WW2, Rommel, US' Colonel Bonner Fellers

[Obliviax]

I posted, the other day, that I stumbled across a TV show discussing the WW2 African campaign. In that show, they mentioned a US Colonel named Bonner Fellers, before Pearl Harbor, that was dispatched to observe and report on the Allies North Africa campaign. Churchill, being very nice to the US and hoping we'd join the war on the Allies side, gave Bonner complete access. Bonner would encode his reports and send them back to Washington.

Unbeknownst to Fellers and the Allies, the Italians broke into the US embassy in Rome and found the coding/decoding book. The Italians took the book from a safe, photographed it and put it back. The US had no idea the Axis had the codes. As such, the messages discussing troop movements, strategies, supply chain challenges, etc. were being given to Rommel. Rommel began referring to them as "the good source" and even "the little fellows" (play on words on "Fellers", Bonner's last name).

So, no wonder Rommel gained the reputation as "the desert fox." He was later executed by the Nazis because they felt he knew about the effort to overthrow Hitler (he did not participate, apparently, but did not report it either).

I never knew this. As a person that can't get his hands on enough WW2 information, surprised I never knew. When I mentioned this the other day, others seemed to enjoy it...hence, the thread.

Enjoy the read!

FOOTBALL!!!

 

[PSU Dave]

I posted, the other day, that I stumbled across a TV show discussing the WW2 African campaign. In that show, they mentioned a US Colonel, before Pearl Harbor, that was dispatched to observe and report on the Allies North Africa campaign. Churchill, being very nice to the US and hoping we'd join the war on the Allies side, gave Bonner complete access. Bonner would encode his reports and send them back to Washington.

Unbeknownst to Fellers and the Allies, the Italians broke into the US embassy in Rome and found the coding/decoding book. The Italians took the book from a safe, photographed it and put it back. The US had no idea the Axis had the codes. As such, the messages discussing troop movements, strategies, supply chain challenges, etc. were being given to Rommel. Rommel began referring to them as "the good source" and even "the little fellows" (play on words on "Fellers", Bonner's last name.

So, no wonder Rommel gained the reputation as "the desert fox." He was later executed by the Nazis because they felt he know about the effort to overthrow Hitler (he did not participate, apparently, but did not report it either).

I never knew this. As a person that can't get his hands on enough WW2 information, surprised I never knew. When I mentioned this the other day, others seemed to enjoy it...hence, the thread.

Enjoy the read!

FOOTBALL!!!

Interesting indeed. I only recently stumbled across the role of Pope Pius XII during Hitler's reign. Very interesting reading as well. Hitler was very fearful of the Vatican.

 

[Big 0]

The Vatican helped many Nazis escape, primarily to Argentina immediately after the war. Hid them while helping to provide them with falsified documents giving them new identities. The church unofficially sided with the Nazis as the church was against the leftist socialists/communists because they wanted to get rid of the church and organized religion. The Nazis, also socialists, but right wing compared to the leftists permitted the church to exist because they likely would have lost support of the general population if organized religion was outlawed. Nazi is short for name of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, aka National Socialist German Workers’ Party. They were socialists, but anti communist, and blamed the leftists for capitulating in WWI.

Rommel was a fan of Patton and studied his tactics. He was more of a true soldier than a follow the crowd dyed in the wool Nazi and really did not agree with a lot that went on in the war, which likely led to his demise.

 

[Obliviax]

The Vatican helped many Nazis escape, primarily to Argentina immediately after the war. Hid them while helping to provide them with falsified documents giving them new identities. The church unofficially sided with the Nazis as the church was against the leftist socialists/communists because they wanted to get rid of the church and organized religion. The Nazis, also socialists, but right wing compared to the leftists permitted the church to exist because they likely would have lost support of the general population if organized religion was outlawed. Nazi is short for name of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, aka National Socialist German Workers’ Party. They were socialists, but anti communist, and blamed the leftists for capitulating in WWI.

Rommel was a fan of Patton and studied his tactics. He was more of a true soldier than a follow the crowd dyed in the wool Nazi and really did not agree with a lot that went on in the war, which likely led to his demise.

have any evidence of your suggestion regarding the church post WW2? Everything I've read said that the church tried to play it down the middle (difficult when you are smack dab in the middle of a key axis power). The church helped POWs and many others displaced by the war in the lead up and during the war. Possible the church wanted to make sure that you weren't killed for simply being german or italian. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that many axis people, innocent of war crimes, were "purged" when Germany lost.

