British Prime Minister Churchill realized in September 1940 that the war would be lost unless American support came. In Our man in New York British espionage historian Henry Hemming explains how the US managed to get involved in the conflict.
His book is in fact about Bill Stephenson, the man who had to prepare public opinion in the United States for military support for Europe on behalf of the English secret service MI6. For that it wasSib Committee‘deployed, a division of the secret service whose task was’sibs‘ or to spread ‘rumours’. Stephenson had a long way to go, as by May 1940, only 7 percent of Americans were in favor of sending soldiers to Europe. Legendary pilot Charles Lindbergh – in 1927 he was the first to fly across the Atlantic – traveled across America to proclaim this isolationist stance.
Under this constellation Stephenson began his mission in London. He was a strange chick. Born in Winnipeg, Canada, he fought on the English side during World War I. He came home a war hero, started a business and became a millionaire by marrying a rich woman and selling radio sets. He invested his money in shares and therefore had a great need for information about the countries in which ‘his’ companies were active. By sheer luck and bravado, he managed to get a foot in the door at MI6 just before the outbreak of World War II.
Charles Lindbergh was his opponent. He was already a legendary media star, but the kidnapping of his one-year-old son Charles, who was eventually murdered, made him a crowd favorite. So when Lindbergh started speaking at anti-war rallies, he was naturally very well received. Even the occasional comment that the Nazis weren’t quite wrong was forgiven. America should not join the war, he said in one speech after another.
Forged documents
Everything revolved around public opinion. US President Roosevelt tried to help Churchill, but couldn’t afford everything. Stephenson continued to do other stunts to get that help acceptable. For example, the Nazis would like to overthrow the Bolivian government, to the culmination of two documents obtained by the American government in which Hitler unfolded plans to annex all of South America and to ban all religions. The documents were forged, but they did not miss their effect.
The movement of which Lindbergh was the mascot sounds frighteningly current: America First – a slogan that had been popular among Republicans since the late 1800s in their fight against immigration from China, Ireland and other countries. America First had been the slogan of the two presidential candidates even in 1916 (Democrat Wilson was re-elected). Ultimately, only the Ku Klux Klan used the slogan until Donald Trump made it popular again.
Although their share dwindled, a majority of Americans remained against sending troops. Spreading fake news was now taking on hilarious proportions. The origin of another spectacular story became increasingly important. As if it were black money, stories were sent from New York to London, from there to a Swiss or Czech newspaper and then to be quoted back in New York, ‘laundering the dirty news’. No craziness was shunned. For example, Lindbergh’s son was not supposed to be dead at all, but was ‘prepared to become the future Führer in a Nazi school in East Prussia’.
Secret operation
The cooperation between the American and British security services became increasingly close, with interesting figures such as Ian Fleming (the creator of James Bond) and Roald Dahl playing spy roles. Most of what spies do is exciting, but also superfluous, as this book makes clear.
Lindbergh made the grave mistake of openly presenting himself as an anti-Semite. As a result, the America First movement sank and there was increasing support for Roosevelt’s foreign policy. There were still a few covert operations going on, but when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor took place on December 7, 1941, and nearly the entire US naval fleet was destroyed, nothing stood in the way of war participation.
Rumors wouldn’t be rumors if they couldn’t be turned around. To this day, there are those who believe in the conspiracy theory that Roosevelt knew about it days before the Japanese bombardment of American soil, but that he did nothing to make his participation in the war in Europe respectable.
Bill Stephenson passed away in 1989 at the age of 92. His death was kept under wraps for three days at his direction, so that he could have a peaceful funeral.
