A League of Shadows: A Novel of the Secret War Against the Nazi Rockets

By Tom Becker

In World War II, young engineer John Morris is engaged by British Intelligence and trained as a spy. Parachuted into France to work with the Resistance, he operates behind enemy lines to uncoer the truth of the Nazis super-secret rocket programs and allies himself with the German war program. He is trained for every possible event except one - meeting beautiful Helen Pennington also an intelligence agent. This fast-moving story of intrigue, mystery and a desperate romance will keep you on the edge of your seat from the Battle of Britain to the invasion of Normandy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 14, 2009
• ISBN: 9781477175347

Tom Becker

An eyewitness to the last half of the 20th century, author-teacher and photojournalist Tom Becker spent a lifetime writing about the emerging technologies we live with today. From the launch pads of Cape Canaveral to the Thames River Flood Barrier in London and North Atlantic hurricanes at America’s East Coast, his researches carried him across 45 of the 50 States and 12 foreign countries authoring 13 books and more than 300 published articles with numerous awards and honors. He lives with his wife in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

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Copyright © 2009 by Tom Becker.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009906462

ISBN:     Hardcover     978-1-4415-4152-9

               Softcover      978-1-4415-4151-2

               E-book          978-1-4771-7534-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

AUTHOR PREFACE

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

This book is dedicated to the thousands of Allied Intelligence

Officers who lost their lives in defense of freedom in World War II.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am indebted to the publisher Quercus Plc, London for permission to use excerpts from the book Speeches That Changed the World by Simon Sebag Montefiore, 2005, to Doubleday and Company, Inc, Garden City, New York for the D-Day excerpt from the book Crusade in Europe by Dwight Eisenhower, 1948 and to the Wikipedia Free encyclopedia for the excerpt from Adolph Hitler’s Directive 51.

Jessica Jeanblanc earned her Bachelor degree from the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri at Columbia, and was instrumental in reviewing the book chapter by chapter and passing on to me her professional opinion and occasional suggestions. I am grateful for her background work on the book.

I’m also grateful for assistance with various chores rendered by members of my family, especially my daughter Barbara Cairns and her husband Kevin, and my son Paul Becker for proofreading and other duties.

Every nation has an intelligence agency. As a field agent, you will belong to an international brotherhood, what we call a sort of League of Shadows. You will become invisible, you will have no friends, and you’ll have to live by your wits in places where people don’t really trust you.

All wars are fought by very young men and women, many of them nameless and who are buried in nameless graves. It is the price older men must bear for their failures.

BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

Pageant Of World Commemorative Coins, Whitman Publishing Company, Racine 1962.

The Coin Makers, Doubleday and Company, Garden City, 1969.

EISENHOWER The Man, The Dollar and The Stamps, The American Mint and Postal Society and Mintmaster Inc., 1971.

Exploring Tomorrow In Space, Sterling Publishing Company Inc., Garden City, 1972 Foreword by Dr. Wernher von Braun

Our American Coins. The U.S. Treasury Dept (on contract), Bureau Of The Mint, Washington DC, 1972.

Aerospace: Crossing The Space Frontier. University of Missouri, Center for Distance and Independent Study, Columbia, Mo. 1988, rev 1998. Gifted high school self-study course in the history of space technology 1920-present. Mid-term and Final exams.

Studying Planet Earth: The Satellite Connection. University of Missouri, Center for Distance and Independent Study, Columbia, Mo. 1997. Gifted high school self-study course in remote sensing and Earth studies Mid-term and Final exams.

Eight Against The World: Warriors Of The Scientific Revolution. Author House Publisher, Bloomington, Indiana 2007.

A Season Of Madness: Life And Death In The 1960s. Author House Publisher, Bloomington, Indiana 2007.

The Race For Technology: Conquering The High Frontier. Author House Publisher, Bloomington, Indiana 2008.

Novels

A League of Shadows

AUTHOR PREFACE

The people and events portrayed in this novel are a mixture of fiction and reality, set against the real background of World War II in Europe. It is not the intention to recreate an historical account of that war, but to use the war as the foundation for a story about what happened in Europe from about 1938 to 1945. It is a story of great challenges and great conflicts told from a human viewpoint. History has written the truth about that war with the names of the people, battles, dates and other events one would normally find in a history book. The other story, however, is one of human emotions and struggles told through the lives of people who might have lived it.

Many events are true to the historical record such as Kristallnacht, The Oslo Report, Operation Crossbow, Nacht und Nebel, Directive 51 and the D-Day announcement. Places such as Peenemunde, Ravensbrueck, the Normandy Beaches, Lundy Island, and Nordhausen are real places, as M.I.6, OSS, V2 Rocket; Gestapo and the Admiralty Building in the heart of London are real. Set against this background are fictional characters who might have lived at the time—Helen, John, Colonel Barringer, Major Croft, Gabrielle, Gisele and others. The historical account of the war is told through their fictional experiences.

For the first time in recorded history, World War II was an open attack on civilization itself. The bombing of whole cities and their inhabitants, the brutality, stark murder and torture and the kinds of maltreatment of human beings by an evil government’s policies, are unprecedented in the annals of warfare. This aspect of the war had to be told in all its horror and terror, along with the real struggle for survival. The Third Reich under Hitler and his gangsters was far worse than all the combined military brutalities of Genghis Khan and Napoleon.

Most events and experiences of major characters are taken from reality of some kind. Poor Gabrielle in the basement of the Gestapo Headquarters in Paris is taken from an actual event. The Oslo Report, how it was delivered and what it meant, actually exists. The description of Lundy Island is historically accurate. The lives of Helen and John are entirely fictional, and V.R.James is an anagram—the name of a real scientist, turned around.

Tom Becker

2009

I say to the House as I said to ministers who have joined this government, I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering. You ask what is our policy? I say it is to wage war, by land, sea, and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs—victory in spite of all terrors—victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.

Winston Churchill

House of Commons, London

13 May 1940

PROLOGUE

John Morris hurried through the front door of the Admiralty Building in downtown London, turning onto the long hallway looking for Room 112. His steps echoed sharply as he moved down the long corridor beyond the lesser-numbered doorways. Nodding occasionally to a passerby in military uniform, he couldn’t help but wonder what secrets these sober figures held as they scurried along toward their unspoken destinations.

A young man in his early thirties with a clump of neatly combed sandy hair, he glanced nervously at his watch. He had about three minutes if he was to be on time. According to military protocol, it was advisable not to be late for a meeting with such an esteemed and high-ranking Royal Air Force Officer. He fidgeted nervously with his necktie and glanced at the decorated ceiling, wishing he had pressed his suit before the meeting.

Room 109 was on the left, 110 on the right, 111 on the left, as John finally slowed down, approaching the legendary Room 112. He took a deep breath and let the air out of his lungs slowly, turned the old decorative brass doorknob and entered the office.

John Morris to see Air Chief Marshal Hugh Buckland, John announced as he heard Big Ben chiming two o’clock in the background.

A military orderly stood up and addressed John. Go right in, Mr. Morris, he’s expecting you, the orderly said, opening the doorway to the inner office.

Good afternoon, John, Buckland held out his hand. I’ve heard a great deal about you and I’m glad to finally meet you.

I’ve heard a lot about you, Sir, but never thought I’d actually meet you, John replied. The Air Chief Marshal quickly switched the conversation.

You know how it is with the newspapers—you can’t believe everything you read. Sit down and we’ll chat for a while. I’ve been looking over your dossier; what’s the title of your doctoral thesis, if I may ask?

Well, it doesn’t quite have a title yet, John replied hesitantly, but the subject is about interpreting electronic signals using the new invention called radar.

Buckland studied him for a moment and then asked, Do you understand how it all works?

Oh, of course, I’ve been testing it for several weeks now and the physics is really quite simple, John went on to explain. A radio signal is sent towards a target; it bounces back with a visible echo. By measuring the times the signals take to go in both directions, the sender can calculate the distance to the target and the target’s speed and the direction it’s moving in. Adding quickly he said, We’ve set up an experimental station on the cliffs at Dover. Their conversation was interrupted by the buzz of a telephone. Sorry, but we’ll have to put up with that, Buckland apologized. World events are moving very fast right now. He reached for the telephone.

Buckland here, the Chief Air Marshal answered. There was a long pause and he suddenly hung up the receiver and picked up a red telephone. Hello, Prime Minister, Air Chief Marshal Buckland here. Again there was a long period of silence ending with Buckland’s comment, That’s too bad. We’ll see to it at once, Prime Minister. Hanging up the receiver, he leaned forward on his desk.

Well… it looks as if England is going to have to fight for it, the Air Chief Marshal began speaking calmly. "The Germans have invaded France, and they’re already in Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxemburg, Poland and the Netherlands. On the continent, only the French have a chance to stand up to Hitler. If the French fail, the only thing to keep the Germans from taking over the whole of Europe will be this island kingdom. We’re going to need every man and woman who can hold a gun or operate a machine.

Since Germany, Italy and the Soviets signed mutual agreements and America declared itself neutral, he continued, the British Empire may be entirely alone to turn back the Nazi tide. We lost almost our whole army and its equipment at Dunkirk. Our naval base at Scapa Flow near Scotland has been bombed and the Germans are attacking our merchant convoys in the Channel as well as our defensive airfields on the coast trying to break the RAF. Obviously, the next step for Hitler is invasion—with only the RAF between us and total defeat.

Buckland swiveled around in his chair and stared out of the window for a few moments, assessing the global situation. We’re lying naked in front of the Germans, he murmured softly, turning back to John and standing up.

A deadly shadow has fallen across Europe, John,’’ Buckland lamented. Mark this day well—June 10 1940—Italy declared war on Britain and France a few moments ago; and Hitler’s troops will be in Paris inside of a week, which comes to the reason you’re here today."

John sat up straight in his chair. I’ll… do whatever I can, he promised thoughtfully. John still wasn’t certain why he had been called to a meeting with this prestigious military figure, known all over England as the ‘backbone of the Royal Air Force’.

Buckland moved around his desk and leaned against the front of it. You may not like some of the things I’m going to say to you now, John, and certainly I want you to speak your mind, but think carefully and weigh your words before you speak. What you say in this office at this moment will be highly important. I’m calling on you for some very important work.

John frowned slightly as he looked over the legendary officer. A stocky man well into his fifties, John guessed, his chest was filled with campaign ribbons and a pair of wings sewn above them. He measured his words carefully despite the heavy weight of responsibility that bore down on him. Obviously he had seen many combat missions—the graying hair around his temples attested to that. John figured there must be something in his own background that would make a man like the Air Chief Marshal to personally send for him. Buckland half-turned toward his desk to retrieve a file folder, opened it and began to read.

Case File M.I.6 #17452: Jean Morisette, born February 10 1906 at St. Liseau, France; son of Jacques and Jacqueline Morisette, shopkeepers in bakery goods, both deceased 1928 from natural causes in a mammoth flood, buried in St. Mary churchyard at St. Liseau. Immigrated to London the following year and entered Brunel University at Uxbridge in engineering and physics, Bachelor degree with honors four years later, continued to earn a Master of Physics in electronics research. Thesis ‘Electrodynamics of Short Field Communication Methods.’ Met and married 1933 to Suzanne Carpenter, BS degree College of London in Microbiology, died 1936 in an auto accident in which Jean was not a passenger.

No children. Worked at Barnes Electromagnetic Institute, London 1937 through 1938, applied to and accepted by the Royal Institute for Advanced Research in physics as a research assistant in Non-Mechanical Communication Systems, to this date. Changed his name by court decree Docket No. 95663 in 1935 from Jean Morisette to an anglicized John Morris. Speaks fluent French, earned high academic honors at university throughout his tenure. Hobbies include model airplane design, stamp collecting, and hiking. No negative activities in his record; no addictions, no psychological aberrations, health excellent.

Buckland put the folder back on the desk. Did we leave out anything of great importance?

Yes, John retorted with a wry smile, my shoe and shirt sizes.

We have that as well, the Air Chief offered, would you like to hear them?

That won’t be necessary, John replied abruptly.

The British government has been closely monitoring the political situation in Germany for many years, Buckland went on, and concluded long ago that a war was in the making—a long war, he admitted. We’ve also been gearing up on several fronts, especially in areas of individual training, and enlisting specialized people like you for highly sophisticated work in clandestine operations. Do you think you’d be interested in work like this?

Clandestine… you mean… a spy, John said