A Man Called Intrepid: How Intelligence Kept Britain Alive in World War II

 

William Stevenson’s A Man Called Intrepid tells the story of Sir William Stephenson, the Canadian who became Britain’s intelligence chief in the United States during World War II. The book shows how espionage was not just an accessory to the war but a decisive factor in Britain’s survival against Nazi Germany.

By 1940, Britain was battered, nearly alone, and short on resources. What kept the country in the fight was a hidden network of intelligence and subversion. Stephenson’s British Security Coordination in New York linked MI6 with American counterparts, built support for Roosevelt’s pro-British policies, and paved the way for the OSS. Espionage provided more than information; it delivered influence.

Through deception and propaganda, Allied intelligence pushed Hitler into major errors. British support for a coup in Yugoslavia diverted German forces into the Balkans, forcing a delay in the invasion of Russia. Those lost weeks ensured the Wehrmacht ran into the Russian winter before reaching Moscow. Similarly, manipulation of German perceptions helped convince Hitler that Britain and the United States were weaker than they were. When Japan struck Pearl Harbor, Hitler rashly declared war on America—an act that sealed his fate.

The book makes clear that the war was fought as fiercely in safe houses, code rooms, and radio stations as on battlefields. Intelligence turned Britain’s weakness into time, time that allowed American industry and manpower to enter the war.

Stevenson’s account sometimes edges toward the dramatic, but the core argument holds: without Stephenson’s covert empire and the Allied ability to mislead Hitler, Britain might not have survived 1940–41. A Man Called Intrepid is a reminder that victory in World War II depended as much on deception and espionage as on tanks and planes.

I love this book.  I would recommend it to anyone interested in World War II and espionage.

Speeches, Spys and Sleeping NATO

One of the first things we soldiers of 1st Battalion-70th Armor were told when we deployed to West Germany was, "Sleep NATO."

Even in the 1970s, people from Soviet-controlled nations were fleeing for the West and prosperity.  And among the immigrants were spies.  Spying is a profession with both men and women, but our leaders were mostly concerned about female spies.

Men are most likely to forget their inhibitions and talk too much when their egos are inflated and they are feeling adored and impressive.  In my work in corporate communications, I have occasionally dealt with the aftermath of a CEO or other top executive who gives a speech then answers a reporter's questions afterward saying way too much.  Once in Singapore the CEO I worked for gave a speech that got a resounding ovation.  A reporter asked him about a plant we were building in China and our proud, happy CEO told the reporter, "Yes, it is ahead of schedule." 

We had never admitted in public we were building in China.  The next day, our CEO wanted to know who had leaked the information.  He did, but post-euphoria amnesia made him forget what he said.

A female spy can do exactly the same thing by asking questions at the moment a guy rolls over on his back and smiles at the ceiling.  And he may not remember that he told the spy who just loved him when his unit will be leaving for the border.

I watched the show Alias with my family.  We also watched the series Nikita together.  Sydney Bristow of Alias (Jennifer Garner) and Nikita (Maggie Q) of the series of the same name, are both married to handsome co-stars and manage to conduct successful spy operations around the world without sleeping with their targets.

The Army expected that the soldiers living in Germany during the Cold War would be looking for and finding sex.  They tried to warn us not to sleep with spies. I am sure there were soldiers with conflicting priorities.