The Spy Who Spent the War in Bed

William B. Breuer

Description

A rare treat for World War II history buffs and fans of the strange, absurd, and unexplained

Acclaimed military historian William Breuer takes readers on a trip through the looking glass to acquaint them with the weirder side of World War II. Featuring a cast of characters including double- and triple-agents, femme fatales, fearless leaders, and men at arms, The Spy who Spent the War In Bed is a collection of seventy concise, vividly rendered tales of war, ranging from laugh-out-loud funny, to inspiring, to just-plain-bizarre. For instance, there's the one about how reputed Irish Republican Army members in New York conned Nazi intelligence out of a small fortune. There's also a thrilling account of how four American newsmen bagged an entire German platoon. And there's the haunting tale of the "Mystery Plane," an experimental aircraft that took off on a short test flight over England one sunny afternoon in 1938 and simply vanished into a cloudless summer sky. This book draws on personal interviews, official archives, and declassified documents, as well as the vast literature on World War II.
Introduction.

Part One—A Rocky Road to War.

Amazing Encounter at Pier 86.

A British “Mystery Plane” Vanishes.

A One-Man Espionage Apparatus.

Recruiting Crossword Puzzle Geniuses.

New York’s IRA Hoodwinks Spymaster.

Stalking a Soviet Defector.

Two Spies Roam British Ports.

Stealing Secrets by Mail.

“Simple Simon” Trips Himself Up.

A Taxi Ignores Theory.

The IRA Bilks the Abwehr.

Clash of Two Top Nazis.

Hitler’s Pipeline into Washington.

A Senator Helps a German Spy.

A Peculiar River Crossing.

Dame Fate Saves General Rommel.

Going in Style to a POW Camp.

Clanging Bells Rock Germany.

Did Prime Minister’s Mistress Influence Surrender?

Venus de Milo Fools Germans.

Part Two—The Allies’ Hours of Crises.

Mission: “Nazify” a Conquered Nation.

Curfew for Dutch Dogs and Ducks.

Wild Schemes for Saving England.

Curious Duel in British Skies.

A German Pilot’s Unlikely Captor.

The Royal Navy’s Invisible Ship.

Hitler’s Plot to Murder Franco.

A Cleaning Woman Foils Hitler.

The Battle of the Birds.

Roosevelt in a Shouting Match.

Democracy in a Battlefield Hospital.

Strange Means for Urgent Warning.

A Dedicated Blood-Bank Volunteer.

The Spymaster’s Peculiar Scheme.

A Pursuit of Bugs and Lice.

A Cantankerous Torpedo.

Curious Death of a German Bigwig.

Ernest Hemingway Stalks U-Boats.

Fluke Saves a British Fleet.

The War’s Craziest Wedding Scenario.

Two WACs on a Secret Mission.

Strange Place for Royal Jewels.

Part Three—The Tide Starts to Turn.

Navajo Code-Talkers Ignite Panic.

Adolf Hitler Plays Santa Claus.

Purple Heart Stripped from Sailor.

Saga of Top-Secret Maps.

Eisenhower Aide Helps Trick Germans.

The General’s Pants Go AWOL.

Mystery of the Vanishing Report.

Hostile Horsemen Chase Airplane.

A Dead Sergeant Walks Away.

A Tank Commander’s Close Call.

Espionage in the Vatican.

OSS Agent’s Hidden Bribes.

An Unlikely Spy Scores Coup.

Eisenhower Disclosure Stuns Reporters.

A Horrendous Bombing Error Pays Off.

Freak Encounter in No-Man’s-Land.

A Mule-Borne Commander.

The Captain Refused to Be Killed.

Two GIs Beat Patton to Goal.

“Prescriptions” for the Lady Spy.

Huge Bonus for a Jungle Spy.

“The Madame” Was a Secret Agent.

A Movie Fan on Bougainville.

A GI Carries His Eyeball.

Part Four—Beginning of the End.

An Odd Place for Spying.

Hitler’s “Creatures” at Anzio.

