13. WWII’s Most Important Spy
No spy had a greater impact on WWII than Juan Pujol Garcia (1912 – 1988). An eccentric Spaniard, Juan Pujol hoaxed the Germans with fictional spying out of a sheer desire for adventure and excitement. That hoax grew into the greatest double-cross operation of the conflict, and played a significant role in ensuring Allied victory on D-Day and in the subsequent Normandy Campaign.
Juan Pujol hated fascists, so when WWII began, he decided to help the Allies “for the good of humanity”. However, when he offered his services to British intelligence, he was rejected. Undeterred, he posed as a Nazi-sympathizing Spanish government official and offered his services to Germany’s military intelligence service, the Abwehr. The Nazis accepted, and ordered him to Britain, where he was to recruit a spy network. Pujol had neither the means nor the desire to do any such thing, so he simply faked it.