by Larry Loftis
In Aline’s story of the weekend, she also wrote that Mimosa had spoken to her about the Germans being “on to her,” that she had taken ill soon thereafter, and that she had died the next day. This series of events is not found in any OSS records, or in Robert Dunev’s memoirs, and I therefore have not included it. Likewise, I did not include Aline’s assertion that Gregory Thomas had given her a radio detector to search for a radio on the premises, or that he had instructed her to crack and rifle Prince Max’s safe.
chains… map: Everything about chains—organizations, agent and informant names, safe houses, and routes—was detailed and highly classified. NARA has collected all of the OSS chain information and placed it in one box, which is located at RG 226, Entry 210, Box 7, NARA. This box is marked “OSS Classified Sources and Methods Files—WITHDRAWN RECORDS.”
From the AKAK chain… Page one of the agents in the AKAK chain: “The AKAK Chain” memorandum, January 21, 1944, RG 226, Entry 210, Box 7, NARA.
Truck Route… The chain was partly blown: “French Chains Operated from Spain: 1943–1944” memorandum, RG 226, Entry 210, Box 7, NARA.
My name is Pasolé… 12,000 francs… Radio parts: Peter Churchill, Of Their Own Choice, 175–78.
You must keep… If I walk into… We shall walk: Ibid., 182, 184, 189.
Dragoon: In The Spy Wore Red (p. 164), Aline suggested that the women also carried information regarding Operation Overlord. However, the date of this meeting with the two women appears to have been in July 1944, after the D-Day invasion on June 6.
I am Marta… What do you think: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 165–66.
I have seen… Sorry: Ibid., 168.
blood: Ibid., 169.
Chapter 11: The Body
shot in the head: This murder is confirmed by Robert Dunev, who removed the body. Aline contends, however, that a revolver was found beside Marta’s hand, suggesting that it was either the murder weapon or that Marta had committed suicide with it (Spy Wore Red, 169). This notion, however, seems implausible, since the gun she alleges to have seen did not have a silencer affixed, and without one the shot would have awakened the entire household and countless neighbors.
Do nothing until… Señorita… Who knows about: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 169.
Come by Butch’s apartment… But Angustias: Ibid., 170–71. Marta’s murder, and Robert Dunev’s assignment to remove the body, is confirmed in Dunev’s memoir. “She [Aline] refers to me as ‘Jeff Walters,’ ” he wrote in A Spy Reminisces (p. 57), “and, in several instances, refreshed my memory, including the night I was summoned to remove a body from her apartment.” In this passage Aline has Thomas saying, “The assassin was not after Marta. He was after you.” This seems most unlikely since Marta had already stated that she had killed two Civil Guards (p. 165), and there was no evidence of Aline’s cover being broken, and no reason the Germans would have had the slightest interest in her then. While she was being followed, she points out later that it was Juanito’s men who were tagging her. Equally important, Aline would have no reason to be on a hit list. She wasn’t even an active agent. Dunev, who was shadowed by the Germans and perhaps targeted for kidnapping, had been an active agent for more than a year by this time. At most (if Aline’s cover had actually been broken), Aline would have been targeted for surveillance, not assassination. Marta, on the other hand, would have been on the Spanish “arrest or shoot” list for killing two Civil Guards.
Juanito: As explained in earlier notes, the dates for events given by Aline in her books (and article) are almost always wrong. As such, we don’t know the exact date of her first bullfight, but I believe it was about the time in the text (July 1944, whereas Aline has it occurring in May). Juanito no doubt invited her to watch him on many occasions, and the photo of Aline wearing the vest from his “suit of lights” confirms his affection for her.
The real corrida: Conrad, La Fiesta Brava, 172.
Hemingway… In Spain: Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon, 91.
I hope the fight… Barreras de sombra: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 180–81. See also Aline’s The End of an Epoch (p. 36) (referring to the “barrera seats”).
One is… Who’s that: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 181–82.
El Hombre Que Las Enamora… El Camino de Babel: Ana de Pombo entry, imdb.com.
alguaciles: Conrad, La Fiesta Brava, 36.
Look at Juanito: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 181–82; End of an Epoch, 37.
trumpets… nine men… procession… veronicas: Romanones, End of an Epoch, 37–38; Conrad, La Fiesta Brava, 36–44; Walter Smith, Glimpses of Spain, 45–46. Smith, who as head of the Oil Control Commission was Aline’s cover boss, continued to live in Madrid after the war and witnessed countless bullfights. See also Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon, 26–34, 58–62.
green silk… black hat… montera… pink stockings: Romanones, Spy Went Dancing, 50; Spy Wore Red, 182; End of an Epoch, 37.
kettledrum… trumpet: Conrad, La Fiesta Brava, 38.
