DUSAN Popov (n. Titel, 1912-m. Opio, 1981)
Dusan Popov, best known for Tricycle between British spies, is a character virtually unknown to ordinary mortals. However, his wanderings led to one of the most beloved fictional characters in the world, none other than James Bond, the super famous 007.
Popov was born into a wealthy Serbian family that allowed him to study in France and Germany. Lawyer and successful businessman, had been contacted by one of his college mates to join the German secret service, the Abwehr of Admiral Canaris in his last years of studies in the Germanic countries.
In December 1940, with the imminent entry into the war in his country, in Belgrade Popov reported his contacts with the German secret service MI6 the British, who immediately recruited as a double agent. That same year he moved to London using his business as a cover, and began recruiting a network of agents that worked for the German theory, but in reality, they were "fed" information by British intelligence. In 1941 Popov twice traveled to Lisbon to establish contact with Johann Jebsen, the recruiter even the Abwehr , whose code name was Artist .
In August of that year the Germans' confidence in him was so full that he was commissioned to create a new network in the United States, and sent a questionnaire with the essential information you should get. It placed special emphasis on advances in atomic theory and the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. In his memoirs, Popov said that J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI, did not report the interest of the Germans at the base of the Hawaiian Islands, which cost them being caught by surprise in December of that year. The Americans, on the other hand, contend that the report does it reached the American army which knew very well also Pearl Harbor was a target of choice in case of war with Japan.
any case, the disagreement with the Americans came from the outset. It seems that the timid of Hoover's life he hated wearing playboy Popov, first in England and then in the United States, where he was living the high life in the company of the occasional Hollywood actress Simone Simon and was even a about to be deported on charges of trafficking in women for traveling with a woman going through a divorce between two states, it seems that at that time was crime. It is said that the same code name, Tricycle , I came to like to sleep with two women at once although it seems more likely it was because he was very proud of the amount of information obtained by him and his two main actors and Gelatine Balloon. In addition, the Americans wanted to expose Popov other German spies on its territory. The Nazis had ordered him to build a network, so you do not know any. Eventually the British got their allies to feed the network with information Popov reluctantly naval convoys. In October in Rio de Janeiro contacted the Abwehr , got money and instructions and returned to the United States next month. There his dissipated life made him go broke in no time. In England he boasted of not wanting money as MI6, he said, worked for the British friendship for his country. In fact what is not said is that he did not need because I charged the Germans. However, the poor quality of the information it supplied the Americans made the Germans more and rely less on money became scarce, so that when the British finally we made back in August 1942 owed more than 3,000 FBI dollars.
Back in Britain, Popov had ceased to be a good source for the Germans. In October he traveled to Lisbon where he met again with Artist .
not be restored until May 1943 when the British began to make vast amounts of information conveyed in the context of cockade operation aimed at making the Germans believe they were about to invade Europe by Norway and the Channel the Channel to set the maximum number of troops on the Western Front and download them to the Soviets.
In July, he met again with Artist in Lisbon. In the meantime Artist had decided to switch to the allies and between Popov and he created a network of escape alleged Yugoslav officer wanted to move to Germany through Switzerland. In fact spies who formed the new network also working for MI6, including the Marquis Frano Bona, who would become known as Freak and together with English Juan Pujol, Garbo, going to be one of the main architects of success of the operation Overlord.
From February 1944 as well Freak Tricycle and the rest of the network began work on the operation Fortitude, which was to convince the Germans that the invasion of France would come through Pas de Calais.
On April 28, something happened that could destroy the Allied plans to invade Europe that year. Artist Lisbon was kidnapped by the Nazis and taken to concentration camp at Oranienburg , where he died. The problem was that Artist controlled in both theory Tricycle as Garbo and was aware that both worked for MI6, so that the whole network was in danger. The British decided to make Tricycle stop reporting for a while. The truth is that the Germans had seized Artist because they suspected him for certain irregular operations with counterfeit currency that was done, but after the war it was learned that in fact what is feared to denounce Tricycle Garbo and the British.
funny thing is that the Germans were wary of their networks in England and even after the Normandy invasion and not produced by the Pas de Calais. The Government of true and false information that was given to the enemy through Tricycle , Garbo and others had been so good that the Germans continued to believe in them until the end, and they even decorate Juan Pujol. In fact, overcome the shock of the arrest of Artist , Popov returned to send their reports to the end of the war.
After the war, Dusan Popov continued his life as playboy and bon vivant until his death in 1981 at his home near Cannes. Before that I'd be world famous to the character that Ian Fleming another MI6 agent Popov met in Lisbon during the war, would from his adventures and his peculiar way of seeing life. Fleming was particularly obsessed with the way that Popov had been fleecing all German agents some day in the Casino Estoril. Therefore, that did not stop until you get secret service funds to repeat the feat. He failed. In 1981, shortly before his death, Popov told an Italian journalist: "I doubt that James Bond a flesh and blood had survived more than 48 hours as agent Espionage. "
Dusan Popov, best known for Tricycle between British spies, is a character virtually unknown to ordinary mortals. However, his wanderings led to one of the most beloved fictional characters in the world, none other than James Bond, the super famous 007.
