Operation Garbo

by Juan Pujol Garcia

  GARBO reported that the agent had been killed in an accident in Algiers, having learned the news from the agent’s mistress in London. Through her, GARBO was also able to discover that none of his espionage material had been discovered after his death. Thus, there was no risk of any developments as a result of this incident which might reflect on the security of GARBO or the rest of his organisation.

  Agent No 7 – known as: STANLEY

  NAME: STANLEY.

  NATIONALITY: Welsh.

  OCCUPATION: Seaman.

  ADDRESS: Swansea.

  RECRUITED: Prior to 24.12.42.

  During the period when we were first considering breaking down the airman courier system of communication, the alternative of using a seaman courier was considered. It was envisaged that a seaman courier in the organisation would permit bulkier objects to be sent out than would be possible by air.

  Another consideration at the time was that after Agent No. had left for North Africa his letters, which would bear the Field Censor’s stamp of North Africa, could not very well be sent on by the airman courier without arousing his suspicion.

  Therefore, Agent No 7, a seaman, was recruited, and it was to transpire that he would have numerous friends in the Merchant Navy who, for a monetary payment, would be prepared to do a little smuggling of correspondence and parcels at his request. He was introduced to the GARBO network by Agent No 4, who guaranteed his loyalty. From the very beginning, GARBO pointed out that no one could be better placed to assist the work of his organisation than a member of the Merchant Navy. He then prophesied that this agent would facilitate the growth of the network. His prophecy was fulfilled a year later.

  The recruitment of a seaman agent was at first frowned upon by the Admiralty because it was feared that the Germans would ask him a number of embarrassing questions about convoy routing and composition. We therefore emphasised to the Germans from the beginning that, on account of his long association with the sea, the agent had stipulated that he would not give information about the movements of ships which might lead directly to the death of his fellow seamen. He nevertheless gave a considerable amount of information about convoy protection which the Admiralty considered might be misleading to the enemy.

  With time, it became obvious that the agent’s primary consideration in helping the GARBO network was a monetary one. At the same time, he was a Welsh Nationalist and, as such, anti-British. He pestered GARBO a good deal for money, but in return gave him good service and, in particular, supplied him with numerous seamen couriers operating in ships which put in at South Wales and Portuguese ports. The agent was an ill man, suffering from a defect of the spine which had developed after an accident, and towards the middle of 1943 he was invalided out of the Merchant Navy,

  Between then and December 1943 he operated mainly as a military reporter, and in December that year he brought to GARBO’s notice an organisation known as the ‘Brothers in the Aryan World Order’. This was composed of a number of fanatical Welsh Nationalists who had long ago abandoned the too moderate Welsh Nationalist Party. From this ‘Order’ no less than six operative agents were recruited who played an important role in implementing the cover plan for OVERLORD.

  Agent No 7 thus became head of one of GARBO’s sub-organisations until July 1944, when, shaken by the arrest of Agent No 7(5), a member of his network, he decided to return to the Merchant Navy. This did not result in his breaking with the network, for he offered to continue to serve GARBO to the best of his ability in his new employment.

  He was responsible for hiding Agent No 4 after the latter had exposed himself to the danger of arrest. He later succeeded in smuggling this same agent to Canada.

  He found a safe hideout for GARBO in South Wales after his activities had brought him to the notice of the British authorities. Finally, he operated as courier on the North Atlantic route, facilitating the clandestine communications exchanged between the GARBO network in the UK and his Canadian network.

  Agent No 7’s Subagent No 1 – known as: 7(1) or SOLDIER IN THE 9TH ARMOURED DIVISION

  NAME: Not mentioned.

  NATIONALITY: British.

  OCCUPATION: Soldier in the 9th Armoured Division.

  ADDRESS: Not mentioned.

  RECRUITED: Prior to 16.9.43.

