Yarn 19 | How Not to be a Spy — Part I
Episode 1
It’s 1940. The world is at war!
The Irish free state is neutral territory.
On the morning of the 5th of May in a field somewhere in Ireland, a farmhand notices a curious looking figure approaching her.
GOERTZ
Good morning Frau.. Miss. Could I ask you one question before we proceed with our conversation?
Am I in Free State Eire or the six counties in the north
FARM HAND
You’re in Ireland Sir!
And welcome to it.
GOERTZ Right?
Can you be more specific?
FARM HAND
You’re in Ballivor… Co. Meath…
GOERTZ
What was that?
FARM HAND Ballivor!
County Meath!
GOERTZ
But am I in Eire or the six counties?
FARM HAND
You’re in the Irish Free state I suppose… The 26 counties.
GOERTZ
Ah, yes. Good.
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FARM HAND
Are you an airman?
GOERTZ
I’m a German airman, yes.
I had to bail out.
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
I was still wearing my Luftwaffe blue smock and jump overalls.
This is Herman Goertz.
Well to be precise, this is an actor playing the part of Herman Goertz.
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
It’s Major Goertz or Doctor Goertz but seeing as your main interest is my military exploits, it would only be right to go with Major.
As you can tell Major. Goertz was quite a stickler for detail…
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
I wasn’t being stupid. It’s a wartime legal requirement to wear your uniform during a drop.
If you are caught as a spy, you could be shot on the spot. But if you could be recognized as a soldier from a sovereign nation, well then, the enemy was required to take you as a prisoner of war.
Goertz parachuted into Ireland in the summer of 1940 on a secret mission on behalf of Nazi Germany…
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
When I landed I had no idea where I was. But I suspected I was off course.
His secret mission and his extended time in Ireland has gained almost mythic status.
This is the true story of his adventures.
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It’s full of espionage, ridiculous plans and larger than life characters.
Years later, Goertz would write about his time in Ireland in a set of serialised articles for the Irish Times newspaper. By then, a long time had passed since the end of the war, and he was a man with a reputation for bending the truth.
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
Of course, my apologies.
That’s the novelist coming to life inside me.
References to Goertz also appear in the biographies of several prominent Irish figures he crossed paths with.
And in 2003, the British secret service opened their files on him to the public.
I’ll be using all these sources to untangle the tale and retell it to you. The characters you’ll hear are played by actors, some of their dialogue has been dramatized but they’re all based on real people and actual situations.
Let’s go back to that field in Meath…
FARM HAND
Are you an airman?
GOERTZ
I’m a German airman, yes — I had to bail out. Which way to Wicklow?
FARM HAND What? Really?
Is it just yourself? Is this an invasion?
GOERTZ
It’s just me — Is it far? Wicklow?
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FARM HAND
Ah.. Jaysus…
I dunno about…
A hundred miles I suppose.
GOERTZ
If you point me in the direction of Wicklow and promise not to tell anyone you’ve seen me, I can give you…
One hundred US dollars — See.
FARM HAND
Yeah..Alright so.
It’s a..
Let me see…
Well that’s east… So it’s south east… That way…
You’re not planning on walking it are ya?
The reason the German soldier wasn’t quite sure of his location was because he had lost most of his equipment, he didn’t even have a compass…
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
I landed in a field in almost complete darkness. I desperately searched for the drop canister.
German soldiers used to put most of their heavy equipment in a canister attached to a separate parachute, that they threw out of the plane moments before they would jump out after it.
The reason was because German parachutes and harnesses were of pretty poor quality and couldn’t support the extra weight.
Soldiers hated the drop canister…
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GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
It’s a cylinder-shaped steel container.
It housed my radio transmitter, a shovel and all my food provisions. The canister was painted dark green so it would not be easily spotted by the enemy, unfortunately it had the same effect on me. There was no sign of it anywhere or the second parachute it came down with.
Proper procedure dictated that a paratrooper should bury his parachute but seeing as my shovel was in the canister and the canister was lost, procedure was pointless.
That’s when Goertz decided to just ask a local for directions.
A somewhat unconventional strategy for a spy on a covert mission but Goertz wasn’t conventional. He wasn’t even officially a spy..
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
I was not officially a spy. I’m an officer of the German Air Force not Abwehr.
The Abwehr was the name of Germany’s Secret Intelligence Service.
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
I’m not nor never have been an agent of Abwehr.
All I wanted to do was fly and to do my duty of course.
