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Blog postON THIS DAY 1946, SOE agent Odette Sansom became the first woman to lead an investiture at Buckingham Palace, and the first to receive a George Cross from the king himself. She would become the most highly decorated woman, and spy, of World War II. Here's why:Get the entire story in my nonfiction spy thriller, CODE NAME: LISE—The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy (Gallery/Simon & Schuster, Jan. 15, 2019), available now for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & N
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Blog postLe mot juste.The just word. The perfect word. The right word at the right time. The phrase was the guiding principle for one of history's greatest novelists, Gustave Flaubert. While Flaubert is recognized for his commitment to this concept (not to mention his influence on literary realism), little is written about what the Frenchman meant by le mot juste. Doesn't every author seek the right word?Yes and no. Every author searches for the word which conveys the correct meaning, but few spend the e
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Blog postOne of the great joys of being an author is seeing the creativity of readers who send comments. Today I received this word of encouragement from someone who just finished INTO THE LION'S MOUTH. His comment started: "Loftis, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!" Because I loved the movie "Patton," and remembered the general's line about Rommel, I recognized it immediately. How could I not? It was my favorite line from the film, and remains one of my favorite quotes ever.
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Blog postON THIS DATE 1943, the most romantic scene of WWII occurred at Fresnes Prison, in Paris. As Captain Peter Churchill strolled the prisoner exercise yard that day, he heard the sound of women's voices. "Pierre, Pierre," he heard one woman yelling, "your Odette is here!"Looking up, he saw an open window in the women's section. The woman continued shouting, "Your Odette is here!" Odette Sansom was his SOE courier, captured with him in April. She was also his love, and h
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Blog postOn July 26, 1944, after four suffocating days in an unventilated attic with forty Ukrainian women, Odette and the others were loaded onto a train bound for the one place feared by every woman in Europe. Ravensbrück. Created by Heinrich Himmler himself, the notorious labor camp for women had been opened in May 1939 to house up to 4,000 political prisoners. Now it housed over 36,000, and included criminals, prostitutes, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Resistance agents. By the end of the war, some
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Blog postON THIS DAY 1950, the King and Queen of England attended a most unusual event—the world premier of a British film opening at The Plaza Theatre in Piccadilly Circus. As one would expect, security was tight as thousands tried to catch a glimpse of royalty and stars.Naturally, all of England was eager to know what kind of movie would draw their majesties from Buckingham Palace. But this was no ordinary film. It was called "Odette," and was a movie to honor Odette Sansom, the World War II
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Blog postTODAY 1944, in preparation for D-Day, the BBC broadcast into France 306 messages. Buried within them were coded messages for the SOE—Special Operations Executive—and French Resistance. One message, "Vilma vous dit oui" ("Vilma tells you yes"), was an instruction for the Allied operatives to destroy all German rolling stock on the railway line Angouleme‒Bordeaux.Another, "Madame dit non" ("Madam says no"), meant for them to bring down all telegraph wires be
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Blog postTODAY 1943, a civilian flight (KLM Royal Dutch Airlines/BOAC Flight 777) from Lisbon to Bristol, England was shot down over the Bay of Biscay by a German Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88, killing all seventeen aboard. One of the passengers was the beloved English actor, Leslie Howard, famous for portraying Ashley Wilkes in 1939's Gone With the Wind.Whether the Germans particularly targeted Howard remains the subject of considerable debate. Throughout the war, Lisbon was the hotbed of spies and the German
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Blog postTODAY, May 31, 1945, the Allies captured history's greatest spy-catcher, German secret police officer Sergeant Hugo Bleicher, in Amsterdam. The French, British, Canadians—even the Americans—all had files on him. The British had two sets: one under "Monsieur Jean," and one under "Colonel Henri"—Bleicher's favorite aliases. From the day Paris was liberated, 25 August 1944, the British and French had set their sights on capturing this notorious but brilliant operative. And for g
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Blog postON THIS DAY, 26 May 1944, British Intelligence pulled off one of World War II's most amazing stunts. Using two doubles—double agent Dusko Popov and body double Lieutenant M. E. Clifton James—the British reinforced what Popov had been telling his German supervisor in Lisbon, namely that the Allied invasion of France would come no earlier than July. It began one morning in May when Clifton James—an office clerk with the Royal Army Pay Corps in Leicester—answered his phone. "Lieutenant James s
