OSS After Action Report - Objective ICE RAINBOW

To: Col. William Jackson, G-2 Intelligence Chief, First Army Group (FUSAG); APO 655 (London)

From: Capt. [REDACTED] // CODE-NAME ICEPEAK; OSS Detachment ICE, Special Liaison to Operation SKYE; Prestwick Airfield, Ayrshire, Scotland (APO 124)

EXSUM: The mission to capture German Intelligence Services infiltrator LILLY was not successful. The deception operation with which the capture was intended (see enclosure 1), however, was a good model for future operations and can be extended under Operation SKYE to protect Allied interests. The loss of personnel in such deception cannot be measured as a simple loss so much as willing sacrifice for the cause.

1) AUTHORITY: Under the directives of [REDACTED], this detachment was tasked with conducting joint-nation counter-intelligence operations in the European Theater.

2) OBJECTIVE: To coordinate with British MI5 // Section B1a integration of American wireless telegraphy (w/t) deception operations into active networks maintained as a part of military deception Operation SKYE, northern sector of Operation FORTITUDE (radio deception portion of military deception to conceal landing place of June 1944 invasion of Continental Europe).

1) Captain [REDACTED], USMC Seconded to OSS // ICEPEAK: Detachment Commander, primary liaison officer to MI5. Responsible for strategic coordination and inter-agency intelligence transfer.

2) Lieutenant [REDACTED], USA Seconded to OSS // ICEWHITE: Operational control; liaison to RAF no. 45 (Atlantic Ferry Command), Ayrshire, Scotland.

3) Technician 4^th Class [REDACTED], USA // BLUE: Radio technician, on assignment from Camp Ritchie, PA; responsible for technical setup, maintenance, operation, and security of all w/t and radio equipment.

4) Squadron Leader [REDACTED], RAF // ORANGE: RAF pilot seconded to MI5; Case Officer for all double-agents, primary operational & tactical control of safe-house FERAL SHEEP (Orkneys).

1) CEA [REDACTED] (Poland) // RED: MI5/XX workname BRUTUS. Polish pilot and captured resistance commander of Interallie in Occupied France. Arrested by Abwehr in November 1941, recruited by German Intelligence Service (GIS) while interned in Fresnes Prison by [REDACTED // Objective YELLOWKING] to conduct espionage inside United Kingdom after being revealed by his partner [REDACTED] before her death under interrogation. Parachuted into South England, immediately turned himself in to British intelligence and became one of the most productive double-agents in Allied deception efforts.

2) CEA [REDACTED] (Norway) and [REDACTED] (UK) // GREEN and INDIGO: MI5/XX workname MUTT and JEFF. Paired for sabotage operations inside UK, GREEN is a specialist with demolitions and survival expertise, while INDIGO is a British citizen with extensive theater experience. INDIGO is under remand to civilian prison for the crime of espionage, in the custody of ORANGE for duration of operation.

1) Oberleutenant [REDACTED] // GARDENER: Wireless operator captured 20 March on scene at safe-house FERAL SHEEP in Orkneys; previously a civilian broadcaster out of Hamburg, activated by direct request of Abwehr Major Karl Erich Kuhlenthal. Sentenced to death for espionage by civilian court on 22 March, sentence carried out by ORANGE.

2) Unidentified GIS Agent // LILLY: Active intelligence agent making w/t reports on British and Allied troop movements, primary GIS agent in Northern England and Scotland region. Unknown appearance, unknown cover identity; presumed to be in a position able to covertly observe troop movements and travel extensively across Scotland region. Keen technical knowledge of aircraft and ship hull characteristics, limited familiarity with Allied munitions.

Planning begun in London for Operation BODYGUARD, the plan for Allied deception campaign to conceal the mobilization of forces for ground invasion of Continental Europe, approved Christmas Day 1943. Operation SKYE, the plan to conduct w/t deception through active use of double-agents and turned German Intelligence assets, begun soon after, in February 1944, a critical element of which was Operation ICE RAINBOW to capture and turn a wireless radio broadcasting station relaying original intelligence reports from across northern UK and Scotland, Objective FERAL SHEEP in the Orkneys.

