About the Episode
Many WWII spies carried out their missions behind enemy lines with no support. Other intelligence agents provided advanced research and analysis that helped make covert operations possible. In this bonus episode, you’ll hear stories of American operators’ training for clandestine duty—told by these men and women themselves.
These firsthand accounts are a part of The National WWII Museum’s Oral History Collection.
Topics Covered in This Episode
- Office of Strategic Services (OSS)
- William “Wild Bill” Donovan
- D-Day
- Jedburghs
- Detachment 101
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Learn MoreMartha Erickson
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John Singlaub
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Helias Doundoulakis
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Herbert Auerbach
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Steve Pisanos
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Hal Leith
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Article Type
Secret Agents, Secret Armies: The D-Day Misfit Spies
Operation FORTITUDE involved a group of double agents feeding disinformation to the Germans but the group was an odd collection of criminals, playboys, party girls, and a woman obsessed with her dog.
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Article Type
Secret Agents, Secret Armies: The Short Happy Life of the OSS
In 1942, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) became the first independent US intelligence agency. It only lasted for three years and three months but it became the basis for the modern Central Intelligence Agency.
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Article Type
Secret Agents, Secret Armies: Who Was the Real James Bond?
Before he became famous as the creator of James Bond in the 1950s, Ian Fleming (1908-1964) was an officer in the Royal Navy’s Naval Intelligence Department. He devised a number of wartime schemes worthy of a Bond novel. Some were successful and some were too wild to carry out.
Special thanks to The Dale E. and Janice Davis Johnston Family for their generous support of this series.