Online Book Reader

Home Category

The Hornet's Sting_ The Amazing Untold Story of World War II Spy Thomas Sneum - Mark Ryan [171]

By Root 580 0
” There are many photographs in existence to confirm that Goering visited Denmark in an official capacity in 1938.

Note 4: Page 11, Lines 21-29: Sneum’s account as told to the author during numerous interviews between 1998 and2006

Note 5: Page 12, Line 34 to Page 13, Line 22: “Look ... Meinicke or not.” Dialogue as told to the author by Sneum during numerous interviews between 1998 and 2006.

Note 6: Page 14, Lines 1-29: “Indeed it is . . . make life much easier.” Dialogue as told to the author by Sneum between 1998 and 2006.

Note 7: Page 15, Lines 10-19: “I only gave them . . . ‘You’re nice people.’” From Sneum’s interviews with the author 1998-2006.

Note 8: Page 17, Lines 10-29: “Are you afraid . . . come in unobserved.” Dialogue as told to author, 1998-2006.

CHAPTER 2: TRAPPED

Note 1: Page 18, Lines 18-19: “But she wanted Tommy . . . awkwardness of the situation.” Else’s thoughts and feelings are described here just as she explained them to Tommy, and as Sneum in turn explained them to the author. (Else Sneum passed away before the author wrote the book).

Note 2: Page 23, Lines 1-2: “ . . . Kaj’s wife Tulle . . . ” Her Christian names were Annemarie Elisabeth. “Tulle” was easier.

CHAPTER 3: HIMMLER AND THE LONGBOW

Note 1: Page 26, Lines 15-16: “ . . . Harwich in England to Esbjerg . . . ” Harwich, in East Anglia, is one of England’s most easterly ports, while Esbjerg is Denmark’s most westerly port.

Note 2: Page 27, Line 10: “Her sister-in-law, Inger Pasborg, later claimed . . . ” The author interviewed Inger Pasborg in 2008.

Note 3: Page 27, Line 37 to Page 28, Lines 1-2: “ . . . it came in two pieces, which you could quickly assemble or fold away as you liked . . . ” In Sweden an archer by the name of Kjellson had designed an all-steel bow and in 1935 this was put into production by the Swedish steel company, Seefab. Tommy Sneum’s bow was a Seefab and it survived the war. The bow remains a highly prized item within the Sneum family to this day. Its handle is made of cork to achieve a better grip, and it is 168 centimetres high when fully assembled and stood on one end. But it wasn’t just the Swedes who had seen the potential of this silent killer during World War Two. Strong rumours suggest that British Commandos uses a similar design, with the bow coming apart, and made by Accles and Pollocks of Oldbury, England.

Note 4: Page 29, Lines 15-22: “In 2007, Tommy’s son, Christian, asserted . . . ” The source for these remarks is Christian Sneum’s interview with the author, Mark Ryan.

Note 5: Page 30, Lines 10-11: “Oda was blown up . . . Peter Group . . . ” Inger Pasborg revealed Oda’s sad fate in her 2008 interview with the author. The Peter Group was essentially a terrorist organisation formed at the end of 1943 on the instigation of the Nazis in order to deter the Danish population from acts of sabotage against the occupying forces. The Waffen SS chose Untersharfuhrer Otto Schwerdt (a German) to lead this group of 13 people. He called himself Peter Schafer, and thus gave his name to the Peter Group. As part of their programme of reprisals they carried out: 94 murders of anti-Germans, resistance figures and Danish intellectuals. Among these was the much-loved priest and playwright Kaj Munk, who spoke against the Germans in his sermons. 25 attempted murders. 8 trains derailed, often using explosives, causing the loss of 26 lives—including that of Oda Pasborg. The destruction of 157 buildings, among them the cinemas and concert halls of Copenhagen’s historic Tivoli Gardens, causing more than 100 million kroner worth of damage.

Note 6: Page 30, Lines 21-24: “ . . . It would have come as little consolation . . . for their part in the senseless death and destruction . . . ” Most active was a man called Henning Bothilsen Nielsen. After the war he and seven other Danish members of the Peter Group were caught and sentenced to death. The eight men were shot on 8-9 May, 1947.

CHAPTER 4: A TASTE OF FREEDOM

Note 1: Page 31, Line 20 to Page 31, Line

Return Main Page Previous Page Next Page

®Online Book Reader