The Après Espionage Career of Gösta Caroli
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Cover of Gösta Caroli: Dubbelagent Summer - Simon Olsson and Tommy Jonason (2015 via Vulkan) |
Gösta Caroli - Dubbelagent SUMMER
Whilst researching the two previous blogs, I had come across another book by Simon Olsson and Tommy Jonason. I was familiarwith the first book these two Swedish authors had published in English: Double Agent TATE (Caroli's friend and espionage colleague). As it turns out, they had also self-published their book on Caroli in Swedish in 2015 via Vulkan.
I had tried to order a copy of the book but the Vulkan site only shipped within Sweden. I had also tried to contact one of the authors via Facebook and recieved no reply. Finally, I had tracked down Caroli's grandson and his wildnerness camp in Sweden and reached out via email but... received no reply.
A couple of months ago, I cobbled together a message in Swedish (using Google Translate) and emailed the Vulkan book publishers asking if I could purchase the Caroli book and have it shipped to Canada. After much back and forth... I was successful and the book arrived in my mail box in late March. Success!!!!
The Book
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Olsson & Jonason - Gösta Caroli: Dubbelagent Summer Very tight spine |
The cover is also obviously home-made and, I have to say, looks like something a child might draw. I had a look at the moon phases calendar for 6 September 1940 (the night Caroli parachuted into England) and it was a waxing crescent, which is the opposite of what the book cover depicts (a waning crescent).
As for the contents of the book, there are a few things lacking:
- no author bios - this is always helpful for assessing author expertise, although in this instance, we can just look at the TATE book
- no acknowledgements - helpful for sleuthing out new contacts
- no index
- no photo credits - we have no idea of the source of the photographs. It is clear that some must come from Caroli's family while others are from the National Archives. I'm going to guess that the authors didn't pay the fee for using photos from Kew.
- no folios for the footnotes - they simply list the KV file number, but no attempt to direct the reader/researcher to the relevant folio, or even the context of the document referenced (date, source, etc.)
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Pages falling out after one hour Olsson & Jonason - Gösta Caroli: Dubbelagent Summer |
Now, I know how much effort goes into researching and writing a book. I also know how hard it is to get a book accepted for publication and then get the manuscript ready for publication. Still, I wished that the authors had devoted a bit more time to addressing some of the issues noted above.
Table of Contents
Before we begin, I should say that I don't know a word of Swedish. The language obviously shares some roots with German as I can pick out a few words here and there and, rather surprisingly, get the gist of some paragraphs. I am, however, relying heavily on Google Translate to translate Swedish into English.
First, let's take a look at the book's Table of Contents which give us an overview of the book and where it will take us.
Inledning - Introduction
Prästsonen från Norra Vram - Priest's Son from Norra Vram
Bland silverrävar i Kanada och Storvreta - Among Silver Foxes in Canada and Storvreta
I 1930-talets Europa - In 1930s Europe
Värvad till Abwehr - Referred to Abwehr
Abwehr - Abwehr
Nicolaus Ritter - Nicolaus Ritter
Snows - SNOW
Snows fall - SNOWs Fall
My Eriksson - My Eriksson
Agent i ett Fredstida Storbritannien - Agent in Peacetime Great Britain
Den andra resan - The Second Trip
Nya uppdrag - New Missions
S/S Mertainen - SS Mertainen
Malmtrafiken - Ore Traffic
Från Narvik - From Narvik
Tyskt flyg angriper - German Air Strikes
Fartygets forsatta öde - The Fate of the Ship
Kristiansund bombas - Bombing of Kristiansund [Norway]
Operation Sjölejon - Operation Sealion
Operation förbereds - Preparation of Operation
Slaget om Storbritannien - Battle of Britain
Invasionsplanerna avbryts - Invasion Plans Cancelled
Hade invasionen varit mölig? - Had the Invasion been Fun?
