Chapter 2: Anne-Marie

Anne-Marie lay back in the bath and thought about the days events. She had been pleasantly surprised at first meeting Tony, although when she had first seen him unshaven and in his sea going uniform, she was a little put off, but something about him she found very attractive. If she had to have a make believe husband, at least she thought, it was nice to have one who after a shower and a shave looked a bit dishy, and she would not have to pretend too much with him. The photographs she had been shown had not done him justice. She knew she would always remember that first sighting of him, totally absorbed in the safety of his submarine, as he gave the necessary orders for her berthing as he brought HMS Tenacious alongside earlier that morning.

Although at first she was frightened that he might not co-operate with the operation. She realised almost as soon as she had spoken, that she had been rather too hasty in her comments. She had seen his record, it was a record for any person to be proud of, he was something of a national war hero, but on a personal note, it had also been quietly hinted that if anything, he was a bit of a womaniser, so she had no doubts that the sexual side of their forthcoming marriage would not create a problem for him ... Now she was gradually feeling increasingly optimistic about the whole operation. She was even more sure after knowing him for a few hours that she could work with him.

She was heartened at the party in the bar downstairs, by the obvious genuine respect and affection his crew had for him, and the dismay that had been expressed by almost everyone, at losing him. However, the big hurdle was yet to come. She had avoided all sexual contact since her disastrous marriage of a few years ago, and now to have to climb into bed with a strange man, was for her a bit nerve wracking. She knew though, that it had to be done, the Gestapo were no fools, and any inconsistency in their cover story would be fatal for both of them.

Anne-Marie was 24 and had been born of a Belgian mother and a French father, and she had been brought up in a small town on the Belgian coast not far from Zeebrugge. They were a relatively wealthy family, her father was a local banker, and well known and respected in the area. After school she had not had to work and had stopped at home to help her ageing mother.

In 1938 she had met a young German man named Wolfram, who was on holiday in Oostende. They had fallen in love, and despite her parents dislike, and virtual hatred of all Germans, they had married. The wedding in Zeebrugge had turned out to be a typical German drunken affair. His parents did not come to the wedding nor did any of her other relatives. His relatives were some way away in North Germany and although they sent their best wishes, it was a bit too far for them to travel.

On her wedding night she retired to bed awaiting her husband, who she was sure would join her shortly to consummate their marriage. She had taken great care of her toilet, and was wearing a lovely silk nightgown which was a sneak present from her mother. It was past 1.oclock in the morning when he had arrived in their bedroom rather drunk.

He had that night taken her virginity, in a brutal and drunken fashion. Leaving her dazed, and bruised. After he had finished, and before staggering away to get more schnapps, he had invited his best man to avail himself of his "French whore" as he called her. In all, she was raped four times that night by Wolframs friends. The next morning, Wolfram had been very apologetic, and eventually because she was so deeply in love with him when he was sober, she decided to stay with him, but above all, the real reason was that she was frightened of what would happen if she told her father what had happened, so she decided to stay with him. But the desire for revenge, burned somewhere deep inside her. She could never ever completely forgive him, and she stayed with him out of pride, and to give him a chance to redeem himself. She did however, ensure that in the few months before war was declared she never conceived. It was in July, when Wolfram was recalled to Germany to rejoin his SS unit. She was obliged to go to Germany with him, and they stayed in the family home at the village of Rickelrath near Wegburg in North Germany.

She was heartened by the fact that his family were lovely respectable people, and made her very welcome, and when eventually Wolfram's sister Ursula, sensing Anne-Maries unhappiness, had after much probing, eventually discovered how her brother, had treated his new wife on their wedding night. She was extremely angry, and told the whole family. Naturally the family were shocked, at first they found it hard to believe her, but apparently unknown to Anne-Marie, Wolfram had previously been twice accused of rape offences against local single girls. Due to the fact that he was a prominent and active member of the Nazi party, he had not been prosecuted, or even censured for his crimes. His father was very bitter and blamed the SS doctrine, and his time in the Hitler Youth and the arrogance that resulted from their training for his anti-social behavior. His father personally hated the Nazi regime, and what they were doing to Germany, like many others of his generation he was convinced that they would ultimately bring disaster to Germany. But never did he voice his fears in front of Wolfram. Even his own father feared betrayal by his own son.

In 1939 the war started, and shortly after the fall of France, Anne-Marie was informed that her husband had been killed by the resistance, in a partisan ambush. She was shocked, and saddened in one respect, but deep down she also felt a sense of relief. After a short period of mourning she was considering returning to her home in Belgium. However, the Nazi's firmly believing that she must be seeking revenge for the death of her newly wed husband, and knowing that she spoke both French, and German reasonably well, invited her to join them as a secret agent working with the Gestapo against the resistance.

They wanted her to return to Belgium and join the resistance, and to betray the underground fighters. Her first instinct was to refuse, but Anne Marie sensing that it was more of an order than a request, felt that it could be dangerous to refuse, and much safer to go along with them, she was sure that back near her home, she could find a way to get out of her predicament. To refuse outright, could put her in greater danger. Thinking quickly, she agreed wholeheartedly, that she was seeking revenge and was the right person for the job.

She was seeking revenge alright, but nor for her husbands death, but for the invasion of her country, and what they were doing to her beloved France and to Belgium her adopted home.

Both her parents had died by this time, her father of a broken heart at seeing his country invaded and her mother from cancer.

Thinking quickly, she decided this could be a good way to help throw a spanner in the works of the German regime, and if she was cunning enough, to get a measure of revenge on Germany, and the Nazi party. From there, and after a while, it was easy to convince her controllers that she could quite easily become a double agent. When the opportunity arose, and with Gestapo permission she defected to England, and offered her services, and during the next fifteen months soon proved her worth. Both sides making full use of her skills...

British intelligence provided her with snippets of intelligence. which had kept the Nazi's interested, until her Nazi controller Herr Schaeffer, made the suggestion one day in passing, that perhaps she could somehow get a high ranking British Officer to defect to Germany. He pointed out that the propaganda value would be of enormous help to the Third Reich.

Anne-Marie promised she would explore the idea, but when she told her boss of the suggestion in London he had just laughed it off, but a quite junior clerk overhearing the conversation interrupted, and suggested that perhaps a Lt Cdr Tony Nash might be the ideal candidate, if they were to go ahead with the plan. Pointing out at the time it would be a good way perhaps of getting inside information on the U Boat war. For a time the idea was kicked around, and then when they at last made a full examination of Tony's personal record, which showed that he had a German background, and he spoke German fluently, and still had a Grandmother and other relatives living in Berlin, the idea became a distinct possibility.

The fact that he also had his specialty in signals, and he would certainly have sufficient expertise to recognise any German codes, which would be of value, all this information quickly excited a lot of interest. The loss of merchant shipping to the U Boats was of national concern, and they all knew that if they could crack the German codes it would give them a fighting chance of diverting convoys away from danger.

Somehow the idea took off and the operational details were quickly developed. However, they recognised that Anne-Marie participation would be vital in protecting him, from the retribution of the partisan movement, and for guiding his initial introduction to the Germans. So the idea was that Anne-Marie would have met the Commander at some time previously, whilst in the UK, and having met again, had fallen desperately in love with him, and they had become secretly engaged to be married. At the time they recognised the idea was not foolproof, but it was the best they could come up with. Now she realised the first step had been taken, and now between them, they had to develop a fool proof cover story that would satisfy the Gestapo.