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Blog postSeventy-seven years ago today, May 20, 1941, British Naval Intelligence officer Ian Fleming checked into the Palacio Hotel in Estoril, a sea-side resort just west of Lisbon. Fleming was on a stopover on his way to Washington with his boss, Admiral John Godfrey, to assist President Franklin D. Roosevelt in creating an intelligence agency. Godfrey, who was the Royal Navy's Intelligence Director, wanted FDR to organize a foreign intelligence branch under one department, and one man, General William
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Blog postOne in four. That's how many SOE agents in France were either executed, killed in action, or died during captivity. Had not many agents escaped their prisons or concentration camps, the number would be closer to one in three. But that's for all agents. For women, almost all of whom were employed as couriers, the fatality rate was much higher.Almost one in two.Of the thirty-eight female SOE agents operating in France, sixteen did not return. That's a death rate of 42 percent, which puts it in the
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Blog postTODAY 1945, a contingent of international hostages held by Nazi SS guards was liberated at the most breathtaking of sites—the Hotel Pragser-Wildsee—in northern Italy near the Austrian border. It was a scenario even the most creative of Hollywood scribes could not have imagined. Days before liberation the hostages were actually rescued by a most unlikely cavalry: troops from Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's 14th Army. It began when Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, ordered the transfer of high-p
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Blog postTODAY 1944, MI6 London received an unusual delivery—a diplomatic bag originating from Lisbon containing cash. A lot of cash. Fifty thousand dollars (about $700,000 today), to be precise.From a German spy.The money was for Britain's greatest operative, double agent Dusko Popov (code- named TRICYCLE), and had been sent by Abwehr agent Johann Jebsen (whom the British had code-named ARTIST). Popov, who had been recruited by Jebsen to spy for Germany, had for three and a half years so convinced the G
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Blog postON THIS DAY 1942, HMS Unbroken (P42) commander Alastair Mars delivered SOE agent and SPINDLE circuit organizer Peter Churchill (code named RAOUL) to the shores of Antibes, France. It was a dangerous route that Churchill had opened with his first visit on January 1, slipping ashore from 800 yards out in a flimsy canoe. Because of heavy German and Vichy French patrols, however, the submarine dropped Peter off thistime about 900 yards off shore. Paddling on a pitch-dark, moonless night, Peter made
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Blog postON THIS DAY, April 4, 1949, one of Germany's most elusive war criminals was finally captured. Sturmbannführer Fritz Sühren, Commandant of the notorious Ravensbrück Concentration Camp, was arrested by Major Rees, Public Safety Officer of the 115th Detachment, Military Government of Germany, in Grafenan, Germany. But that meant nothing, at least from his prior record of incarceration. At the end of the war, on May 1, 1945, Sühren had driven his convertible Mercedes to American
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Blog postGuy Liddell, head of MI5's B Section (counter-espionage overseeing double agents), was the only British intelligence officer allowed to keep an official war diary. On this day, March 15, 1941, he made a journal entry which hinted at frustration over a new playboy now in his stable."Skoot [the initial code name for double agent Dusko Popov] left for Lisbon this morning taking with him notes on his questionnaire and the Ministry of Supply circular for which he was asked and certain particular
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Blog postSeventy-five years ago this month, German military intelligence (Abwehr) began Operation Grand Duke in Southern France. French Resistance and British SOE circuits, the Germans noticed, were popping up in Marseille, Cannes, Lyon, and other cities like a malignant rash. Left unchecked, these spies and saboteurs would wreak havoc on German troops, trains, and intelligence operations. Abwehr Colonel Oscar Reile, who was stationed in Paris, needed a ruthless bloodhound to find and crush these undergr
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Blog postIf you have not signed up for my monthly Spies Like Us newsletter, please do so from my website (LarryLoftis.com) on the top right corner. This month's newsletter notes that Into the Lion's Mouth became an international bestseller, announces my new book deal, provides my 2018 events, and notes that Hollywood and the Smithsonian are upcoming news. Here's a larger view of the new book deal with Gallery/Simon & Schuster. The new title, just decided yesterday, is: COVER OF DARKNESS: A World War
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Blog postON THIS DAY, 26 May 1944, British Intelligence pulled off one of World War II's most amazing stunts. Using two doubles—double agent Dusko Popov and body double Lieutenant M. E. Clifton James—the British reinforced what Popov had been telling his German supervisor in Lisbon, namely that the Allied invasion of France would come no earlier than July. It began one morning in May when Clifton James—an office clerk with the Royal Army Pay Corps in Leicester—answered his phone. "Lieutenant James s