Operation Lena - Operation Lena
Agenter - Agents
Konklusioner - Conclusions
Vardagsliv i Storbritannien - Everyday Life in Great Britain
Blitzen - The Blitz
Förberedelser i Tyskland - Preparations in Germany
Gösta Utbildas - Gösta's Training
Ritters medarbetare samlas - Ritter's Employees Gather
I ett ockuperat Paris - In Occupied Paris
Det första försöket - The First Attempt
Operationen genomförs - Operation Carried Out
Landning i Storbritannien - Landing in Great Britain
Arresterad - Arrested
Camp 020 - Camp 020
Camp 020, Latchmere House - Camp 020, Latchmere House
"Tin-Eye" Stephens - "Tin-Eye" Stephens
Förhör - Interrogation
London Reception Centre - London Reception Centre
London Cage - London Cage
Dubbelagenten Gösta - Double Agent Gösta
Camp 020 - Camp 020
Tyskarnas bild av Caroli - German Image of Caroli
Flyktförsök - Attempted Escape
Efterspel - Epilogue
Tate - TATE
"Tate" i arbete - "TATE" at Work
Double-Cross organisationen - Double Agent organization
Målsättning - Aims
Viktiga principer - Important Principles
Resultat - Results
Åter i Sverige - Back in Sweden
Appendix I - Förhör med Caroli - Appendix I - Interrogation of Caroli
[Appendix II - Angående Chiffrering - Appendix II - Regarding Encryption] (not in TOC)
Appendix III - Agenter och dubbelagenter - Appendix III - Agents and Double Agents
Källförteckning - Bibliography
Otryckta källor - Unpublished Sources
Tryckta källor - Published Sources
Back in Sweden
My primary interest in ordering this book was to find out what happened to Caroli after the war and put to rest the rumours that he was secretly executed by the British during the war. As such, I focused on the last chapter - Back in Sweden.
I transcribed the Swedish text of this chapter into a Word document and then ran it piece by piece through Google Translate, then smoothed over some of the grammatical hiccups. I'll include the Swedish here, just in case some Swedish speaking person reads this blog and wants to offer some corrections on the translation!
I am providing some key photographs as well. I had hoped to scan them on my scanner but... the tight spine makes it almost impossible so I just took pictures of them. In the translations below, I am also providing abbreviated footnote references so the interested reader has a sense of the sources.
“Härmed får jag vördsamt meddela, att generalkonsulatet genom härvarande inrikesministerium nyligen erfarit, att en svensk medborgare Gösta Caroli, född i Norra Vram, Malmöhus län den 6 Nov 1902, sedan September 1940 på grund av olovlig underättelseverksamhet hällits i fängsligt förvar i Storbritannien. En tjänsteman i ministeriet har vid samtal med en representant för generalkonsulatet uppgivit, att Caroli den 5 September 1940 landsattes i Storbritannien från ett tyskt flygplan, samt att det av hans utrustning framginge, att han härstädes avsåge att bedriva spioneri för tysk räkning.”[1]
I hereby respectfully announce that the Consulate General through the present Ministry of the Interior has recently learned that a Swedish citizen Gösta Caroli, born in Norra Vram, Malmöhus County on 6 Nov 1902, since September 1940 has been detained in prison in the United Kingdom for illegal activities. An official in the ministry stated during a conversation with a representative of the Consulate General that on 5 September 1940 Caroli landed in the United Kingdom from a German aircraft and that his equipment indicated that he was hereby intending to carry out espionage on behalf of the Germans. [1 - Swedish Royal Archives]
The chapter starts with a quote from the Swedish Consulate General in London dated 18 August 1945 and contained within the Royal Archives in Sweden. It seems pretty straightforward and it is interesting to note that this is a Swedish sourced document.
Ovanstående meddelande skickades från af Petersen vid det svenska generalkonsulatet i London till utrikesdepartementet i Stockholm den 18 augusti 1945. Kopior på meddelandet skickades därifrån till Gösta Engzell, chef för UD:s rättsavdelning, E. Hallgren vid Överståthållarämbetet och till kriminalavdelningen vid Stockholms polis som i sin tur underrättade landsfogde Otto Rosengren i Malmö. Stockholmspolisen konstaterade att ingen kriminell aktivitet var känd om Caroli i Sverige men uppmanade polisen i Helsingborg att göra en utredning om honom.
The above message was sent from af[?] Petersen at the Swedish Consulate General in London to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Stockholm on August 18, 1945. Copies of the message were sent from there to Gösta Engzell, Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, E. Hallgren at the Supreme Court Office and to the Criminal Division at Stockholm Police, and in turn, Counsel Otto Rosengren informed Malmö. Stockholm police found that no criminal activity was known about Caroli in Sweden but called on the Helsingborg police to investigate him.
