John S. Micgiel, 2024 Stackpool Books, USA.
ISBN: 978-0811775410
Project Eagle: Polscy wywiadowcy w raportach i dokumentach wojennych amerykańskiego Biura Służb Strategicznych.
John S. Micgiel, 2019 Universitas, Poland.
ISBN: 978-8324235493
This is an amazing story of Polish agents being sent into the turmoil of the closing days of World War II. It is a story which will reshape your views on the final stages of the war. The book is well written and researched through delving into OSS (Office of Strategic Services) archives and cross referenced with the Institute of National Remberence in Warsaw, the NARA in America and the Sikorski Institute in London.
OSS had worked with Polish Intelligence in a number of theatres of war using the training programme of the Cichociemni in Scotland. The difference within this operation was that they were all conscripted Poles into the Wehrmacht mainly from Silesia, Pomerania, and Greater Poland. After careful screening, the candidates were sent to Scotland to Arisaig House (STS 21), Garramor (STS 25) and completed parachute training at the Polish section at Manchester Ringway. The training lasted 3 months and included the vital radio communications skills. Forty had been recruited with only thirty-two successful in completing the training standards.
Working in two-man teams, they would report on troop locations, movements, and state of the soldiers’ morale. Given false identities and civilian clothes, they were mostly transported to Dijon in France and Namur in Belgium and then dropped into Germany from OSS ‘Carpetbaggers’ operated B24 Liberators. Their work was hazardous and capture would result in being shot as deserters as well as being a spy. The zones they operated in were the last strongholds of the Reich where food shortages and chaos caused by civilian evacuations and death marches of POWs added to the chaos. W/T equipment could easily be rendered useless due to the lack of electricity to re-charge batteries. Some teams resorted to paper reports being given to advancing Allied units who received them in disbelief.
While Chapter 1 covers the formation of the OSS and its liaison with the Poles, it includes the French BCRA who provided forged documents and instructions on how to fill forms in. Chapter Two covers the recruitment and costs of the agents prior to despatch. Chapter Three is possibly the most interesting as it covers the agents’ missions and their reports while the following chapter analyses the effectiveness of the operations. The ‘pen portraits’ of individual contributions that were made and a resumé of individuals post war life is heartwarming in that humanity survived. The Appendices covers mission’s teams and their despatch to Germany, Austria and Holland.
It is a good detailed read for amateur historians interested in this period and an excellent resource for academic research. These missions gave an insight during a period of great turmoil as the Third Reich collapsed. The reports gave valuable intelligence in helping Allied commanders to make localised decisions to end the war. The book will change many readers perceptions of the closing days of the war and how a group of brave Poles willingly helped in the defeat of the Nazis, knowing the risks they faced in the field.
