An Unwitting Spy for the Axis
Bibliography with Notes plus Bonus Content
Cooper, Artemis. Cairo in the War 1939-1945. London: John Murray (Publishers), 2013. Kindle.
Chapter: Spies
“…compared to what Colonel Bonner Fellers, an American Military Attache’, unwittingly supplied to the Germans. The British, who depended more and more on American arms, hoped to maintain trust and goodwill of Fellers and his superiors by keeping him informed of the Army’s every move. …from autumn 1941, Fellers sent it all back to Washington in cypher known as the Black Code, which had already been cracked by the Italians and the Germans. The Axis intercept team listened carefully, while Fellers gave information about the order of battle, the supply situation, spare parts, shortages, aircraft deployment and forthcoming operations.”
Marquis, Samuel. Lions of the Desert: A True Story of WWII Heroes in North Africa (World War Two Series Book 4). Mount Sopris Publishing, 2019. Kindle.
Chapter 10
“’We had help from the Italians,’ said Canaris. ‘They were able to extract a copy of the codebook from a safe in the U.S. Embassy in Rome one night in September 1941.’”
Marquis, Samuel. Lions of the Desert: A True Story of WWII Heroes in North Africa (World War Two Series Book 4). Mount Sopris Publishing, 2019. Kindle.
Chapter 10
“…But the supposedly impenetrable Black Code in which he has been transmitting his top secret information nightly to Washington has been broken. Even before America had joined the war, Fellers had been granted privileged access to British planning. He’s been a regular attendee at the staff conferences…He talks to British military and civilian headquarters’ officials, reads top secret documents, and visits the battlefront on a regular basis. He is an incredibly valuable source.”
Marquis, Samuel. Lions of the Desert: A True Story of WWII Heroes in North Africa (World War Two Series Book 4). 2019. Kindle.
Chapter 10
“Colonel Bonner Fellers: U.S. Military Attache’ in Cairo; called Gute Quelle, the Good Source, by Rommel for his accurate and detailed reports on British military operations, which German intelligence obtained word for word having compromised the U.S. foreign service encryption code 11, referred to as the ‘Black Code.’”
Marquis, Samuel. Lions of the Desert: A True Story of WWII Heroes in North Africa (World War Two Series Book 4). 2019. Kindle.
“…When Eisenhower finally turned in Ranfurly’s direction, the countess asked if he knew Bonner Fellers, ‘the American attache’ we all liked.’
Eisenhower answered, ‘Any friend of Bonner Fellers is no friend of mine.’”
…Eisenhower thought he’d been rude and invited her to dine that evening. Ranfurly declined…”
Bonus Illustrations
WWII in North Africa 