13 Rue Madelaine & Devastating Concealed Information?..

 13 RUE MADELAINE

This was a fascinating movie with a lot more to it than might first be thought. Set in the days before D-Day, the story told of a Spy training school in the USA that was known interestingly as 077. The plot surrounds a group of trainee agents and included in their number was a German spy, played by Conte. Cagney and his superiors were aware of who the spy was but had developed a plan to deliberately feed him false information intended to have the Germans believe that the coming invasion of Europe would be made via the flatlands of Holland.  The whole cast played their parts well, and having spent 15 years researching this specific period, it was a very believable story. The attention to detail was amazing, right down to the 'BURN' notice in the radio operator's room and the use of British officers in the training of US agents, very true.  It was dramatic and engaging to watch. In the opening line of this review, I referred to there being more to the film than meets the eye, and here's the reason.

According to Leo Marks, author of Between Silk and Cyanide and one-time code man at British SOE in Baker Street London, there were concerns that some radio operators were missing the 'deliberate' mistakes made in messages by radio operators in Holland. While it was reported several times nothing was done about it. As a consequence, SOE lost many of its agents in Holland, a coincidence perhaps or was another game being played? In short, a great movie, believable and factual and it left me wondering,.

You can access the Leo Marks book ‘Between Silk and Cyanide’ on the Internet Archive at no cost. Here’s the link:

https://archive.org/details/betweensilkcyani0000mark/mode/2up

It’s a great read loaded with information about the workings of SOE the politics surrounding and within it and a few photographs. There’s also a mention of a gentleman who was transferred overseas following the Holland agent deaths debacle. He was transferred to SOE Australia whose remit in those times was to focus on Japanese occupied territories. I wonder.

(As an aside, Bill Donovan, was the head of the OSS in WW2, I was going through family research recently, it turns out we are related! a second cousin I think but need to do some more research)

SOMERTON MAN MUSICALLY SPEAKING...

https://suno.com/song/8ebec470-42f9-4e36-a7a8-babb6edc8d28

And here's another Somerton Man song courtesy of SUNO, but this was one is different. It is known that in WW2 coded messages were sometimes concealed in sheet music and other are also instances of codes being contained in lyrics. So in keeping with that, this SUNO song contains a code within the lyrics and here's the cipher text for those who have an interest in codes and ciphers.

1153 1258 1365 2155 4364 1240 5329

This cipher text does have a keyword...

Verse 1

Where the silent winds drift and shadows rest,

Oceans whisper secrets from east to west.

One life faded, untold and gone,

Mornings blur as days march on.

Verse 2

Evening falls where mysteries hide,

Riddles echo in the dark, worldwide.

In hidden sands, a truth remains,

Stars trace stories in unseen chains.

Chorus

Dust on the shore, memories fade,

In twilight’s hush, dark plans are made.

From distant voices to files unread,

A ciphered life, in shadows spread.

Verse 3

Secrets buried in Somerton’s sand,

Hope lost in a half-forgotten land.

Under the stars, names drift away,

Down in the dark, night holds sway.

Verse 4

Eyes that watched, and words unsaid,

Hidden in code, through lines they’re read.

Messages scattered in coded design,

A story fades through waves in time.