The Mediterranean Double-Cross System, – 1941 45 This book describes and analyzes the history of the Mediterranean ‘double- cross system’ of the Second World War, an intelligence operation run pri- marily by British officers which turned captured German spies into double agents. Through a complex system of coordination, these double agents were utilized from 1941 to the end of the war in 1945 to secure Allied territory through security and counter-intelligence operations, and also to deceive the German military by passing false information about Allied military planning and operations. The primary questions addressed by the book are: how did the double- cross-system come into existence; what effects did it have on the intelligence war and the broader military conflict; and why did it have those effects? The book contains chapters assessing how the system came into being and how it was organized, and also chapters which analyze its performance in security and counter-intelligence operations, and in deception. Brett E. Lintottreceivedhis PhD in history from the Universityof Toronto in 2015. Routledge Studies in Modern European History https://www.routledge.com/history/series/SE0246 56 Italy Before Italy Institutions, Conflicts and Political Hopes in the Italian States, 1815-1860 Marco Soresina 57 Ethnic Cleansing during the Cold War: The Forgotten 1989 Expulsion of Bulgaria’s Turks Tomasz Kamusella 58 The Peace Discourses in Europe, 1900-1945 Alberto Castelli 59 Israel’s Path to Europe: The Negotiations for a Preferential Agreement, 1957-1975 Gadi Heimann and Lior Herman 60 Liberalism in Pre-revolutionary Russia State, Nation, Empire Susanna Rabow-Edling 61 Bringing Cold War Democracy to West Berlin A Shared German-American Project, 1940-1972 Scott H. Krause 62 Greeks without Greece Homelands, Belonging, and Memory amongst the Expatriated Greeks of Turkey Huw Halstead 63 The Mediterranean Double-Cross System, 1941-1945 Brett E. Lintott The Mediterranean Double- – Cross System, 1941 45 Brett E. Lintott Firstpublished2019 byRoutledge 2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness ©2019BrettE.Lintott TherightofBrettE.Lintotttobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhasbeen assertedbyhiminaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright, DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor utilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,now knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orin anyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwriting fromthepublishers. Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor registeredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanation withoutintenttoinfringe. 52VanderbiltAvenue,NewYork,NY10017 BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Names:Lintott,BrettE.,author. Title:TheMediterraneandouble-crosssystem,1941–45/BrettE.Lintott. Description:Abingdon,Oxon;NewYork,NY:Routledge,[2019]| Series:RoutledgestudiesinmodernEuropeanhistory Identifiers:LCCN2018024834|ISBN9780415788618 (hardback:alk.paper)|ISBN9781315223285(e-book) Subjects:LCSH:WorldWar,1939-1945--Secretservice--GreatBritain.| WorldWar,1939-1945--Secretservice--MediterraneanRegion.| Intelligenceservice--GreatBritain--History--20thcentury. Classification:LCCD810.S7L48352019|DDC940.54/8641--dc23 LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2018024834 ISBN:978-0-415-78861-8(hbk) ISBN:978-1-315-22328-5(ebk) TypesetinTimesNewRoman byTaylor&FrancisBooks Contents Acknowledgements vi Abbreviations and glossary viii Codenames of military operations and deception plans xi A note on references and sources xiii Introduction 1 1 Double-agent operations from the outbreakof war to November 1942 20 2 The development of the Mediterranean double-cross system 55 3 Strategic deception and the 1943 Mediterranean campaign 92 4 Security and counter-intelligence, 1942–45 124 5 Counter-sabotage in Gibraltar, 1940–44 157 6 Operational and strategic deceptions in Italy, 1944–45 175 Conclusion 200 Bibliography 213 Index 225 Acknowledgements The genesis of this project came in 2008. Like many students entering doc- toralstudies,Iwasnudgedtowardsmythesistopicbymysupervisor.Forthat suggestion,IameternallygratefultoProfessorDenisSmythoftheUniversity of Toronto. My work on the Mediterranean double-cross system has been a labourof love and, while I am happy to see it come to completion as abook, I am sad to leave a subject that has engrossed me for a decade. Suggesting this topic was only the beginning of Professor Smyth’s impor- tance to this book, and the dissertation upon which it is based. His atten- tiveness to my work, as successive draft chapters crossed his desk, helped form what follows. His insistence on correct and engaging writing, logical argument, and clear historical thinking encouraged me to make my work as strong as I possibly could. I owe a great deal to Denis, and I am thankful for my time with him. Now that he has entered retirement, the University of Toronto has lost one of its finest professors. The Department of History will find his approach to hiswork, and his historical spirit, irreplaceable. