Plan to defeat the Nazis was almost foiled by an angry wife

Wanting to return home, a spy's wife threatened to expose his identity, jeopardizing the Allies' crucial Normandy landing plan.

Spy Juan Pujol and his wife, Gonzalez. Photo: IBTimes.

On September 28, the British National Archives released secret documents from the British Intelligence Service (MI5) related to Spanish double agent Juan Pujol, who worked for MI5 under the code name Garbo.

Juan Pujol, who ran a spy network in England, fed Nazi intelligence chiefs false information that the Allies would not land in Normandy but would instead advance on the coast of Pas-de-Calais, northern France. As a result, the Allies successfully launched the largest amphibious assault in history on Normandy on June 6, 1944 (also known as D-Day), creating a major turning point, contributing to the collapse of Nazi Germany and the end of World War II.

MI5 documents show that before the landing operation began, the wife ofJuan Pujol isGonzalez threatened to expose her husband's cover unless she was allowed to return to Spain to visit her mother because she missed home so much, according to Ibtimes.

At the time, the couple and their newborn child were living in Harrow, north-west London. MI5 restricted the family from leaving their home for fear of exposing their identity. Gonzalez struggled to adjust. She hated the British weather and complained that British food contained “too much pasta, too many potatoes and not enough fish”. She missed home, Spanish food, and was sad and anxious about her husband’s long absences.

In a conversation with Tomas Harris, Pujol's intelligence officer, Gonzalez threatened to expose her husband's true identity to the Spanish embassy in England. "I don't want to live another five minutes with my husband," she screamed.

"Even if they kill me, I will still go to the Spanish embassy," Gonzalez challenged.

MI5 feared that Gonzalez would leak secrets to the Spanish fascist government, so they deployed police outside the embassy ready to intercept her.

Harris said Gonzalez "never wanted to adapt to life in England nor did she have the ability to learn the language". Her husband did not let her meet Spanish people in London for fear that she would accidentally reveal her identity.

According to Harris, "her desire to return to her country and especially to see her mother was driving her crazy. For months, she begged me to arrange for her to return home, even if only for a week." At one point, Gonzalez even turned on the gas in her kitchen and threatened to kill herself.

Fool to silence wife

Pujol, the master of deception, devised a plan to silence his wife. Pujol rejected Harris's suggestion to lie to Gonzalez about being fired. Instead, Pujol made his wife believe that her anger led to a violent argument between him and the British authorities, which resulted in Pujol being imprisoned. Gonzalez was taken to a detention center, where her husband was handcuffed, blindfolded, and not allowed to shave for several days.

She then met with MI5's legal adviser, Major Edward Cussen, who informed Gonzalez that Pujol would be released to continue her mission. However, Cussen also reminded Gonzalez that "he did not want to waste his time with troublesome people and that if her name was mentioned again in reports to him, she would be locked up," Harris wrote.

According to the Guardian, Gonzalez eventually signed a statement promising that she would stop inciting her husband to return to Spain and would never threaten to expose his identity. As a result, Pujol was “released” and returned to work for MI5.

Pujol is considered one of the most successful double agents in history. Nazi intelligence trusted him so much that they awarded him a medal. After the Nazis were defeated, Pujol was awarded a medal by the British.

After World War II ended, with the help of MI5, he traveled to Angola and pretended to die there of malaria. He later settled in Venezuela and ran a bookshop.

However, his marriage to Gonzalez did not last. Juan Pujol later remarried and had three more children. He died in 1988.

According to VNE