Goertz was an unusual choice for an espionage mission.
For one he was 55 years old, a little past his prime for such a physically intensive mission.
He was a veteran Air Force flyer from the First World War.
He fought on the western front and received the Iron Cross in 1917.
After the war he became an accountant, he married an admiral’s daughter and they had one child.
But the main reason he was such an odd choice was because he was already a ‘famous’ spy. A bit of an oxymoron.
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He was caught by the British in 1936 and charged with espionage.
The trial, held in London, received daily newspaper coverage. The English media dubbed him…
ENGLISH NEWS READER’S VOICE The Flying Spy!
Is back in the Old Bailey today.
Charged with espionage against the Crown.
Sketches and photographs of RAF aircraft and maps of military aerodromes were found on the kitchen table of
the house Herman Goertz rented in Broadstairs with his
19 year old “typist” Mariane Emig. The two travelled to Britain from Germany in July 1935. Ms. Emig is not present in court. The trial continues…
The house Goertz shared with Ms. Emig was conveniently located right next to the Manston RAF Aerodrome.
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
Nothing untoward happened between myself and Fraulein Emig sir- I employed her as my secretary.
The press gleefully reported that young Ms. Emig was really Goertz mistress. Pictures of both of them were published in the paper. Goertz was captured but Ms. Emig managed to evade the authorities. At the time Goertz claimed;
GOERTZ
I don’t know where she is.
I’m no longer in contact with her.
The Home Office issued this message to all British ports in case Emig tried to re-enter the country…
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VOICE (ENGLISH ACCENT)
Announcement from the British Immigration branch, Home office 30th march 1936
Ms. Marianne EMIG exited Dover on 23.10.35 on a ship bound for Germany. A copy of her photograph is sent herewith to all ports. She should not be allowed to land again in the United Kingdom.
Description:
Height 5ft 7
Well built
Dark brown hair
Fresh complexion
Walks erect and is of outdoor appearance.
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
Fraulein Emig was integral in helping me gain access to British Airmen.
Ms. Emig would befriend RAF airmen stationed at the base and invite them to dinner at the house in Broadstairs, where over a few drinks, Goertz and Emig would tease classified information out of the airmen.
During the trial Goertz’s time in the witness box was widely reported. Especially his exchanges with the Crown’s Prosecutor Mr. Cains QC, on the topic of his actions during the First World War…
PROSECUTOR
Was it not part of your duty to question flying officers captured by your army?
GOERTZ
Yes, In 1918 the development of the American Air Force was most interesting to us. It was my duty to find out how quickly America could build up an air force.
PROSECUTOR
You were referred to as a ‘dangerous’ intelligence officer — Is this because your interrogation methods were harsh?
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GOERTZ
It’s because my methods were successful.
I treated every grounded pilot as a gentleman and a
comrade. I invited them to dinner or luncheon and in the excitement of being brought down, they told me really more than I wanted to know. I passed this information on to our intelligence service, of course but that doesn’t make me a spy. Spying in enemy territory is an entirely different bucket of fish, I have no interest in anything like that.
The Crown Prosecutor moved on to question Goertz about the house he rented with Ms. Emig.
PROSECUTOR
Here is an extract from the list of items found in the house you rented with Ms. Emig near Manston RAF Aerodrome:
One set of binoculars.
One camera with several lenses.
Photographs of various RAF airplanes and equipment.
One sketch of Manston Aerodrome.
One photostatic copy of sketch.
One bottle of lavender — lavender, I’m told is used for secret writing.
Would you agree that these items would seem likely possessions of a spy gathering intelligence?
GOERTZ
The bottle of lavender was purely for my personal use.
I have a weakness for a slight spot of
lavender on my handkerchiefs. I’ve never heard that it had any other clandestine use.
PROSECUTOR
And how do you explain the other incriminating items?
GOERTZ
As I said before, I was writing a book on British, American and German aircraft. Ms. Emig was helping me transcribe my notes and interview Airmen… For the book.
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PROSECUTOR
And what was the name of the publisher that had commissioned this book?
GOERTZ
I had not yet secured a publisher but if you know of anyone who would be interested please pass on my details would you?
No one believed Goertz’s story…
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
I spent 4 years at His Majesty’s pleasure, as they say.
After his incarceration, Goertz returned to Germany, just before the outbreak of World War II. He was discharged from the Army and ignored by the Abwehr. He took to drinking heavily and was openly mocked in his social circles. He was destined to spend the rest of his life in obscurity but Goertz had other ideas.