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Blog postSEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO TODAY—September 3, 1941—the stage was set for the biggest scandal in American history. On this date, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover received from his lab a report detailing the findings regarding several items given to the Bureau two weeks earlier by British double agent, Dusko Popov. Among the items—which included Virginia Woolf's Night and Day, used by the Germans for transmitting code—were four microdots hidden on innocuous papers. The microdots were significant in two wa
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Blog postSEVENTY-FOUR YEARS AGO TODAY, one of America's most powerful men accidentally exposed British double agent Dusko Popov, an MI6 agent on loan to the FBI. Walter Winchell, in his nationally-syndicated "On Broadway" column, created a firestorm this day with Popov's German handlers when he wrote: "Dusko Popov (which isn't double-talk, at all) of the Yugoslavian Govt is Simone Simon's new toy." The Abwehr, German military intelligence, knew of Winchell's ubiquitous presence and in
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Blog postOn September 27, 2014, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and Prince Charles-Philippe d'Orleans hosted a royal weekend gala to honor the literary legacy of Ian Fleming on the 50th anniversary of his death. A special Le Bal de la Riviera Tribute Award was presented to the Fleming Family. Another family, unconnected to the Flemings, was also invited.The fourth page of the invitation helps to explain why the second family was included. Notice that the invitation mentions only ONE name as Fleming's
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Blog postToday, May 28, in honor of Ian Fleming's birthday, we look at whether the novelist had a model for James Bond, and if so, the shadow cast in the literary mirror. The most likely candidate for Fleming's inspiration, it seems, was British double agent Dusko Popov (codenamed TRICYCLE), the incorrigible playboy who spied and lied for MI5 (counter-intelligence) and MI6 (foreign intelligence) during World War II. Popov was well-known in British Intelligence circles, including Naval Intelligence, and a
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Blog postSeventy-five years ago today—May 20, 1941—Lt. Commander Ian Fleming checked into the swanky Palacio Hotel in Estoril, Portugal's version of the Côte d'Azur. He signed in with his real name—Ian Lancaster Fleming—and listed his occupation as "Government Official." The less than subtle title was somewhat irrelevant as the PVDE—Portugal's secret police, which collected all foreigner hotel registrations—assumed that most men traveling alone were either spies or military officers. Flem
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Blog postIn case you missed his post yesterday, here's the Q and A I had with The Spy Command's Bill Koenig.Bill: What interested you in the subject in the first place to do a book?Larry: I was working on an espionage novel four years ago and I started researching "greatest spy ever." Dusko Popov's name kept ... ahem ... popping up. The more I read, the more intrigued I became; the man's real life was more entertaining and thrilling than what I was making up. After reading my manuscript, my edi
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Blog postForty-three years ago today, British magazine Observer asked a very important question: "Is this the real James Bond?" The man on the cover was none other than Dusko Popov, agent TRICYCLE in MI5 and MI6 circles. Just one year before, in 1972, spymaster J. C. Masterman had released his 1945 MI5 report in book format, detailing activities of the double agents run by his Double-Cross Committee.Only code names were given but Masterman was treading a thin line and the Official Secrets Act c
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Blog postShortly before his death, Ian Fleming hosted a BBC reporter at Goldeneye, Fleming's Jamaican writing retreat. The journalist asked, in a pejorative tone, about James Bond's playboy lifestyle and the numerous women he seduced. Taking no offense, Ian reminded the reporter that, in general, Bond only had one girlfriend per novel, or one per year.The MI6 agent who had inspired Fleming's 007, Dusko Popov, surely smiled. Through Admiral John Godfrey, British Director of Naval Intelligence and Fleming'
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Blog postTODAY 1944, Winston Churchill held in his hands and read the very pages you see here. It was MI5's April intelligence report [recall that MI6 handles intelligence abroad, MI5 domestic]. It was a critical time as D-Day, the secret Britain had to protect at all costs, was only a month away. Section A of the report ("Spies") dealt with captured German spies, and Section B ("Special Agents") dealt with operations of Britain's double agents. Only one agent was special, however--th
