| Joan Pujol Garcia | |
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Joan Pujol Garcia |
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| Allegiance | United States |
| Award(s) | MBE, Iron Cross |
| Codename(s) | Garbo (British) |
| Alaric Arabel (German)[1] | |
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| Born | 14 February 1912 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain |
| Died | 10 October 1988 (aged 76) Caracas, Venezuela |
| Buried | Choroní, Venezuela |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Spouse | Araceli |
| Children | Juan Fernando |
Joan Pujol Garcia (Catalan), also known as Juan Pujol García (Spanish), MBE (14 February 1912 – 10 October 1988), was a double agent during the Second World War who was known by the British codename Garbo and the German codename Arabel.[2]
After developing a mistrust of both the Communist and Facist regimes in Europe during the Spanish Civil War, Pujol decided to offer his services to the Allies during the Second World War. After being rebuffed by both the Americans and British several times he decided to first establish himself as a German agent. By various subterfuge Pujol convinced the German's that he was in Britain (whilst actually living in Lisbon) and fed them false information largely invented from what he could pick up from train timetables, newsreels and other public sources. Although some of the information would not have stood up to deep examination Garbo soon established himself as a trustworthy agent. He invented two sub-agents, claiming to have recruited them, with the intention of pinning any proven false information on them.
With the help of Pujol's wife the Allies finally took note of his efforts. He was moved to Britain and given the code name Garbo. During the remainder of the war Pujol continued to feed misinformation - firstly by letter and later via radio - and expanded his network of fictional sub-agents. He had a key role in the success of Operation Fortitude, the deception operation intended to mislead the Germans about the timing and location of the invasion of Normandy towards the end of the war. The false information Pujol supplied helped persuade German intelligence that the main attack would be in the Pas de Calais, resulting in a decision by the German government to deploy the main body of troops there instead of in Normandy.[1]
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Born in the Catalan city of Barcelona, Garcia served in the 7th Regiment of Light Artillery on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War, but deserted to the Nationalist side during the Battle of the Ebro in September 1938.[3] His experience on both sides left him with a deep loathing of both fascism and communism, and by extension Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.[4] He was proud that he had managed to serve both sides without firing a single bullet for either.[3] He decided around 1940 that he must make a contribution to the war "for the good of humanity"[5] by helping Britain which, with its Empire, was Germany's only adversary at the time.
He initially approached the British three different times[5] but they showed no interest in employing him as a spy. So he resolved to establish himself as a German agent before approaching the British again to offer his services as a double-agent.
Pujol created an identity as a fanatically pro-Nazi Spanish government official who could travel to London on official business and created a fake British passport and visa, in spite of never having seen either. He contacted Gustave Knittel, a German Intelligence agent in Madrid codenamed "Frederico",[4] and they accepted him and gave him a crash course in espionage, including secret writing, a bottle of invisible ink, a codebook and 600 pounds for expenses. His instructions were to recruit a network of British agents.[5]
He moved instead to Lisbon, and using a tourist's guide to England, reference books and magazines from the Lisbon public library and newsreel reports he saw in cinemas, creating seemingly credible that appeared to come from London.[5] He claimed to be traveling around Britain and submitted his travel expenses based on fares listed in a British railway guide. A slight difficulty was that he did not understand the pre-decimal system of currency used in Britain,[6] expressed in pounds, shillings and pence and was unable to total his expenses. Instead he simply itemised them, and said he would send the total later.
During this time he created an extensive network of fictitious sub-agents living in different parts of Britain. As he had never actually visited the UK, he made several mistakes, including claiming that his alleged contact in Glasgow "would do anything for a litre of wine", unaware of Scottish drinking habits.[5] His reports were intercepted via the Ultra program, and seemed so credible that the British counterintelligence service MI6 launched a full-scale spy hunt.[4]
In February 1942, he approached the U.S. after it had entered the war, contacting U.S. Navy Lieutenant Patrick Demorest in the naval attache's office in Lisbon, who recognized Pujol's potential.[4] Demorest contacted his British counterparts.[7]
The British had become aware that someone had been feeding the Germans misinformation, and realised the value of misinformation after the German navy wasted resources hunting down a non-existent convoy reported to them by Pujol.[7]
He was relocated to Britain in April 24, 1942 and given the code name BOVRIL, after the drink concentrate. But after he passed an MI5 security check conducted by two MI5 officers Cyril Mills and Tomás Harris, and an MI6 officer, Desmond Bristow, Mills suggested that his code name be changed to GARBO, after Greta Garbo who he considered to be "the best actor in the world".[8] Pujol operated as a double agent under the aegis of the XX Committee. Mills spoke no Spanish, and passed his case over to a Spanish-speaking officer named Tomás (Tommy) Harris.[5] Together, Harris and Pujol wrote 315 letters averaging 2,000 words addressed to a post-box in Lisbon supplied by the Germans. His fictional spy network was so efficient and verbose that his German handlers were overwhelmed and, according to the Official History of British Intelligence in WW2, they made no further attempts to recruit any additional spies in the UK.[5]
The information supplied to German intelligence was a mixture of complete fiction, genuine information of little military value and valuable military intelligence artificially delayed. In November 1942, just before the Operation TORCH landings in North Africa, Garbo's agent on the River Clyde reported that a convoy of troopships and warships had left port, painted in Mediterranean camouflage. The letter was postmarked before the landings and sent airmail, but was timed to arrive too late to be useful. Pujol received a reply that "we are sorry they arrived too late but your last reports were magnificent".[5]
During 1943, Pujol and Harris created a radio mechanic to communicate directly to Garbo's German controllers, and after that virtually all of the reports were passed via radio. On occasion he had to fabricate reasons why his agents had failed to report easily available information that the Germans would eventually know about. For example, he reported that his (fabricated) Liverpool agent had fallen ill just before a major fleet movement from that port on the north-west coast of England. The illness meant that the agent was unable to warn the Germans of the event. To support the story of the illness, the "agent" eventually "died" and a notice was placed in the local newspaper as further evidence to convince the Germans, who were also persuaded to pay a pension to the agent's "widow".
