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Topic: Hemingway and the Windsors

Author Message << Prev Topic | Next Topic >> donmadge New Member Joined: 01 September 2005 Location: Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 39 Posted: 31 October 2006 at 3:44pm | IP Logged The Duke of Windsor has been called everything from a money launderer to an outright traitor because of his extreme appeasment attitudes toward the Third Reich.  Wallace Warfield Simpson has been alleged to have been the lover of Joachin Von Ribbentrop.  One theory has it that the Crook Factory under Ernest Hemingway was set up by the BSC/Oss to watch over the comings and goings of this pair while the Duke was Governor of the Bahamas in 1942-43. Is there any basis to these allegations and is there any basis to the claim that Sir Harry Oakes was murdered as part of a joint BSC/OSS wet op on July 8, 1943?     __________________ DNM Back to Top   Daughter New Member Joined: 22 August 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 15 Posted: 01 November 2006 at 3:55pm | IP Logged This is interesting since I am currently reading a novel by Timothy Findley titled, "Famous Last Words" which has all of the above mentioned in it but no mention yet of Ernest being a spy.   Back to Top   donmadge New Member Joined: 01 September 2005 Location: Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 39 Posted: 01 November 2006 at 5:45pm | IP Logged It would be much more difficult to prove that Hemingway wasn't a covert than to prove he was one.  He headed up a BSC cell called the Crook Factory.  A sham operation by the same name was revealed to J. Edgar Hoover in order to keep him out of the loop.  Bill Donovan ran cover for the actual cell that was controlled by Ian Fleming.  So the Crook Factory was actually a BSC op not an OSS one.  However, in 1943 the issue became blurred as Anglo American cooperation became more and more intrenched.  This is the root of present day MI6/CIA "special relationship".  Most of Hemingways operatives were recruited from his days in Spain during the 1936-38 era.  One of these was an Englishman by the name of Lightfoot who lost is arm in the fighting.  Afterwards he was code named Lighthand (sick).  This is where the idea of the Crook Factory was conceived.  These people were criminals mainly in the eyes of Franco, but heros in the eyes of the BSC and Ian Fleming. I would rather not say too much more because I am hoping for clues from the learned people who visit this site.  So my big question is what was the true role of Hemingway's Crook factory?  I have a hard time believing it was simply to try to sink a german submarine in the Caribbean.  What connection did the Crook Factory have with the money laundering ops of the Duke of Windsor? How could a former King of Great Britain and the Commonwealth turn away from his Imperial Duty?       __________________ DNM Back to Top   hijo Leader Joined: 14 August 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 547 Posted: 02 November 2006 at 5:26pm | IP Logged Don: again, you raise an interesting question. But it appears to be a two-parter, as we say in press conferences. 1) Was the real Crook Factory a BSC-controlled cell more than OSS? 2) Was Wallace Simpson, the American divorcee and Dutchess of Windsor, the German spy, or was the Duke? After all, as a sympathetic to the Reich, it would have been best to have kept the crown, no? It's not like there isn't/wasn't any "special relationship" between England and Germany anyway - what with the Saxe-Coburg-Goethes (sorry, the Windsors). On question 1, I believe some information can be gleaned from the FBI's continuous interest. It is important to recall that not all of the U.S. was anti-German, or anti-Nazi, during Hitler's rise to power. And Cuba was in the region of U-boat refueling stops all the way South (since they couldn't use the canal, as the U.S. controlled it, the only other ways around were north or south). In fact, there has been some continued interest in another "great" American family, one which was heavily involved in German (Nazi) banking up until receiving a cease-and-desist order in 1942. But as usual, I digress. Look into H.E. Knoblaugh - AP Correspondent in Spain (even wrote a book of the same name) during the Civil War, Franco sympathizer, who not only became SAC for the Havana Field Office, but was "keeping an eye on" the Crook Factory for J. Edgar. It's easy to forget two things in the first part of the question: the Crook Factory was comprised heavily of ex-Republican (Spain) refugees, (as were the Free French and even the resistance within France) and many countries (including the U.S.) feared "Communists" more than Fascists, as the Communists had been around since the late 1800s, while the Fascists came to power largely as an antidote (and usually monarchist/religiously affiliated) to such revolutionists. Was Knoblaugh working for the U.S. government while in Spain, or only when he arrived in Havana - where EH happened