The Consulate General's letter obviously generated a flurry of activy in Sweden about the soon-to-be repatriated Caroli. The police conducted some background checks and were set to interview him.
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Motorcycles would follow Gösta throughout life and in Canada he was probably one of the first to cross the Canadian Rockies with this vehicle (Olsson & Jonason - Gösta Caroli: Dubbelagent Summer) |
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Någon information om Caroli hade sedan 1940 inte meddelats svenska myndigheter eller hans mor som nu bodde i Billesholm, han kunde lika gärna ha varit död. Ett brev som den brittiska postcensuren snappade upp i mars 1941 vittnar om detta, systern Ingrid skrev då till en väninnan i Storbritannien att “Gösta is gone a year ago in Germany, we don’t know how”[2], det är inte konstigt att meddelandet från konsulatet väckte känslor inom familjen. Caroli skulle nu deporteras från Storbritannien och det brittiska inrikesministeriet överlämnade ansvaret över honom till generalkonsulatet för att ordna de praktiska detaljerna. Dagen innan hade ett provisoriskt svenskt pass utfärdats och det hade bestämts att deportationen skulle genomföras med båt från London den 23 augusti. Själv hade Caroli via de brittiska myndigheterna framfört önskemålet om att hans bror, kyrkoherden Gunnar Caroli i Norra Vram, skulle underrättas om hans hemkomst.[3] Vi kan bara spekulera i vad Gösta Caroli tänkte inför hemfärden, hans över fem år långa frånvaro utan några som helst underrättelser till sin mor hade med all sannolikhet satt sina spår. Skulle saknaden göra återseendet med familjen till en känslosam och glädjande återförening, eller skulle det vara helt andra känslor som han skulle bli bemött av? Han var väl medveten om att hans bror Gunnar inte delade hans sympatier för den tyska regimen och hur skulle han nu bli bemött när det var känt att han arbetat som agent för Tyskland? Svaret på frågan skulle snart få sitt svar.
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Gösta's silver fox farm in Storvreta was an extensive project, but the successes failed. (Olsson & Jonason - Gösta Caroli: Dubbelagent Summer) |
No information about Caroli had been communicated since 1940 to the Swedish authorities nor his mother who now lives in Billesholm, he could just as well have been dead. A letter that the British Postal Censor intercepted in March 1941 testifies to this, his sister Ingrid then wrote to a friend in the UK that "Gösta is gone a year ago in Germany, we do not know how" [2 - Archive of Northamptonshire Police], it is not strange that the message from the consulate aroused feelings within the family. Caroli was now deported from the United Kingdom and the British Ministry of the Interior handed over the responsibility to him to the Consulate General to arrange the practical details. The day before, a provisional Swedish passport had been issued and it was decided that the deportation would be carried out by boat from London on 23 August. Caroli himself, through the British authorities, had expressed the wish that his brother, the church pastor Gunnar Caroli in Norra Vram, be informed of his return. [3 - Swedish Royal Archives] We can only speculate on what Gösta Caroli was thinking before leaving home, his absence of more than five years without any informations to his mother had in all likelihood left its mark. Would the lack make the reunion with the family an emotional and joyous reunion, or would it be completely different feelings that he would be faced with? He was well aware that his brother Gunnar did not share his sympathies for the German regime, and how would he now be treated when it was known that he worked as an agent for Germany? The answer to the question would soon have its answer.
Clearly, Caroli's family knew nothing about his espionage adventures, only that he had gone to Germany and vanished, with no communication to them. Caroli requested that his brother, Gunnar, be notified of his return. He embarked on the SS Ring on 23 August 1945 from England with a provisional Swedish passport.
