Report on two walking tours to study World War Two Spies in Estoril

On Sunday 12 October, 28 members gathered to explore the machinations of spies of various nationalities in Estoril, which, during WWII, became a stage for spies, double agents, and secret deals. As this tour had been sold out within a day, we organised a second tour two weeks later, on 26 October, when 24 people took part. Both tours were expertly guided by Marisa Filipe, a PhD student at the Instituto Superior das Ciências do Trabalho e das Empresas, who has extensively studied espionage in Portugal in the period.

We met next to the statue of the “Three Polish Gentlemen”, which records three emissaries from Poland who travelled west to bring the attention of the Allies to the suffering of Poles, particularly Jews, under the Nazis. For more information on this, please see this excellent article by our member Jackie Kennard. Marisa began by setting the context for why Estoril and Portugal had such an attraction for spies. Under Salazar, the country pursued a policy of neutrality, making travel in and out relatively easy and Portugal a relatively safe place for spies to operate. Moreover, Portugal had something that both sides wanted, wolfram or tungsten, which was needed for high-strength steel alloys and metal-piercing ammunition. A further reason to be near Lisbon was that the Allies and the Axis could obtain important information about shipping movements in the Atlantic.

Marisa then mentioned the arrival in Portugal of Jewish and other refugees and the fact that many of the richer ones were accommodated in Estoril. She briefly discussed the role of MI9, the British organisation that assisted in the escape of Allied prisoners of war and airmen who had been shot down behind enemy lines, and mentioned the role played by Victor Reynolds at the Quinta do Carmo close to the Spanish border. She then talked about the American-French cabaret artist, Josephine Baker, (above left) who worked for the British and American secret services gathering information at night clubs and at the many parties she was invited to. During her travels to North Africa, Portugal and elsewhere Baker would make notes of the information she picked up and sew the papers to the inside of her underwear. She stayed in the former Hotel Atlântico (above right) in Monte Estoril, which was the base for German spies after it was purchased in 1939 by a German.

Following a stroll to the opposite side of the gardens, Marisa talked about the role of Grahame Greene in allocating rooms to spies in different hotels in Estoril. She then discussed the Estoril Casino (much more attractive in those days, as were the gardens), and the rich refugees who began to arrive from 1937 and frequented the casino. She followed this by mentioning the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the attempts by Walter Schellenberg of the SS to persuade them to defect, and the plan of German spies to kidnap them. Unlike the British, the Germans in Portugal had official contacts with the Portuguese spy agency, the PVDE, so Salazar knew everything that was going on. Marisa then mentioned Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, Head of the Abwehr, the German Intelligence Service, who made several visits to Portugal and was thought by some to have been a double agent.

Marisa then discussed the Serbian double agent, Duško Popov (above left on Tamariz beach), who met Ian Fleming (above right), author of the 007 novels, in Estoril and was believed to have been the inspiration for James Bond. One of our members on the first tour, Robin Apthorpe, had met Ian Fleming and he described the circumstances of that meeting.

Marisa then talked about the death of the actor and spy, Leslie Howard (above), when his commercial flight was shot down en route from Lisbon to Bristol, and the possible reasons that this was targeted, including the fact that the Germans suspected that Churchill was on board.  The tours then moved down to Tamariz beach, giving participants a chance to sit down (above). Here Marisa pointed out that the dress and behaviour of some of the foreigners in 1940 were very shocking for the conservative Portuguese.

Both tours ended in the Palácio Hotel, where many of the spies stayed. Next door during the war was the Hotel do Parque. When it was demolished dozens of bugging devices were found in the walls. We were guided around the Palácio by Sr. José Diogo (below), who has worked there since before it was used for the James Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, in which he worked as an ‘extra’. Corridors on both sides of the entrance feature photographs of distinguished visitors and there are also the hotel registration cards of Ian Fleming and others. Finally, participants on both trips seated themselves in the hotel bar, almost the same as it was in the days of Ian Fleming (his hotel registration is above, left), and rather overwhelmed the capacity of the barman to produce 007 martini cocktails (shaken, not stirred).

Finally, our member, Ruth Hurst, was on the second tour. She was also an extra in the film and can be seen on the left in yellow in the photo of the wedding scene, below. She told the group that George Lazenby, who played 007, was chasing after all the girls, including his co-star, Diana Rigg, who escaped his attentions by sitting with the extras, such as Ruth, when filming was not taking place.