OSS Agents in Hitler's Heartland: Destination Innsbruck

195 Pages·1996·1.09 MB·English

by  Gerald Schwab

OSS Agents
in Hitler’s Heartland

OSS Agents
in Hitler’s Heartland
DESTINATION INNSBRUCK
GERALD SCHWAB
Westport, Connecticut
London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schwab, Gerald.
OSS agents in Hitler’s heartland : destination Innsbruck / Gerald
Schwab.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–275–95470–6 (alk. paper)
1. United States. Office of Strategic Services. 2. World War,
1939–1945—Secret service—United States. 3. World War, 1939–1945—
Austria. 4. World War, 1939–1945—Personal narratives, American.
I. Title.
D810.S7S29 1996
940.54′8673—dc20 95–42505
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright  1996 by Gerald Schwab
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 95–42505
ISBN: 0–275–95470–6
First published in 1996
Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Every reasonable effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright materials in this
book, but in some instances this has proven impossible. The author and publisher will be
glad to receive information leading to more complete acknowledgments in subsequent
printings of the book and in the meantime extend their apologies for any omissions.
To Joan, Susan, and Teresa

CONTENTS
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
1 The Jump 1
2 Fred 7
3 Hans 13
4 Franz 19
5 The Making of Secret Agents 29
6 The 885th 43
7 Getting Started 53
8 The Descent 65
9 Settling In 75
10 Herr Leutnant Mayer 87
11 Some Problems 99
12 Real Problems 113
13 “Max”/Hermann M. 121
14 Valhalla Crumbles 135
viii Contents
15 Goetterdaemmerung 145
Epilogue 157
Appendix: Operation GREENUP Cables 163
Bibliography 175
Index 177
PREFACE
Modern literature contains a great many books, both fiction and nonfiction
(and some in which the distinction between the two types is not altogether
clear), detailing the exploits of spies and agents of intelligence services. The
events normally are recounted in broad brush strokes, or if more detailed,
they usually focus on “action” phases, neglecting “uninteresting” aspects
such as the selection of agents, training, equipment, as well as administra-
tive support and decisions that all too frequently are key to the success—or
failure—of missions.
This story seeks to provide a case study of one highly successful OSS
operation involving three young OSS operatives—two naturalized U.S.
citizens and one Austrian deserter-volunteer—while also examining the
experiences of some of their colleagues. It is based on extensive interviews
with the three agents and the once highly secret OSS files located in the
National Archives or obtained from the CIA under the Freedom of Infor-
mation Act. The book seeks to provide the reader an insight into the many
facets that play a role in an operation of this type, almost any one of which
might in the long run have an impact on the implementation of the
operation and the utilization of the results.
The account is unusual in that it includes a detailed description of the
first operational phase of the mission, the drop of the agents to their starting
point in the Austrian Alps. Ordinarily plane crews and agents did not meet
except on those relatively few occasions when a crew member served as
the jump master. Given the security considerations, this was just fine as far
as the OSS was concerned.
x Preface
It has been possible to include a detailed account of the drop thanks to
a serious violation of OSS security rules committed by one of the persons
involved. Since the operation recounted here had to be aborted twice after
take-off—the only times it happened to this crew—and the plane did not
return to its starting base after the two aborted attempts, crew and agents
got to know each other well during the interim period. (Had the plane
returned to its base, the agents would have been whisked to the OSS
compound.) One crew member, bombardier Richard Gottleber, against all
regulations memorized the name and address of the OSS team leader and
after the war contacted him at his home. Both the bomber crew and the
agents held occasional reunions and after a while these became joint
reunions. It was on the occasion of one such joint reunion some 45 years
after the events described that the writer was startled to meet the three
agents and several members of the plane crew.