Hitler's Spy Against Churchill: The Spy Who Died Out in the Cold

314 Pages·2022·15.307 MB·English

by  Jan-Willem van den Braak

Hitler’s Spy Against
Churchill

Hitler’s Spy Against
Churchill
The Spy Who Died Out in the Cold
Jan-Willem van den Braak
With an afterword by Antony Percy
First published by Walburg Pers, Zutphen, in 2017 as Spion tegen Churchill;
Leven en dood van Jan Willem ter Braak, by Jan-Willem van den Braak
First published in Great Britain in 2022 by
Pen & Sword Military
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
Yorkshire - Philadelphia
Copyright © Jan-Willem van den Braak, 2022
Translation Copyright © Vertaalbureau Perfect, Enschede (NL), 2022
ISBN 978 1 52676 877 3
The right of Jan-Willem van den Braak to be identified as the Author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Contents
Foreword to the English Translation xi
Prologue: About the Origins of this Book xiii
My fascination with espionage xiii
The primary source of this book xiv
The start of the research xv
About fiction and non-fiction xviii
MI5/MI6, Abwehr and RSHA (1940-41); Dutch Secret
Service (1945-49) xix
PART I: THE LIFE OF ENGELBERTUS FUKKEN (1914-40)
CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE (1914-31)
1. Family tracks 2
2. The birth of Engelbertus Fukken (28 August 1914): nomen est omen 5
3. Two spies (1914-15) 8
4. A happy family (1915-20) 12
5. Paradise lost (1920-31) 14
DISPLACED (1931-40)
6. Nautical College and membership of the National Socialist
Movement (NSB) (1931-35) 18
7. Societal humiliation: from salesman and journalist to prisoner
and unemployed (1935-39) 23
8. From the ‘phoney war’ to Churchill as Prime Minister
(September 1939-June 1940): ‘We shall fight in the fields and
in the streets …’ 28
9. Noordwijk: first months under occupation (May-June 1940) 33
vi Hitler’s Spy Against Churchill
PART II: THE LIFE OF JAN WILLEM TER BRAAK (1940-41)
SPY FOR HITLER (1940)
10. Operation Sea Lion 41
11. Operation Lena (I) (July 1940) 43
12. The birth of Jan Willem ter Braak (I) (first half of July 1940):
the Mirow-Tappenbeck-Fukken connection 48
13. The birth of Jan Willem ter Braak (II) (second half of July-1
August 1940): the mystery unfolds … 56
14. Operation Lena (II) (August-September 1940) 61
15. Operation Lena (III) (October-November 1940) 76
16. Where was Dieter Tappenbeck between August and
November 1940? 78
17. Where was Ter Braak between August and November 1940? (I):
Ter Braak as an SS man 80
THE SLOW JUMP INTO DEATH (1940-41)
18. First days in England (31 October/1-4 November 1940): where
did Ter Braak stay? 92
19. Guest house stay in Cambridge (I) (4 November-
31 December 1940) 97
20. Guest house stay in Cambridge (II) (1 January-29 March 1941) 105
21. Last days (29-30/31 March 1941): the spy who died out in the cold 113
22. The discovery of the remains and the funeral (1-8 April 1941) 118
AFTERMATH (1941-45)
23. MI5’s investigation regarding Ter Braak (1941-42) 122
24. Operation Lena (IV) (April-May 1941): the end 127
25. The death of Dieter Tappenbeck (December 1941):
a reconstruction 132
26. Noordwijk: departed without a trace (1941-45) 134
27. The official statement from the British authorities regarding the
fate of Ter Braak (1945) 138
Ter Braak as an accomplice to a murder in the Midlands vii
PART III: HOW TER BRAAK’S TRUE IDENTITY WAS
DISCOVERED BUT STILL REMAINED OBSCURE (1946-99)
HOW TER BRAAK’S TRUE IDENTITY WAS
DISCOVERED (1946-47)
28. Unsuccessful attempts 142
29. The final attempt 145
MYSTIQUE AROUND JAN WILLEM TER BRAAK (1947-99)
30. Documentation on Operation Lena (I): ‘mystery man Ter Braak’ 148
31. Ter Braak as an accomplice to a murder in the Midlands 153
32. Ter Braak as book merchant, author, scientist and extortioner 157
33. Was Ter Braak expected to murder Churchill? (I): ‘Himmler’s
Ace Spy planned to kill Churchill’ 160
34. Was Ter Braak followed and murdered by MI5 (I)? 165
35. Ter Braak as a Russian spy (I) 167
MYSTIQUE AROUND BERTUS FUKKEN (1947-99)
36. Neeltje van Roon’s enquiries 170
37. The silence and the rumours 174
38. The life and death of Neeltje van Vliet-van Roon
(1956-95) 181
PART IV: THE SPY WHO CAME BACK FROM
OBSCURITY (1999-2021)
39. Documentation on Operation Lena and Ter Braak (II):
the files open 184
40. Were the Lena agents deliberately sacrificed in a
‘Deutschlandspiel’? 186
41. Where did Ter Braak’s pistol go? 194
42. Adolf Hitler and Jan Willem ter Braak 196
43. Did Ter Braak use his radio transmitter? 199
viii Hitler’s Spy Against Churchill
44. Ter Braak as a Russian spy (II) 202
45. Was Ter Braak followed and murdered by MI5? (II) 203
46. Where was Ter Braak between August and November 1940? (II):
Ter Braak in Berlin? 206
47. Was Ter Braak expected to murder Churchill? (II) 210
a. Seriously facing the question 210
b. Were there any attacks on Churchill? 212
c. Walter Schellenberg and Erwin Lahousen 213
d. Was Ter Braak expected to murder Churchill? 216
e. The missions of Jakobs and Richter revisited 226
48. The Mary medallion and the enduring mystery 228
49. Ter Braak as a romantic personality 230
50. The death of Winston Churchill 233
51. Walking with destiny 238
Epilogue: Back to When 239
Noordwijk aan Zee, where it all began 239
Rijnsburg: the grave of Neeltje van Roon 241
Meeting Jan Willem Ter Braak’s son 242
Cambridge and Great Shelford: ‘The spy that time forgot’ 244
Epitaph for a spy 246
Appendices 248
A. Family trees 248
B. Survey of LENA-spies (August 1940-May 1941) 251
C. Addresses of Engelbertus Fukken aka Jan Willem ter Braak
(1914-1941) 253
Afterword 255
Antony Percy, Epitaph for a fall guy
Bibliography 261
Notes 270
Index 287
In memory of my parents
Jan van den Braak (1924-84) and Josephine Ruttjes (1928-2017)