Count Five and Die: D-Day Deception - The true story of 'Operation Stampede'

by Barry Wynne

In a London office hundreds of Allied officers and carefully-screened civilian employees worked for months on detailed, complex plans for the coming invasion. Thousands of maps were prepared, logistical requirements calculated, loading plans drawn up for the assault vessels. Resistance leaders were smuggled in from Europe to consult with high brass. Only two men knew the real truth: ...That "Operation Stampede" was a gigantic deception. ...That one of the most "trusted" secretaries was a girl working for the Germans. ...That Allied agents were to be deliberately betrayed to the Gestapo for death by torture.
Long buried in the secret files of the OSS, the true story of "Operation Stampede" reveals the blood-chilling decisions and fantastic gambles of the secret war. "One of the great untold stories of the war" - General William J. ("Wild Bill") Donovan. Director, Office of Strategic Services.

185 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1958

Reviews

[Sithdown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo conseguí creyendo que narraba los movimientos del ejército fantasma de Estados Unidos en la segunda guerra mundial; asunto que me interesaba debido a la astucia, valor e ingenio de los civiles que la llevaron a cabo. En su lugar me encontré con una historia de contra-espionaje, despachos e intrigas, bien novelizada.

Por mucho que he buscado sobre la operación relatada en el libro, no encuentro ninguna fuente que mencione los hechos relatados. Esto, unido a la imposibilidad de que el narrador/historiador conociera algunas de las acciones mencionadas, me hace pensar que, si bien plausible, tal operación no tuvo lugar. Sin embargo está muy bien ambientada, y ciertos datos sobre movimientos ingleses son fieles a los hechos históricos.

Pese a ser contada empleando unas pocas piezas de gran importancia, ninguno de los personajes tiene una gran profundidad. Hay momentos en los que uno sospecha que el autor ha novelizado un archivador lleno de informes y datos cruzados, convirtiendo a cada protagonista en un perfil de fichero.

Me ha entretenido, si bien me quedo con la duda de si semejante narración sigue el ejemplo de la OSS, empleando con el lector los mismos métodos de distracción y desinformación. De ser así, Barry Wynne me ha engañado con mucha maña. Y por ello me quito el sombrero.

[Alonzo Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

Search the internet, and you will find that the operation described in this allegedly true book was not recorded in OSS files, or revealed in the interrogation of Nazi officials. So what you have here, most likely, is fiction done up in a documentary style. Since the author chooses to have characters talking in direct quotes, the result is fairly easy to read, and sets up a paradox often found in spy fiction -- the exposing of real honest and nice patriots to torture and death in order to further a scam on the enemy. If this were portrayed as fiction, we'd probably spend more time in some of the characters minds, and get something really notable. As it stands, this is a quick read rendered in efficient prose describing events that probably never happened.

I don't object to spending the time on this one. But I would be sure to regard all the certifications that the events are true as utter hooey. If it were still 1957 and I were the Ambassador to Holland, I would be concerned aboput the ramifications and deeply offended.