The Hornet's Sting (57 page)

Note 4: Page 238, Lines 30- 34: The words of Gyth and Lunding are reproduced here as remembered by Sneum with great consistency in many interviews between 1998 and 2006.

Note 1: Page 242, Lines 1-12: This description of Helvard’s circumstances came with the help of Tommy Sneum’s recollections and both Swedish and Danish police reports from the spring of 1942.

Note 2: Page 242, Lines 33-34: “ ... the conversation began to take a strange turn . . . ” This and subsequent events on the evening in question came to light in a letter passed to the author by Birgitte Grimley, Tulle’s daughter from her second marriage, to Eiler Berg.

Note 3: Page 244, Line 3: “Later Olsen wrote down his account . . . ” Olsen’s colourful recollections feature under the title “Med Fup og Faldskaerm”—“With Swindles and Parachutes.” It is part of an anthology edited by the Danish SOE chief Flemming B Muus in 1966 under the title “Mange er Kaldede”—“With Much Love.” Olsen was also interviewed at length for the historian Joergen Hastrup’s book, “Secret Alliance.”

Note 4: Page 244, Line 33: “The detective recalled:” The text below this line is from Olsen’s own written account, “Med Fup og Faldskaerm”—“With Swindles and Parachutes”

Note 5: Page 246, Lines 13-27: “Duus Hansen’s account . . . ” From the official report Duus Hansen gave to the Copenhagen Rigsarkivet after the war.

Note 1: Page 247, Line 3: “ . . . Olsen to surround . . . ” The details of this deployment are contained in a Danish police report, a copy of which is in the author’s possession.

Note 2: Page 248, Line 15:“ . . . names of agents to the Germans.” Sneum admitted this planned threat on many different occasions during interviews with the author between 1998 and 2006. He also explained his motivations in great detail. The dialogue here is as Tommy described it to Mark Ryan during their many interviews.

Note 3: Page 250, Line 9: “ . . . said Noerreheden . . . ” The dialogue here is taken from the detailed information contained in a Danish police report on the raid and subsequent questioning. The author has a copy of the relevant documents.

Note 4: Page 251, Lines 2-19: “He recalled ....had just happened.” From Olsen’s official post-war account of his activities on behalf of the Danish Resistance.

Note 1: Page 257, Line 32: “Sneum admitted:” Sneum’s extraordinary account of what happened on the Oeresund ice that night comes from the many interviews he gave author Mark Ryan between 1998 and 2006. Throughout these years his account remained consistent; and he even drew maps of his progress to illustrate his points.

Note 1: Page 261, Line 2: “ . . . Karstengren . . . rumoured to be a Nazi.” This was Sneum’s claim to the author.

Note 2: Page 261, Line 21: “ . . . I was almost sure I would have broken down . . . ” Sneum confessed to the author on several occasions between 1998 and 2006 that he feared he would have cracked under sustained torture.

Note 3: Page 262, Lines 13-25: ‘It seems to me . . . Headquarters.’ Source: SOE Files, National Archives, Kew, London.

Note 4: Page 265, Line 21: “Thomas Norreheden led the questioning . . . ” The dialogue comes from detailed Danish police reports on the questioning of Else Sneum.

Note 5: Page 266, Line 11: “ . . . Kaj Oxlund . . . ” Details of these locker discoveries appear in a Danish police report from the spring of 1942.

Note 1: Page 267, Lines 8-10: “Christian Michael Rottboell . . . parachuted back into Denmark on behalf of SOE.” The SOE Files in the National Archives in Kew, London, show that Rottboell parachuted with two others, radio operators called Paul Herman Johannes Johannesen and Max Johannes Mikkelsen. They had b8 and 2006sailors in the Merchant Navy before joining SOE. They landed in darkness at Agersvold on Zealand on April 17.

Note 2: Page 267, Lines 16-17: “ . . . Turnbull really had no influence over such critical policies.” This was confirmed to the author by Turnbull during interviews between 1999 and 2003.

Note 3: Page 269, Line 15 to Page 270, Line 7: “Why have you brought me here . . . release me and my friend—and quick.” The dialogue as set out here is exactly as Sneum told the author. Tommy’s recollections showed great consistency over the years.