Edit...found some data:

After the war, clandestine networks smuggled fugitive Axis officials out of Europe. The U.S. codenamed the activity the "Ratline". In Rome, pro-Nazi Austrian bishop, Alois Hudal, was linked to the chain, and the Croatian College offered refuge to Croatian fugitives, guided by Msgr. Krunoslav Draganovic.[398] Catholics and non-Nazi Catholic leaders were being arrested as potential sources of dissent in the new Communist republics being formed across Eastern Europe and sought to emigrate. This migration was exploited by some Axis fugitives. Potential anti-Communist leaders were being framed by anti-Catholic governments, as with the anti-Nazi Archbishop József Mindszenty in Hungary, the Zegota Jewish aid council in Poland, and the Croatian Archbishop of Zagreb, Aloysius Stepinac.[399][400]

Bishop Alois Hudal, the former rector of the pan-Germanic college in Rome training German priests, was secretly a member of the Nazi Party and informant for German Intelligence.[360] Gerald Steinacher wrote that Hudal enjoyed close personal relations with Pius XII for many years prior and was an influential figure in the process of escape. The Vatican Refugee Committees for Croats, Slovenes, Ukrainians and Hungarians aided former fascists and Nazi collaborators to escape those countries.[401]

Rome had been advised the new Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was threatening to destroy Catholicism within its territory.[402]In this climate, wrote Hebblethwaite, the Church faced the prospect that the risk of handing over the innocent could be "greater than the danger that some of the guilty should escape".[399] Croatian priest Krunoslav Dragonovic aided Croatian Fascists to escape through Rome. Ventresca wrote that there is evidence to suggest that Pius XII gave tacit approval to his work and that, according to reports from the CIC (Counter Intelligence Corps) agent, Robert Mudd, some 100 Ustasa were in hiding at the Saint Jerome seminary hoping to reach Argentina in due course through Vatican channels, and with the full knowledge of the Vatican. Within days of Pius XII's death (1958) Vatican officials asked Draganovic to leave the College of St. Jerome from where he operated since the latter part of the war.[403]According to Hebblethwaite however, Draganovic "was a law unto himself and ran his own show". In 1948, Draganovic brought the Nazi collaborator, and wanted war criminal, Ante Pavelić, to the Collegio Pio Latino Americano disguised as a priest until Argentine President Juan Perón invited him to the country.[404]

 

[Carl Spackler]

Thanks for the info on the code book. I never heard of this before, amazing. No wonder Rommel looked like a genius, for a time.

 

[Frabjous]

My father-in-law was in the British Army, and here is a story from the North African campaign: a unit of British tanks on patrol shut down for the night and formed a circle, muzzles pointing outward. Very late that night some more tanks parked nearby and no one thought anything of it. Early the next morning the Brits smelled sausages frying, but the Brits had no sausages. One of the Brit officers took a closer look, and saw German tankers quietly packing up. The Germans left without a shot being fired, thank you very much.

 

[BobPSU92]

I posted, the other day, that I stumbled across a TV show discussing the WW2 African campaign. In that show, they mentioned a US Colonel named Bonner Fellers, before Pearl Harbor, that was dispatched to observe and report on the Allies North Africa campaign. Churchill, being very nice to the US and hoping we'd join the war on the Allies side, gave Bonner complete access. Bonner would encode his reports and send them back to Washington.

Unbeknownst to Fellers and the Allies, the Italians broke into the US embassy in Rome and found the coding/decoding book. The Italians took the book from a safe, photographed it and put it back. The US had no idea the Axis had the codes. As such, the messages discussing troop movements, strategies, supply chain challenges, etc. were being given to Rommel. Rommel began referring to them as "the good source" and even "the little fellows" (play on words on "Fellers", Bonner's last name).

So, no wonder Rommel gained the reputation as "the desert fox." He was later executed by the Nazis because they felt he knew about the effort to overthrow Hitler (he did not participate, apparently, but did not report it either).

I never knew this. As a person that can't get his hands on enough WW2 information, surprised I never knew. When I mentioned this the other day, others seemed to enjoy it...hence, the thread.

Enjoy the read!

FOOTBALL!!!

FOOTBALL.

 

[PSU87]

Thanks for the info on the code book. I never heard of this before, amazing. No wonder Rommel looked like a genius, for a time.

Well, he did pretty freakin good in France in '40 without the code book.

 

[Obliviax]

Well, he did pretty freakin good in France in '40 without the code book.

True but Gomer Pile's Duke Slater would have looked good plowing those Panzers through the French countryside.