In January of 1944, the Germans told Pujol that they believed a large-scale invasion of Europe was imminent and asked to be kept informed. This was Operation Overlord, and Pujol played a leading role in the deception and misinformation campaign Operation Fortitude, sending over 500 radio messages between January 1944 and D-Day. During planning for the Normandy beach invasion, it was vitally important that German High Command be misled that the landing would happen Pas de Calais.[5]
In order to maintain his credibility it was decided that Garbo, or one of his agents, should forewarn the Germans of the timing and some details of the actual invasion of Normandy, although leaving it too late for them to take effective action. Special arrangements were made with the German radio operators to be listening to Garbo through the night of 5/6 June 1944, using the story that a sub-agent was about to arrive with important information. However when the call was made at 3am, no reply was received from the German operators until 8am. Turning this piece of bad luck on its head, Garbo was able to add more details of the operation to the message when finally sent and increase his standing with the Germans. Garbo told his German contacts that he was disgusted that his message was missed and "I cannot accept excuses or negligence. Were it not for my ideals I would abandon the work".[5]
On June 9 (3 days after D-day), Garbo sent a message to German High Command which reached Adolf Hitler[4] saying that he had conferred with his agents and developed an order of battle showing 75 divisions in England (when in reality there were only about 50). His message pointed out that units of the First U.S. Army Group (FUSAG) (a fictitious unit under General Patton which was part of the British deception) had not participated in the invasion and therefore the first landing should be considered a diversion. A German message to Madrid sent two days later said "all reports received in the last week from Arabel [Garbo's German code-name] undertaking have been confirmed without exception and are to be described as exceptionally valuable." [2]
The German High Command accepted Garbo's reports so completely that they kept two armoured divisions and 19 infantry divisions in the Pas de Calais waiting for a second invasion through July and August of 1944. The German Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt refused to allow General Erwin Rommel to move his divisions to Normandy.[5]
In late June Garbo was instructed by the Germans to report on the falling of V1 flying bombs. Finding no way of giving false information without arousing suspicion, and being unwilling to give correct information, Mills arranged for him to be 'arrested'. He returned to duty a few days later, and forwarded an 'official' letter of apology from the Home Secretary for his unlawful detention.
The Germans paid Garbo (or Arabel, as they called him) US$340,000 [9] to support his network of agents, which at one point totaled 27 fabricated characters.
For his efforts in aid of the Allies Garbo received an MBE from the British; in an ironic twist, on July 29, 1944 he was awarded for his contribution to the German war effort, the Iron Cross First Class, normally reserved for front line fighting men. The medal was presented via radio, and he received the physical medal from one of his German handlers after the war had ended. [4]
The Nazis never realized that Garbo had fooled them, and thus he earned the distinction of being one of the few people during World War II to receive decorations from both sides.[1]
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GARBO/ARABEL Joan Pujol García |
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| Agent 1 KLM steward resigned in 1943 |
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Agent 2 William Gerbers Swiss-German businessman died in Bootle, England in 1942 |
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Agent 3 BENEDICT "Carlos" Venezuelan student in Glasgow, Scotland |
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Agent 4 CHAMILLUS Gibraltarian NAAFI waiter based in Chislehurst (London), England |
Agent 5 MOONBEAM Venezuelan based in Ottawa, Canada brother of "BENEDICT" |
Agent 6 Field Security NCO died in 1943 |
Agent 7 DAGOBERT Ex-seaman in Swansea, Wales |
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| KLM pilot and courier |
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WIDOW Mrs. Gerbers (paid a pension by the Germans) |
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Pilot Officer |
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ALMURA radio operator |
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Cousin of "MOONBEAM" residing in Buffalo, New York, USA |
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Soldier in British 9th Armoured Division |
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| Head of Catalan MOI Section |
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Officer in British 49th Infantry Division |
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Guard based in Chislehurst |
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DONNY Leader of World Aryan Order |
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| Censor in MOI |
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Greek seaman and deserter |
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US NCO based in London |
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Wren in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) |
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| Secretary in Cabinet Office |
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DICK Indian fanatic |
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DRAKE in Exeter, England |
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Welsh fascist in South Wales |
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DORICK in Harwich, England |
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After World War II ended, Pujol faked his death and moved to Venezuela, where he lived in anonymity. Mills believed Pujol to be dead, and Pujol had been told that Cyril Mills, or 'Mr. Grey' as he knew him, had been killed as well. However, in 1982 they were emotionally re-united at Mills' home in London. Pujol lived in Lagunillas, Zulia, Venezuela, where he ran a bookstore called 'La Casa del Regalo'.[10] He subsequently moved to Caracas, where he died in 1988. Juan Pujol is buried in Choroní,[11] a town inside Henri Pittier National Park by the Caribbean sea.