It all started when he met an Irish emigre in Germany, called Francis Stuart…
STUART
He was introduced to me at one of my St. Patrick’s day parties. I organize them every year in Berlin —
I invite various diplomats and businessmen with a view to —
To encourage business relations with Ireland.
Stuart was a university lecturer and later produced Nazi radio propaganda broadcasts. He had married into a famous Irish Republican family.
His wife was Iseult Stuart. Iseult’s brother was Sean McBride, a former leader of the IRA. Sean’s father was John McBride, who was executed by the British after the 1916 Irish Rising. And Iseult and Sean’s mother was Maud Gonne Macbride. A prominent republican, suffragette and actress. Maud was immortalised in the poetry of WB Yeats, where he wrote of his unrequited love for her. Yeats was obsessed with Maud.
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STUART
Goertz was obsessed with my family connections — wouldn’t stop asking about it —
But not because of its political significance —
Goertz was a fan of literature you see, poetry especially. Fancied himself as a bit of a writer.
Well.. he very much admired the works of W.B Yeats — who was a close friend of the family you might say.
He could quote any Yeats verbatim…
GOERTZ
“Those that I fight, I do not hate. Those that I guard, I do not love.”
Stuart’s initial impression of Goertz was that he seemed a bit of a social pariah…
STUART
Well he was an odd character.
The German diplomats didn’t care too much for him.
They whispered behind his back, called him an imbecile.
I think he had married well — although I never met his wife. He was generally liked by most people — especially ladies.
Goertz thought his Irish drinking buddies could be his route back from obscurity.
The more he learned about the history of the Irish struggle and the efforts of the IRA, the more he thought himself as perfectly placed to make a difference — and to regain the respect he had lost after the ‘flying spy’ incident.
He also had the added advantage of having already visited Ireland…
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
I spent a holiday in Eire in ’32 with my wife.
I loved the country. So green and untamed.
I became fascinated with the people and the culture.
Goertz heard rumours that senior IRA figures were visiting Germany with the intention of forming an alliance with the Third Reich against their
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common enemy- Britain. He pieced together as much information as he could about the IRA, based on conversations with his Irish contacts in Berlin. Then he approached his old Abwher handler, Kurt Haller with a proposition….
GOERTZ
If the IRA’s capabilities are to be believed they could be very advantageous to us.
A Mr. Sean Russell,
Goertz never met Sean Russell in person, but he didn’t tell Haller this.
A Mr. Sean Russell the chief of the IRA recently visited Germany and pledged his organization’s help to fight the British. According to his report the IRA are keen to help the Reich if it would help their cause for a united island. England’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity he says. He claims that the IRA are still a formidable force — equipped with small arms and containing many sub leaders experienced in guerrilla warfare. They may lack and understanding of advanced military tactics but I’m sure they will make up for that with their enthusiasm, battle experience and local knowledge. And of course their hatred of the British Empire.
Goertz volunteered to drop into Ireland, rendezvous with the IRA, assess their capabilities and radio back his findings.
The only problem was Goertz didn’t have any direct contacts in the IRA. He didn’t even know anyone in Ireland.
That’s when Goertz went back to Francis Stuart…
STUART
Well, my wife lives in Ireland with the children. So I said, half joking — that if he ever got into any trouble —
as a last resort, and I stressed that –
he could call on her and she would help him out. Anyway, I gave him the address of our house in Wicklow but I never expected it to be his first stop!
Haller approved Goertz for the mission. Probably just to get rid of him.
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He provided Goertz with an old radio transmitter, a parachute and few hundred counterfeit US dollars.
He told Goertz his primary goal was to encourage the IRA to focus their efforts on British targets in the north of Ireland. Any disruption to British infrastructure benefitted the Reich.
Haller was sceptical about the merits of the mission but at least he wouldn’t have to risk one of his prized Abhwer agents.
There was nothing to lose.
Goertz of course tells it a little differently…
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
I was indeed hand-picked for this mission you see by Dr. Herman Haller of Abwehr…
Let’s go back to when Goertz first parachuted into Ireland.
He had just got directions from a bemused but helpful farm hand.
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
I slapped a roll of bank notes in her hand and ran off to look for cover.
No radio, no food and no navigational equipment.
I had two choices. Abandon the mission and give myself up or head for the only address I had in Eire. The home of my Irish friend from back in Berlin, hopefully his wife would help me.
