

Geevee wrote: "Thanks Derek. I couldn't see your review though."

Try https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Thanks.

[carl]

[carl]

If you couldn't read my last post it was because you didn't read the
how to in :WWII Spycraft: Invisible Ink

[Larry]

carl wrote: "If you couldn't read my last post it was because you didn't read the
how to in :WWII Spycraft: Invisible Ink"

Indeed! Say, Carl, do you have a spare iron I can borrow?

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

carl wrote: "If you couldn't read my last post it was because you didn't read the
how to in :WWII Spycraft: Invisible Ink"

Nice one Carl (or is that Agent Transparent?)

[carl]

Just trying to keep everyone up to date on their spy skills !

[Sue]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obit...

Frederick Mayer, Jew who spied on Nazis after fleeing Germany.

Frederick Mayer, who fled Nazi Germany for Brooklyn as a Jewish teenager in 1938, only to parachute back into Nazi-controlled Austria seven years later as an American spy on an improbable secret mission, died Friday in Charles Town, W.Va. He was 94.

As the leader of an elite operation code-named Greenup, Mr. Mayer dropped behind enemy lines in February 1945 and posed as a German soldier for more than two months in the Tyrol region of western Austria, gathering critical intelligence on Nazi troop movements as Germany teetered toward defeat.

In one of his biggest intelligence coups of the war, he learned of a convoy of German military trains headed for Italy with troops and munitions, and he had the information radioed to American commanders, allowing Allied warplanes to bomb them.

His work helped produce the “organized disintegration of enemy defenses” in the Innsbruck area and sped the Germans’ early surrender without any further fighting, according to an OSS report in September 1945 that nominated Mr. Mayer for a Medal of Honor. (He did not get it.)

“What he accomplished was just astonishing: He saved thousands of lives on both sides,” said Charles Pinck, president of the OSS Society, based in Virginia.

The Greenup operation was chronicled in several military histories, as well as a 2012 documentary, “The Real Inglorious Bastards.” (A fictional war film, “Inglourious Basterds,” directed by Quentin Tarantino, had been released in 2009.)

[Larry]

carl wrote: "Just trying to keep everyone up to date on their spy skills !"

Nice.

[Jamie]

Jerome wrote: "A June release:

by Larry Loftis
..."

Was the August 1941 spy ring the one in New York. I'm interested in that spy ring if anyone can recomend a book.

[Larry]

Jamie wrote: "Jerome wrote: "A June release:

by [author:Larry L..."

Hi Jerome, yes, I cover it in my book. It's the Captain Ulrich von der Osten spy ring HQ in NYC. I can't tell you what happened without it being a spoiler but I'll say this: what happened set off a sequence of events that had a major impact on the war (and it is almost universally unknown).

[Larry]

WWII Spycraft: Mega Money.

Today 1944, MI5 received an outrageous amount of cash--$50,000 (about $700k today)--in a diplomatic bag. From a GERMAN spy. Details here: bit.ly/1QEhFDS

[Larry]

What Winston Churchill read TODAY, 1944.

Today, May 5, 1944--on the eve of D-Day--Winston Churchill read what you see below ... MI5's April intelligence report (recently declassified). In the report, MI5 identifies German spies who had been caught, and the successful activities of ONE British MI5/MI6 agent. What Churchill read was shocking .... Details here: http://bit.ly/1T3qSgV

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

For those who enjoy Giles Milton or tales of espionage and intelligence operations he has a new book just out that may interest you:

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: Churchill's Mavericks: Plotting Hitler's Defeat by Giles Milton
Description:
In the spring of 1939, a top secret organisation was founded in London: its purpose was to plot the destruction of Hitler's war machine through spectacular acts of sabotage.

The guerrilla campaign that followed was to prove every bit as extraordinary as the six gentlemen who directed it. Winston Churchill selected them because they were wildly creative and thoroughly ungentlemanly. One of them, Cecil Clarke, was a maverick engineer who had spent the 1930s inventing futuristic caravans. Now, his talents were put to more devious use: he built the dirty bomb used to assassinate Hitler's favourite, Reinhard Heydrich. Another member of the team, William Fairbairn, was a portly pensioner with an unusual passion: he was the world's leading expert in silent killing. He was hired to train the guerrillas being parachuted behind enemy lines.

Led by dapper Scotsman Colin Gubbins, these men - along with three others - formed a secret inner circle that planned the most audacious sabotage attacks of the Second World War. Winston Churchill called it his Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. The six 'ministers', aided by a group of formidable ladies, were so effective that they single-handedly changed the course of the war.

Told with Giles Milton's trademark verve and eye for detail, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is thoroughly researched and based on hitherto unknown archival material. It is a gripping and vivid narrative of adventure and derring-do and is also, perhaps, the last great untold story of the Second World War.

Also posted in the New Release thread.

[Jamie]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "For those who enjoy Giles Milton or tales of espionage and intelligence operations he has a new book just out that may interest you:

[bookcover:The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: Churchill's M..."

I don't mind a spoiler or two...

[Derek]

I've just finished Hitler's Spies: German Military Intelligence In World War II by David Kahn, and posted a review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show.... Very useful and thought-provoking but quite heavy going (and heavy - all 670 pages of it!) It's also interesting to have a view from the other side even if parts of it leave an unpleasant taste behind.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Good review Derek, thanks for sharing your thoughts with the group, it sounds like an interesting book!

[Robert]

The greatest WWll spy of them all was Wilhelm Canaris, the head of the German Abwehr and a spy for the Allies. Read Hitlers Spy Chief: The Wilhelm Canaris Mystery by Richard Bassett.Hitler's Spy Chief: The Wilhelm Canaris Mystery

[Colin]

Canaris was good, but Reinhard Gehlen gave him a good run

[Derek]

Robert wrote: "The greatest WWll spy of them all was Wilhelm Canaris, the head of the German Abwehr and a spy for the Allies. Read Hitlers Spy Chief: The Wilhelm Canaris Mystery by Richard Bassett.[book:Hitler's ..."

Kahn takes the alternative view that Canaris was both a loyal German and anti-Nazi - and paralysed by the contradiction. I haven't read Basset's book so I'll keep my head down on that one.