Note 4: Page 270, Line 35 to Page 271, Line 6: Sneum’s candid explanation of his motive here came during interviews with the author, Mark Ryan, from 1998 to 2006.

Note 1: Page 273, Line 29: “ . . . it was Ronald Turnbull.” This was Sneum’s repeated claim to the author, Mark Ryan, between 1998 and 2006. SOE records show that Turnbull was indeed due in London for meetings at that time. Turnbull was unable to confirm this meeting on the plane when asked by the author, though he admitted it could have happened.

Note 2: Page 275, Line 26: “A personality clash erupted . . . ” This insider’s account was given to the author by Hazel Seymour, an SIS secretary in their Broadway HQ and the wife of Charles Seymour—Rabagliati’s number two at the time and his eventual successor.

Note 1: Page 278, Lines 25-26: “‘You were going to betray us,’ the officer suggested.” The precise interrogation transcripts had been withheld by the British Secret Service at the time of writing. Therefore the dialogue featured here was painstakingly reconstructed with the help of Tommy Sneum, as with the other interrogations he underwent in England after this one. His recollections remained consistent during interviews with the author between 1998 and 2006.

Note 2: Page 281, Line 9: “Enrico Fermi.” Fermi himself was well known in the scientific world, having won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1938. But the potential for an atom bomb was not widely understood at all; so Fermi’s groundbreaking work in nuclear physics had not been linked with future military weaponry—at least not by more than a handful of people. Fortunately, Fermi had moved from his native Italy to the USA soon after receiving his Nobel Prize. Therefore he was ideally placed to help those who did understand the race against the Nazis to develop the atom bomb—and the need to win that race at all costs.

Note 3: Page 281, Lines 22-23: “ . . . such a weapon could not be built in time to make a difference to the war.” Indeed Heisenberg met Speer in that very month of June 1942 and repeated his view that an atom bomb would take at least two years to develop and was therefore not a viable military option. Speer virtually gave up on the idea from that point onwards, having already come to the conclusion that Heisenberg knew best.

Note 4: Page 283, Lines 13-16: “A popular MI5 technique . . . dropped their guard.” This British Intelligence technique is mentioned in the War Office files at the National Archives, Kew, Ldon.

Note 5: Page 285, Lines 11-35: ‘Your bed ... swing in five weeks.’ Dialogue as remembered by Sneum in interviews with the author, 1998-2006.

Note 1: Page 287, Lines 6-7: “Rabagliati had asked Seymour . . . solidarity.” Source: Hazel Seymour, SIS secretary and wife of Charles Seymour.

Note 2: Page 289, Line 17, to 290, Line 9: “Bill’s the name ... back to your cell.” This dialogue was reconstructed with the help of Tommy Sneum, whose account never varied.

Note 3: Page 290, Line 31: “ . . . Thatched House Club in West London.” This event is mentioned in the SOE Files in the National Archives, Kew, London.

Note 4: Page 290, Lines 33-38: ‘The treatment of Sneum . . . companion in flight, Helv ard.’ From Stagg’s report in the Seidenfadens Archives

Note 5: Page 291, Line 7: “ . . . irresponsible and erratic.” Source: SOE Files at the National Archives in Kew, London.

Note 6: Page 291, Lines 20-21: “Moeller’s letter . . . ” This letter is to be found in the SOE Files at the National Archives in Kew, London.

Note 7: Page 292, Lines 13-14: “ . . . full-blown diplomatic incident between Britain and the Free Danes.” Remarkably, this significant diplomatic incident seems to have been almost air-brushed out of their wartime history by the Danes. It may have been that a desire to play down Sneum’s impact—since he was trying to fight or undermine the Nazis at a time when his country wasn’t—lay behind this particular blind spot among Danish historians.

Note 1: Page 293, Lines 1-3: “Hollingworth wrote to Wiskemann . . . to defend himself . . . ” Again this letter is to be found in the SOE Files at the National Archives in Kew, London.