  The 9th Armoured Division, frequently referred to in the traffic as the Panda Division (since its insignia was that of a panda) was built up as a first line formation by the GARBO organisation at the time of Operation STARKEY. The Germans took a lively interest in the activities of this Division. The association of the words ‘panda’ and ‘panzer’ seemed to register in German minds. They were prepared to accept this Division as a likely assault division for the Second Front.

  In the absence of a directive, we built up the potential of the 9th Armoured Division until January 1944, after which period it was allowed to fade out since the plans then revealed that it was not among those Divisions which were to be used in the order of battle of FORTITUDE SOUTH. In fact, it never operated in France and was disbanded.

  Agent No 7(2)

  NAME: DAVID.

  NATIONALITY: Welsh.

  OCCUPATION: Retired seaman. Ex-Welsh Nationalist.

  ADDRESS: Swansea.

  RECRUITED: Prior to 6.12.43.

  He was introduced to the GARBO organisation by Agent No 7 as a seaman who had left the sea seven years previously. He was a fanatical Welshman who had left the Welsh Nationalist Party to form the ‘Brothers in the Aryan World Order’.

  This agent started to report in January 1944 and was given the important area of Dover and district to cover during the period of build-up for the FORTITUDE SOUTH deception. He continued to operate from there until August 1944. He then travelled around the country for GARBO to obtain military reports and continued to be an important source until VE Day.

  Agent No 7(3)

  NAME: THERESA JARHCNE.

  NATIONALITY: English.

  OCCUPATION: Secretary to the ‘Brothers in the Aryan World Order’. From January 1944, leading WREN (Waiter) WRNS.

  ADDRESS: From August 1944 – c/o DICA Headquarters, SEAC, Ceylon.

  RECRUITED: Prior to the 6.12.43.

  To explain her strange association with the ‘Brothers in the Aryan World Order’ she was represented as the mistress of an Indian (Agent No 7(4)), a member of this Brotherhood.

  No sooner had she been recruited than she found herself conscripted into the WRNS, and on account of her predilection for Indians she did all in her power to ensure that she would be posted to India. She was first sent to a WRNS Office in London and later to a training school at Mill Hill, and finally to the WRNS camp near Newbury, where she studied Hindustani, which she had already learned from her Indian lover, and was trained in secretarial work. This training covered the period from January–July 1944, when, during a period of embarkation leave in London, she was trained by Agent No 7 in secret writing and given a cover address in the UK, to which she was instructed to send her reports from Ceylon, where she was about to proceed.

  Her first letter from Ceylon was forwarded by GARBO to his Lisbon cover address in September 1944. She continued to write until early in 1945, when she met with a car accident. It was then considered necessary to bring her activities to an end, since a close similarity in her reports and those of other agents controlled from Ceylon had been noticed by the enemy and aroused slight suspicion. The speedy termination of hostilities did not give us an opportunity to bring her case to a tidy close.

  Agent No 7(4)

  NAME: RAGS.

  NATIONALITY: Indian.

  OCCUPATION; Poet.

  ADDRESS: Swansea.

  RECRUITED: Prior to 6.12.43.

  This individual had joined the ‘Brothers in the Aryan World Order’ to uphold his fanatical belief in the superiority of the Aryan race.

  Since his occupation was that of a poet, he was presumably able to win the affections of his English mistress, 7(3).

  He was recruited toge
ther with the other members of this Brotherhood, and in February 1944 he was established in the Brighton area to operate as an observer for the GARBO organisation. He continued to send in a stream of high-grade military reports until April 1945, when he confessed that he had tired of his association with the Welshmen, to which he had been attracted mostly on account of their association with 7(3). On her instructions, £500 which had accrued to her for services rendered were entrusted to him to hold for her until they were able to meet again.

  Agent No 7(5)

  NAME: Not mentioned.

  NATIONALITY: Welsh.

  OCCUPATION: Employee of a commercial firm in Swansea.

  ADDRESS: Swansea.