So Goertz set off on the 100 mile march to the Stuart household — Laragh house, a mansion near the small village of Laragh in the Wicklow mountains.
Goertz later recounted his hike to Laragh House in dramatic detail in his Irish Times article and his decoded messages. It included a near death incident…
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GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
I hid in ditches and under bridges by day and marched by night. If I came across any locals I’d quickly extinguish my torch and jump in a ditch until the
locals passed by. On my second night march I came to a bridge over the River Boyne at the border of Co. Meath and Co. Kildare.
A Police checkpoint lay in wait.
I wondered if this was just a regulation check-point or
if news of my arrival had spread.
There was no way I was getting across the bridge in my flight suit so I sneaked down to the river bank and
waded into the river underneath the bridge. I could
hear the voices of the police officers above. Their mumbles were just about audible above the rush of the freezing river.
I waded into the water until the ground under me disappeared. Paddling across, I kicked my legs against the strong current but I was being dragged downstream. If I drifted far enough I’d pass right under the bridge
and lose my cover. But I was also being dragged down under the water. My jump suit had become severely waterlogged. The weight of it was pulling me down under the surface. I struggled to keep my head above the
water line. Mouthful after mouthful of water flowed
down my throat.
Finally my feet hit against the riverbed and I was able
to wade slowly forward until I reached the bank.
I was desperate to cough but afraid if I did it would
give me away. I moved up the side of the bridge until I was well out of earshot. And once I started coughing I couldn’t stop. Water sprayed out of my mouth and nose until I was just dry retching.
I thought that was me kaput.
My flight suit had almost killed me.
So I removed my uniform and stashed it under a bush, I marked it with a stone, hoping I could retrieve it
later. Exhausted, soaking wet and weak from the hunger, I collapsed in a ditch.
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Goertz woke up the next day glad to be alive but still a long way from his destination. He decided he needed to quicken his pace. Night marches alone were taking too long.
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
By my rough estimate it would take another 18 to 20 hours. I decided to do an unbroken march the rest of the way.
I marched through the day and night. Dressed in my white sweater, breeches and black beret.
He must have looked quite an odd sight as he marched through rural Ireland in his German airman outfit.
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
I drew some strange looks but no one intervened.
My lips were coated in sores and my feet were covered with Blisters. Then my torch finally gave out. I was in darkness.
Lost. I’d just about given up. I lay down under a tree,
resigned to my fate. I said my prayers.
But another daybreak came and I was still alive.
I managed to climb the tree and scanned the hills and fields ahead. The outline of a large estate house in the distance caught my eye. Just as my friend in Berlin had described it.
He found Laragh House.
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
I willed my legs into action.
The house grew bigger with each step.
With my last ounce of strength I raised my arm and knocked on the front door.
It opened.
Francis Stuart’s wife, Iseult answered..
ISEUL T
Yes? Oh god!
Who are you? What do you want?
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We don’t know the exact conversation Iseult and Goertz had.
Goertz left this bit out of his Irish Times articles.
We know that Francis Stuart gave Goertz a code, a sentence that he was instructed to say to Iseult upon meeting her.
It had to be something she knew only Francis would say.
A private joke between her and her husband.
We know this because Stuart mentions it in his autobiography..
Goertz was to ask Iseult if she had found…
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE) The Four leaf clover…
Iseult let Goertz into the house. It’s not clear how long Goertz stayed in the Stuart household but it was enough time for the German officer and his friend’s wife to make a connection.
Goertz had an interest in poetry, eastern philosophy, and symbolism, as did Iseult.
GOERTZ
If you don’t mind me asking. What’s the significance of the code your husband gave me — the four leaf clover?
ISEUL T
That was one of Frank’s little jokes.
Everyone knows the four leaf clover is supposed to bring you luck but the myth goes deeper than that. Little girls were told that fairies would hide four
leaf clovers for them to find. If the girl found one it would assure perfect happiness. The clover’s leaves represent the four elements a girl needs for happiness. Hope, faith, luck and love.
GOERTZ
Do you believe it?
ISEUL T
No. But I like the symbol.
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GOERTZ
And Mr. Stuart was asking if you had found it yet.
ISEUL T
Frank thinks I lack all of those characteristics. He can be a mean man. My husband. But you like him?
Iseult was in her late 40’s. With her husband living abroad she spent a lot of time on her own in the house with her two children.