 

[PSU87]

True but Gomer Pile's Duke Slater would have looked good plowing those Panzers through the French countryside.

Yes and no. In sheer numbers and capabilities the French should not have had their clocks cleaned as badly as they did.

 

[mikeinpenna]

Thanks for the info on the code book. I never heard of this before, amazing. No wonder Rommel looked like a genius, for a time.

Nor did I. Very interesting.

And Ultra made Monty look like a genius in North Africa. Something he couldn't replicate during Market-Garden.

 

[Uh Clem]

Obli...thanks for the post as I’ve been a Rommel fanatic most of my life. One small detail...while he was arrested for his knowledge of the plot to kill Hitler, he was given the chance to commit suicide, which he accepted. So he wasn’t executed precisely.

 

[Obliviax]

Obli...thanks for the post as I’ve been a Rommel fanatic most of my life. One small detail...while he was arrested for his knowledge of the plot to kill Hitler, he was given the chance to commit suicide, which he accepted. So he wasn’t executed precisely.

Agree...for all intents and purposes, he died at the hands of the nazis.

 

[johnmpsu]

My father was at Kasserine. They were slaughtered. On top of inexperience, their equipment was vastly inferior to the Germans.

 

[The Spin Meister]

Thanks for the info on the code book. I never heard of this before, amazing. No wonder Rommel looked like a genius, for a time.

----
Sorta like Belichik having stolen the Steelers signals in the AFC Championship game.

NOW. THAT. IS. FOOTBALL!

 

[bsmith51]

I posted, the other day, that I stumbled across a TV show discussing the WW2 African campaign. In that show, they mentioned a US Colonel named Bonner Fellers, before Pearl Harbor, that was dispatched to observe and report on the Allies North Africa campaign. Churchill, being very nice to the US and hoping we'd join the war on the Allies side, gave Bonner complete access. Bonner would encode his reports and send them back to Washington.

Unbeknownst to Fellers and the Allies, the Italians broke into the US embassy in Rome and found the coding/decoding book. The Italians took the book from a safe, photographed it and put it back. The US had no idea the Axis had the codes. As such, the messages discussing troop movements, strategies, supply chain challenges, etc. were being given to Rommel. Rommel began referring to them as "the good source" and even "the little fellows" (play on words on "Fellers", Bonner's last name).

So, no wonder Rommel gained the reputation as "the desert fox." He was later executed by the Nazis because they felt he knew about the effort to overthrow Hitler (he did not participate, apparently, but did not report it either).

I never knew this. As a person that can't get his hands on enough WW2 information, surprised I never knew. When I mentioned this the other day, others seemed to enjoy it...hence, the thread.

Enjoy the read!

FOOTBALL!!!

Interesting stuff. I am a bit of a WWII buff myself.

 

[The Song Remains the Same]

Yes and no. In sheer numbers and capabilities the French should not have had their clocks cleaned as badly as they did.

 

[phillybillyreprise]

I recently read that invasion of Sicily was larger than D-Day.

 

[PoquosonLion]

And then there’s that joke about the French planting trees so Krouts can walk in the shade.

 

[KC-KS-Lion]

I posted, the other day, that I stumbled across a TV show discussing the WW2 African campaign. In that show, they mentioned a US Colonel named Bonner Fellers, before Pearl Harbor, that was dispatched to observe and report on the Allies North Africa campaign. Churchill, being very nice to the US and hoping we'd join the war on the Allies side, gave Bonner complete access. Bonner would encode his reports and send them back to Washington.

Unbeknownst to Fellers and the Allies, the Italians broke into the US embassy in Rome and found the coding/decoding book. The Italians took the book from a safe, photographed it and put it back. The US had no idea the Axis had the codes. As such, the messages discussing troop movements, strategies, supply chain challenges, etc. were being given to Rommel. Rommel began referring to them as "the good source" and even "the little fellows" (play on words on "Fellers", Bonner's last name).

So, no wonder Rommel gained the reputation as "the desert fox." He was later executed by the Nazis because they felt he knew about the effort to overthrow Hitler (he did not participate, apparently, but did not report it either).

I never knew this. As a person that can't get his hands on enough WW2 information, surprised I never knew. When I mentioned this the other day, others seemed to enjoy it...hence, the thread.

Enjoy the read!

FOOTBALL!!!

My dad was in the Merchant Marines during the war. Besides supplies, they did transport POWs. Among them was General Von Arnem (sp?) who replaced Rommel in North Africa.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Well, he did pretty freakin good in France in '40 without the code book.

