How A Spanish Motel Owner Named Juan Pujol García Duped The Nazis And Helped The Allies Win WWII

[T_R_Oglodyte]

How A Motel Owner-Turned-Spy Tricked The Nazis And Helped The Allies Win D-Day

Juan Pujol García was so convincing that the Germans paid him a total of $1 million to support his network of 27 fictitious agents.

allthatsinteresting.com

 

[Carolinian]

How A Motel Owner-Turned-Spy Tricked The Nazis And Helped The Allies Win D-Day

Juan Pujol García was so convincing that the Germans paid him a total of $1 million to support his network of 27 fictitious agents.

allthatsinteresting.com

Interesting, and an aspect of the war I had not heard previously. The ;author made a pair of errors however on Spanish history. The communists were the "republicans" and Franco's forces were the "nationalists" He got that backward. Indeed many of Franco's supporters were monarchists and Franco declared Spain a kingdom but with himself as regent (caudillo) for life before the actual king was restored to the throne.

The fake invasion involved a paper army with Patton in command, as the Germans considered Patton to be the allies best officer (and they were probably right about that). Rommel figured out the deception shortly before D-Day and asked to move the German armored reserve to where it could easily be deployed to counterattack at Normandy, but Hitler refused, saying a fortune teller had told him the attack would be at Pas-de-Calais. This was one of a series of situations where former corporal Hitler was trying to be a general and screwed up the plans of the real generals, much to the benefit of the allies.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

the Germans considered Patton to be the allies best officer (and they were probably right about that).

Just yesterday I was reading an article about Eisenhower. One of the key points was that he wasn't selected for military prowess, because what was needed to lead the combined in the ETO was diplomatic skills and political savvy. Basically, he wasn't a threat to the military capabilities of any of the generals in the combined forces, but supreme commander position needed some who could herd cats.

Incidentally, my Father-in-Law served as a Quartermaster attached to Patton's command team. My MIL was a Navy nurse in the South Pacific. WWII apparently wasn't something that was talked about much in the house. I made a point of asking FIL about his war experiences. Most of the time he didn't say anything, but a couple of times he opened up more. Even as his Alzheimer's progressed, he retained his war memories. And when I would provide keep an eye him at times, he started talking more.

Some time later, in conversation with my wife and SIL, I realized that I knew more about his war experiences that they did.

***********

If you're interested in this sort of thing, you might enjoy The Fourth Horseman: One Man's Secret Campaign to Fight the Great War in America. The author, by the way, is an old college roommate and long-time friend.

 

[pedro47]

War stories by veterans that serviced in combat are memories that most combat veterans do not enjoy sharing with family members. IMHO

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

The fake invasion involved a paper army with Patton in command,

I remember being taught about the fake invasion force in history class in high school.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

War stories by veterans that serviced in combat are memories that most combat veterans do not enjoy sharing with family members. IMHO

He didn't go much into war details, and as a Quartermaster he wasn't involved in direct combat activities. Since Patton kept his command post near the front lines, they were never too far away from where combat was occurring.

What he talked about was what some of his duties were, where they had been, some of the logistics things he needed. Also some of the prep and planning they did to be able to respond quickly in case they actually wound up in action (because they were close to the front). He mentioned a couple of times when their HQ location did get immersed in the fighting, and the units assigned to protect Patton's command were very directly involved.

 

[MULTIZ321]

Just yesterday I was reading an article about Eisenhower. One of the key points was that he wasn't selected for military prowess, because what was needed to lead the combined in the ETO was diplomatic skills and political savvy. Basically, he wasn't a threat to the military capabilities of any of the generals in the combined forces, but supreme commander position needed some who could herd cats.

Incidentally, my Father-in-Law served as a Quartermaster attached to Patton's command team. My MIL was a Navy nurse in the South Pacific. WWII apparently wasn't something that was talked about much in the house. I made a point of asking FIL about his war experiences. Most of the time he didn't say anything, but a couple of times he opened up more. Even as his Alzheimer's progressed, he retained his war memories. And when I would provide keep an eye him at times, he started talking more.

Some time later, in conversation with my wife and SIL, I realized that I knew more about his war experiences that they did.

***********

If you're interested in this sort of thing, you might enjoy The Fourth Horseman: One Man's Secret Campaign to Fight the Great War in America. The author, by the way, is an old college roommate and long-time friend.

+1 for "The Fourth Horseman: One Man's Secret Campaign to Fight the Great War in America" by Robert Koenig

 

[Carolinian]

He didn't go much into war details, and as a Quartermaster he wasn't involved in direct combat activities. Since Patton kept his command post near the front lines, they were never too far away from where combat was occurring.

What he talked about was what some of his duties were, where they had been, some of the logistics things he needed. Also some of the prep and planning they did to be able to respond quickly in case they actually wound up in action (because they were close to the front). He mentioned a couple of times when their HQ location did get immersed in the fighting, and the units assigned to protect Patton's command were very directly involved.

My grandfather who served in World War I was that way. He never wanted to talk about it. He never would with my mother and her siblings when they were growing up, and he never did in his later years either. My father, on the other hand, who served on a submarine in World War II had no problem with talking about his experiences which were very interesting although his sub did not get much combat. They were deployed in the Atlantic at a time there was not much naval activity except trying to chase German U-boats, then sent late to the Pacific. I still have some Panamanian silver coins he kept from one of the two transits of the Panama canal the sub did going and coming from the Pacific.

I did hear second hand some of the stories from my great grandfather who served in the War Between the States through a great uncle. My grandfather never seemed that interested in the war and had not heard much from him about it. My great uncle, on the other hand, was fascinated by it, and there was a group from my great grandfather's company that had a sort of reunion every December at my great grandfather's house. My great uncle used to always go to those and asked a lot of questions. His regiment was in Pickett's Charge and my great uncle shared what the whole group had said about that experience. Much of his company was captured in a minor battle in 1862 and he spent some months in a Union POW camp, and I did hear about the POW experience prior to their being exchanged later that year. There was a black soldier from Georgia who had showed them the ropes of how to get by in the POW camp, and he and my great grandfather exchanged letters once a year up until the Georgia soldier died. They were exchanged together from the POW camp and went back to their respective regiments, where they stayed until the surrender at Appamatox. Those war stories, even second hand were fascinating.