On 30 April 1943, the drowned corpse of Major William Martin washed up on the coast of Spain. In what appeared to be a stroke of grave misfortune for the British, he was found to be carrying top-secret plans for the invasion of Italy. Truth, however, is often stranger than fiction: the plans, as well as the identity of the Major himself, were fake - part of a secret British intelligence ruse called 'Operation Mincemeat', which misled Hitler, causing him to divert his forces away from the Allied target of Sicily. Journalist Ian Colvin became fascinated by tales of this audacious scheme and decided to investigate further. His search led him to Madrid, Gibraltar, Seville and finally to a grave at Huelva. The resulting book, originally published in 1953, is a breathtaking account of Colvin's journey, involving German ex-intelligence officers, Spanish generals, flamenco dancers and even a frogman pathologist specialising in drowned bodies. With its thrilling insights into what turned out to be one of the most successful wartime deceptions ever attempted, The Unknown Courier inspired Ben Macintyre's bestselling Operation Mincemeat. Colvin's lively account looks beyond the military machinations and considers the mysterious identity of the unknown courier - who was this man who, after his own death, changed the course of the Second World War?
On 1 June 1943 Flight 777, a Douglas DC-3, en route from Lisbon to Britain, was shot down over the Bay of Biscay by German aircraft. Among the dead was the actor Leslie Howard, who had returned from Hollywood to England to help the British war effort. Also on board was Howards tax adviser, Alfred Chenhalls, who smoked cigars and looked remarkably like Winston Churchill. Did the Germans believe that Churchill was on board Flight 777? Other aircraft flying that route went unmolested by the Luftwaffe in spite of the German air presence over the Bay of Biscay. These flights were operated by Dutch crews flying aircraft of KLM, which were on charter to BOAC, and it was an experience Dutch crew that was lost that day. Ian Colvin carried out an exhaustive investigation into the incident, including interviewing former Luftwaffe personnel and this book, first published in 1957, is the result of his endeavors.
Master Spy, first published in 1951, recounts the career of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, who served as Hitler's Chief of Intelligence for nine years, but who was a quiet supporter of the German resistance to Hitler. Charming, exacting, mistrustful, and soft-spoken, Canaris became an Admiral during the WWI, but officially entered the Abwehr (Security Service) in 1935 of which he was later to become head. The book details the military and diplomatic interchanges in which he took part, including the incidents in which Canaris sabotaged and betrayed German plans, from the Munich pact to the proposed invasion of England and throughout the war, until his deposition by Hitler in 1944, and his execution in 1945. Perhaps most importantly, Canaris personally talked General Franco out of entering the war on Germany’s side, arguing that he would be aligning himself with the wrong side. This prevented any assault on Gibraltar and kept the Mediterranean open for allied shipping. Without Canaris, the allies would have had significant difficulty in launching their North African, Sicilian or Italian campaigns. After Stauffenberg’s July 20, 1944 bomb plot against Hitler, the Canaris group was implicated, arrested and transferred to various concentration camps. In September 1944, incriminating documents were found in the safe of Abwehr officer Werner Schrader following that officer’s July 28, 1944 suicide. Later, Canaris’ complete personal diary was found in another safe at Zossen. The diaries made clear that Canaris had been playing a double game against the Nazis since before the war, enraging Hitler. On April 9, 1945, Canaris and several other members of the Abwehr resistance circle were put on trial in an SS kangaroo court and were hung at KZ Flossenburg on Hitler’s direct orders. Author Ian Colvin, a correspondent of the London News Chronicle, had worked in pre-war Berlin where he made secret contacts with anti-Nazis. He was later expelled from Germany.
This vintage book contains a fascinating and detailed biography of the heroic chief of German military intelligence who opposed Hitler at the cost of his own life; Wilhelm Franz Canaris. Wilhelm Franz Canaris (1887 - 1945) was chief of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, between 1935 and 1944. He was a key figure in the secret opposition to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. Amongst his actions to oppose Hitler, was his attempt to sabotage Hitler's plan to absorb Czechoslovakia, his advising Franco not to help the Germans pass through Spain, and his pivotal role in organising a spy network in Spain. Canaris was executed in a concentration camp for high treason. Contents include: “At the Height of His Ambition”, “Operation Kama”, “The Spanish Adventure”, “The Russian Knot”, “Operation Otto”, “The Conspiracies Begin”, “A Glimpse of Canaris”, “Between Peace and War”, “The Great Mobilisation”, “The Admiral Helps a Lady”, “The Double Dutchman”, “Norway”, etcetera. Many antiquarian texts such as this, are increasingly hard to come by and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this book now in an affordable, modern, high quality edition. It comes complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853-26 March 1902) was an English-born businessman, mining magnate, and politician who won fame not only for being the wealthiest man in the world, sixth Prime Minister of the Cape Colony in South Africa, founder of the diamond company De Beers (which today still controls around 40 percent of the world diamond trade) and British Imperialist of note. Rhodes was also the founder of the country which became known as Rhodesia. This remarkable book details much of Rhodes's life which is often hidden from public view: his racial policies, which were firmly based on racial segregation; his ardent desire to seek conciliation and peace with the Boers, whom he regarded as of the "same race" as the British, and his support for Irish nationalism under the banner of European unity. Completely reformatted and illustrated. About the author: Ian Duncan Colvin (1877--1938) was a British journalist and historian who worked at the Cape Town newspaper The Cape Times from 1903 to 1907, before taking up a senior position with the London Morning Post.
Ian Duncan Colvin (1877-1938) was a British journalist and historian. From 1909 he was a lead writer for The Morning Post. In 1915 he published The Germans in England, 1066-1598 in which he claimed the Hanseatic League tried to control Europe through a mixture of peaceful and violent means. In 1929 he published his biography of General Reginald Dyer. He also wrote three volumes on the life of the Irish Unionist leader Sir Edward Carson. His other works include: The Parliament of Beasts, and Other Verses (as Rip van Winkle) (1905), South Africa (1910), Cecil John Rhodes, 1853-1902 (1912), Aesop in Politics (1914), The Life of Jameson (1922) and Party Whips (? ).
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
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