-AUTHOR & HISTORIAN-
HELEN FRY
MI9: ESCAPE AND EVASION
A Thrilling History of MI9 - the Secret Service that engineered the escape of Allied forces behind enemy lines in WWII...
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SHORTLISTED FOR THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON MEDAL IN MILITARY HISTORY 2021.
When Allied fighters were trapped behind enemy lines, one branch of Military Intelligence helped them escape: MI9.
The organisation set up clandestine routes that zig-zagged across Nazi-occupied Europe, enabling soldiers and airmen to make their way home safely. Secret agents and resistance fighters risked their lives and those of their families to hide the men.
Drawing on declassified files and eye witness testimonies from across Europe, Helen Fry provides a significant reassessment of MI9’s wartime role. Central to its success were figures such as Airey Neave, Jimmy Langley, Sam Derry, and Mary Lindell—one of only a few women parachuted into enemy territory for MI9.
This astonishing book combines tales of escape and evasion and Q gadgets with the previously untold stories behind the establishment of MI9—and reveals how the organisation saved thousands of lives.
Helen illuminates the mysterious relationship between MI9 and MI6 which has traditionally been blurred. She provides revelatory new research on MI9 as a major intelligence-gathering organisation, and the role of MI6's man (and later traitor) Kim Philby in the most secret part: Room 900.
ACCREDITED REVIEWS
'It is a noble, moving and inspiring book.' - Allan Mallinson, The Spectator
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'A worthy tribute to the courage, ingenuity and spirit of men and women who overcame incredible odds and risked torture, deportation and death to win freedom both for themselves and for Europe.' - Nigel Jones, BBC History Magazine
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'MI9 by is a masterpiece. Engagingly well written, dense with detail, the result of painstaking original research. A definitive history of one of Britain's WWII intelligence organizations. On par with Defend the Realm and Sword & Shield. A must read for intel fans.' - Stephen J. Schmidt