She was described as a chain smoker, who played endless games of solitaire and was said to be susceptible to bouts of melancholy.
Iseult’s upbringing was unconventional to say the least. She was surrounded by Irish republicans, bohemians, writers and believers in the occult.
Before Iseult was born her mother, Maud conceived a child, Georges, with her French lover Lucien Millevoye.
But the baby died. Maud was distraught, and buried the baby in a large memorial chapel in France. Maud separated from Lucien shortly after Georges’ death.
In 1893 she arranged to meet him at their late son’s mausoleum and, they had sex on top of Georges tomb.
Her purpose was to conceive a baby with the same father, so the soul of Georges would be reincarnated in their new child.
Iseult was born as a result.
In 1903 after a whirlwind courtship, Maud married John MacBride; a prominent Irish republican.
Iseult’s half-brother Seán MacBride was born in 1904.
Maud and John separated in 1905.
Maud took the children and moved to France. Declaring that she’d never return to Ireland as long as John MacBride was still alive.
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William Butler Yeats would visit the family often in France.
He became a surrogate father to Iseult.
Yeats encouraged Iseult’s writing and said she had great talent as a poet. He called her his darling child.
Then Yeats proposed marriage to Iseult when she was 22. Iseult declined the offer.
The family returned to Ireland in 1916 after John MacBride’s death in the Rising. Iseult was widely considered a great beauty, and able to speak her mind.
She attracted the admiration of many literary figures. In 1920, when Iseult was 26 she eloped to London with 17-year-old Irish- Australian writer Francis Stuart.
They later married and settled in Laragh House in Ireland with their two children, until Francis took a teaching position in a university in German just before the outbreak of Wold War two.
Iseult herself wasn’t directly involved in Irish republicanism but because of her family links, she knew some people she thought would be willing to help Goertz…
ISEUL T
Why don’t you get some sleep in the guest bedroom upstairs and I’ll head into town —
Get you some normal clothes and call a friend.
He’ll know what to do.
GOERTZ
The lady of the house helped me up the stairs. Moments later I heard the main door slam shut. She was gone. The house was quiet.
I drifted off to sleep half thinking I may be woken up by a group of policemen.
While he slept Iseult went into Dublin. She bought Goertz a new suit and shoes in Switzer’s department store on Grafton Street. Then she went to a hotel and called a family friend — Seamus O’Donovan. The two of them agreed to meet back at Laragh House.
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Seamus O’Donovan or Big Jim as most knew him, was a former IRA member, a veteran of the war of independence and the civil war.
At this point Jim was in his forties and appeared to have left the revolutionary life behind him. He was a senior manager in the ESB — the state electricity supply board.
Outwardly Jim seemed to be a family man, with a good job, who kept to himself.
Back in the Civil War he was the IRA’s chief explosives expert but when the civil war ended and the new Irish State started cracking down on IRA activity by interning or executing its members, Jim decided to get out.
He manged to survive his violent past almost fully in tact — he lost three fingers from his right-hand. He disguised his injury by wearing a glove.
In August 1938, eight years after Jim had left, the Chief of the IRA, Sean Russell, called on his old comrade.
Russell’s goal was to enlist his friend’s help in designing a bombing campaign on English soil. Russell and O’Donovan were the only two surviving members of the IRA general staff who had opposed the Anglo- Irish treaty in January 1922.
Despite being on the state payroll and having a young family, O’Donovan agreed to come back into the fold.
In 1939 the IRA declared war on Britain.
Before launching the Sabotage Plan, or S-Plan, an ultimatum was issued to the British government…
They had four days to withdraw troops from Northern Ireland — an impossible deadline to meet.
A total of 300 explosions rocked Birmingham, Liverpool, Coventry, Manchester and London in January of that year. It resulted in 10 deaths, 96 injuries. Two IRA members were captured and executed but Jim was never formally implicated.
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Really, the S-plan had nothing to do with forcing a British withdrawal from the North, and everything to do with attracting the attention of the Germans. Russell saw Hitler as the only European leader capable of destroying Britain. His logic was that with England on her knees, nothing could prevent a German-backed reunification of Ireland.
The Germans noticed alright. Abwehr sent word to the IRA that they would like to meet and Jim was chosen to make the trip to Germany to start the talks. The Nazis held Jim in high regard because of his part in the organisation of the S- Plan. They even gave him a codename- Agent Hero.
In 1939, Jim and his wife visited Germany on three separate occasions. He met with various members of the Abwehr.
