Foreword
This is a collection of stories about the world’s second oldest profession. It is the world of clandestine, behind-the-lines guerrilla irregular warfare and spying. It includes assassinations, sabotage, espionage and other secret agent activities in Europe prior to, during and after D-Day. Four of the stories are historical fiction and one is non-fiction.
Forget Hollywood and Bond, James Bond. Forget tuxedos, vodka martinis shaken not stirred, five star hotels and tearing around in sports cars with beautiful women. Agents were French farmers, smugglers, tycoons, prostitutes, policemen, telephonists and peasants, to name a few. They all played a part as informers, saboteurs, agents and partisans. Their credentials were courage, fortitude, patience and a devotion to freedom.
Remaining anonymous was essential. The last thing an agent or resistant wanted to do was to stand out in a crowd. Blending in, staying “below the radar” was crucial. Agents working in the field were constantly at risk of being captured by the Gestapo (German State Police) or the SD (Sicherheitsdienst, the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party). Survival meant constant alertness and attention to the smallest detail. Arrest meant a one-way trip to Gestapo or SD HQ, which meant interrogation followed by torture, imprisonment in a concentration camp and death. On average, an agent would be dead within three months of being “inserted” into German occupied territory.