to be pals with the U.S. Ambassador? Was Knoblaugh keeping an eye on Nazi and Fascist sympathizers/spies in Havana, or on Hemingway and Communists? Was there a sense that, with the refugees, and the poverty, Cuba could wind up as another leftist country within the U.S. hemisphere of influence (Monroe Doctrine) or that it might happen upon other seeds sown prior to such events (such as the Duke of Windsor's "exile" to the Bahamas, the installation of his brother as King (something no one, least of all his brother, ever really expected). I've noted before you can't field an army, or a revolution, without money. Which means you can't fund covert activity without a bank. Anywhere in the world, and the closer to operations the better... Tough break for Sir Harry, I must admit. Though when you sell your soul to the Devil for money, it helps to remember he'll always collect in the end. Best, and happy digging, hijo Back to Top   hijo Leader Joined: 14 August 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 547 Posted: 02 November 2006 at 5:34pm | IP Logged Last tidbit- a follow up, as we like to say: Cuba was a gambling/mob/originally rum-running haven up until Castro came along and wrecked Lansky's set-up. Lansky's mob, through Giancana, was linked to Las Vegas (Bugsy Siegel) and Havana. Which is why the CIA asked Giancana's crowd to off Castro (it seemed to provide fine cover). There's one thing casinos are best at better in some ways even than land investments. You put the money in from your illegal/illicit activities, and loe and behold, it comes out "clean" in the form of "profits." The beauty of land for laundering is that you can keep the money in the ground as long as you want to, and the longer you wait, the cleaner it is when you sell the dirt to some sap and stuff the new wads of green in your pockets. The beauty of casinos is they're like "one-hour martinizing" places - the money comes out "clean" almost immediately. Ah, but anyone related to a gem miner knows the value of land. Best, hijo Back to Top   donmadge New Member Joined: 01 September 2005 Location: Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 39 Posted: 02 November 2006 at 11:56pm | IP Logged Hijo's questions, There is some hard evidence from the files of J Edgar Hoover that Wallace Simpson was a honey pot for the Duke.  She had had more than a casual aquaintance with Joachim von Ribbentrop.  However, as far as the Duke is concerned it looks like he became  her duped accomplice.  We don't know when these two crossed the line from appeaser to traitor, but I am convinced they actually did.  Wallace's motivation was that the Germans promised to make her Queen.  To keep the two in line for the throne Hitler was willing to pay big bucks.  The original two damning letters to the FBI are thought to be in the 100 year files in Britain.  I have poor facsimilies of these letters.  If you can show me how to put these up on this site I can provide images.  They are badly mauled by the OSS grease pencils.  The names of the informants are not known, but one can guess.  They are Americans from Baltimore and Westchester County. Ian Fleming ran control on the Crook Factory.  The first person to suspect that there was a BSC connection initially incorrectly labelled it as an OSS operation.  This was Alfred de Marigny the son in law of Harry Oakes who was initially charged, but acquitted for the murder of his father in law.  Hemingway and Don Andres were remorseful of this and gave him refuge at the Finca when he was getting on his feet. Two phoney attempts were made on his life by the CF when he kept accusing the British Government of killing Harry Oakes.  Harry Oakes was the chief money launderer for the Windsors.  Eventually in 1951 the BCE had to make a real attempt on his life.  It was botched, but it ended the accusations.  One should read the book Conspiracy of Crowns by de Marigny.  You can imagine I was pretty astonished when I read pages 247 to 252 which describes Marigny's meeting with the Crook Factory at the Finca and then goes on to describe the attempts on his life.  He never suspected Hemingway et al.  Hemingway was the person to whom he first reported the first attempt. I am very tired tonight, But I wanted to make this reply to these most importnat questions.  I should end with the following: On May 23, 1940 the order was given to all British Military personnel at BEFHQ Paris to fall back to channel ports and prepare for evacuation.  A Major General chose to disobey this general order abandoning his post to flee to Spain.  That was HRH the Duke of Windsor.  He was a traitor in my opinion. So was his wife who slept with him and Joachim von Ribbentrop at the same time as she betrayed her husband Ernest Simpson.  Von Ribbentrop, as you know was the first man to hang at Nuremburg. Cheers Don Madge   __________________ DNM Back to Top   donmadge New Member Joined: 01 September 2005 Location: Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 39 Posted: 03 November 2006 at 6:44am | IP Logged The Windsors were always desperate for money, but always depended on others to pick up the tab.  