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Gösta Caroli 1935 (Olsson & Jonason - Gösta Caroli: Dubbelagent Summer) |
Den 1 september 1945 anlade fartyget s/s Ring i Helsingborgs hamn och bland passagerarna fanns Caroli som efter många år i fångenskap åntligen steg iland i Sverige som en fri man. Före dess att han fick träffa familjen fördes han emellertid till Säkerhetspolisens kontor i Helsingborg. Där konstaterades att han hade med sig ett “för honom den 17.8.45 av Kungl. Svenksa Generalkonsulatet i London utfärdat med fotografi försett provisoriskt svenskt pass nr 7/45, giltigt för en enkel resa till Sverige” samt tolv svenska kronor. Kriminalöverkonstapel Carl Palm höll därefter ett längre förhör dar Caroli fick redogöra för sin bakgrund och om vad han varit med om i Tyskland och Storbritannien. Palm noterade senare, den 5 September i en rapport som sändes till utrikesdepartementet och försvarsstaben, att Caroli “nekade bestamt, att han vid något tillfälle lämnat några uppgifter angående Sverige eller svenska förhållanden vid förhör hos engelsmännen eller under sin anställning hos tyskarna”. På frågan om sina framtida planer svarade Caroli att han skulle söka anställning inom jordbruket och at than tills vidare skulle bo hos modern I Billesholm. För den svenska polisen var Caroli ointressant, inget tydde på att han skulle ha gjort sig skyldig till något kriminellt i Sverige och klockan 20.00 samma dag släpptes han. Först vid ankomsten denna dag hade brodern Gunnar underrättats och han mötte nu Gösta hemma hos modern i Billesholm. Mottagandet blev allt annat än varmt, det var inledningsvis inga trevliga ord som mötte Gösta, han blev rent ut sagt regelrätt utskälld av Gunnar. For Gunnars son, då endast fem år gammal, var detta hans första möte med sin farbror och han minns än idag att han blev oerhört rädd för Gösta.[4] Formodligen var återseendet för modern Anna mer positivt, kärleken till sonen kunde inte rubbas oavsett vad han gjort sig skyldig till. Med tiden skulle även förhållandet mellan familjen och Gösta lugna sig och återgå till det normala, men Gösta skulle torts detta aldrig komma att fä en riktigt lätt tillvaro.
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Gösta Caroli 1938 (Olsson & Jonason - Gösta Caroli: Dubbelagent Summer) |
On September 1, 1945, the ship SS Ring sailed into the port of Helsingborg and among the passengers was Caroli who, after many years in captivity, finally ascended ashore in Sweden as a free man. However, before he got to meet the family, he was taken to the Security Police's office in Helsingborg. It was stated that he had on him “for him on 17.8.45 by the Royal Swedish Consulate General in London issued with photograph provisionally provided Swedish passport no. 7/45, valid for a single trip to Sweden” and twelve Swedish kronor. Carl Palm then held a further hearing where Caroli had to explain his background and what he had been doing in Germany and the UK. Palm later noted, on September 5 in a report sent to the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Staff, that Caroli "firmly denied that he had at any time provided any information regarding Sweden or Swedish conditions during interrogations with the English or during his employment with the Germans". When asked about his future plans, Caroli replied that he would seek employment in agriculture and at that time stay with his mother in Billesholm. To the Swedish police Caroli was uninteresting, there was no indication that he was guilty of anything criminal in Sweden and at 8 pm the same day he was released. It was only on arrival that day that brother Gunnar had been informed and he was now meeting with Gösta at his mother's house in Billesholm. The reception was anything but warm, there were initially no nice words that met Gösta, he was, in fact, outright cursed by Gunnar. For Gunnar's son, then only five years old, this was his first meeting with his uncle and he still remembers today that he became extremely afraid of Gösta. [4 - interview with Caroli's nephew] Probably the return for mother Anna was more positive, the love for her son could not be upset no matter what he owed her. In time, even the relationship between the family and Gösta would calm down and return to normal, but Gösta would never get a really easy life.
Caroli arrived in Helsingborg on 1 September 1945 and was questioned by the police. The police has obviously found no criminal activities in Caroli's past and relesed him after a few hours. It would appear that the Caroli family was quite upset with the return of the prodigal son, although his mother likely gave him a warmer welcome. Interesting to note that Caroli planed to seek a job in agriculture.
