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Allies’ D-Day landings in World War threatened by spy, intelligence reports sayASSOCIATED PRESSLONDON — Elaborate plans by British spymastersduring World War II todeceive the Germans about the location of the D-Day landings were threatened by a temperamental doubleagent sulking over the loss of her dog, intelligence reports revealed Thursday.Nathalie Sergueiew, code-named Treasure, was described as one of the most effective doubleagents operating for MI5 Britain’s domestic security service — channeling false information to German agents who were convinced she was on their side.But files released by the Public Record Office in Lon don say she threatened to “blow the operation when she blamed her superiors for the death of her beloved pet dog, Frisson.Sergueiew, a French woman of Russian extraction, had been recruited by“NathalieSergueiew, code-named Treasure, was described as one of the most effective double agents»»■■■German intelligence, the Abwehr, at the outbreak of the war. She switched sides and began to work for the Allies, but in the operation to get into Britain, Frisson was left behind in Gibraltar.Sergueiew’s MI5 case officer, Mary Sherer, warned early on that the missing pet was likely to cause difficulties with the “exceptionally temperamental and troublesome” Sergueiew.iiTreasure is very upsetabout the absence of dog, and has seriously threatened that if the dog does not arrive soon she will not work any more. I think this can be dealt with but it will mean a scene, she warned in December 1943.Despite reservations about her reliability, MI5 believed Sergueiew could play a key role in Operation Fortitude — a campaign of misinformation to the Germans about the location of the D-Day landings.She was sent to Lisbon to rendezvous with her German spymaster Emile Klie-mann, who provided her with a transmitter disguised as an ordinary radio set.On May 17, 1944, less than a month before the planned invasion — and apparently having heard of the death of her dog — Sergueiew told her handlers that she had meant to use the wireless transmitter to “blow the case by revealing the information she was sending wasfalse. Sergueiew claimed that her transmissions to the Germans included a secret code, which if left out would reveal that her cover was blown.“She confessed that her motive was revenge for the death of her dog for which she considered we were responsible,” Sherer reported.Although Sergueiew eventually gave details of the code to MI5 and said she had changed her mind about blowing the operation, she was no longer trusted and another operator was assigned to take over her transmissions.Despite Sergueiew. Operation Fortitude was a success.When the Allies landed in Normandy on June 6. 1944, they took the German army by surprise.After an acrimonious split with MI5, Sergueiew returned to a liberated Paris.
Newspaper Details
Aiken Standard
Aiken, South Carolina, US
Thu, Jul 05, 2001
Page 5
Full Page
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Library O.
DC, USA 09 Sep 2021
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