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Blog postIn Ian Fleming's "From Russia With Love," a Russian agent (Tatiana Romanova) is assigned to feign love to and seduce MI6's top agent, James Bond. Romanova, of course, is swept away by Bond and actually falls in love with him. It is likely that Fleming remembered Dusko Popov as he wrote this novel. After all, Popov's way with women was common knowledge in British Intelligence circles. Fleming's boss, Director of Naval Intelligence Admiral John Godfrey, sat on both committees which super
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Blog postTODAY 1944, MI6 London received an unusual delivery—a diplomatic bag originating from Lisbon containing cash. A lot of cash. Fifty thousand dollars (about $700,000 today), to be precise.From a German spy.The money was for Britain's greatest operative, double agent Dusko Popov (code name, TRICYCLE), and had been sent by Abwehr agent Johann Jebsen (whom the British had code named ARTIST). Popov, who had been recruited by Jebsen to spy for Germany, had for three and a half years so convinced the Ge
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Blog postWhat's the secret of sex appeal? Countless studies for years have confirmed that confidence is the most alluring trait of a man. Add to that Hollywood attractiveness, money, charm, and intelligence, and the recipe for animal magnetism is said to be complete. Yet, while all of these attributes in one man are uncommon, they are not rare. So what was it about the man who inspired Ian Fleming's James Bond—MI6 agent Dusko Popov—that made him absolutely irresistible to women? He was handsome, yes, but
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Blog postIn old Hollywood's greatest movie, Casablanca, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) had a short but passionate romance with Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) in Paris in 1940, just before the German invasion. Against all odds, the two would meet again in Morocco in December 1941, the flame would rekindle, and Rick would send his married lover off to Lisbon in a bittersweet farewell. Little did the actors know as they filmed that summer of '42, the scene was being played out on a much bigger stage. While Bogar
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Blog post[Scroll over the image for details.] "Give me the secret ink von Karsthoff gave you," Abwehr agent Johann Jebsen said to Dusko Popov in Rome on November 21, 1940. Popov did and watched as Johnny poured it out. "We have a new and better formula," Jebsen said, "with pyramidon." Dusko listened carefully as Johnny explained how to prepare the concoction, memorizing the ingredients and application (see Chapter 4 of INTO THE LION'S MOUTH for the precise formula). Over the
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Blog postIf there is any item synonymous with 007, it is the car. After all, who can forget the classic image of Sean Connery and that beautiful Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger?That MI6 agent Dusko Popov was Ian Fleming's inspiration for James Bond is beyond question; it was well-established in INTO THE LION'S MOUTH. The origin of the famous casino scene seems proof enough (ICYMI: bit.ly/1SMKTSG). But what about the cars of Bond? Fleming loved cars and none was more beautiful than the Aston Martin.Would F
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Blog postAfter the iconic beach scene from Dr. No, perhaps no other image conjures up visions of James Bond more than a casino. For Ian Fleming, however, the order would probably be reversed. The first words of the Bond world, we must remember, came on this date, 1953, in Casino Royale: "The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning."Fleming was remembering, of course, his time during World War II in Casino Estoril, just outside Lisbon. Like Spain, Portugal ha
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Blog postOn this day, 1941, two spies dined at Horcher's, one of Madrid's finest restaurants. Abwehr agent Johnny Jebsen was to let British double agent Dusko Popov know how things were going, and, in particular, how agent IVAN's (Popov's German code name) last report was received. On the way, Johnny informed Dusko that the restaurant was German-owned, and that vases at each table contained a hidden microphone. Dinner talk was to be light, unless praise was being heaped on Hitler. During the evening, Jeb
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Blog postTODAY 1943, a civilian flight (KLM Royal Dutch Airlines/BOAC Flight 777) from Lisbon to Bristol, England was shot down over the Bay of Biscay by a German Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88, killing all seventeen aboard. One of the passengers was beloved English actor, Leslie Howard, famous for portraying Ashley Wilkes in 1939's Gone With the Wind.Whether the Germans particularly targeted Howard remains the subject of considerable debate. Throughout the war, Lisbon was the hotbed of spies and the Germans an
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Blog postSeventy-one years ago today, April 30, 1944, German Abwehr agent Johann Jebsen (who was collaborating with Britain's MI6) was kidnapped in Lisbon, drugged, stuffed in a trunk, cashiered to Biarritz, France and flown to Berlin, never to be seen again. What few know is that he held the secrets about Britain's most valuable double agents, who held the secrets about the Allied D-Day invasion deception. To his credit, Jebsen never talked, even after torture in the infamous Gestapo prison in Berlin. T
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