Spies of World War II

By Henry Cuningham
Military editor

They called her Cynthia, and she seduced men in the line of duty.

Author Patrick K. O'Donnell points to a map of OSS missions during World War II at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum. O'Donnell has written a book on WWII spies and espionage.
Her real name was Elizabeth Peck, and she worked for the OSS, the Office of Strategic Services, the World War II forerunner of the CIA, Special Forces and other special operations forces.

''She seduced an Italian admiral who had the Italian navy ciphers,'' author Patrick K. O'Donnell said. ''It's a remarkable story. Basically, she convinced him that those ciphers were needed, and he gave them up.'' The information may have played a role in the British naval victory at Cape Matapan in March 1941, he said.

The 34-year-old author interviewed 300 OSS veterans over the course of three years for his 2004 book ''Operatives, Spies and Saboteurs: The Unknown Story of the Men and Women of World War II's OSS.'' He spent the rest of the time in the National Archives getting the original documentation.

''Every story in the book is backed up with the original documentation and mission report,'' he said.

The stories are incredible indeed.

''My greatest spy is a German-born Jew, Fred Mayer, citizen spy,'' O'Donnell said.

Mayer came to the United States, joined the 81st Division, went on maneuvers and singlehandedly captured the general.

''They said, 'Fred, we've got a place for you. It's called OSS.'''

Mayer parachuted into Innsbruck, Austria, in a three-man Operational Group. The team included another Jew, Hans Wynberg, and a German prisoner of war, Franz Weber.

''They jumped on the side of a glacier,'' he said. ''They had to find their way down. They find a sled. They go down about 60 mph on a glacier that's 10,000 feet high.''

The men boarded a German train with U.S. Army uniforms under their ski parkas and bluffed their way past the Gestapo.

Mayer obtained a German lieutenant's uniform and, by casual conversation, learned details on everything from the construction of Hitler's bunker to a 26-car train loaded with tanks and artillery. He called in a bomber strike to destroy the train, which was bound for Italy.

O'Donnell, who was at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum recently for a book signing, said he was initially skeptical after talking to the veteran, but he later confirmed details of the mission in the National Archives.

''Then he is captured by the Gestapo and beaten for three days, hung upside down, dunked under water,'' O'Donnell said. ''It's the end of the war, and he convinces the Germans to do the right thing.''

That meant surrendering the entire city of Innsbruck.

''The SS are convinced by this guy that if they do this they are not going to have to worry about their war crimes,'' he said. ''They declare Innsbruck an open city. The 104th Division captures Innsbruck without a fight. It's a remarkable story. It saves thousands of lives on both sides.''

The secret war

Like special operations forces in the war on terror, the OSS was fighting the secret war with a small number of people tackling projects of enormous importance.

''There are some definite similarities, especially in the weapons of mass destruction department,'' he said. ''The OSS had something called T-Force, which were teams that went after Hitler's weapons of mass destruction as well as secret weapons.''

Today, Osama bin Laden is the target. Sixty years ago, it was Hitler.

''OSS had Operation Cross, which were 100 men, that were German prisoners of war that they trained to kill Hitler or other high-ranking officials,'' O'Donnell said.

There were the three-man Jedburgh teams that parachuted into France to aid the Resistance and the Operational Groups, which consisted of 15 to 30 men with skills in everything from foreign language to sabotage and hit-and-run raids.

''A lot of times they culled the ranks of the 82nd and the 101st (airborne divisions) when they were training for people that had language skills to fill these units,'' he said. ''Then they went through rigorous training. They filled out the units, and then they went overseas.''

Today's Special Forces are organized into A-teams with soldiers trained in languages and skills similar to the Operational Groups.

''They were, also, I think, really America's first Special Forces,'' O'Donnell said.

From: http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story.php?Template=military&Story=6281474

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