Manolete… skinny… haggard: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 183; End of an Epoch, 38.
appearing tubercular: Conrad, La Fiesta Brava, 3.
Excuse me, señorita… My knees start: Ibid.
scheme to kidnap the Duke… Operation Willi: See Schellenberg, Memoirs of Hitler’s Spymaster, 127–43.
black Miura bull: Romanones, Spy Went Dancing, 50. In The Spy Wore Red (p. 183) and The End of an Epoch (p. 39), Aline describes the bull as black and white, without indicating that it was a Miura bull.
Since 1842: See the Miura website at: ganaderiamiura.com.
kill lions… Bengal tigers… charged elephants… cars… train: Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon, 109, 111.
Miura bulls… ability to learn: Ibid., 129.
Islero… Manolete… Lamborghini: See “The bulls that inspired Lamborghini model names,” Motorworld, September 30, 2013.
Eh, toro… Olé: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 183; End of an Epoch, 39–40.
Juanito was flung… dead… jacket ripped… blood: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 184; End of an Epoch, 40.
Chapter 12: Ressurection
one of Juanito’s black slippers… Juanito brushed him aside: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 184.
flowers… hats: Ibid., 185; End of an Epoch, 41.
umbrellas… gloves… coats: Walter Smith, Glimpses of Spain, 48.
manzanilla …wooden leg… women’s panties… baby: Conrad, La Fiesta Brava, 146.
What luck: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 185; End of an Epoch, 41.
Oreja …handkerchiefs… an ear entitled: Conrad, La Fiesta Brava, 146.
My heavens: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 185; End of an Epoch, 41.
I’ve been trying… Don’t you think: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 186–87.
overwhelmed me… Those moments: Romanones, End of an Epoch, 42.
I like bullfighting: John Steinbeck letter to Barnaby Conrad in 1952, cited in Conrad’s Matador (p. 223).
My story isn’t: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 187–88.
Málaga… microfilm: Romanones, “The OSS in Spain,” 126. This article, written for and published by the NARA, is by far the most reliable of Aline’s remembrances of her time with the OSS. In this 1992 piece, she correctly identifies Frank Ryan, Gregory Thomas, William Mellon, James MacMillan, Robert Dunev, “Ben” Turpin (whose first name was Robert), John J. Ryan and Sons, and World Commerce. See also Aline’s The History of Pascualete (p. 9), and The Spy Wore Red (p. 199).
In this strip… There may be trouble: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 192–94.
known for its almonds, blue grapes, and palm groves: Walter Smith, Glimpses of Spain, 111.
How about dinner: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 196.
sleeper number two… Who is it… In that case: Ibid., 198–99.
Arrest: Romanones, “The OSS in Spain,” 126; History of Pascualete, 9; Spy Wore Red, 199. Aline also mentions her Málaga arrest in The Spy Wore Red (pp. 200–1), The History of Pascualete (p. 9), and The End of an Epoch (p. 373).
Wake up… Please let me… This small cell: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 201–2.
What a fight: Ibid., 203–4. In The History of Pascualete (p. 9) Aline writes that she spent two nights in the jail, and that on the second morning the police chief presented her with a bouquet of red carnations. In The Spy Wore Red version of the story, she is there only one night. The discrepancy may be explained by what she wrote in The End of an Epoch (p. 373): “My orders had been to deliver microfilm to an agent who had come from Algiers…. I took the night train from Madrid to Malaga, but since I did not have the necessary ‘travel permit,’ I was taken to the police station and put in jail…. But thanks to Barnaby Conrad… I was released the next day and able to make delivery…. During that visit charming Barnaby Conrad drove me along the coast and we stopped to take a swim at a lovely beach in a small village called Torremolinos not far from Malaga.” Since her detailed account in The Spy Wore Red includes a bullfight, dinner, and a tour after her release from jail, the swim could not have occurred this day. It appears that Conrad took her for a swim the following day, thus accounting for two nights in Málaga, but consistent with one night in jail.
You won’t mind: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 205.
University of North Carolina… Mexico City: Barnaby Conrad, Fun While It Lasted, flap copy, 76. See also Harvey Breit, “Talk with Barnaby Conrad,” New York Times, July 6, 1952.
