West - Codeword overlord: axis espionage and the D-Day landings

Cover illustrations

Front: Beach Group troops wade ashore from landing craft on Queen beach, Sword area, on the evening of 6 June 1944. (IWM)

Back: Erwin Rommel on an inspection of the Atlantic Wall.

First published 2019

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

Nigel West, 2019

The right of Nigel West to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the Publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 0 7509 9176 6

Typesetting and origination by The History Press

Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd

eBook converted by Geethik Technologies

The military organisation that has the most efficient reconnaissance unit will win the next war.

General Werner von Frisch, 1938

The invasion does not yet appear to be imminent.

Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, C-in-C West, 5 June 1944

During the night and the early hours of this morning the first of the series of landings in force upon the European Continent has taken place.

Winston Churchill, House of Commons, 6 June 1944

A considerable degree of surprise was achieved throughout.

Brigadier Edgar Williams, 21st Army Group, 6 June 1944

The Allies scored a great surprise on 6 June 1944 by the imposition of radio silence.

General Albert Praun, OKW Chief Signal Officer

The author acknowledges his debt of gratitude to those who have assisted his research, among them the late Bill Williams, Roger Hesketh, David Strangeways, Noel Wild, Juan Pujol (GARBO), Roman Garby-Czerniawski (BRUTUS), Harry Williamson (TATE); Frano de Bona (FREAK); Ib Riis (COBWEB) Dusan Popov (TRICYCLE); Elvira de la Fuentes (BRONX), Lisel Grtner, Hugh Astor, Christopher and Pam Harmer, Cyril Mills, Desmond Bristow, Tommy and Joan Robertson, Russell Lee, Bill Luke, Philip Johns, Cecil Gledhill, Kenneth Benton, John Codrington, Brian Stonehouse, Tony Brooks, Ladislas Farago, Gunter Peis, David Kahn, Jack Beevor, Anthony Coombe-Tennant, Vera Atkins, Rob Hesketh and Bill Cavendish-Bentinck. Also Marco Popov, Jennifer Scherr and Christopher Risso-Gill.

Many of the documents reproduced in this volume originate from official files and have been redacted during the declassification process. Where possible the redactions have been restored, but where this has not been possible the redaction is indicated thus: [XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX]

The author has retained the convention of printing code names in capitals but, for ease of reading, has restored capitalised surnames to ordinary, lower case.