Juan Pujol Garcia: The Greatest Double Spy
Juan Pujol Garcia - Part 1
Juan Pujol Garcia was a double spy during the 2nd World War. Born the son of a dye factory owner in Barcelona Spain as the 3rd of 4 children, he went to school at the age of 7. He was only allowed to leave the school on Sundays if he had a visitor.
He was on by the Republican government during the Spanish Civil War to fight for them. However, he refused to serve them because of things that had happened earlier in the war.
When World War II erupted, Juan called British intelligence and offered his services as a spy. By this time he was living in Britain. The British intelligence refused his offer. They had no information on this stranger from Spain. After being turned down by the British, Juan called the Germans and offered his services as a spy. The Germans needed all the intel they could get on the British, so they accepted him readily.
Juan called the British again and told them that he had just been hired to spy on them by Germany. The British quickly hired Juan to be a double spy and to give the Germans false information. Juan was the best double spy the world has ever seen.
The Germans stayed in contact with Juan and because of the seemingly good intel they were getting. They encouraged Juan to recruit more spies that he could trust. By the end of the war, the Germans still thought the intel they received was good. They also believed Juan had almost 30 spies in his group, even though Juan was the only spy! The Germans had been given background information on all 30 of the spies. Information that Juan had made up. Juan was also collecting all 30 paychecks! As well as his pay from the British. Throughout the entire war, the Germans paid Juan what would be $300,000 American dollars.
During D-day, Juan was to give the Germans false information about the attack. Juan called the Germans early in the morning to tell them the news, but his call was ignored. Juan kept calling all day long. Late in the afternoon the Germans finally answered the phone, and Jaun told them all the details of the attack. Since the Germans already knew all about it, they were dumbfounded that Juan had such information. If they had just answered the phone they could have stopped the attack, or so they thought.
The Germans never found out that Juan was fooling them the entire time. At the end of the war the Germans gave Juan The Iron Cross. The Iron Cross was one of Germany's most prestigious honors awarded during World War II. The award required Hitler's personal signature. King George the 6th awarded Juan a MBE, the highest military honor in the British empire. Juan was the only man to be so honored by both sides in World War II.
Juan Pujol Garcia was one of the best double spies ever!