Adrian Spies… Nacho Suárez… Pretty Boy: Conrad, Fun While It Lasted, 6–7.
Madre de Dios …Felix Guzmán… ligaments… surgery: Ibid., 12, 56–57, 76, 126.
Juanito… Manolete… Juan Belmonte… El Niño de California: Ibid., 122–39, 163, 196. See also Harvey Breit, “Talk with Barnaby Conrad,” New York Times, July 6, 1952; David Dempsey, “Fun While It Lasted,” New York Times, August 24, 1969; Dunev, Spy Reminisces, 63.
most apprenticed for six to twelve years: Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon, 68.
How about lunching: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 205.
Blacky… fished the microfilm… chanquetes: Ibid., 206. According to Aline’s version of the story in The Spy Wore Red, she transferred not only microfilm to Blacky, but a gun and radio transmitter as well. First, while it is possible that she could have transferred these, I have not included them because it seems unlikely that Gregory Thomas would have given her such large and difficult items to conceal, particularly since she was not yet a field agent. Second, Aline mentions only the microfilm in her most reliable writing, “The OSS in Spain” (p. 126), and also in The End of an Epoch (p. 373). Had she truly delivered a gun or radio, I believe she would have mentioned it in these nonfiction accounts.
twenty-one… youngest vice-consul ever: Conrad, Fun While It Lasted, 91; See also Harvey Breit, “Talk with Barnaby Conrad,” New York Times, July 6, 1952; David Dempsey, “Fun While It Lasted,” New York Times, August 24, 1969.
finished at Yale: Conrad, Fun While It Lasted, 76, 79, 86; David Dempsey, “Fun While It Lasted,” New York Times, August 24, 1969.
State Department… code clerk: Conrad, Fun While it Lasted, 87.
Roberta Cameron… You are beautiful: Ibid., 87, 89.
FBI… You are beautiful… Mr. Secretary: Ibid., 89–91.
Hotel Miramar… room had been searched: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 206–7. That Aline’s room had been searched wasn’t unusual, even in a neutral country. MI6 agent Dusko Popov stated after the war that in every hotel, regardless of locale, his belongings had been searched, and that those investigating included German, American, British, Russian, Italian, and Japanese operatives. See Frederick Bear, “Dusko [007] Popov: Exclusive Interview,” Genesis, November 1974, 68.
Lhardy… These salons: Ibid., 212.
Have you ever been: Ibid., 216. Juanito’s comment confirmed what Hemingway had said more than a decade earlier: “Nearly all bullfighters are frightened at some moment before the fight begins.” Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon, 58. In Matador, Barnaby Conrad wrote in 1950 that bullfighters always wanted people in the dressing room before the fight “to distract them from the sinking fear-feeling that they all get,” and even the great Juan Belmonte said, “We all have mouths as dry as Sahara.” Conrad, La Fiesta Brava, 26, 34.
Calle Fortuny and Marqués de Riscal: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 223.
Chapter 14: The Bohemian
This cable means… Contact Pierre: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 260.
General Tresckow… You do care: Ibid., 263.
Max Sciolitti: Huddleston, Edmundo, 59.
14 Calle de Hermosilla… You want something: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 228.
Why, Aline… Ana is unique: Ibid., 229.
Colonel Ernesto Heymann: Dunev, Spy Reminisces, 58–59.
Eva, to manage: Ibid., 55, 58.
Chapter 15: The Lady Vanishes
Operation Dragoon: For an overview of Operation Dragoon (formerly Anvil), see Dear and Foot, eds., Oxford Companion to World War II, 418–22.
La Clinica de los Toreros… He was operated: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 280.
10 percent… 13 percent… 40 percent: Conrad, La Fiesta Brava, 25.
Gracias …Aline… Florence Nightenberg: Romanones, Spy Wore Red, 280–81.
Didn’t I see… Don Juan wanted us: Ibid., 282.
Safehaven: For a comprehensive summary of Safehaven, see G. Edward Buxton’s memo of April 16, 1945, to all OSS officers and chiefs at RG 226, Entry 127, Box 23, NARA. See also Kermit Roosevelt, Overseas Targets, 37.
Lequerica… demanded assurances: Hayes, Wartime Mission in Spain, 255. The Spanish did, in fact, assist in the Safehaven effort, stiffening customs inspections at the border and seizing a shipment of looted goods at Irun in September 1944. Ibid., 264.
August 25… ELTON… PELOTA has been instructed: Huddleston, Edmundo, 63.