But even though O’Donovan’s visited Germany several times- he never once met Herman Goertz. This was about to change.
Iseult returned to Laragh house and Jim O’Donovan arrived a few minutes later by car.
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
I awoke to the sound of the door slamming shut again. I could hear several voices downstairs.
Two women and a man.
She was back. I had slept straight through.
I crept sheepishly downstairs.
ISEUL T
Mr Goertz. You’re up.
We brought you some new clothes from Swizters.
GOERTZ
Thank you!
JIM
Mr. Goertz. I’m Jim.
I’ll take you to who you’re looking for. If you’ll follow me?…
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Goertz got in Jim’s car and they left Laragh house together. Goertz couldn’t believe it. Stumbling across an impressive contact like Jim O’Donovan — Agent Hero, was an incredible stroke of good fortune.
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
Yes, I finally had a bit of luck on my side.
I felt like I was getting somewhere.
He seemed like a fine man.
I thought, if he was a reflection of what the rest of the IRA were like then this mission may be very worthwhile.
O’Donovan must have been excited too.
The Germans were taking the IRA seriously enough to send an envoy.
JIM
You’ll be staying in our safe houses from now on.
I’ll take you to see the Chief tomorrow and you can radio our proposition back to your people.
GOERTZ
Ah, yes, well. There’s one issue with that.
I misplaced my radio transmitter when I landed —
It was tethered to.. another parachute.
Do you think you could send your men out… to find it?
JIM
We can’t send men out traipsing around the whole countryside can we?!
People will ask questions.
GOERTZ
Well could you find me a new radio then?
I still have my cipher book and bandwidth frequencies so all I need is a decent radio to send coded messages back to Abhwehr.
JIM
Grand… Listen..
We’ll see if we can sort you out with a radio. The Chief might know someone.
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GOERTZ
The Chief — -
Mr. Russell?
JIM
Sean Russell is dead.
God rest him.
You might have just missed him.
He was over in Berlin. We got word he died on the way back.
GOERTZ
What was the cause do you know?
JIM
Something about a U-boat.
It wasn’t clear at the time how the Chief of the IRA had met his end.
Russell was visiting Germany. He was due to meet Goertz but there was a mix up and Goertz ended up leaving before Russell had a chance to brief him.
Russell was catching a lift back to Ireland in a German U-boat. He became ill during the journey, complaining of stomach pains.
The crew of U-65 did not include a doctor and Russell died 160 km short of Galway. He was buried at sea.
Following the return of the submarine to Germany, an inquiry was set up by the Abwehr into Russell’s death. The conclusion was that Russell had suffered a burst gastric ulcer and, without medical attention, he had died.
A number of conspiracy theories arose around the subject of Russell’s death.
One theory was that he was poisoned on board the U-boat the Abwehr. Other more popular theories involved his assassination by the Irish Government or the British Secret Service Or that it was a joint operation between the two of them.
However, Russell’s brother, Patrick, confirmed after the war that Russell suffered from pre-existing stomach problems.
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JIM
Something about a U-boat.
All I know for sure is he’s dead.
Most likely it was either the Brits or Dev’s Free Staters. They’re hard to tell apart these days.
De Valera’s been executing our boys for months now.
GOERTZ
But I thought your fight was with the British? Not your own government.
JIM
They’re as bad as each other these days!
But yeah and that’s what the plan is about. Before Sean left he put an acting chief in charge. You’ll be meeting him and he’ll fill you in.
GOERTZ (MONOLOGUE)
This was quite a bit confusing to me at the time.
He seemed to hold the Irish prime minister Mr. De Valera in more contempt than the British Empire.
And this wasn’t very helpful for my mission.
It was my job to get them to concentrate on British military targets in England or in the six counties.
When I finally heard what their plan was I started to worry about what I was getting myself in to.
Goertz was brought to the house of Stephen Held in South Dublin. Where he was invited to stay for a few days.
Held was an IRA sympathiser and he too had visited Germany with the intension of establishing links between the IRA and the Nazis.
He met with Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, the head of the Abwehr. Canaris was later executed by the Nazis for his involvement in an assassination attempt on Hitler. But that’s another story.
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A meeting was arranged for Goertz and the Chief to discuss the IRA’s plans for how they intended to cooperate with the Germans.
The Irish Police — the Gardai, knew about the meeting!
They were watching from a parked car outside Held’s house.
End of Part 1
