10. The Real Life Spy Behind One of Fiction’s Greatest Spies
The information sought by the Abwehr included an extensive list of question about the defenses of Pearl Harbor, in which Germany’s Japanese allies were keenly interested. The British worked with the FBI to handle Popov while in the US, but FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and his G-men lacked the vision and finesse of their British counterparts. Rather than use Popov as a double agent to suss out German intentions and feed them false information, Hoover simply wanted to use him to catch German spies. Hoover failed to pass on Popov’s Abwehr questions to American military authorities – particularly the ones asking about Pearl Harbor’s defenses. After the Japanese attack wrecked the US fleet there a few months later, Hoover’s oversight should have wrecked his career. However, he buried it so deep, that it did not come out until decades later, after his death.
While in the US, the British assigned Popov a naval intelligence officer named Ian Fleming to watch his every move. The future author of James of Bond followed Popov around as he made the rounds of American night clubs and casinos, where he womanized, splurged the cash furnished him by the Abwehr, and made a killing on the roulette tables. The style and panache left an impression that found expression years later in Agent 007. Indeed, some famous scenes from Casino Royale were based on Fleming’s observations of Popov in American casinos. Eventually, Popov’s relationship with the FBI got so toxic that British intelligence recalled him to London. There, he continued to feed the Abwehr false information. His biggest contribution came in the intricate Allied deception plans, collectively known as Operation Bodyguard, that sought to deceive the Germans about the planned invasion of France, scheduled for the summer of 1944.