The question of enemy: Ibid., 63–64.
four major objectives… ALIU… London: Ibid., 62, 64. For details of an OSS ALIU team operating in Germany, see Lynn Nicholas, The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe’s Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War, 378–82.
Chapter 16: The Count
December 11 Edmundo left for London: Huddleston, Edmundo, 65.
informing Robert Dunev… Ana de Pombo’s: Dunev, Spy Reminisces, 59.
January 9… Edmundo… Madrid: Huddleston, Edmundo, 66, 77.
Tomorrow morning… Vaya usted… Miss Griffith: Romanones, Spy Went Dancing, 23–24.
There’s a large… The stuff goes: Ibid., 25–26.
work with Edmundo: Ibid., 27. Aline refers to him as TOP HAT, rather than by his true code name, PELOTA. She also gives the impression that she, not he, was the lead in the investigation, which was not the case.
reports with James MacMillan: Aline filed a total of fifty-nine reports, thirty-one of which were to “QUERES” (James MacMillan). See Aline’s BUTCH files at RG 226, Entry 127, Box 22, and her reports in the Madrid X-2 and SI files at RG 226, Entry 127, Box 26, NARA.
a delicious confection… Divina …My pet: Romanones, Spy Went Dancing, 30.
Princess Maria Agatha von Ratibor: Princess Maria’s name appears in several OSS memos produced by Edmundo and Aline, and both used her as a confidential source. In The Spy Went Dancing (pp. 31, 112, page 2 of photo section), Aline disguises her name as “Princess Renata von Walperg,” which is ironic since she correctly identified her three years earlier in The Spy Wore Red (pp. 94–95, 101, 284). In the dialogue here I have rendered Aline’s “Renata” to her correct name, Princess Maria Agatha, who typically went by her middle name alone, Agatha.
Prince Ernst von Ratibor… blacklist… Consuelo Eyre: Huddleston, Edmundo, 77.
Dr. Franz Liesau… Oficina Tecnica: Aline produced three overlapping reports on Liesau and his company: May 15, May 17, and May 18, 1945, located at RG 226, Entry 127, Box 22, NARA.
family owned palaces and estates… mining… coal: Huddleston, Edmundo, 76.
Actually anti-Nazi… What do you expect: Romano
nes, Spy Went Dancing, 31 (Aline disguising ARGUS’s code name as MOZART and Agatha’s name as Renata).
Aline, hold it a moment… I’m meeting Casilda… Pimpinela: Ibid., 33–34 (Aline disguising Pimpinela von Hohenlohe as Carola Lilienthal).
My pet: Ibid., 35.
when Gloria had arrived in Portugal: Gloria’s Palacio registration shows that she checked in on August 9, 1944, and checked out on November 20, 1944. See also Pacheco, ed., Hotel Palácio, 310–11. The Palacio registrations, which are held by the Arquivo Histórico de Cascais, also reveal Gloria’s likely means of support. Prince Almed Falhry, a wealthy Arabian whom Gloria would marry in 1946, checked in to the Palacio on August 25, two weeks after Gloria arrived, and stayed until September 1. See ibid., 294–95.
Thomas had X-2 investigate… Dutch passport… left town owing: Gloria’s X-2 file is located at RG 226, Entry 124, Box 14, Stack 190, Row 7, Compartment 17, Shelf 4, NARA. See in particular correspondence from X-2’s Lisbon officer C. H. van Brink to Charles Grey, September 30, 1944, wherein he states: “Madrid informs me that this woman [Gloria von Fürstenberg] has recently left Spain…. She is supposed to live at the Palacio Hotel, Estoril. Complaints from a Spanish firm at Madrid about some unpaid bills put our Legation there on her track. She has never presented herself to the Dutch authorities, either in Spain or in Portugal.”
1,500 pesetas… Julio Laffittee: See October 13, 1944, correspondence from Charles Grey to C. H. van Brink, responding to his September 30 inquiry in the note above. RG 226, Entry 124, Box 14, NARA.
two children… virtually penniless, Frank Scholtens, no funds: See the fifteen questions posed to Gloria by Portuguese authorities on October 3, 1944, and her written responses, at RG 226, Entry 124, Box 14, NARA. See also Charles Grey’s summary report to C. H. van Brink dated September 30, 1944, as well as Gloria’s X-2 file card (“Emphasized that she must join these relatives within the very near future as she is virtually penniless”). RG 226, Entry 124, Box 14, NARA.
