In 1941, a Spanish man named Juan Pujol García approached British officials with an rather unusual offer. He wanted to become a spy and help Britain to defeat Germany. The British were not interested. He was persistent and tried three times, but each time he was turned down.
Pujol wasn't prepared to give up, so he decided to approach German intelligence instead. He convinced them that he supported them and was willing to gather information from Britain. They actually decided to recruit him, but they never suspected that he had absolutely no intention of helping them.
Rather than going to Britain as he had been instructed, Pujol went to Lisbon in Portugal. He began inventing intelligence reports using guidebooks, newspapers and other reference materials. He wrote as though he were living in Britain, describing military activities he had never witnessed. The Germans believed his reports, he began to create imaginary informants to gather information on his behalf.
In April 1942, Pujol finally made contact with MI6 and was brought to London, where MI5 took over his work. Alongside his handler, Tomás Harris, he developed an extraordinary network of 27 fictional agents, each with their own background and identity. There was a Venezuelan living in Glasgow, an American army sergeant and even a Welsh nationalist in Swansea.
By 1944, Pujol, who was now known as Agent Garbo, was playing an important role in Operation Fortitude, which was the wider Allied deception campaign that was designed to convince German commanders that the main invasion of France would actually take place near Calais rather than Normandy.
One interesting incident happened on the 6th of June 1944, the day of the Normandy landings.
Garbo had arranged to send an urgent warning at 3am, supposedly based on information from one of his agents. However, when he attempted to make contact, the German radio operator was not listening. His warning went unanswered, and by the time German intelligence realised what had happened, the invasion was already under way.
Rather than becoming suspicious, the Germans considered Garbo even more reliable because he had apparently tried to warn them.
On the 9th of June, he sent another important message, claiming that the Normandy landings were merely a diversion and that the main Allied attack was still to come near Calais. German commanders continued to keep substantial forces in that area, helping give Allied troops valuable time to establish themselves in Normandy.
Garbo's deception was so convincing that, on the 29th of July 1944, he was informed that Germany had awarded him the Iron Cross for his services. In December of the same year, Britain awarded him an MBE.
Had you heard of Agent Garbo before? I'd love to know.
But how did Garbo and his British handler manage to keep 27 imaginary spies believable without German intelligence discovering the truth? In my extended subscriber post, we’re taking a closer look at the fictional agents, the carefully planned deception and the extraordinary lengths they went to in order to maintain the Germans’ trust. There’s much more to this fascinating story, and I’d love you to join me as we discover it together.
Image info:
Juan Pujol García (Agent Garbo), photographed in disguise, 1944. British Security Service / The National Archives. Public domain (expired Crown copyright), via Wikimedia Commons.
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