It was the French........sort of like the Egyptian tank, 80 mph in reverse during the 1967 war with Israel.

 

[Fac]

Obi - have you been to the WWII museum in New Orleans? If not, you need to go. Too much to see in one day.

 

[Cosmos]

I recently read that invasion of Sicily was larger than D-Day.

Okinawa was the largest.

 

[Obliviax]

Obi - have you been to the WWII museum in New Orleans? If not, you need to go. Too much to see in one day.

Thank you. I have not. It's on the list!

 

[JoeLion]

I watched the churchill movie last week, interesting as well if truly based on facts and circumstances.

 

[Cosmos]

I posted, the other day, that I stumbled across a TV show discussing the WW2 African campaign. In that show, they mentioned a US Colonel named Bonner Fellers, before Pearl Harbor, that was dispatched to observe and report on the Allies North Africa campaign. Churchill, being very nice to the US and hoping we'd join the war on the Allies side, gave Bonner complete access. Bonner would encode his reports and send them back to Washington.

Unbeknownst to Fellers and the Allies, the Italians broke into the US embassy in Rome and found the coding/decoding book. The Italians took the book from a safe, photographed it and put it back. The US had no idea the Axis had the codes. As such, the messages discussing troop movements, strategies, supply chain challenges, etc. were being given to Rommel. Rommel began referring to them as "the good source" and even "the little fellows" (play on words on "Fellers", Bonner's last name).

So, no wonder Rommel gained the reputation as "the desert fox." He was later executed by the Nazis because they felt he knew about the effort to overthrow Hitler (he did not participate, apparently, but did not report it either).

I never knew this. As a person that can't get his hands on enough WW2 information, surprised I never knew. When I mentioned this the other day, others seemed to enjoy it...hence, the thread.

Enjoy the read!

FOOTBALL!!!

Good stuff Obli. Thanks for sharing. I always wondered why Rommel was so successful until El Alamein and then suddenly, he hits a wall. Fellers cost the Allies thousands of lives. How was a predisposed Anglophobe assigned to British military attache' in Cairo to begin with? Where was his background check? How was he awarded the DSM and promoted to Brigadier General after such suspicions? Not to mention, why was he using diplomatic code to transmit military troop movements? Who was his overseer? Many questions... few answers. Thousands of lives. Thank God for the heart attack. In the end justice was served.

 

[Uh Clem]

My favorite uncle was captured by the French (of all people!) when his landing craft of MPs cruised into the middle of the Vichy Fleet at Casablanca during Operation Torch. He was freed a few days later when the Americans took the city.

 

[Cletus11]

Good stuff Obli. Thanks for sharing. I always wondered why Rommel was so successful until El Alamein and then suddenly, he hits a wall. Fellers cost the Allies thousands of lives. How was a predisposed Anglophobe assigned to British military attache' in Cairo to begin with? Where was his background check? How was he awarded the DSM and promoted to Brigadier General after such suspicions? Not to mention, why was he using diplomatic code to transmit military troop movements? Who was his overseer? Many questions... few answers. Thousands of lives. Thank God for the heart attack. In the end justice was served.

You do remember this is the 1930 and early 1940's you are talking about. Most communication was done through letter writing and maybe a face to face meeting once or twice per year. And most diplomatic and government positions in Europe were given by your last name and family status, not based on qualifications. You are looking at it through the lense of 21st century.

 

[PoquosonLion]

Good stuff Obli. Thanks for sharing. I always wondered why Rommel was so successful until El Alamein and then suddenly, he hits a wall. Fellers cost the Allies thousands of lives. How was a predisposed Anglophobe assigned to British military attache' in Cairo to begin with? Where was his background check? How was he awarded the DSM and promoted to Brigadier General after such suspicions? Not to mention, why was he using diplomatic code to transmit military troop movements? Who was his overseer? Many questions... few answers. Thousands of lives. Thank God for the heart attack. In the end justice was served.

The British Intelligence or Ulta had intercepted reports (possibly through a captured enigma machine and its codes) that the Germans had been receiving information from a source in Egypt and Fellers was a possibility. Later, it was confirmed Fellers was the source. Fellers switched codes in late June of 1942, ending the leaks. The battle of El Alamein wouldn’t take place for another four months.

 

[brupsu]

Well, he did pretty freakin good in France in '40 without the code book.

The French did not want to fight.They had better equipment they would take one shot and then surrender.They left the Brits hanging out to dry.