The Hornet's Sting_ The Amazing Untold Story of World War II Spy Thomas Sneum - Mark Ryan [4]
After years of investigation into Sneum’s action-packed story, the true course of events can finally be told here. Was Sneum a hero or a traitor; a scapegoat or a villain? When it comes to the dark world of spooks, where does perception end and reality begin?
Chapter 1
THE TIGHTROPE TO RADAR
THOMAS SNEUM DIDN’T have time to think of a subtle way out of his first big crisis as a spy. It was unfortunate because no one on the British side knew about the extraordinary risks he was taking. The spy world in London was not even aware of his existence, and British Scientific Intelligence had no knowledge of the new Nazi installation which had drawn Sneum into such immediate danger. Mysterious towers had suddenly been erected where pine trees met sand dunes on his native island of Fanoe. And their strategic position, just off the west coast of Denmark, suggested that Adolf Hitler was preparing an unpleasant welcome for any British planes eyeing a route to mainland Europe across the North Sea.
The installation was visible in the distance, almost taunting Sneum; but his attempt to uncover its secrets, as he pretended to hunt rabbits on the surrounding heathland, had just been foiled by a rogue Alsatian’s ability to pick up his scent on the sea breeze. ‘That bloody dog came out of nowhere,’ he explained many years later, as if still struggling to make sense of what had happened.
Tommy knew he was in deep trouble. He could reason with people; he could play mind games and win. That was why he had struck up what he thought would become a useful rapport with the Germans who had occupied his country for the last few months. He even liked some of them. As a youngster, Sneum had played with German children on the tourist beaches of Fanoe just as often as he had played with their British counterparts. The rugged holiday island, just three kilometers wide and sixteen kilometers long, had been a paradise. Tommy still called it home, but now the game had changed. The Germans had turned from tourists to invaders, and the British were nowhere to be seen. Despite these dramatic changes to his world, Tommy’s childhood experiences had helped him to adapt and turn the new balance of power to his advantage—until now.
No amount of carefully chosen words was going to stop this dog. It seemed to have made up its mind about how to deal with any suspicious-looking locals and was now eating up the last stretch of ground between them at such a frightening speed that Sneum could already see its razor-sharp teeth. He knew he had only a few seconds to come up with a solution, but he was still struggling to understand how the Alsatian had appeared so suddenly. The German guards kept their dogs on leads at all times, so this one had either broken free or been released deliberately by its handler. The guard was nowhere to be seen and the Alsatian was ready to leap. Instinctively, Tommy raised his shotgun and fired. ‘I blew a hole in that animal just in time,’ he recalled. ‘But I also knew straight away that I was still in trouble.’
His desperate act of self-defense left an ominous silence, broken only by the sound of a German soldier scrambling up the slope towards him. As the guard drew closer and raised his rifle, Tommy saw that ‘He was literally shaking with anger and looked as though he might be ready to do anything.’
At that moment he knew his charm offensive among the invaders, launched in the hope of unearthing intelligence for the British, was going to count for nothing. The dream of an escape to England and a new life as a fighter pilot in the RAF looked no more than a hollow fantasy. Right there, at home, was where the war seemed about to end for Thomas Sneum.
Tommy had been