The following is a story from last year: February 07, 2005 – 08:27 Sir Stafford Sands 'Had Information On Harry Oakes Murder Cover-Up' Nassau's notorious legal / real estate 'mafia' is believed to have orchestrated the Oakes murder and many others since then. Sir Stafford Sands, the most powerful man in the Bahamas during the 1960s, claimed to have information linking the Duke of Windsor to a major cover-up in the Oakes murder case of 1943. The former Bahamas finance minister, who launched the country's tourism boom, said he had secret documentation which would serve as an "insurance policy" if he ever fell on hard times, it was claimed yesterday. The astonishing disclosure was made shortly after the 1967 general election in which the Bay Street Boys and their party, the UBP, were swept from power by the PLP under Lynden Pindling. Sir Stafford, the kingpin of the UBP at the time, was asked by British journalist Roy East where his future lay following his party's defeat at the polls. Sands replied that the British government would always look after him because of information he possessed about the Duke and the Oakes murder mystery. Mr East said the documentation was described by Sir Stafford as an "insurance policy" against any future problems he might have.   I found this interesting and no doubt has some semblance of truth.  However, the really dangerous money laundering was the high stakes carry on with the organization later known as Odessa.  When Churchill found out about this there may even have been suggestions that the Duke himself had to be "taken out".  Harry Oakes was the discoverer of the Lake Shore Mine near Kirkland Lake in Ontario.  It provided the Duke with a golden opportunity if you will excuse the pun.  The way things worked is that through the kind collusion of one Axel Wenner Gren it became possible to offload bullion from U-boats in the Caribbean to the Wenner Gren yacht called the Southern Cross.  She could then deliver this gold to the Lake Shore Mine controlled by Harry Oakes.  The gold was simply re-smelted at Lake Sore, a mine big enough to hide large quantities of bullion, which could be sold in New York.  Canadian Banks such as the Royal bank of Canada would make deposits in Caribbean tax havens.  Some money went to the accounts of the Windsors and some went to Odessa. The Duke had other schemes, but this is the one that launched BSC operations such as Operation Crowns a task laid out for the Crook Factory.  Break up the Odessa money laundering.  Interestingly, shortly after the death of Harry Oakes there were large adjustments to the Lake Shore Ore Reserves. I believe Operation Crowns was the raison d'être of the Crook Factory.   __________________ DNM Back to Top   donmadge New Member Joined: 01 September 2005 Location: Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 39 Posted: 03 November 2006 at 1:00pm | IP Logged Currently my retirement plan might be called Freedom 75, but I like Hijo's money laundering suggestions so well that I am thinking maybe I should retire early to Las Vegas.  Since my daughter may have some mob connections maybe I can get a part time job skimming at the Belagio. Seriously, Hijos suggestions are packed with ideas for me to follow up.  This website has been one of the best drivers for my research and the suggestions of you all are priceless.  I first became convinced that my father in law had a connection with Hemingway when I learned he went to Spain during the Civil War.  My wife's mother mentions American friends and someone that fits the description of Martha Gellhorn.  Then there were all these trips to Cuba by a member of the family who would like to have me assasinated. Please forgive my rhetoric, but it could cause someone to come forth with more gems. Best Don Madge __________________ DNM Back to Top   donmadge New Member Joined: 01 September 2005 Location: Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 39 Posted: 03 November 2006 at 1:52pm | IP Logged Hijo, I have a friend who is an honest politico.  His name is Stevens and I called him Bugsy Stevens when he was Minister of Gaming for Alberta.  He queried why, so I told him this story. When Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel were planning the Flamingo, Meyer insisted that the gaming be fair.  "Yeah", said Bugsy, "We have to give the suckers a chance to break even." I only wish Gaming in Alberta were as fair today as it was in Vegas under the rule of the mob!  Talk about skimming I'll take a gangster over a politician any day.  You say there is really no difference? Best Don           __________________ DNM Back to Top   hijo Leader Joined: 14 August 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 547 Posted: 03 November 2006 at 11:38pm | IP Logged http://foia.fbi.gov/oakes_sir_harry/oakes_sir_harry_part02.p df Back to Top

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