Jan 6, 1944: On this date, Captain Peter Ortiz (American), Col. HHA Thackwaite (Brit), & radio operator Monnier (French) parachute into the Vercors plateau to evaluate & organize Maquis Resistance to the Nazis in Operation Union. They were the first Allied officers to appear in uniform in France since 1940. http://www.militarymuseum.org/Ortiz.html

#WW2
#OfficeofStrategicServices
#Maquis
#Resistance

Jan 4, 1944: Operation Carpetbagger begins with the first mission to France from Harrington, England, the night of Jan. 4-5, 1944.

The operation used modified B-24 Liberators to supply agents, weapons, and supplies to resistance movements in France and the Low Countries.

#WW2
#OfficeOfStrategicServices

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Carpetbagger

In April, 1945, William Colby led the NORSO group in Operation Rype.

Working in occupied Norway, the operation sabotaged rail lines to prevent German military reinforcement of Germany in the waning days of WW2. (3/4)

#WW2
#OfficeOfStrategicServices
#Jedburgh
#StPaul
#MN
#Norway
#OperationRype

https://historycollection.com/cia-director-william-colby-got-his-start-blowing-up-stuff-in-nazi-occupied-europe/3/

At age 24, William Colby led a Jedburgh team (BRUCE) behind Nazi lines in occupied France in August 1944. He led 6000 Maquis irregulars in resistance to the Nazis. (2/4)

https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/surprise-kill-vanish-the-legend-of-the-jedburghs/

#WW2
#OfficeOfStrategicServices
#Jedburgh
#StPaul
#MN
#Maquis

Jan 4, 1920: On this date, William Colby born in St Paul, MN. He graduated from Princeton with an AB in politics with a senior thesis titled "Surrender -- French Policy toward the Spanish Civil War.”

He volunteered for the US Army in 1941 and served in the OSS in France & Norway. Codename, “Berkshire.” (1/4)

#WW2
#OfficeOfStrategicServices
#Jedburgh
#StPaul
#MN

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Colby

December 1945: Christmas card from the OSS Schools and Training Headquarters Staff.

#OfficeOfStrategicServices
#ww2
#HappyHolidays

December 1945: Christmas card from the OSS Schools and Training Headquarters Staff.

#OfficeOfStrategicServices
#ww2
#HappyHolidays

#SpyLibrary
#SOE
#OfficeOfStrategicServices
#WW2

#SpyLibrary
#SOE
#OfficeOfStrategicServices
#WW2

Nov 30, 1921: On this date, Franz Weber was born. A German Obergefreiter in the Wehrmacht during WW2. He defected to the Allies & served in the OSS, parachuting into Austria as part of Operation Greenup. The Greenup team included Fred Mayer, a German Jew who fled Nazi Germany in 1938 and Hans Wijnberg, a Dutch Jew who escaped the Nazis though his mother, father, and younger brother were killed in the Holocaust.

#OTD
#WW2
#OfficeOfStrategicServices

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ou4PtFa3HM

Nov 28, 1922: On this date, Hans Wijnberg was born. He immigrated to the US from the Netherlands. Taught chemistry at the University of Minnesota. Served as OSS radio operator with Fred Mayer in Operation Greenup in WW2. Operation Greenup was one of the most successful OSS operations, led by the real "Inglourious Basterds." He died May 25, 2011 at the age of 88.

#WW2
#OfficeofStrategicServices
#Minnesota
#Netherlands
#OperationGreenup

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6474834/bio
https://www.grinnell.edu/news/remembering-hans-wynberg