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Left - Gösta married Greta Bergmann in 1946 Right - Gösta Caroli, likely one year later [1947] (Olsson & Jonason - Gösta Caroli: Dubbelagent Summer) |
För den svenska polisen var ärendet Caroli emellertid inte helt avslutat. På begäran av statspolisintendent Georg Thulin och kriminalkonstapel Einar Netz vid kriminalpolisens 6:e rotel i Stockholm genomförde kriminalöverkonstapel Carl Palm och kriminalkonstapel Olle Olsson ytterliggare ett förhör den 4 oktober. Palm och Olsson besökte då Caroli i hans bostad i Billesholm och frägade särskilt om den Petersen som utbildat Caroli i telegrafi och om hans danska kollege Wolfgang Schmidt. Polisen misstänkte att Petersen var identisk med den tyska medborgaren Herbert Petersen som 1942 och 1944 rest mellan Berlin och de tyska legationerna i Stockholm och Helsingfors. Flera saker tydde på att Herbert Petersen arbetade för Abwehr men detta hittades aldrig några säkra bevis för, inte heller att han skulle vara identisk med Carolis lärare i telegrafi.[5] Trots misstankarna fick Herbert Petersen senare svenskt medborgarskap och han avled i Malmö 1981.[6]
For the Swedish police, however, the case Caroli was not completely closed. At the request of State Police Superintendent Georg Thulin and Criminal Appellant Einar Netz at the Stockholm Police's 6th Division in Stockholm, Criminal Superintendent Carl Palm and Criminal Appellant Olle Olsson conducted a further hearing on October 4. Palm and Olsson then visited Caroli at his residence in Billesholm and in particular asked about the Petersen who trained Caroli in telegraphy and about his Danish colleague Wolfgang Schmidt. The police suspected that Petersen was identical to German citizen Herbert Petersen who had traveled between Berlin and the German legations in Stockholm and Helsinki in 1942 and 1944. Several things indicated that Herbert Petersen worked for the Abwehr, but this was never found to be any reliable evidence, nor that he would be identical to Caroli's teacher in telegraphy. [5 - Swedish Royal Archives] Despite the suspicions, Herbert Petersen later gained Swedish citizenship and he died in Malmö in 1981. [6 - Swedish Death Book]
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Gösta and Stig Blixt at the fair in Kristianstad (Olsson & Jonason - Gösta Caroli: Dubbelagent Summer) |
A reference to a paper by Gösta Caroli |
We now get to the juicy bits. After his return from England, Caroli got a job at an agricultural firm where he made quite a name for himself conducting genetic research on pea plants. He even published some scientific papers which are still being cited in scientific journals today. He also married Greta Bergmann in 1946 and the couple had a son in 1948. Caroli eventually left the agricultural firm and started his own plant nursery.
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The interest in motorcycles followed Gösta throughout life (Olsson & Jonason - Gösta Caroli: Dubbelagent Summer) |
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Top: Gösta and his family [likely wife and son] Bottom: One of the last photographs, here at Gösta's 70th birthday (Olsson & Jonason - Gösta Caroli: Dubbelagent Summer) |
His significance in the German-British spy game cannot be overstated; he was the first German agent to parachute into Britain, the fact of fictitious relief efforts by the agents who the Germans believed to be in their service strengthened confidence in their, as they believed, agent activities in the UK; he provided immense help and experience when it came to how the Double-Cross system was to be built - the British learned a great deal from his case - and the information he revealed in interrogation led to other agents being apprehended and recruited as important double agents. This is especially true of his friend Wulf Schmidt/TATE, who became the double agent who had the longest career during the war. How the Germans valued Caroli's efforts was revealed in an interview with Herbert Wichmann in 1976, his opinion on him was: "one of the best agents our intelligence department in Hamburg has ever had." [20 - Swedish newspaper 1976] However, he was hardly a dedicated Nazi and he was never organized in any party. Instead, he followed the culture of German influence that prevailed in Sweden at the time, he was drawn in and became increasingly involved in Germany and a project he eventually could not pull out of, as he would in any case risk his own life.
I'm a bit intrigued by the comment that information from Caroli "led to other agents being apprehended and recruit as important double agents". I'm aware of TATE, obviously, and possibly GOOSE/GANDER although I wouldn't necessarily call him important. Not aware of others... but I might have to transcribe and translate other sections to get clear on that.
Conclusion
I hope that this blog has helped to clear up the ultimate fate of Gösta Caroli. He was indeed deported back to Sweden in 1945, married and had one son. He embarked on a relatively successful career in agriculture, first studying pea genetics and then opening his own nursery where he grew corn and peppers. The head injury he sustained during his parachute descent into England in 1940 would worsen over time. Caroli passed away in Asmundtorp in 1975.
I am now eyeing some other key sections in this book. If any readers have a burning interest in any particular section, let me know. I don't now that I can scan any pages of this book, it strongly resists being forced to open flat and I'm afraid the whole thing might burst asunder. On secon thought, that might not be a bad thing... at least then I could run it through my scanner feeder.
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