Double Cross: The True Story of The D-Day Spies

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John Kennedy, once in office, was supposed to help Sam Giancana, Carlos Marcelo and Santo Trafficante keep carrying out their criminal activities, however, once elected, he double crossed them and placed his brother as Attorney General, who went after all of them and Jimmy Hoffa with an undisguised zeal. The Double Cross spies were, variously, courageous, treacherous, capricious, greedy, and inspired. They were not obvious heroes, and their organization was betrayed from within by a Soviet spy. One was so obsessed with her pet dog that she came close to derailing the entire invasion. All were, to some extent, fantasists, for that is the very essence of espionage. Two were of dubious moral character.One was a triple, and possibly a quadruple, agent."

Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies by Ben

After graduation, Popov returned to Yugoslavia and set himself up in the import-export business, traveling widely. Jebsen headed to England, announcing that he intended to study at Oxford University and write books on philosophy. He did neither (though he would later claim to have done both). They would not meet again for three years, by which time the world was at war.Nonetheless, fans of non-fiction espionage should find some wheat amongst the chaff in this revelation of the part spies and deception played in the successful allied invasion of Normandy (otherwise known as D-Day). There are 5 spies in particular on which this book focuses: Tricycle, Garbo, Treasure, Brutus, and Bronx. Other such as Artist, Gelatine, Freak, and Giraffe are mentioned as well. I also enjoyed the little side stories of other spy's escapades, such as the wretched actor who made a magnificent double for Monty, the pigeon fanatic's efforts to infest German carrier pigeons with traitor pigeons, and an frustrated but nevertheless blustering Patton marching around touting his command of military units that did not exist. One slip, just one slip, one betrayal, one triple agent, could have blown the whole works, and perhaps cost the lives of tens of thousands more. And it nearly happened when the British spy handlers miscalculated the love of a the spy called Treasure for her little dog, and the bitterness she harbored when they broke their word to her regarding her beloved Frisson. With this narrative Mr. Macintyre once again proves he is a master of telling the stories of British Intelligence. This book is more than the story of Operation Fortitude, the Allies attempt to convince the Germans that the invasion of France was going to be somewhere other than Normandy. The author tells the story of how British Intelligence - MI 6 completely penetrated the German spy network in Great Britain and used that control to tell the Germans exactly what the Allies wanted them to hear and to a great extent what the Germans themselves wanted to believe. According to the author, every agent Germany attempted to insert into Great Britain was captured. Most were imprisoned, a few executed and some became double agents A few months ago, I decided to accept my pandemic attention span as it is, and not feel guilty about what I choose to read--embarking on a schedule of, mostly, rereading. Double Cross was a new book but it's by a familiar author on a familiar theme so it worked out anyway.

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Following a July 1940 conference in Kiel, the Abwehr (German intelligence) began an espionage campaign against Britain involving intelligence gathering and sabotage. Spies were sent over from Europe in various ways; some parachuted or were delivered by submarine. Others entered the country on false passports or posing as refugees. [2] Public perception in Britain was that the country was full of well-trained German spies, who were deeply integrated into society. There was widespread "spy-mania", as Churchill put it. The truth was that between September and November 1940 fewer than 25 agents arrived in the country; mostly of Eastern European extraction, they were badly trained and poorly motivated. [2] Ben MacIntyre (2012), Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 978-1-4088-1990-6 , retrieved 2012-04-16

Tar Robertson created a bodyguard of liars - the "Double Cross System" coordinated by the Twenty (XX) Committee. They specialised in turning German spies into double agents. Every single German agent in Britain was under his control, enabling huge and co-ordinated lies to be told. The task of Operation Fortitude was to bottle up German troops in the Pas de Calais and keep them there - this ability depended on Robertson's spies. These included a bisexual Peruvian playgirl, a tiny Polish fighter pilot, a mercurial Frenchwoman who adored her dog, a Serbian seducer and an eccentric Spaniard with marital problems. These spies never met, but together they created false trails, gave false information and often created totally false networks of sub-spies, including a group of entirely fictional Welsh fascists - all of which the Germans swallowed completely. In some cases, very extensive lies were not even noticed by the Germans, whereas the Allies had much confidential information (courtesy of Bletchly Park) even before the Germans themselves were aware of it. It is astounding to realise the control the Allies had over information sent to the Germans and the inventive ways to which this was put to use. Benton, Kenneth . "The ISOS Years: Madrid 1941-3". Journal of Contemporary History 30 (3): 359–410, 1995. I am a big fan of the mighty Ben Macintyre, so it was only a matter of time before I'd read Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies.