A few years ago, I stumbled my way through Nikolaus Ritter’s memoir: 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]. I say stumbled, because my schoolgirl German found the espionage […]
The Book Operation Fortitude: The Story of the Spy Operation that Saved D-Day. Joshua Levine. Lyons Press. 2011. Summary In the lead-up to the D-Day landings in Normany, the Allies operated a number of plans designed to mislead the Germans as to the actual landing zone. The overall plan codenamed Operation Bodyguard had several sub-plans,
Book Review – Operation Fortitude – Joshua Levine (2011) Read More »
The Book Agent TATE: The Wartime Story of Harry Williamson. Tommy Jonason and Simon Olsson. Amberley Publishing. 2012. Summary The story of double agent TATE (LEONHARDT to the Germans) is one of the classic tales of the British double cross system from the Second World War. One can read key snippets of his story in
Over the course of the last year, I’ve written a few blog posts in which an Abwehr officer named Walter Schulze-Bernett played a role. Dutchman Harm Knol Bruins – German Spy and Civil Engineer– 18 Dec 2018 Irish Naturalization – Wolpe, Roos and Smith – Black Market Passport Business – 11 Oct 2019 From June
A Window into the Minds of Abwehr Officers – Die Nachhut Read More »
The Book Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm: Volume 2 – A Crime Shrouded in Mystery. Alex Merrill. APS Publications. 2019. Summary The mystery of who put Bella in the Wych Elm has an enduring fascination. Over the decades, theories of whose skeletal remains were found in a hollow tree in Hagley Wood, Worcestershire,
During my research into the Bella story, I’ve come across repeated references to a booklet published by Rik Rawling entitled Ghost of a Hurt. Unable to find a copy online, I reached out to Pete Merrill (co-author of another book on Bella) and got Rawling’s contact info. Rawling was kind enough to send me a
Book Review – Ghost of a Hurt – Bella in the Wych Elm – Rik Rawling (2008) Read More »
The Spy in the Tower has been published for just over six months now and I’ve received some feedback from a few people, including a maternal uncle who thought he was ordering a “pamphlet” and received a “tome”, much to his surprise! It certainly isn’t an overnight read but I was hoping that a few
The Spy in the Tower – Reviews and a Request Read More »
The Book Shanghai Remembered: Stories of Jews who escaped to Shanghai from Nazi Europe. Bert Falbaum (ed.). Momentum Books. 2005. Summary I came across this book while researching the stories of the German Jews who got caught up in Niska and Ziebell’s passport business. The book is composed of chapters written by individuals whose families
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The Book Bella: An Unsolved Murder. Joyce M. Coley. History in Print. 2007. Summary This book was written over 12 years ago by Joyce M. Coley, and is often quoted in Bella lore. I ordered a copy from Amazon and read it in less than an hour. The book is more pamphlet than “book” comprising
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Another interruption to the blog series on the black market German passport business. I’m needing some serious research time to look into the Finn Algoth Niska. Quite a character but much of the information is in Finnish and requires some tedious translation work with Google Translate. Stay tuned for the continuing series in a week
Book Review – Some were Spies – The Earl Jowitt (1954) Read More »