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I recruited Duus Hansen. He would not have become a member of the resistance at that time without me, because he was worried about Sigfred Christophersen. It was because Duus and I got on so well that I was lucky enough to be able to benefit from his help on a regular basis, and that led him to maintain his relationship with the British for the rest of the war.

Others agreed. Although the distinguished Danish historian Joergen Haestrup never accused Christophersen of losing his nerve, he did strongly suggest that the radio operator was responsible for the collapse of the partnership with Sneum:

Sneum’s presence in Denmark was still unknown to the Abwerhstelle. Nevertheless, his mission met serious difficulties, partly because the cooperation between him and Christophersen broke down. There can be no doubt that this was through no fault of Sneum’s. Reports from two men, Duus Hansen and the merchant Werner Gyberg, who worked with Sneum and Christophersen, are unanimous on this point.

In short, Sigfred Christophersen acted unprofessionally, while Thomas Sneum commanded more respect and generated more trust.

Although he was instantly impressed by the engineer, not even Sneum could have foreseen the impact Duus Hansen would have on the Second World War. Growing in confidence, he went on to become head of radio communications for the Danish resistance and the focal point for most British contact. Fortunately, London soon came to appreciate his worth.

In the summer of 1943, Duus Hansen invented the ‘Telephone Book’ radio set, so-called because the engineer managed to pack a great deal of superb technology into a very small space. The radio was a spy’s dream in Nazi-occupied Europe, more practical and effective than anything British experts had devised. It weighed just one and a half kilograms, making it far more suitable for work in the field.

But he didn’t finish there. Acting on a fresh request from London, Duus Hansen invented a high-speed Morse transmission system that helped to protect the lives of countless British agents. By cutting the time during which the feared German detector-vans could trace those transmissions, Duus helped many Allied spies evade capture, and ultimately ensured his own survival as well.

The importance of his continued involvement in the Danish resistance was emphasized in the late summer of 1943, when the British were provided with vital intelligence on Hitler’s V-rocket operations on Peenemunde and Bornholm. Had Tommy Sneum not recruited Duus Hansen twenty months earlier, many more Londoners might have been killed towards the end of the war. The engineer had needed someone to convince him that he had the necessary character to prevail in a battle of wits against the Germans. Sneum had provided that inspiration, setting Duus Hansen on the path to his future heroics.

Chapter 26

INFIGHTING

ELSE SNEUM PRESUMED THAT her husband was still in Copenhagen that December, yet feared he was now out of reach. She hadn’t seen Tommy for more than a month, and the rapid approach of Marianne’s first Christmas must have sharpened her sense of anguish. While Else’s parents had been generous in supporting her and the baby, the traditional breadwinner in her little family remained elusive. Tommy’s father had also contributed financially, but Else clearly didn’t want to become dependent on either of Marianne’s sets of grandparents. Around this time she seems to have decided that she had played the waiting game long enough. She chose to go back to work, leaving Marianne with the Jensens during the day. Taking advantage of extra seasonal demand, Else found a job as a shop assistant in Copenhagen’s well-respected Fonnesbech store. If she persevered all through Christmas and the New Year, she could earn two hundred Danish kroner. It wasn’t a fortune, but it would give her some control over her own destiny.

Sigfred Christophersen also craved independence and normality. As Christmas approached,