MI9
A History of the Secret Service for Escape and Evasion in World War Two
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MI9
Buy Now for £12.99
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Narrated by:
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Helen Lloyd
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By:
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Helen Fry
About this listen
A thrilling history of MI9 - the WWII organization that engineered the escape of Allied forces from behind enemy lines
When Allied fighters were trapped behind enemy lines, one branch of military intelligence helped them escape: MI9. The organization set up clandestine routes that zigzagged across Nazi-occupied Europe, enabling soldiers and airmen to make their way home. Secret agents and resistance fighters risked their lives and those of their families to hide the men.
Drawing on declassified files and eye-witness testimonies from across Europe and the United States, Helen Fry provides a significant reassessment of MI9’s wartime role. Central to its success were figures such as Airey Neave, Jimmy Langley, Sam Derry, and Mary Lindell, who was one of only a few women parachuted into enemy territory for MI9. This astonishing account combines escape and evasion tales with the previously untold stories behind the establishment of MI9 - and reveals how the organization saved thousands of lives.
©2020 Helen Fry (P)2020 Blackstone PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
Fantastic Listen!
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"We shall remember them."
Excellent
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A fascinating book
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Super writer with an eye for detail
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Fry sets out her stall early in contending that MI9 was as important in the intelligence world as SIS/MI6, MI5 and GCCS. However, although there was obviously a huge amount of collection and debriefing work done by MI9, Fry doesn’t explain in specific terms how MI9 added to the huge intelligence product of other agencies and military/air reconnaissance or how its product was analysed and ultimately used.
Fry’s contention that recovery of downed aircrew was vital to the maintenance of Allied air power is also not clearly supported in the book, and the number of crews recovered seems small compared with the large numbers of crews being trained. Although no doubt evasion was a powerful morale booster, Fry’s discussion of the Air Ministry’s initial view of escape and evasion as a low priority seems to support its perceived lack of strategic importance.
The tone of the book is also variable. The decision to discuss ‘Q’ and escape gadget up front captures the attention, but is not representative of the book as a whole. There are also some fantastic escapades mentioned and, while these are covered in detail in other books, the brief mentions leaves you wanting more. The book also lacks context about the wider context in which evasion took place. The differences in approach between authorities in Occupied and Vichy France, for example, are implied but not explained. Equally the composition of the enemy is also a blank canvas with no detailed discussion about the many different German agencies involved and how they operated to counter MI9.
The few factual and date errors in the book are also a little irritating and should have been picked up. As an example, the ‘Japanese invasion of the northern regions of Australia’ (as opposed to Australian overseas territories located to the north) will no doubt have come as a surprise to the people of Darwin.
Interesting but frustrating
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