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Sto caricando le informazioni... War in the Shadows: Resistance, Deception and Betrayal in Occupied Francedi Patrick Marnham
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 Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro.  mbmackay | May 24, 2023 |    ) edwardsgt | Apr 28, 2021 | nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
In 1962 the young Patrick Marnham set off by car for a small village in central France. There he was taught French by an imperious countess, who he later discovered had fought in the Resistance until, betrayed, she was sent to Ravensbru ck concentration camp. On the very same day that his hostess's network was broken, Jean Moulin, de Gaulle's delegate as head of the combined Resistance forces, was arrested in Lyons, where he was tortured by Klaus Barbie before dying in Gestapo custody. Was this coincidence, or were these events connected? The anonymous letter writer suggested a key to the mystery. Using a knowledge of France gained from 12 years as the Independent's Paris correspondent, and subsequent research in archives in England and France, Marnham set out to discover the truth about the betrayal of the old lady who had become his tutor and friend. Following a trail leading from London through Occupied Europe to the rank and file Resistance in lost corners of France, he has unravelled the story of a complex wartime deception, involving British, American and French intelligence services. The War in the Shadows shines a light on the brutality and cynicism of the Secret War and reveals how it was actually fought. The result is a story of ruthless double-dealing worthy of John le Carre , but with this difference: it is not a fiction. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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 Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni...GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)940.5344History and Geography Europe Europe 1918- World War II Europe FranceClassificazione LCVotoMedia: (4.67)
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In 1943 a senior leader of de Gaulle's force in occupied France was captured by the Germans and died. At almost the same time, a resistance cell supported/run by the secret service intheUK was destroyed by the SS. The book suggests that the two events are related, and are likely to have been part of a deception plan to convince the German command that an allied landing in France was imminent.
In the end, the available information is incomplete. I think the author is likely to be right, but some doubt remains.
But, regardless of the big issue, the book gives the reader an idea of the successes, and the dreadful failures of British intelligence.
In the Netherlands a wireless operator was captured by the Germans who proceeded to "run" him to fool the British. Radio messages at the time included a version of what we might now term 'two factor authentication' - an initial code, and the a second 'true identity check' in the body of the message. The captured officer omitted the second check - which should have been read as an alert that he had been compromised. The Secret Service in London instead took it as an understandable error. As a result, in the next 10 months 43 of 48 officers dropped into the Netherlands were captured by the Germans on arrival (40 of whom died in German hands), and all 544 containers of stores (weapons and explosives) flown in were captured by the Germans. Unbelievable incompetence!
Coincidentally, the same happened again at the time of the 1943 arrests in France - this time the buffoon in charge in London sent an immediate reply to the compromised officer in France telling him of his security breach and telling him that it should never happen again - clearly informing the Germans of the officer's attempt to warn of his capture.
Overall, the book is a fascinating insight into a terrible aspect of 20th century warfare. (