  RECRUITED: Prior to 6.12.43

  Though he was a member of the ‘Brothers in the Aryan World Order, and a relative of 7(2), it became apparent that he was either less intelligent or less fanatical than the other members of this Brotherhood. This came to notice when he failed to establish himself in the Exeter/Plymouth area where he had been instructed to proceed as an observer. In fact, it was undesirable that he should have been successful, since the cover plan did not provide for reporting from this area, though it would have looked suspicious had no attempt been made to cover it. 7(5) did get as far as Taunton, from where he produced reports, and in May he entered the prohibited area around Exeter in spite of the continual police check-ups on documentation. He was, however, arrested a few days prior to D Day. He was only sentenced to one month’s imprisonment for the offence of having entered a restricted area without permission. The true nature of his mission there was not discovered or suspected.

  On his release he returned to his family in Swansea but his narrow escape had completely demoralised him; he had lost his nerve and he became useless as an agent. He was given a pension from September 1944 until March 1945, when he was finally paid off.

  Agent No 7(7)

  NAME: Not mentioned.

  NATIONALITY: Welsh.

  OCCUPATION: Treasurer of the ‘Brothers in the Aryan World Order’.

  ADDRESS: Swansea.

  RECRUITED: Prior to 6.12.43.

  As the Treasurer of the Brotherhood it was recommended that he should be given an important allocation in the GARBO network, and therefore he was situated in the Harwich area, which GARBO believed would become one of the most important areas at the time of the opening of the Second Front.

  He established himself in residence in the Ipswich/Harwich area prior to the imposition of the coastal ban, and his first report, which GARBO received in April 1944, was one of ten pages of secret writing that, though unsubstantial in part, tended to show the importance of this area, which had for some while been relatively neglected by the GARBO network. The details contained in this report not only showed the thoroughness of the agent but also introduced a style that would permit the inclusion of apparently minor, though significant details in subsequent reports.

  He continued to report from this area in considerable detail, in particular on the notional 34th US Army, which he, in due course, located in this area. Later, he extended the area of his control further north so as to cover Northern Command.

  He was one of the agents who continued to operate until VE Day.

  Agent No 7(6)

  NAME: Not mentioned.

  NATIONALITY: Welsh.

  OCCUPATION: Employed in an office in Swansea.

  ADDRESS: Swansea.

  RECRUITED: Prior to 6.12.43.

  This agent, though recruited on the strength of his association with the ‘Brothers in the Aryan World Order’, turned out to be a very low-grade spy. Though he accepted his mission he did not want to leave his employment in Swansea to travel. Since an observer was needed in South Wales (which area the Germans had asked us to cover) his offer of services to operate from Swansea was promptly accepted. In fact, it was inconsistent with the cover plan for OVERLORD that we should pass reports on military activities in South Wales, and therefore it was admirably suitable that this agent should not only be working part-time, but also that he should turn out to be a low-grade reporter.

  GARBO first pointed out the low category of his reports in March 1944. He was used in a rather half-hearted way to implement Plan IRONSIDE, a threat to the Bordeaux coast. When the operation did not materialise the information passed did not tend to discredit the GARBO organisation, since the Germans had been forewarned that this agent was not a high-grade reporter.

  In January 1945 the agent was put on half pay and in March we finally terminated with his services.

  The above agent stories can be found at the National Archives at Kew in file KV 2/41

  1 Genuine information designed to make an agent appear well-informed without causing damage to operations

  ‘The reader should bear in mind that none of these people actually existed.’

