When MI5 distributed the captured spy radios after the war, the Northamptonshire Police received one. It was catalogued and displayed as belonging to Gösta Caroli. That attribution stuck—in books, in labels, in memory. But the radio itself tells a different story, if you know where to look. Introduction Gösta Caroli was one of the Operation […]
Northampton’s Wartime Spy Radio: Caroli and the Wrong Number Read More »
The Book Fatal Castle; David Boito; Pen & Sword Books; 2025 Summary I received an email from the author asking if I would like a review copy of this novel. Of course, I agreed. I had read Megan Clawson’s Falling Hard for the Royal Guard a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. It
Book Review – Fatal Castle – David Boito (2025) Read More »
Imagine stepping out of a plane at night, a heavy wireless set strapped to your chest. The parachute snaps open, jolting you violently. When you hit the ground, the thirty-pound case slams into your chin, and your head hits the ground. No helmet. No medics. Just the start of a mission you are already too
Concussion, Confabulation, and Caroli: Rethinking an “Unreliable” Agent Read More »
N.B. The Saskatoon Police announced this at the end of September 2025.New details may emerge after the publication of this blog (8 October 2025). What if Bella could be named today? In Britain, the “Woman in the Wych Elm” remains one of the most enduring mysteries of the Second World War—her skeleton discovered in Worcestershire
The Woman in the Well: A Century-Old Murder Finally Solved Read More »
The Book Gösta Caroli – Dubbelagent Summer, Simon Olsson and Tommy Jonason, Vulkan, 2015. Background Several years ago, I read Olsson and Jonason’s book on double agent TATE (the Dane Wulf Schmidt). It was a well-researched and valuable addition to my espionage library. In 2015, Olsson and Jonason self-published another book, this time on double
Book Review – Gösta Caroli – Dubbelagent SUMMER – Simon Olsson and Tommy Jonason (2015) Read More »
Last September, I wrote a blog post about an email from Bengt Caroli, the grand-nephew of Gösta Caroli—one of the lucky few LENA spies who survived the war. Bengt asked if I’d ever been in touch with his father, Ulf Caroli. Ulf, son of Gunnar Caroli (Gösta’s brother), passed away in 2016, but he had
From Silver Foxes to Double Agents: Ulf Caroli’s Family Story Read More »
While chasing down obscure clues about “Bella in the Wych Elm,” I stumbled across a Quora thread with an eerie, specific claim: that the skeleton of a German Luftwaffe pilot—shot down over Kent during the war—was discovered still hanging from his parachute in a tree… over 30 years later. … A German fighter pilot was
Lost for Decades: The WWII Pilot Found Hanging in a Tree Read More »
I had plans to visit London and the National Archives this past April. The flights were booked, the Airbnb was lined up and then life intervened, and everything was put on hold. The archives will still be there next year, but one thing that won’t is the MI5: Official Secrets exhibition at Kew. I have
MI5: Official Secrets at Kew — An Exhibition Worth Catching Read More »
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these “Mailbox” posts. Over the past year, I’ve had a mix of emails, blog comments, and news items worth sharing. Some are small updates, some are weighty losses, and some are just too interesting to leave languishing in my inbox. Consider this a catch-up before we
From the Mailbox – RIPs, Bruins, and Obed – September 2025 Read More »
The Book Hitler’s Spies: Lena, The Prelude to Operation Sealion; Mel Kavanaugh; Pen & Sword Books, 2020. Summary This book was not what I expected. Given it’s title, I thought it would cover all of the Operation Lena spies, but it was focused solely on the first four who landed along the coast of Kent