Objective FERAL SHEEP was a small former schoolhouse on an island evacuated in late 1942, converted to radio broadcast site with a small diesel-powered radio broadcast station Marconi 4 kW Medium/Shortwave Transmitter looted from abandoned Orkney equipment supplemented by parts from Radione R3 Receiver/RS-20/M Transmitter damaged in transit and a SE108/10 Keksdose “Biscuit Tin” handset. Site was severely weathered and appeared at first to be only a shelter for loose sheep, until the smell of discarded human waste led the RAF capture squad to the severely ill Abwehr officer, GARDENER, who was feverish and raving about “Der Verrat der Unterseeratten” (betrayal by under-sea rats, presumed to mean lack of promised logistical support by U-Boot crews). GARDENER was not cooperative under interrogation, and after two attempts at escape and the injury of one RAF capture squad Corporal, was sentenced to death under the Treachery Act of 1940.

[Editor’s Note: Original narrative text destroyed 13 November 1944 on specific command of Col Jackson, FUSAG G-2. Alternate narrative text with enclosures emplaced after significant alteration and editorial control by Lt Col Houston, FUSAG staff, 17 November 1944. No explanatory remarks regarding the reason for this replacement have survived.] S/L ORANGE, CEA GREEN, CEA INDIGO maintained control of Objective GARDENER and FERAL SHEEP, conducted passage of arms with T/4 BLUE and CEA RED (see enclosure 1, transcript of field report by S/L ORANGE). T/4 BLUE conducted maintenance and operation of commandeered radio broadcast equipment (see enclosure 2, field maintenance report by T/4 BLUE), translated French-origin play Le Roi en Jaune (“Yellow King”) for active broadcast to Abwehr intelligence consolidation points in the North Sea (see enclosure 3, contraband materials statement prepared by T/4 BLUE for Capt ICEPEAK). Deception broadcasts of radio play “Yellow King” were determined not to be successful, leading to assault and summary execution of Objective GARDENER by CEA GREEN (see enclosure 4, court testimony of CEA INDIGO) and S/L ORANGE (see enclosure 5, psychoanalytic notes for S/L ORANGE) respectively. Objective LILLY remains at large and an active threat to Operation SKYE and FORTITUDE NORTH; ongoing search by RAF, USA, and MI5 forces in theater.

See enclosure 2, field maintenance report by T/4 BLUE. Equipment deployed: Marconi 4 kW Medium/Shortwave Transmitter supplemented by parts from Radione R3 Receiver/RS-20/M Transmitter damaged in transit and a SE108/10 Keksdose “Biscuit Tin” handset. Frequency Management: 1024 kHz (Mediumwave AM) was deception radio broadcast frequency from Orkneys to mainland Scotland espionage reception. 230 kHz (Longwave) used as w/t relay for further traffic on to Abwehr listening stations in Occupied Norway. No signal security was employed, as deception objective was intercept by enemy listening posts (special waiver to EMCON policy by Col. Jackson, FUSAG, dated 13 February 1944). No internal radio communications with Allied forces were allowed during Operation RAINBOW, in order to avoid compromise by incidental signal triangulation by enemy intelligence. All emergency communications were conducted through pre-arranged courier contact by RAF Atlantic Ferry personnel, present in Glasgow area at Ayrshire (Prestwick Airfield) or by other RAF elements in more immediate vicinity as needed for emergent crises.

Significant risk of compromise to operation by Objective GARDENER was integral to the operation. An alternative broadcast script prepared by T/4 BLUE (see enclosure 3), and Objective GARDENER was physically restrained at all times (see enclosure 4). Civilian clothes and equipment were authorized and utilized, with profile management requiring no greater than biweekly courier contact by RAF elements. Despite this concern, Objective LILLY seems to have been alerted to the presence of Allied forces, and has gone dark at this time.

Inter-Allied deception operations are possible, but require significant room for improvisation by on-site assets. Success of all security counter-measures cannot be assured, and it is imperative that sufficient ‘noise’ in successful deception operations and misleading signal and physical observations be present to cover any GIS ‘signal’ of actual compromise of Allied operations. Loss of personnel to psychic damage and shell shock should be planned for, and sufficient redundant personnel and skillsets must be present. Acceptable losses for deception operations must be weighed at the level of the operation being protected, at the FUSAG level in the case of Operation RAINBOW, rather than at the level of any particular tactical component.