WWII Espionage

[Story]

John Pryor was a naval officer aboard one of the ships which, under German bombardment, had already rescued one load of troops. When it went back for a second load, the ship ran aground and Pryor was captured. He spent the rest of the war in a German POW camp from which he wrote dozens of letters back to his family in England.

Stephen Pryor says his father's letters were always considered special, but that his grandfather, to whom they were addressed, didn't know how special.

CBS News' Mark Phillips asked Stephen Pryor, "Did you always know that contained within in these letters was some sort of secret code?"

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_...hin-wwii-pows-letters-cracked-70-years-later/

 

[Story]

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?73243-Double-Cross&p=1664951#post1664951

 

[Alice Blue]

I don't know if bugging counts as espionage, but there is a recent TV documentary about how the British successfully eavesdropped on high-end Nazi POWs whom they placed in stately homes which were actually heavily bugged.

-- Still available on the PBS website in the US: Secrets of the Dead: Bugging Hitler's Soldiers

-- Originally shown on UK Channel 4: http://www.channel4.com/info/press/.../spying-on-hitlers-army-the-secret-recordings

-- More background with additional links on the webpage for Helen Fry's book The M Room.

 

[Story]

I don't know if bugging counts as espionage .

Like fries with burgers, it's essential. Good catch!

 

[mungojerry]

The Russians are com... here!

Someone asked earlier "what were the Russians up to during this time" well they had infilitrated British Intelligence until it was rotten to the core. What with Philby Burgess McClean and Blunt (who actually worked for the Holland Dept within SOE) Klaus Fuchs at Los Alamos we were pretty well an open door for the Russians. Anything byChapman Pincer should throw light on this most infamous of spy rings.

 

[Story]

Nancy Wake, the white mouse
http://www.nzedge.com/nancy-wake/

 

[Story]

The list of heroes who played a critical role in WWII is filled with famous names, but few people are familiar with Pearl Witherington's story. Perhaps that is because for decades she refused to tell it.

Born and raised in Paris, Witherington fled Nazi-occupied France only to parachute back in as part of Churchill's secret army, the Special Operations Executive.

Witherington was trained as a courier but took charge of 3,500 French resistance fighters when her network's leader was arrested.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23845199

 

[Story]

U-110's Enigma machine on display at Idaho State
http://www.idahostatejournal.com/me...cle_d99c4e9c-1649-11e3-994c-001a4bcf887a.html

 

[Story]

Willi Wonka was a spy
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/roald-dahl-was-a-real-life-james-bond-claims-new-book/657969/

 

[Story]

Jerry Roberts, the last surviving member of the British code-breaking team that cracked strategic ciphers between Hitler and his top generals, helping to hasten the end of World War II, died on March 25 in Hampshire, England. He was 93.

His death was confirmed by the Bletchley Park Trust, a nonprofit group that administers the Victorian estate north of London where the British government lodged Mr. Roberts and hundreds of other code breakers during the war, among them linguists, mathematicians and puzzle masters of various backgrounds.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/w...headlines&nlid=4952992&_r=1#story-continues-2

 

[Chas]

Anything on Nancy Wake, as has been mentioned. A recent bio was published, I believe.

There is also a documentary on Camp X, though for the life of me I can't find it online. It was made in 2001, IIRC and some original spies who trained there were interviewed. As part of their training they had to break into a house in Toronto (I think), steal something and not get caught. The neighbours also heard the spies training with plastic explosives but nobody ever spilled the beans.

 

[Story]

OTTAWA - A legendary Second World War spy school will be officially recognized as a piece of Canadian history, Parks Canada said Saturday.

British-run Special Training School 103 - also known as "Camp X" - which operated in Whitby, Ont., was open for only two years during the Second World War, but the Brits trained over 500 special agents there who undertook missions across the world.

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/05/03/feds-officially-recognize-spy-school-camp-x

 

[Story]

PO Box 1142
http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/cover/article_dbf9cdb2-66f5-5dbc-b045-dcae52e26d5c.html

http://bloodbanker.com/cord/po-box-1142-funded-by-bloodbanker

 

[bellero]

Anything on Nancy Wake, as has been mentioned. A recent bio was published, I believe.

There is also a documentary on Camp X, though for the life of me I can't find it online. It was made in 2001, IIRC and some original spies who trained there were interviewed. As part of their training they had to break into a house in Toronto (I think), steal something and not get caught. The neighbours also heard the spies training with plastic explosives but nobody ever spilled the beans.

History Channel Canada aired a new documentary about Camp X last week. I watched it, pretty good show and very informative. I'm not sure if the link will work in the US due to copyright restrictions but here it is anyway;

Camp X: Secret Agent School

The legendary WWII spy school in Canada, and its ‘how to kill’ training manual, lay the foundations for modern espionage and give birth to the CIA.

http://www.history.ca/video/camp+x+secret+agent+school/video.html/?v=307149891547&p=1&s=da#camp-x-secret-agent-school/video/full-episodes