  Sir Michael Howard

  British Intelligence in the Second World War, Volume V, Strategic Deception

  Index

  Abwehr, 1 Abstelles, 1

  agent’s recruitment by MI5, 1, 2

  assessment of GARBO’s network, 1

  decoding of messages, 1

  in Madrid, 1, 2

  Kriegsorganistionen (KOs), 1

  organisational structure of, 1

  RSS monitoring of, 1

  SCRUFFY deception attempt, 1

  SNOW’s deception campaign, 1

  Agent FIVE (MOONBEAM), 1, 2, 3 See also MOONBEAM

  AGENT FOUR (CHAMILLUS), 1, 2, 3 See also CHAMILLUS

  Agent 4(3), 1 FUSAG deception, 1

  Agent J(1), 1

  Agent J(2), 1

  Agent J(3), 1 FORTITUDE, 1

  Agent J(5) (Sarah Bishop), 1, 2 3

  Agent ONE (KLM Steward), 1, 2, 3

  AGENT SEVEN (DAGOBERT), 1, 2,3 See also DAGOBERT

  AGENT 7(2) (DONNY), 1 See also DONNY

  Agent 7(3), 1

  Agent 7(4) (DICK), 1 See also DICK

  AGENT 7(5) (DRAKE), 1 See also DRAKE

  Agent 7(6), 1 FORTITUDE, 1, 2

  Agent 7(7) (DORICK), 1 See also DORICK

  Agent SIX (Field Security NCO), 1, 2

  Agent THREE (BENEDICT), 1, 2, 3, 4 See also BENEDICT

  Agent 3(3), 1 FORTITUDE, 1, 2

  Agent TWO (William Gerbers), 1, 2, 3, 4

  Agent 2(1) (Mrs Gerbers), 1

  Allied operations FORTITUDE, 1

  OVERLORD, statistical information, 1

  ALMURA, 1, 2, 3

  Apostles, 1

  ARABEL, 1, 2, 3 British knowledge of, 1

  British misgivings about, 1

  Iron Cross II decoration, 1

  Section V investigation of, 1, 2, 3

  See also GARBO; Pujol García, Juan

  Argentina, socialism in, 1

  ARTIST (Johann Jebsen)

  execution of, 1

  FORTITUDE crisis, 1, 2

  Astor, Hugh, 1

  Auenrode, Major Albrecht von, 1

  Avis a la Population, 1

  Beaumont-Nesbitt, Major General, 1

  BENEDICT (Agent THREE), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 FORTITUDE, 1, 2, 3, 4

  promotion by GARBO, 1, 2

  V-1s spotting, 1

  Benson, Captain Arthur, 1, 2

  Benton, Kenneth, 1

  Bevan, Colonel John, 1

  Bishop, Sarah (Agent J(5)), 1, 2, 3

  Blumentritt, General, 1

  Blunt, Anthony, 1, 2 as Soviet agent, 1, 2, 3

  BOVRIL, 1 debriefing of, 1

  Boyle, Commodore Archie, 1

  Bristow, Desmond, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  British Intelligence, 1 contributions of, 1

  in Portugal, 1, 2, 3

  in Spain, 1

  MI5 (Security Service), 1

  Pujol, initial rejection of, 1, 2, 3

  Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), 1

  supplying intelligence to enemy, 1

  See also MI5

  Brooman-White, Dick, 1 profile of, 1

  BRUTUS (Roman Garby-Czerniawski), 1 FUSAG and, 1r />
  Burgess, Guy, 1, 2 as Soviet agent, 1, 2, 3

  Cairncross, John, as Soviet agent, 1, 2

  Cambridge, recruitment of Soviet agents, 1, 2

  Campbell, Sir Ronald, 1, 2

  Canada, German spy capture, 1

  Canaris, Wilhelm, 1

  Catela, Jose, 1

  Caulfield, Toby, 1

  CENTRO, 1

  CHAMILLUS (Agent FOUR), 1, 2, 3 FORTITUDE, 1, 2, 3, 4

  removal to Canada, 1

  Churchill, Winston, 1

  Civil War, Spanish, 1, 2

  COCKADE, 1, 2 failure of, 1

  GARBO’s role, 1

  objectives of, 1

  Communism, 1

  Corporativismo, 1

  Cowgill, Felix, 1

  Cumano, Captain Paulo, 1

  DAGOBERT (Agent SEVEN), 1, 2, 3, 4 FORTITUDE, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  retirement of, 1