Note 2: Page 293, Lines 15-17: “given a great deal . . . Sneum had spilt the beans.” This is how Geoffrey Wethered, of Branch B1B of the British Secret Service (MI5) describes the so- called failings of Sneum and Christophersen, as reported to him by Hollingworth. Wethered writes about Hollingworth’s warning in the KV6 series of documents released to Britain’s National Archives in Kew, London, in 2003.

Note 3: Page 294, Lines 6-7:“ . . . luncheon at the Three Vikings restaurant in Glasshouse Street . . . ” The investigation into the possible treachery surrounding this luncheon is well documented in the KV6 series and SOE Files at the National Archives in Kew, London, as Wethered launches his hunt for a double agent.

Note 4: Page 294, Lines 23-25: “ML Clarke . . . made a list of Moeller’s grievances.” A full list of Moeller’s grievances, including the British treatment of Sneum, can be found in the SOE Files at the National Archives in Kew, London.

Note 5: Page 295, Line 22: “ . . . replied Tommy.” This dialogue was reconstructo him by ith Sneum’s help. He repeatedly claimed, between 1998 and 2006, that he didn’t know exactly which British covert organisation that he had been working for until this moment.

Note 6: Pages 295 Line 38 to 296 Line 1: “ . . . Stig Jensen wrote to Tommy . . . ” The author has a copy of this letter from Stig Jensen, supporting Tommy and his controversial actions.

Note 7: Page 296 Lines 21-22: “ . . . John Senter . . . wrote to Dick White of MI5.” Source: KV6 series, National Archives, Kew, London.

Note 1: Page 297, Line 6: “What the bloody hell are you doing here, Sneum?” This dialogue with Gregory is written as Sneum consistently remembered it in interviews with the author between 1998 and 2006.

Note 2: Page 298, Line 5: “On the night of 4 September ... ” This tragic incident is well documented in the SOE Files at the National Archives in London and also in history books such as “Inside SOE” by E.H. Cookridge.

Note 3: Page 299, Line 10: “ . . . Sneum had demanded to talk.” Reginald Spink’s book entitled “40 ar efter. En Engloenders spredte erindringer om krig og fred.”

Note 4: Page 299, Lines 13-14: “ . . . telling his sidekick to contact Commander Senter if he was so concerned.” SOE Files, British National Archives, Kew, London.

Note 5: Page 299, Line 37: “ . . . joint assessment of the spy.” SOE and KV6 Files, National Archive, London.

Note 6: Page 300, Line 31: “ . . . to recover missing SOE money.” Flemming Muus, SOE’s chief in Denmark later in the war, was at the centre of allegations of embezzlement of SOE funds. He was arrested in 1946 and eventually exiled from Denmark for five years. Muus, who won a DSO for his services to the Danish Resistance, denied the charges.

Note 7: Page 301, Line 1: “ . . . he insisted he had betrayed no one ... ” Sneum told the author in detail how he had defended himself at this vital hearing.

Note 8: Page 302, Line 13: “ . . . as they stormed the hideout . . . ” An account of what happened can be found in the SOE Files at the National Archives in London or in history books such as “Inside SOE” by E.H. Cookridge.

Note 9: Page 302, Lines 34-35: “ . . . Rottboell’s own body was riddled with twelve.” Rottboell’s bullet-riddled clothes are on display at the Frihedsmuseet Museum in Copenhagen.

Note 1: Page 304, Line 22 “ . . . the Shetland Bus.” David J. Howarth wrote a book about these exploits called “The Shetland Bus,” published by the Shetland Times in 1998.

Note 2: Page 305, Line 21: “You’ve been rather clever . . . ” Dialogue as recalled by Sneum in interviews with the author, 1998-2006.

Note 3: Page 306, Line 36: RAF Twinwood Farm was also the irfield from where Glenn Miller, the famous American bandleader, took off for Paris on December 15, 1944 and was never seen again.

Note 4: Page 308, Line 12: “ . . . accurate pictures of both men.” The author has copies of these full-length mock-up police photos.

Note 5: Page 309, Line 7: “ . . . to the principal Danish liaison officer.” The author has a copy of Stig Jensen’s very complimentary letter.

Note 1: Page 310, Line 4: “ . . . quantity than quality.” Turnbull said this more than once in interviews with the author, 1999-2003.