Hitler’s lightning strike in Poland soon gave way to a strange eight month waiting game. Blitzkrieg became “Sitzkrieg,” a declared but not yet fought battle – allowing spies, diplomats, agents of influence, intelligence officers, opportunists, charlatans and statesmen to make their moves... From the rape of Poland to the fall of France, the secrets of Sitzkrieg.
In World War Two one of Germany’s best-kept secrets was the code machine “Enigma.” But this covert weapon would also become one of the greatest tools the Allies used against the Third Reich. British code breakers were behind the greatest campaign of deception in military history, changing the outcome of the Second World War.
In the critical battle for North Africa, German General Irwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, seemed unstoppable – a warrior with a mystical feel for the battle. But how did he really get his intelligence? The British countered with secrets of their own; phony spies, phantom armies, and battlefield “magic.” Declassified information shines new light on spy vs. spy operations in North Africa.
It was a tremendous booty, prized by Hitler as much as territory. The priceless art, personal assets and national treasuries of an entire continent. The organized plunder of these riches would become the most enormous heist in history, amounting to a vast hoard lost in the fog of war. The trails of the spoils of war and Nazi gold.
They were weapons systems that were far beyond anything the Allies had or could have imagined in World War II. Deployed properly, they could have changed the outcome of the war. From the world’s first ballistic missile and operational jet plane, to air-to-ground missiles and guided smart bombs, they were secret weapons of the Third Reich.