American Spymaster Shocks London.

Exciting Races on a Beachhead.

A Social Visit to the Enemy.

The Spy Who Spent the War in Bed.

Secret Agent Saved by a Blacksmith.

A Bomb Explodes Too Late.

An Ingenious Escape Artist.

A Prophetic German Cook.

Gods Smile on Teddy Roosevelt Jr.

“Don’t Worry . . . I’ll Shoot You First!”

An Enemy Saves “Father Sam”.

Firefighters Center of Attention.

The “Mess Sergeant” Was a Lady.

Massacre in the Wrong Village.

A General Turned Fire Chief.

The Great Soap Bubble Scheme.

A Triumph for Two OSS Men.

Four Newsmen Bag a German Platoon.

German Shoot-Out among Themselves.

Ordeal for Missing Identical Twins.

Parachute Pack Saves Trooper.

Drone Boats Go Berserk.

“Am I Having Hallucinations?”

A Doctor Captures a German Hospital.

A Colonel’s Unique “Uniform”.

Part Five—Allied Road to Victory.

Banzai Charge in a POW Camp.

A Nazi Zealot Obeys His Führer.

Miracle Saves Woman Spy’s Life.

The War’s Unexplained Mystery.

Dutch Boys Capture Nine Germans.

Luck Runs Out for the Blue Goose.

“Baby Patrol” in No-Man’s-Land.

Providence Saves a Polish Spy.

The Choirboys Plot to Doom Hitler.

“Kidnapping” a Thirty-Ton Tank.

A Hero “Resigns” from the Navy.

A Jeep Bonanza for “Scarface Otto”.

A Peculiar Reception Committee.

Hitler Humbles His Generals.

History Repeats for German Colonel.

A Jinxed Town in Belgium.

A Belgian Woman Halts the Panzers.

Hex by a Lieutenant’s Pal.

A Fluke Halts Eisenhower Trip.

A GI “Division” of Thieves.

The Miracle of Wiltz.

Unique Distinction for a Survivor.

Digging Up a Revered German Hero.

An Unlikely Battlefield Hero.

Part Six—A Shaky World Peace.

Amazing Scenario in Manila.

Death Stalks a Navy Pilot.

Shoot-Out at a Boxcar.

MacArthur Recaptures His Home.

Offering Up a Bonfire of Money.

A Tommy-Gunning Pilot.

Gods Smile on German General.

A Tail Gunner’s Miraculous Survival.

Curious Incident in a Command Post.

Hoax to Seize a Rhine Bridge.

Churchill “Consecrates” the Siegfried Line.

An Airman Dodges Certain Death.

Pilot’s Prayer Gets Results.

Glider Used as a Weapon.

His Masseur Coerces Himmler.

A Surrender-by-Telephone Tactic.

Kidnapping Polish Underground Leaders.

El Darbo’s Charmed Life.

Air Dogfight with Pistols.

Comic Opera in the Bavarian Alps.

Collaring a Nazi Bigwig.

Peculiar “Capture” of an SS Colonel.

Stalin’s Son in Strange Mission.

A Scheme to Blow Up Japan.

Odd Interlude on a Train.

A Soldier’s Thirty-Year War.

Notes and Sources.

Index.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Segunda Guerra Mundial
• William Breuer
• Military
• World War II
• History
• Seconde Guerre mondiale

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 17 février 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781118045602
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Spy Who Spent the War in Bed
 
Books by William B. Breuer
 
An American Saga
Bloody Clash at Sadzot
Captain Cool
They Jumped at Midnight
Drop Zone Sicily
Agony at Anzio
Hitler’s Fortress Cherbourg
Death of a Nazi Army
Operation Torch
Storming Hitler’s Rhine
Retaking the Philippines
Nazi Spies in America
Devil Boats
Operation Dragoon
The Secret War with Germany
Hitler’s Undercover War
Sea Wolf
Geronimo!
Hoodwinking Hitler
Race to the Moon
J. Edgar Hoover and His G-Men
The Great Raid on Cabanatuan
MacArthur’s Undercover War
Feuding Allies
Shadow Warriors
War and American Women
Unexplained Mysteries of World War II
Vendetta: Castro and the Kennedy Brothers
Undercover Tales of World War II
Top Secret Tales of World War II
Secret Weapons of World War II
Daring Missions of World War II
Deceptions of World War II
The Air Raid Warden Was a Spy
The Spy Who Spent the War in Bed
And Other Bizarre Tales from World War II
William B. Breuer
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright © 2003 by William B. Breuer. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com . Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., III River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], email: [e-mail].
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
 
