Author & Historian of 25+ books on WWII, espionage & spies. Expert on Secret Listeners, Germans who fought for Britain, and Women in Intelligence Services.
During Kristallnacht in November 1938, a 15 year old Jewish boy and his father walked the streets of Munich to avoid the Gestapo.
One small item from World War One may have saved their lives:
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RIP Gwen Watkins, who has passed at the age of 101.
She decoded Luftwaffe codes at Bletchley Park in WW2, aiding RAF & USAAF fighters against German bombers & helping Allied aircraft evade German air defences.
Thank you for your service, heroine. 🕊
Betty Webb MBE (1923-2025) was the last surviving codebreaker who deciphered both Nazi and Japanese codes at Bletchley Park during the Second World War.
Betty Webb MBE is the only surviving codebreaker to have worked on both Nazi and Japanese codes at Bletchley Park during World War Two.
She is remarkable.. and has a wonderful sense of humour!
9 Quotes From German Jews Who Fought for Britain on D-Day.
During the Second World War, 10,000 German and Austrian Jews fled persecution and joined the British Forces.
They were known as Churchill's German Army.
(A deeply moving thread to mark the 80th Anniversary of D-Day)
#OTD 22 Feb 1943: anti-Nazi political activist Sophie Scholl is executed, aged 21.
She went to the guillotine and said:
"Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go... What does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?"
Dr Tina Strobos, a Dutch medical student, hid over 100 Jews during WWII, forged passports, and smuggled supplies for the Resistance.
Arrested nine times, she never betrayed anyone.
A remarkable wartime heroine..
In August 1944, Elaine Madden (aged 21) boarded a B-24 Liberator at Harrington, ready to parachute into Nazi-occupied Belgium for 'Operation Amelia'.
With a cyanide pill hidden in her lipstick & nerves of steel, she leapt into the night.
This is her daring WW2 story:
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Andrée Dumon, codename 'Nadine', passed away at her home in Nivelles, Belgium, on 30 Jan 2025 at the remarkable age of 102.
Aged 17, she became a member of the Belgian resistance group Comète during WW2 and saved the lives of Allied airmen.
Yesterday, she was laid to rest.🕊️
Margery Booth was a British opera singer in Germany and a female spy working for MI6 during WW2.
She sang for Hitler with hidden documents inside her costume, was arrested and tortured by Gestapo, escaped, and aided war trials post-war.
Here is the only known photograph of her: