- Yale University Press
The Walls Have Ears: The Greatest Intelligence Operation of World War II
Key Metrics
- Helen Fry
- Yale University Press
- Hardcover
- 9780300238600
- 9.3 X 6.4 X 1.2 inches
- 1.6 pounds
- History > Military - World War II
- English
Book Description
A great book.--Michael Goodman, BBC History Magazine
An astonishing story of wartime espionage.--Robert Hutton, author of Agent Jack
At the outbreak of World War II, MI6 spymaster Thomas Kendrick arrived at the Tower of London to set up a top secret operation: German prisoners' cells were to be bugged and listeners installed behind the walls to record and transcribe their private conversations. This mission proved so effective that it would go on to be set up at three further sites--and provide the Allies with crucial insight into new technology being developed by the Nazis.
In this astonishing history, Helen Fry uncovers the inner workings of the bugging operation. On arrival at stately-homes-turned-prisons like Trent Park, high-ranking German generals and commanders were given a phony interrogation, then treated as guests, wined and dined at exclusive clubs, and encouraged to talk. And so it was that the Allies got access to some of Hitler's most closely guarded secrets--and from those most entrusted to protect them.
Author Bio
Welcome to the official site of historian Dr Helen Fry.
Helen has written and edited over 25 books. Her works cover the social history of the Second World War: including British Intelligence and the secret war; spies and espionage; and MI9 escape and evasion.
She is the leading expert on the 'secret listeners' at special eavesdropping sites by British intelligence in WWII. She has been at the forefront of widespread media coverage and in-depth research of the greatest intelligence deception of the war: the bugging of Hitler’s generals at Trent Park in North London, and thousands of prisoners of war at Latimer House and Wilton Park in Buckinghamshire.
Helen is recognized as the official biographer of MI6 spymaster, Colonel Thomas Joseph Kendrick.
She has also written extensively about the 10,000 Germans who fought for Britain in WWII.
Because of her expertise, she has been involved in a number of documentaries – including David Jason’s Secret Service for Channel 5 and Spying on Hitler's Army for Channel 4. She has conducted advisory work for TV and drama; something which she particularly enjoys, and has covered the major D-Day commemorations in live BBC broadcasts in Normandy. She appears regularly in media interviews and podcasts.
Helen is an ambassador for the Museum of Military Intelligence, a trustee of the Medmenham Collection, and President of The Friends of the National Archives. She works in London.
Source: helen-fry.com
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