Popov was born into a wealthy Serbian family that allowed him to study in France and Germany. Lawyer and successful businessman, had been contacted by one of his college mates to join the German secret service, the Abwehr of Admiral Canaris in his last years of studies in the Germanic countries.
In December 1940, with the imminent entry into the war in his country, in Belgrade Popov reported his contacts with the German secret service MI6 the British, who immediately recruited as a double agent. That same year he moved to London using his business as a cover, and began recruiting a network of agents that worked for the German theory, but in reality, they were "fed" information by British intelligence. In 1941 Popov twice traveled to Lisbon to establish contact with Johann Jebsen, the recruiter even the Abwehr , whose code name was Artist .
In August of that year the Germans' confidence in him was so full that he was commissioned to create a new network in the United States, and sent a questionnaire with the essential information you should get. It placed special emphasis on advances in atomic theory and the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. In his memoirs, Popov said that J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI, did not report the interest of the Germans at the base of the Hawaiian Islands, which cost them being caught by surprise in December of that year. The Americans, on the other hand, contend that the report does it reached the American army which knew very well also Pearl Harbor was a target of choice in case of war with Japan.
any case, the disagreement with the Americans came from the outset. It seems that the timid of Hoover's life he hated wearing playboy Popov, first in England and then in the United States, where he was living the high life in the company of the occasional Hollywood actress Simone Simon and was even a about to be deported on charges of trafficking in women for traveling with a woman going through a divorce between two states, it seems that at that time was crime. It is said that the same code name, Tricycle , I came to like to sleep with two women at once although it seems more likely it was because he was very proud of the amount of information obtained by him and his two main actors and Gelatine Balloon. In addition, the Americans wanted to expose Popov other German spies on its territory. The Nazis had ordered him to build a network, so you do not know any. Eventually the British got their allies to feed the network with information Popov reluctantly naval convoys. In October in Rio de Janeiro contacted the Abwehr , got money and instructions and returned to the United States next month. There his dissipated life made him go broke in no time. In England he boasted of not wanting money as MI6, he said, worked for the British friendship for his country. In fact what is not said is that he did not need because I charged the Germans. However, the poor quality of the information it supplied the Americans made the Germans more and rely less on money became scarce, so that when the British finally we made back in August 1942 owed more than 3,000 FBI dollars.
Back in Britain, Popov had ceased to be a good source for the Germans. In October he traveled to Lisbon where he met again with Artist .
not be restored until May 1943 when the British began to make vast amounts of information conveyed in the context of cockade operation aimed at making the Germans believe they were about to invade Europe by Norway and the Channel the Channel to set the maximum number of troops on the Western Front and download them to the Soviets.
In July, he met again with Artist in Lisbon. In the meantime Artist had decided to switch to the allies and between Popov and he created a network of escape alleged Yugoslav officer wanted to move to Germany through Switzerland. In fact spies who formed the new network also working for MI6, including the Marquis Frano Bona, who would become known as Freak and together with English Juan Pujol, Garbo, going to be one of the main architects of success of the operation Overlord.
From February 1944 as well Freak Tricycle and the rest of the network began work on the operation Fortitude, which was to convince the Germans that the invasion of France would come through Pas de Calais.
On April 28, something happened that could destroy the Allied plans to invade Europe that year. Artist Lisbon was kidnapped by the Nazis and taken to concentration camp at Oranienburg , where he died. The problem was that Artist controlled in both theory Tricycle as Garbo and was aware that both worked for MI6, so that the whole network was in danger. The British decided to make Tricycle stop reporting for a while. The truth is that the Germans had seized Artist because they suspected him for certain irregular operations with counterfeit currency that was done, but after the war it was learned that in fact what is feared to denounce Tricycle Garbo and the British.
funny thing is that the Germans were wary of their networks in England and even after the Normandy invasion and not produced by the Pas de Calais. The Government of true and false information that was given to the enemy through Tricycle , Garbo and others had been so good that the Germans continued to believe in them until the end, and they even decorate Juan Pujol. In fact, overcome the shock of the arrest of Artist , Popov returned to send their reports to the end of the war.
After the war, Dusan Popov continued his life as playboy and bon vivant until his death in 1981 at his home near Cannes. Before that I'd be world famous to the character that Ian Fleming another MI6 agent Popov met in Lisbon during the war, would from his adventures and his peculiar way of seeing life. Fleming was particularly obsessed with the way that Popov had been fleecing all German agents some day in the Casino Estoril. Therefore, that did not stop until you get secret service funds to repeat the feat. He failed. In 1981, shortly before his death, Popov told an Italian journalist: "I doubt that James Bond a flesh and blood had survived more than 48 hours as agent Espionage. "
