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Authors: Patrick K. O'Donnell
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sailing.â
T HE OSSâ S OTHER OPTION for sea-going transportation seemed better-suited to covert missions. They began utilizing Greek boats known as caïques, small, wooden-hulled vessels that weighed ten to forty tons. The boats had auxiliary sails, but most were powered by gasoline engines. Two to six men crewed the small boats. Generally the captain was the boat owner, and most of the crew members knew each other or were from the same island. âSome of these men showed great loyalty and daring in their operations under OSS; others (occasionally the same ones) were masters of smuggling, thievery, and goldbricking,â noted one OSS operative. Money motivated the men, as did patriotism fueled by the German occupation of their country.
Taylorâs first battle was to wrestle control of the caïques from the Secret Intelligence branch, which had previously taken responsibility for inserting its agents into occupied areas within theAegean. The thirty-four-year-old Hollywood dentist used his well-tuned social skills to convince SI and Guenther to place the caïque service under control of the Maritime Unit. To pry the control of the boats out of SI hands, Taylor used the argument that âthey were wasting good intelligence men on maritime mattersâ better left to the MU.
Ultimately the Maritime Unitâs caïque fleet would swell to thirty-six boats, although not all of them operated at the same time. A maintenance nightmare, the boats cost OSS headquarters $3,000 per week to maintain, operate, and compensate their Greek crews. However, these native craft were very valuable and effective because they easily blended in, helping to avoid detection by German patrols.
After assembling the MUâs ragtag fleet, Taylor, working with Hayden, Tofte, and other OSS officers, began planning for future missions to set up a supply line to bring food, medicine, and weapons to Yugoslav partisans fighting against the Germans. Despising desk work, Taylor, a man of action, immediately started inspecting the existing fleet of caïques and, acting in his customary hands-on style, prepared his first operation.
* I interviewed Lloyd Smith in 2002, and we immediately connected because we were both college wrestlers. On a snow-filled January day, Smith fondly pulled out Haydenâs .357 Magnum, which he had won in a poker game.
8
âHAGGLING, BRIBING, FINES, DELAYS, INSPECTIONS, BULLSHITâ
D ESPERATE TO GET TO THE ISLAND of Leros where his battalion was fighting, Colonel May, a British doctor temporarily detached from his duty on Leros, approached the leader of the Greek guerrillas on Samos. Although he pleaded his case valiantly, the command major gave him little hope. Everyone knew the Germans were attacking Leros, and most believed the island would soon fallâif it hadnât already. The guerrilla leader knew of only one man who might be willing to risk his life to make that journey: âIf that crazy Yank doesnât come back, Iâm sure I wonât be able to get anyone else to take you,â the command major told May.
The âcrazy Yankâ was Taylor, of course, and he was already on his way back to Samos. The streetwise lieutenant and the shrewd âDuckâ had savvily handled the negotiationsâfor which no spy training could possibly have prepared themâto procure the insulin and other supplies for the archbishop from the Turkish black market. However, getting out of Turkey proved its own ordeal. Taylor and his companions endured âthree hours of haggling, bribing, fines, delays, inspections, bullshit, and just plain uncooperativenessâ before obtaining authorization to leave the port. Fortunately for them, the journey back to Samos on the Mary B. was largely uneventful.
However, their next mission proved even more dangerous than the first. On Samos the Mary B. picked up Colonel May and two other doctors who were determined to travel to the island
T HE OSSâ S OTHER OPTION for sea-going transportation seemed better-suited to covert missions. They began utilizing Greek boats known as caïques, small, wooden-hulled vessels that weighed ten to forty tons. The boats had auxiliary sails, but most were powered by gasoline engines. Two to six men crewed the small boats. Generally the captain was the boat owner, and most of the crew members knew each other or were from the same island. âSome of these men showed great loyalty and daring in their operations under OSS; others (occasionally the same ones) were masters of smuggling, thievery, and goldbricking,â noted one OSS operative. Money motivated the men, as did patriotism fueled by the German occupation of their country.
Taylorâs first battle was to wrestle control of the caïques from the Secret Intelligence branch, which had previously taken responsibility for inserting its agents into occupied areas within theAegean. The thirty-four-year-old Hollywood dentist used his well-tuned social skills to convince SI and Guenther to place the caïque service under control of the Maritime Unit. To pry the control of the boats out of SI hands, Taylor used the argument that âthey were wasting good intelligence men on maritime mattersâ better left to the MU.
Ultimately the Maritime Unitâs caïque fleet would swell to thirty-six boats, although not all of them operated at the same time. A maintenance nightmare, the boats cost OSS headquarters $3,000 per week to maintain, operate, and compensate their Greek crews. However, these native craft were very valuable and effective because they easily blended in, helping to avoid detection by German patrols.
After assembling the MUâs ragtag fleet, Taylor, working with Hayden, Tofte, and other OSS officers, began planning for future missions to set up a supply line to bring food, medicine, and weapons to Yugoslav partisans fighting against the Germans. Despising desk work, Taylor, a man of action, immediately started inspecting the existing fleet of caïques and, acting in his customary hands-on style, prepared his first operation.
* I interviewed Lloyd Smith in 2002, and we immediately connected because we were both college wrestlers. On a snow-filled January day, Smith fondly pulled out Haydenâs .357 Magnum, which he had won in a poker game.
8
âHAGGLING, BRIBING, FINES, DELAYS, INSPECTIONS, BULLSHITâ
D ESPERATE TO GET TO THE ISLAND of Leros where his battalion was fighting, Colonel May, a British doctor temporarily detached from his duty on Leros, approached the leader of the Greek guerrillas on Samos. Although he pleaded his case valiantly, the command major gave him little hope. Everyone knew the Germans were attacking Leros, and most believed the island would soon fallâif it hadnât already. The guerrilla leader knew of only one man who might be willing to risk his life to make that journey: âIf that crazy Yank doesnât come back, Iâm sure I wonât be able to get anyone else to take you,â the command major told May.
The âcrazy Yankâ was Taylor, of course, and he was already on his way back to Samos. The streetwise lieutenant and the shrewd âDuckâ had savvily handled the negotiationsâfor which no spy training could possibly have prepared themâto procure the insulin and other supplies for the archbishop from the Turkish black market. However, getting out of Turkey proved its own ordeal. Taylor and his companions endured âthree hours of haggling, bribing, fines, delays, inspections, bullshit, and just plain uncooperativenessâ before obtaining authorization to leave the port. Fortunately for them, the journey back to Samos on the Mary B. was largely uneventful.
However, their next mission proved even more dangerous than the first. On Samos the Mary B. picked up Colonel May and two other doctors who were determined to travel to the island
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