UKTV - Secret War (2011) Part 12 Agent Garbo

“The secret agents who set Europe ablaze”

Just when you thought you knew everything about WWII, Secret War uncovers more incredible stories that exist under the radar. As bombs were dropped from planes, missiles were launched and tanks were deployed all over the world, another kind of war was being waged by the Allies a secret war – a war of espionage. This secret war involved countless acts of espionage, courage, ruthlessness, double dealing and betrayal. It featured secret agents risking everything, working undercover on the continent to turn the tide against the Nazis, never knowing who, at any time, they could trust. Some became double agents playing both sides for the thrill of the danger, others did it just to stay alive. Always these extraordinary characters lived their lives on the edge. Secret War tells their amazing stories. Less than a year after World War II began, Hitler’s armies occupied much of mainland Europe—and the island nation of Great Britain stood alone. Rather than wait for the expected German invasion, Prime Minister Winston Churchill decided to hit back at the Nazis any way he could. In the summer of 1940, he set up a secret new organization called the Special Operations Executive, or SOE, and gave it a simple mission “set Europe ablaze.” SECRET WAR goes inside Churchill's secret army, to a dangerous world of agents, double agents, and even triple agents. In 13 episodes, it tells the story of SOE agents and other clandestine warriors who went behind enemy lines to conduct intelligence-gathering, sabotage, and assassination. Sometimes the operations were spectacularly successful, at other times inexplicably inept. But together, the efforts of these intrepid men and women helped save thousands of lives, liberate Europe, and turn the tide of World War II.

Part 12 Agent Garbo

Juan Pujol Garcia lived a lie that helped win World War II. He was a double agent for the British, performing so well that they nicknamed him for the enigmatic actress Greta Garbo. Before he remade himself as the master spy known as Garbo, Juan Pujol was nothing more than a Barcelona poultry farmer. But as Garbo, he turned in a masterpiece of deception that changed the course of World War II. This is the true story of a consummate liar; the ultimate double agent; the spy who saved D-Day. Early in WWII, the British embassy in Madrid rejected Pujol's offers of help. So, pretending to be an ardent fascist, he went to work for the Germans. When an innocuous-looking Spanish civilian walked into the German embassy in Madrid and asked to spy for the Nazis, he set off a train of events that had huge consequences for WWII. Posing as the Nazis' only reliable spy inside England, he created an imaginary million-man army, invented armadas out of thin air, and brought a vast network of fictional subagents to life. The scheme culminated on June 6, 1944, when Garbo convinced the Germans that the Allied forces approaching Normandy were just a feint—the real invasion would come at Calais. Because of his brilliant trickery, the Allies were able to land with much less opposition and eventually push on to Berlin. After the war it became known that over sixty of Pujol's messages had been included in important German intelligence summaries during, and shortly after, the critical time of the Allied invasion of France, many reaching the desk of the Fuhrer himself. Amazingly, Garbo's cover was never broken. For his wartime services, Pujol would be awarded the German Iron Cross Second Class, the medal being authorised by Adolf Hitler himself. He was also awarded an MBE by the British, making the Spaniard probably unique in the world of double-agents, being the only one to receive honours from both sides. Hear his story.

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