23. Screwing the Nazis, and Getting Lionized by Them
Eddie Chapman was recalled to the Third Reich, and given a hero’s welcome by the Germans. Soon after D-Day, he was awarded an Iron Cross and sent back to Britain to report on the effectiveness of the German V1 and V2 rocket strikes on London. Under British control, he sent the Germans inflated figures about deaths from their rockets, while deceiving them about their actual impact points. That led the Germans to shift their aim points, with the result that they tended to fall on lower population density parts of London, with correspondingly fewer casualties.
After the war, Chapman continued his colorful life, went into smuggling, moved to the colonies, and started a farm. In violation of the Official Secrets Act, got his exploits were published in The Eddie Chapman Story (1953), Free Agent: Further Adventures of Eddie Chapman (1955), and The Real Eddie Chapman Story (1966). Collectively, they formed the basis of a 1967 movie, Triple Cross.