Breuer, William B., date.
The spy who spent the war in bed / William B. Breuer.
   p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-471-26739-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. World War, 1939–1945–Miscellanea. 2. World War, 1939–1945–Deception. 3. World War, 1939–1945–Military intelligence. 4. World War, 1939–1945—Underground movements. I. Title. II. Title: The spy who spent the war in bed. III. The spy who spent the war in bed.
D743.B669 2003
940.54′85—dc21                                2002009948
Dedicated to HARVEY WEINSTEIN , head of Miramax Films , in gratitude from thousands of World War II veterans for his epic movie of courage and sacrifice , The Great Raid
 
These are the kind of cases
in which the imagination
is baffled by the facts .
-Winston Churchill (1943)
Contents
Introduction
Part One—A Rocky Road to War
Amazing Encounter at Pier 86
A British “Mystery Plane” Vanishes
A One-Man Espionage Apparatus
Recruiting Crossword Puzzle Geniuses
New York’s IRA Hoodwinks Spymaster
Stalking a Soviet Defector
Two Spies Roam British Ports
Stealing Secrets by Mail
“Simple Simon” Trips Himself Up
A Taxi Ignores Theory
The IRA Bilks the Abwehr
Clash of Two Top Nazis
Hitler’s Pipeline into Washington
A Senator Helps a German Spy
A Peculiar River Crossing
Dame Fate Saves General Rommel
Going in Style to a POW Camp
Clanging Bells Rock Germany
Did Prime Minister’s Mistress Influence Surrender?
Venus de Milo Fools Germans
Part Two—The Allies’ Hours of Crises
Mission: “Nazify” a Conquered Nation
Curfew for Dutch Dogs and Ducks
Wild Schemes for Saving England
Curious Duel in British Skies
A German Pilot’s Unlikely Captor
The Royal Navy’s Invisible Ship
Hitler’s Plot to Murder Franco
A Cleaning Woman Foils Hitler
The Battle of the Birds
Roosevelt in a Shouting Match
Democracy in a Battlefield Hospital
Strange Means for Urgent Warning
A Dedicated Blood-Bank Volunteer
The Spymaster’s Peculiar Scheme
A Pursuit of Bugs and Lice
A Cantankerous Torpedo
Curious Death of a German Bigwig
Ernest Hemingway Stalks U-Boats
Fluke Saves a British Fleet
The War’s Craziest Wedding Scenario
Two WACs on a Secret Mission
Strange Place for Royal Jewels
Part Three—The Tide Starts to Turn
Navajo Code-Talkers Ignite Panic
Adolf Hitler Plays Santa Claus
Purple Heart Stripped from Sailor
Saga of Top-Secret Maps
Eisenhower Aide Helps Trick Germans
The General’s Pants Go AWOL
Mystery of the Vanishing Report
Hostile Horsemen Chase Airplane
A Dead Sergeant Walks Away
A Tank Commander’s Close Call
Espionage in the Vatican
OSS Agent’s Hidden Bribes
An Unlikely Spy Scores Coup
Eisenhower Disclosure Stuns Reporters
A Horrendous Bombing Error Pays Off
Freak Encounter in No-Man’s-Land
A Mule-Borne Commander
The Captain Refused to Be Killed
Two GIs Beat Patton to Goal
“Prescriptions” for the Lady Spy
Huge Bonus for a Jungle Spy
“The Madame” Was a Secret Agent
A Movie Fan on Bougainville
A GI Carries His Eyeball
Part Four—Beginning of the End
An Odd Place for Spying
Hitler’s “Creatures” at Anzio
American Spymaster Shocks London
Exciting Races on a Beachhead
A Social Visit to the Enemy
The Spy Who Spent the War in Bed
Secret Agent Saved by a Blacksmith
A Bomb Explodes Too Late
