Secret Warriors (Men at War 2)

So he had a pharmacy deliver the blood-thinning medicine, then watched as Donovan took a strong first dose. "Take a couple of good stiff drinks, too," the doctor said. Donovan asked the natural question: "I thought you weren t supposed to mix drugs with alcohol?"

"This is the exception," the doctor replied.

"Drink all you want. Alcohol thins the blood. just stay in bed, and don't get excited." Donovan was normally a teetotaler, but since whiskey was less repugnant than rat poison, he ordered up a bottle of Scotch.

After they had gathered in his room, Donovan told the Disciples how he had damaged his knee, but not about the blood clot. The first item on the agenda, as always, was the super bomb. The Science Disciple, who was on leave from the Department of Physics of the University of California at Berkeley, reported that there was no question that the Germans were methodically, if not rapidly, engaged in nuclear re search. As one proof of this, they had granted the same immunity-"for scientific contributions to the German State"-to Jewish physicists and mathematicians involved in such research as they had to Jews involved in rocket propulsion. And further, a German delegation had not long before returned from a visit to a plant in Denmark that had been engaged in research into a substance called heavy water. This substance, he explained-until it became apparent that no one else either understood or much cared about it-was water to whose molecular structure had been appended another hydrogen atom. The Germans were apparently trying to cause a chain-or explosive-effect by releasing the extra hydrogen atom so appended. The Science Disciple then argued that it would be useful to "persuade" scientists engaged in German atomic research to come to this country-or, 4( persuasion" failing, to kidnap them. Though he was not convinced that these people would be able to make a contribution to the American nuclear effort, it was inarguable that if they were here, they could not contribute to the German effort.

The problem, Donovan said, was that if German nuclear people started disappearing, it would alert the Germans to American interest in the subject. Roosevelt himself had decided that the one American war plan that most had to be concealed from the Axis was the attempt to develop an atomic bomb. "Even in the case of that obscure mining engineer we just brought out of North Africa," Donovan went on, we thought about that long and hard before we went for him. In the end, because we need the uraninite ore from the Belgian Congo, we decided we had to have him. In other words, we'll have to go very carefully with this. As a general rule of thumb, anybody we got out would have to be very important. So come up with a list, and rate them twice: how important they are to the Germans and how important they are to our program."

The second item on the agenda was political: the question of Vice Admiral d'escadre Jean-Philippe de Verbey, French Navy, retired. Not just for organizational but for personal reasons. This affair was the business of C. Holds worth Martin, Jr." the Disciple who dealt with France and French colonies. Like Donovan, Martin had served with the American Expeditionary Forces in the First World War. After the war, he had been appointed to the Armistice Commission. A civil engineer, he had met and married a French officer's widow, and had subsequently taken over the running of "I her late husband's construction firm.

This he had turned from a middle size, reasonably successful business into a large, extremely profitable corporation. His wife's social position (she was a member of the deposed nobility) and his wealth had then combined to permit them to move in the highest social circles. C.

Holds worth Martin, Jr." brought his wife and children to New York after the fall of France in 1940, purchased an apartment on Fifth Avenue overlooking Central Park, and promptly enraged the Franco-American community and large numbers of sympathetic Americans by proclaiming whenever the opportunity arose that French stupidity, cowardice, and corruption, and not German military prowess, had caused France to go down to such a quick and humiliating defeat. Even more outrageously, he made no secret of his belief that millions of middle and upper-class Frenchmen indeed preferred Hitler to Blum,' and had every intention of cooperating with Hitler's New Order for Europe.

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nbsp; One of the few people who agreed with any of this was Colonel William Donovan. And so far as Donovan was concerned, C. Holds worth Martin, Jr." was the ideal man to be Disciple for France. He had spent more than twenty years there, knew the country and its leaders better than most Frenchmen, and, with very few exceptions, cordially detested most of them.

Over luncheon and golf, Donovan had learned from him that Martin detested most of the French as much for their chauvinism as for their inept army. His success with his wife's firm, because it was an "American" and not a "French" success, earned him more jealousy than respect among his French peers. His wife's late husband's family, for instance, referred t him as "le gigolo Am,@ricain. On January 11, 1942, C. Holds worth Martin, Jr." entered the service of the United States government, at the usual remuneration of one dollar per annum, as a consultant to the Office of the Coordinator of Information. Three days later, C. Holds worth Martin III, a 1940 graduate of the Ecole Poly technique in Paris, by enlisting in the U.S. Army as a private "Leon Blum, First Socialist Premier of France, 1936-1938. soldier, entered the service of the United States government at a remuneration of twenty-one dollars per month. Although he acted, and sounded, like a French boulevardier, C. Holds worth Martin, Jr." was almost belligerently an American. Now C. Holds worth Martin, Jr." was engaged in a description of what he referred to as "I'affaire du vieux amir al vicieux" ("the old, vicious admiral"), by which he meant Vice Admiral d'escadrejean-Philippe de Verbey. When the war broke out, Admiral de Verbey was recalled from retirement. He was assigned to the French naval staff in Casablanca, Morocco, and had there suffered a heart attack, which nearly killed him. By the time he'd spent nine months in the hospital, France had fallen and an upstart, six-foot-six brigadier general of tanks, Charles de Gaulle, who had gotten out of France at the last minute, had appointed himself chief of the French government in exile and commander in chief of its armed forces. The majority of French officers still on French sod considered themselves honor-bound to accept the defeat of France and the authority of Marshal P6tain, the aged "Hero of Ver dun" who now headed the French government in Vichy. Admiral de Verbey did not. He considered it his duty as a French officer to continue to fight. He managed to pass word to de Gaulle in London that he approved of de Gaulle's actions. He announced further that as soon as he could arrange transportation (in other words, escape house arrest in Casablanca), it was his intention to come to London and assume command of French military and naval forces in exile.

