Smith Journal – January 2019

courier

J (1)

since

15-7-41

2

• Died
  19-11-42

1

• Resigned
  19-11-43

W/T Operator

4(1)

Recruited

28-8-42

Aviator

3(1)

Contact

13-2-43

American

Service Man

London 4(3)

Contact

5-11-43

Seamann

Deserter

3(3)

Recruited

19-12-43

Guard in

Chislehurst

Depot 4(2)

Contact

25-4-43

Lt. 49th Div.

3(2)

Contact

1-10-43

In Canada

5

Recruited

14-6-42

Cousin in

Buffalo

5(1)

Contact

Oct 1943

6

• Killed
  July 1943

Sub Chief

4

In N.A.A.F.I.

Recruited

May 1942

Deputy Chief

3

Recruited

7-10-41

Recruited

May 1941

First letter

15-7-41

Chief of Organisation

Widow

2(1)

Recruited

10-3-43

Aviator

Friend

J(2)

After completing a crash course in writing
Nazi codes and loading himself up with
invisible ink, Pujol told the Abwehr he was
heading to England to start work. Instead,
he holed up in Portugal and purchased the
essential items he’d need to understand the
country he was supposedly infiltrating: an
English tourist guide and a large map of
Great Britain. His education now complete,
Arabel began his life as a double agent. He
wasn’t alone in his mission: the Spaniard
invented three sub-agents he claimed worked
beneath him. Together, the group pretended to
penetrate Britain and began reporting back.

Pujol’s lack of understanding of Britain should
have given him away early: he couldn’t get his
head around British currency, so the expenses
he asked the Abwehr to cover made little sense.
He also spoke of meeting Glaswegians who
were apparently willing to do anything for
a litre of wine, a claim that, if true, would
mean he’d met the only Scots who didn’t care
for their national tipple of choice. Luckily,
the Germans charged with reading Pujol’s
dispatches were equally unaware of Scottish

drinking habits and the going rate of the pound

sterling. (Apparently having basic intelligence

on your enemy wasn’t a prerequisite for serving

in the intelligence community.)

MI6 soon took note of this new German spy,

too. By 1941, the codebreakers at Bletchley

Park were regularly intercepting and cracking

their enemy’s messages, and news spread of

this rising star named Arabel. Any concerns

this agent might pose a risk were short-lived;

whoever this spy was, it became clear he was

in no position of importance on the British

Isles, and probably hadn’t even set foot on

them. Yet the Spaniard did pose a risk to

the double-cross system. To be successful,

a double cross must feed the enemy just

enough information to keep them interested,

but not enough to endanger the war effort.

Free agents, no matter how good, weren’t

what you wanted.

Having failed to attract the attention of

the British, in February 1942, Pujol walked

into the American embassy in Lisbon to tell

them his story. Intrigued, the Americans

contacted their counterparts in the U.K.,

who relented and sent for this self-made spy.

Pujol arrived in England on April 24, and

after brief ly being called Bovril – after the

salty meat paste that was popular during

the war and which is, disturbingly, still in

existence today – he received a codename

that ref lected his prowess as an actor:

Garbo, after actress Greta Garbo.

With the help of MI5’s Tommy Harris, the

amateur spy became a professional one.

Pujol dreamed into existence an elaborate

network of more and more subagents to feed

information to the Germans – and to lay

blame on, should anyone question his own

reports. To keep the Nazis from catching

on, Pujol’s aliases provided an intoxicating

mixture of information: the fake, the true

but unimportant, and the valuable sent

too late to be acted on.

By the end of the war, Pujol had concocted

a total of 27 fake agents, each with their

own f leshed-out life stories. One of them,

William Maximilian Gerbers, even had to be

GARBO

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