A few months back, I received an expanded version of the British Army personnel record for Robin William George Stephens. A couple of years ago, I was contacted by a cousin of Stephens’ and with his assistance was able to apply as a “family member”, which meant that more documents were released than to a […]
Expanded British Army Personnel Records from Robin William George Stephens Read More »
The Book Deckname Dr. Rantzau – Die Aufzeichnungen des Nikolaus Ritter, Offizier under Canaris im Geheimen Nachrichtendiesnt. [Cover Name Dr. Rantzau – The Notes of Nikolaus Ritter, Officer under Canaris in the Secret Intelligence Service.] Nikolaus Ritter. Hoffman and Campe. 1972. Summary I bought this book several years ago but never got around to reading
Book Review – Deckname Dr. Rantzau (Cover Name Dr. Rantzau) – Nikolaus Ritter (1972) Read More »
The Book Hitler’s Spies and Saboteurs. Charles Wighton and Gunter Peis. Charter Books. 1958. Summary I may have read this book years ago but given Bernard O’Connor’s reliance on it (see the previous post which reviews O’Connor’s book – Operation Lena – Hitler’s Plans to Blow up Britain), I thought I would read it again
Book Review – Hitler’s Spies & Saboteurs – Charles Wighton & Gunter Peis (1958) Read More »
A few weeks back, I landed on the website of Tony Percy. Can’t quite recall the internet crumb trail that lead to his door (I think it might have had to do with Bernard O’Connor’s book). Either way, Tony’s site has proved to be thought-provoking. He recently wrote a series of blog posts about the
Coldspur Website by Tony Percy Read More »
The Book Operation Lena and Hitler’s Plots to Blow Up Britain. Bernard O’Connor. Amberley Publishing. 2017. Summary and Review I bought this book last year with excitement. I knew a bit about some of the sabotage plans concocted by MI5 using their double agents (G.W., MUTT & JEFF, ZIGZAG) and was intrigued to learn more.
I am always intrigued to see how MI5 handled the espionage cases, how they decided whom to prosecute and whom to intern for the duration of the war. The story of Gösta Caroli is particularly intriguing because of his great attempt at escape in January 1941. Caroli landed in England via parachute in September 1940.
The Great Escape (Attempt) of Gösta Caroli Read More »
Super-excited! A book on Vera Eriksen is coming out February 2019 by a friend of mine, David Tremain. It is also being published by The History Press (publishers of my book on Josef Jakobs). The blurb notes: Often described as ‘the most beautiful spy’, Vera Eriksen could almost rival First World War spy Mata Hari
I had emailed Christopher Andrew (author of the authorized history of MI5 – Defend the Realm/Defence of the Realm) a few weeks back asking if he had any further information on Robin W.G. Stephens, commandant of MI5’s secret interrogation centre, Camp 020. Specifically, I was interested in any information on Stephens’ death. Andrew replied back
Robin W.G. Stephens – Some more leads Read More »
Andrew Sparke, from APS Publishing, has set up a website for all things Bella-related (bellawychelm.com – no longer working). He admits it’s a bit “content light” at the moment, but hopes to have more content as things move along. There seem to be some broken links at the moment, but I imagine they’ll get fixed
Bella in the Wych Elm Website Read More »
A few years ago, I received an email from a cousin of Robin W.G. Stephens (commandant of Camp 020). Robin had an aunt… and this cousin is the grandson of the aunt. I think. I had applied for Stephens’ army records in 2016 but, without a family connection, I received the sanitized version of his
Robin W.G. Stephens and the Estrangement wrought by War Read More »