So far as the admiral was concerned, it was as simple as that. Once he reached London, he would be the senior officer outside Vichy control.

He had been an admiral when de Gaulle was a major. If de Gaulle wanted to pretend that he was head of some sort of government in exile, fine.

But the commander of Free French military forces would be the senior officer who had not caved in to the Boches-in other words, Vice Admiral d'escadre Jean-Philippe de Verbey. Brigadier General de Gaulle was not pleased with the admiral's offer, which he correctly believed would be a threat to his own power. De Verbey's very presence in London, much more his assumption of command of Free French military forces, would remind people that de Gaulle was not anywhere near the ranking Free French officer and that his self appointment as head of the French government in exile was of very doubtful legality. He couldn't have that. Admiral de Verbey shortly afterward received orders-signed by a major general, in the name of Charles de Gaulle, "Head of State -ordering him to remain in Casablanca, "pending any need for your services to France in the future." Early in 1942, de Verbey, furious, took the great risk of offering his services to Robert Murphy, who was American consul general in Rabat. The Americans, he told Murphy, could use him in any capacity they saw fit, so long as it was concerned with getting La Boche out of La Belle France.

Murphy related the information to Washington, where eventually it S reached C. Holds worth Martin, Jr. Martin knew de Verbey, and suggested to Donovan that the old man be brought to the United States.

It might be useful to have a lever available if de Gaulle-who already showed signs of being very difficult-became impossible.

Donovan was aware that since Roosevelt looked fondly upon de Gaulle, he was safe in his self-appointed role as head of the French government in exile. Further, even if they were to have a de Gaulle replacement waiting in the wings, he felt they could find someone better than a long-retired admiral with a serious heart condition. He had not then rejected Martin's recommendation, however. But he believed that he would ultimately decide that getting the admiral out of Morocco would be more trouble than it would be worth, But later there came the necessity of bringing out of Morocco the French mining engineer who knew about the stock of uranitite in the Belgian Congo. That operation had a very high priority and was top secret. Which meant they would need good cover for it. Donovan's deputy, Captain Peter Doug lass, USN, had suggested, and Donovan had agreed, that should something go wrong with the snatch the-mining-engineer operation, the Germans would begin to suspect an American interest in atomic fission. If, however, the operation had the escape of the admiral as its cover and the operation blew up, there was at least a reasonable chance the Germans would not suspect what was really up. Thus C. Holds worth Martin, Jr." had been told that Donovan had decided to bring the admiral to the United States. He had not been told M'77"M"77777" about the mining engineer. The operation had been a success. The admiral and the engineer had arrived at the Brooklyn Navy Yard aboard a submarine, which had picked them up fifteen miles at sea off the Moroccan coast.

The admiral and the engineer were then taken to a seaside mansion in Deal, New Jersey, where they could be kept on ice until a decision was made as to what to do with them, Afterward, Martin told his wife that the admiral was safe in America, and where he was being kept. Madame Martin, who had known the admiral all her life, then drove the fifty miles to Deal, loaded the admiral in her Packard, and took him to the Martin dulex on Fifth Avenue. p When the formidable Madame Martin arrived, the naval officer charged with the security of the mansion incorrectly decided there was nothing he could do to keep the admiral in Deal. Madame Martin, after all, was the wife of a Disciple. So he had helpfully loaded the admiral's one suitcase into the Martin Packard, and then saluted crisply as it drove off. As a result of this failure of judgment, he would spend the balance of World War 11 as a supply officer in the South Pacific, but the damage was done. The admiral was in New York City, prepared to tell anyone who would listen that Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle not only was a megalomaniac but had no legal authority whatever for declaring himself the head of the French government. "This will never do," Donovan told Martin.

"Maybe we'll need to let the admiral have his say. But for the time being he has to be kept on ice at Summer Place. If you have to take him back to the mansion by force, then do that. But we absolutely have to keep him away from the press. I have had a word with The New York Times, and they are not going to run the interview they did with him.

But it's only a question of time until the story gets out. God help us if Colonel McCormick gets wind of what we've done. Who's Colonel McCormick?" Martin asked, confused. "He publishes the Chicago Tribune," Donovan said. "He volunteered for active duty on December eighth. Since Franklin hates his guts-the feeling is mutual-Roosevelt turned him down, ostensibly because of his age. As a consequence, the colonel would be very sympathetic to another Old warrior denied active service by that socialist in the White House."

"I can get de Verbey back to Deal, Bill," Martin said.

"But how are u going to keep him there?"

YO "For the time being-I really don't want to lock him up unless I have to-I think we should keep staffing him," Donovan said.

"Maybe pay him some Navy attention. That will infuriate de Gaulle when he finds out about it-and he will. But I still think we can peacefully stop the admiral from calling him a megalomaniac on the front page of the Chicago Tribune. "What do you mean by "Navy attention'?" Martin asked. "Send some Navy brass to ask his opinion about invading North Africa," Donovan said.

"That might appeal to his ego, keeping his role in the invasion a secret."

"And he might even be helpful," Martin said, just slightly sarcastic.

"He was the naval commander in Casablanca."

"Well, you make him feel important, and I'll arrange with Captain Doug lass to send some Navy brass down to confer with him," "What about some of the French naval officers in Washington? Can we get him some kind of a small staff? Otherwise, he'll know we're just humoring him."

Donovan thought that over. The moment Free French naval officers were assigned to de Verbey, de Gaulle would hear about it-and be furious.

Perhaps that might not be a bad idea. It was MacHiavellian.