The Hornet's Sting_ The Amazing Untold Story of World War II Spy Thomas Sneum - Mark Ryan [78]
Of course, the Princes were already riled by Sneum’s mere presence in their sector. They maintained their own indirect contact with London through the smooth-talking Ronald Turnbull, but they had no idea that Turnbull was a field chief in a newly formed ‘amateur’ organization rather than an agent of the long-established British Intelligence. It therefore hadn’t occurred to Nordentoft, Lunding or Gyth that Tommy Sneum might have been sent to Denmark by a rival British covert service to Turnbull’s. The idea that British-run agents could be dropped not only without Ronnie’s approval but without his knowledge seemed inconceivable to the Princes. Which explains why they were suspicious of Tommy from the start.
When they heard he was mixing with the Abwehr, the alarm bells began to ring even more loudly. They now considered Sneum to be a security risk, and finally complained to Turnbull about the agent’s presence in Copenhagen. Bitterly, they said they felt betrayed by Britain’s contravention of the agreement they had struck with SOE. No agents should have been sent to Denmark without the say-so of Danish Intelligence, and yet Tommy continued to insist that he had been recruited in London and sent on a mission to his home country by British Intelligence.
Naturally, Turnbull was confused and then angry to hear about the agents London had sent to Denmark without his knowledge. The last thing he needed was SIS causing complications in his theatre of operations. He felt he already had the territory well covered, and he was confident that it would be only a matter of time before the links he had forged with the Princes bore fruit. They had told him yet again that the best way to handle the occupation was to do nothing until the time was right. Turnbull agreed, and argued their case passionately in communications to London. Sending in British-run agents behind his back, whichever organization they represented, wasn’t the way to ensure the help of Danish Intelligence, he explained.
When urged by his own superiors to be more aggressive in his support for subversive activity in Copenhagen, Turnbull responded with the appropriate reassurances. Privately, though, he shook his head sadly at what he regarded as London’s total lack of understanding of the situation in Denmark. He posed the question: what would have a more profound effect on the outcome of the war—to blow up the odd train and suffer inevitable reprisals, or to enjoy the continued support of the men who knew Denmark best, the Princes? Arguing his case with great diplomatic skill, he continued to do nothing. He even protected the identities of the Princes from his bosses, to the exasperation of the SOE hierarchy in London.
It was against this background that Tommy Sneum’s high-risk approach to intelligence-gathering had created ripples in Denmark, the previously calm Scandinavian backwater. For Turnbull, this represented an embarrassing situation. Though he could hardly tell the Princes, it was obvious to him that MI6 spymasters had been busy behind the backs of their SOE ‘cousins.’ SIS had clearly won the race to land the first covert team in Copenhagen, beating their SOE rivals to the punch. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the SIS agent sounded like a loose cannon. Turnbull knew that SOE would now be more anxious than ever to send in their own British-trained agents, to strike back against SIS in the battle for control of Denmark. The rivalry would escalate until one side prevailed, and only then would all the dangerous misunderstandings come to an end.
Thomas Sneum still knew nothing of this as he prepared for his first transmission in the autumn of 1941. While others viewed his activities with dismay, Tommy himself was satisfied with how he was handling an extremely difficult mission.