Double Cross in Cairo Read Online Free PDF

Washington, DC to negotiate delivery of Lend-Lease material to Egypt. Some sixteen ships arrived each month for the remainder of the year, bringing eighty-four M4 Stuart light ‘Honey’ tanks, 10,000 trucks and 174 aircraft. The arrival of the Stuart tanks, with their 37mm gun and high speed, ensured their participation in CRUSADER , although with a limited range they would be out-performed by Rommel’s panzers which were equipped with better armour.
    After Auchinleck replaced Wavell in July 1941 it was Whiteley who was selected by him to fly to London to brief Churchill in October 1941 on the delayed CRUSADER offensive. At the end of March 1942 Whiteley was appointed Chief of Staff for the 8th Army, but was replaced by General Freddie de Guingand in October, and in February 1943 Whiteley joined General Dwight Eisenhower as deputy Chief of Staff at Allied Forces Headquarters to plan the invasion of Sicily. In August 1943 he acted as Eisenhower’s envoy to fly to London to brief Churchill again, and in January 1944 moved to SHAEF to plan the D-Day invasion.
    Whiteley’s senior staff posts enabled his notional clerk, PIET , to provide invaluable strategic information, as well as details of the Stuart tank to MISANTHROPE and, through her, to Nicossof.
    As he reported to the Abwehr, Nicossof paid PIET 40 Egyptian pounds (E£), but was soon in debt to him to the tune of E£35, andwhen asked how much he needed, he replied E£1,000. By 4 July 1942, that figure had grown to E£1,400, and Nicossof claimed he was no longer in a position to borrow more. Indeed, CHEESE’S chronic lack of cash led SIME to discuss the idea of inventing an alternative source of income for him, perhaps as the proprietor of a garage, but the idea was dropped. Another suggestion was that CHEESE should spend his afternoons giving lessons in Arabic and French, which would allow him to meet more officers, one of whom might be a construction expert from the Royal Engineers with a knowledge the Cyranaican and Tripolitanian railway systems.
    As well as recruiting PIET , Nicossof from July had the benefit of a Greek girlfriend, codenamed MISANTHROPE , who he referred to as his ‘
petite amie
’. She is a fascinating character because, although she was mainly notional, SIME felt obliged to recruit a real person to act her role so she could, if the circumstances arose, act as an intermediary and receive Nicossof’s money from the Abwehr. Accordingly, SIME went to considerable lengths to fabricate her background.
    Codenamed MARIE by the Abwehr, she was
    a Greek girl animated by her hatred of the British – well-educated, intelligent, witty and courageous sustaining him [ CHEESE ]when discouraged or disgruntled – she aided and abetted him by forming a series of friendships – and possibly ‘alliances’ – with British and American officers – military and Air Force. From these she extracted information of varying degree of reliability and importance. This enabled CHEESE to supplement information gleaned from his Greek military friends – and other acquaintances. Without funds he could no longer employ reliable agents. All information – whether high-level or low – true or false – he passed on to his Axis friends – leaving them to sift the chaff from the wheat. Those sources that misinformed him he discarded, and thus always had the requisite retort if and when accused of passing on false information. For instance – on 17 August 1942 he said thathe was sorry for having given false information but without money he had to collect such information his friends told him and report what he saw himself.
    SIME’s decision to introduce MISANTHROPE turned out to be an inspired one, and was probably taken by Evan Simpson in conjunction with other Special Section colleagues and, of course, Dudley Clarke. It may also have been influenced by Rowley Shears who had strong links to the