An Ingenious Escape Artist
A Prophetic German Cook
“Gods Smile on Teddy Roosevelt Jr.
“Don’t Worry . . . I’ll Shoot You First!”
An Enemy Saves “Father Sam”
Firefighters Center of Attention
The “Mess Sergeant” Was a Lady
Massacre in the Wrong Village
A General Turned Fire Chief
The Great Soap Bubble Scheme
A Triumph for Two OSS Men
Four Newsmen Bag a German Platoon
German Shoot-Out among Themselves
Ordeal for Missing Identical Twins
Parachute Pack Saves Trooper
Drone Boats Go Berserk
“Am I Having Hallucinations?”
A Doctor Captures a German Hospital
A Colonel’s Unique “Uniform”
Part Five—Allied Road to Victory
Banzai Charge in a POW Camp
A Nazi Zealot Obeys His Führer
Miracle Saves Woman Spy’s Life
The War’s Unexplained Mystery
Dutch Boys Capture Nine Germans
Luck Runs Out for the Blue Goose
“Baby Patrol” in No-Man’s Land
Providence Saves a Polish Spy
The Choirboys Plot to Doom Hitler
“Kidnapping” a Thirty-Ton Tank
A Hero “Resigns” from the Navy
A Jeep Bonanza for “Scarface Otto”
A Peculiar Reception Committee
Hitler Humbles His Generals
History Repeats for German Colonel
A Jinxed Town in Belgium
A Belgian Woman Halts the Panzers
Hex by a Lieutenant’s Pal
A Fluke Halts Eisenhower Trip
A GI “Division” of Thieves
The Miracle of Wiltz
Unique Distinction for a Survivor
Digging Up a Revered German Hero
An Unlikely Battlefield Hero
Part Six—A Shaky World Peace
Amazing Scenario in Manila
Death Stalks a Navy Pilot
Shoot-Out at a Boxcar
MacArthur Recaptures His Home
Offering Up a Bonfire of Money
A Tommy-Gunning Pilot
Gods Smile on German General
A Tail Gunner’s Miraculous Survival
Curious Incident in a Command Post
Hoax to Seize a Rhine Bridge
Churchill “Consecrates” the Siegfried Line
An Airman Dodges Certain Death
Pilot’s Prayer Gets Results
Glider Used as a Weapon
His Masseur Coerces Himmler
A Surrender-by-Telephone Tactic
Kidnapping Polish Underground Leaders
El Darbo’s Charmed Life
Air Dogfight with Pistols
Comic Opera in the Bavarian Alps
Collaring a Nazi Bigwig
Peculiar “Capture” of an SS Colonel
Stalin’s Son in Strange Mission
A Scheme to Blow Up Japan
Odd Interlude on a Train
A Soldier’s Thirty-Year War
Notes and Sources
Index
Introduction
A S ROBERT RIPLEY HAS SAID many times, “Truth is stranger than fiction.” That incisive observation could apply to this book, in which bizarre and “impossible” happenings during World War II are described.
Many books have been written about World War II, but largely absent has been a focus on the mysterious, baffling, and oddly coincidental inexplicable events that never made the headlines. This book helps to fill that void.
A reader’s first impression after perusing an incident in these pages will be: “That couldn’t have taken place. It wasn’t logical.” Yet the intriguing and often mind-boggling occurrences described here have been carefully researched and found to be authentic—because logic is usually a stranger in wartime.
There has never been, nor is there ever likely to be, a shortage of “scholarly experts” without personal experience in war who scoff at episodes that defy the accepted terms of logic. However, combat veterans and top commanders know that mystifying affairs often surfaced and that they were indeed “str