Mitterrand a Collaborator?

A news article, just released by the ASSOCIATED PRESS begins: "Shrouded in half-truths and rumors for nearly half a century, President Francois Mitterrand's role in the pro-NAZI Vichy regime during World War II has just been brought to light in a widely acclaimed book published this week."

We find this interesting, but we wonder why this is acclaimed as new news, since this was reported in our SHARKHUNTERS KTB Magazine many years ago. DON ANGEL ALCAZAR DE VELASCO (158-+-1985) was the head of a Spanish spy ring that worked for the Hitler government during the War. Early in the War he was the pivot man in OPERATION WILLI in which his responsibility to lure the Duke of Windsor (the abdicated King Edward VIII) into Spain from Portugal where Abwehr agents would kidnap "Teddy" and take him to Germany in a plot to trade him for an early end to the War which was then just between England and Germany.

ALCAZAR failed and the plot fizzled out. ALCAZAR spent the last few months of the War in the Fuhrerbunker and escaped in the last possible moment before the Russian troops overran Berlin totally. And it was ALCAZAR who helped Adolf Eichmann to escape Europe after the end of the War.

What has this to do with Mitterrand? Around the time that the name of Klaus Barbie was in the news (about 6 or 7 years ago) I asked ALCAZAR if he had any hand in helping Barbie escape Europe as well. He said he did not, but he did meet Barbie in France during a celebration in honor of Francois Mitterrand. It was during this gala that Marshall Philippe Petain bestowed a medal of very high honor upon Mitterrand for his many articles and writings in support of the NAZI cause and, according to the AP, 'rabid anti-Semitic diatribes'. Mitterrand was a Vichy and NAZI collaborator? It really is not news to long-time SHARKHUNTERS Members.

"Yesterday's Enemies...."

This is part of the motto of SHARKHUNTERS, which was given us by K.K. REINHARD HARDEGEN (102-LIFE-1985), but it seems that this motto is good for more than just former World War II enemies.

This summer, a group of nearly 60 paratroopers of the International Association of Airborne Veterans led by MIKE EPSTEIN (5-LIFE-1983) went to a very famous place in history - DIEN BIEN PHU, where the French Foreign Legion suffered such a crushing defeat decades ago. The paras of the I.A.A.V. jumped with troopers of the Vietnamese Army and out of Vietnamese planes.

I guess 'Yesterday's enemies.....' can mean a whole lot of things.

Angermann: Lost Relative

PAUL HORST ANGERMANN (3073-1993) is looking for a relative who served in the U-BOOTWAFFE, Horst Angermann, who is said to have served on board of U-2326. PAUL is seeking information and photographs of the Skipper and also of the boat. Can anyone assist him?

The Secret Museum That Never Was is Now Open

Few Americans even know the existence of the NSA, the NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY, one of the most secret of all America's 'spook' services. Even fewer knew that the NSA had a CRYPTO museum - since it was never open to the public!

This museum, now known as the NATIONAL CRYPTOLOGIC MUSEUM, is open finally to the public, but it is surrounded by a high chain link fence topped with razor wire. Once a spook, always a spook, I guess.

According to JACK INGRAM (336-1987), exhibits include rare books on cryptology dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, a comprehensive display of the ENIGMA machine, cyper machines from WW II entitled 'The Enemy is Listening', a recreated WW II radio intercept site and the bloodstained flag from USS LIBERTY.

JACK (pictured here) sent a short note in which he writes: "We do have an ENIGMA on the floor that visitors can type out a message on. Also have a beauty of a U-Boat type with printer on display."

According to the news release about the ENIGMA; "It shows you the consequences of poor signal security and the benefit of good signal intelligence, all wrapped up into one machine."

Beyer in Print: US Q Ship Navy

CAPTAIN KEN BEYER (1156-1989) was in a unique navy in the early days of World War II. As a young Ensign, he was attached to an old, rusty cargo ship that was part of PROJECT 'LQ'; the American "Q" ship Navy. What is a "Q" ship? In World War I, the British used many merchant ships as 'U-Boat trap' ships. They were generally old rust buckets, travelling alone & looking to be easy targets. Their theory was that a U-Boat C.O. would think this ship too small to waste a valuable torpedo on and easy enough to attack with deck gun on the surface.

What was so unusual about these ships is that they were converted into veritible ocean-going gun platforms, with everything from .50 cal, 20mm, 40mm on up to six inch deck guns and of course, depth charges; all hidden under false crates etc. on deck. If a U-Boat surfaced to take on one of these 'defenseless' ships, there was a fierce gunbattle surface, in which the U-Boat was far outgunned by the "Q" ship. But that was in World War I.

With the onset of World War II and the unchecked rampage of a few U-Boats along the American east coast, the US NAVY 'brass' was open to any idea that would give some possibility of countering the U-Boats; and PROJECT "LQ" was born. You can read all the details in a recent article by KEN BEYER (1156-1989) and his brother ED BEYER (331-+-1987) in WARSHIP INTERNATIONAL.