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the historians who served as members of my supervisory committee: Wesley Wark and Lori Loebboth provided useful advice on the earlier, dissertation version of this work. Additionally, outside faculty who served as examiners of my dissertation provided commentary which was valuable as I began work on this book. James Retallack of the University of Toronto provided extensive commentary on my writing, and Margaret Macmillan of the University of Oxford provided useful insights on potential blind spots in the original thesis. Finally, John Ferris of the Uni- versity of Calgary brought his tremendous knowledge and erudition in the history of intelligence to bear in his assessment of my work. His comments werehighlysupportive,andalsoprovidedamapforhowtoimprovemywork and shape it into abook. The one person who has been present throughout this entire process is my wife, Marissa. I met her while I was still an undergraduate, and she was morally,emotionally,andoftenmonetarilysupportiveduringthelongprocess that led from BA, through MA, to PhD. During the writing of this book, another person arrived on the scene who alsogave much encouragement. My son Emmett was born in late 2015, and much of this book waswritten in the Acknowledgements vii two-hour stretches of his daytime naps. It’s still a long time away, but I look forward to the day when he can read this book, discuss it, and criticize it. My book is dedicated to Marissa and Emmett because, in their different ways, they have let me complete a project that is exceptionally meaningful to me. Ever since I was ayoung child I havebeen fascinatedwith history, and to makemyownsmallcontributiontothatvasthumanstoryisamongthefinest experiences of my life. Abbreviations and glossary AAI Allied Armies in Italy. The Allied armygroup in Italy from March to December 1944. AFHQ Allied Force Headquarters. Allied command covering the central andwestern Mediterranean. ‘A’ Force British militaryorganization responsible for planning and implementing deception in the Mediterranean Theatre. Abt I/II/III Abteilung. Each a section of the Abwehr responsible for espionage, sabotage, and counter-espionage, respectively. Abwehr AmtAusland/AbwehrimOberkommandoderWehrmacht.The espionageserviceoftheOberkommandoderWehrmacht(OKW). Amt VI Foreign intelligence office of the RSHA. Ast Abwehrstelle. A main Abwehr station in home or occupied territory. B Branch/ B Division The counter-intelligence section of MI5. B1A Double agent section of MI5 B Division. B1B ISOS analysis section of MI5 B Division. B Section Counter-intelligence section of ISLD. C The head of MI6. CBME Combined Bureau Middle East. Regional British codebreak- ing establishment based in Cairo. Chicken feed True information passed to the enemy in an effort to build up the credibility of a double agent. CICI Combined Intelligence Centre Iraq. COSSAC Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander. DMI Directorof Military Intelligence. DMO Directorof Military Operations. DSO Defence Security Office/Officer. MI5 representatives in British overseas possessions, and some neutral states. FAK Frontaufklärungskommando. Mobile Abwehr field units attached to armygroups or armies. FAT Frontaufklärungstrupp.MobileAbwehrfieldunitssubordinate to a FAK. Abbreviations and glossary ix FHO FremdeHeereOst (Foreign Armies East). Intelligence analysis section of the General Staff of the German Army, with responsibility for the Eastern Front. FHW Fremde Heere West (Foreign Armies West). Intelligence ana- lysis section of the General Staff of the German Army, with responsibility for all European fronts other than the Eastern Front. Galveston Codename for Dudley Clarke, head of ‘A’ Force. Sometimes used to denote the organization as awhole. GCCS Government Code and Cipher School. Central British codeb- reaking establishment based at Bletchley Park. GHQ General Headquarters, Middle East. Based in Cairo. Ic German staff officer responsible for intelligence. IH/IL/IM SectionsofAbwehrAbteilungIresponsibleforarmy,airforce, and naval intelligence, respectively. ISLD Inter-Services Liaison Department. The local guise of MI6 in the Mediterranean and Middle East. ISSB Inter-Services Security Board. ISK Intelligence Service Knox. Named after Dillwyn Knox, the intelligence product derived from breaking Abwehr machine ciphers. ISOS Intelligence Service Oliver Strachey. Intelligence product derived from breaking Abwehr hand ciphers. JIC Joint Intelligence Committee. British cabinet sub-committee. JPS Joint Planning Staff. KO Kriegsorganization. A main Abwehr station in a neutral state. LCS London Controlling Section. Responsible for planning and coordinating all strategic deception in the European theatre. MI5 The Security Service. Responsible for security and counter- intelligence in Britain and in British overseas possessions. MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). Responsible for foreign intelligence and counter-intelligence. Mil. Amt Militärisches Amt. Name of the ‘reformed’ Abwehr which came under the control of the RSHA in spring 1944. Notional Activities, units, etc., presented to the enemy as being real but which are, in fact, fake. OKW Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. High Command of the German Armed Forces. OSS Office of Strategic Services. American wartime intelligence agency. Penetration agent In the parlance of Mediterranean double-cross, a penetration agent was a double agent run for counter-intelligence rather than deception purposes.