Tag: Bletchley Park

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Cynthia: World War II Mata Hari

“She Used the Bedroom the Way James Bond Used A Beretta.”

That was the headline of a 2016 Daily Mail article (and a 1963 Time magazine article), and it grabbed my attention (just like any good headline should).

“She” was American-born Betty Pack a.k.a. “Cynthia,” one of British Secret Intelligence Service’s (SIS) and the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) most productive spies during World War II.

Cynthia used her charm, beauty, and intelligence to extract top secret and vital information from diplomats, military personnel, and any man targeted by SIS and MI6. Cynthia’s weapon wasn’t a gun. It was sex, and her office was a bed, divan, blanket, or any other suitable platform. After seducing a Polish foreign office official, she said, “Our meetings were very fruitful, and I let him make love to me as often as he wanted, since this guaranteed the smooth flow of political information I needed.”

So, who was this dangerous woman and why do we remember Mata Hari from World War I but not Cynthia from the second world war?

Betty Pack. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Reprinted with the permission of the Baltimore Sun Media Group/Courtesy Harper Collins.
Betty Pack. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Reprinted with the permission of the Baltimore Sun Media Group/Courtesy Harper Collins.

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The Ghost Army

Last year for Halloween, I wrote the blog, The Night Witches (click here to read the blog). It was then I decided to try and write an annual Halloween blog. So, this year I’d like to introduce you to the “Ghost Army,” a group of talented artists whose job it was to deceive and hide things from the enemy.

23rd Headquarters Special Troops – US Army: “Ghost Army” patch. Photo by anonymous (c. 2006). Institute of Heraldry. U.S. Department of Defense. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.
23rd Headquarters Special Troops – US Army: “Ghost Army” patch. Photo by anonymous (c. 2006). Institute of Heraldry. U.S. Department of Defense. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.

Prior to D-Day on 6 June 1944, Gen. Patton commanded the fictitious First United States Army Group (FUSAG). The FUSAG was created to convince the Germans that Patton was preparing for a cross-channel invasion at Pas de Calais. As part of the ruse, Patton commanded a group made up with dummy equipment. (Maybe that was his punishment for slapping a soldier or two.) However, known as “Operation Quicksilver,” Patton’s FUSAG was part of the larger deception scheme named “Operation Fortitude.” Along with the British network of double agents, FUSAG accomplished its mission and likely saved the lives of thousands of Allied soldiers (click here to read the blog, The Double Cross System).

Our blog today focuses on another secret group whose responsibilities were to deceive the Germans. However, most of their activities occurred after the invasion of Normandy. The unit and its mission were so secret the men were instructed to stay silent about their war time activities for fifty years and all files pertaining to the “Ghost Army” remained classified until 1986.

Image of Worcester Daily Telegram article written on the Ghost Army. Doesn’t appear to be classified back then does it? Photo by anonymous (c. August 1945).
Image of Worcester Daily Telegram article written on the Ghost Army. Doesn’t appear to be classified back then does it? Photo by anonymous (c. August 1945).

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