Overview

On a chilly autumn night in 1942, a German spy was rowed ashore from a U-boat off the Gaspe coast to begin a deadly espionage mission against the Allies. Thanks to an alert hotel-keeper's son, Abwehr agent `Bobbi' was captured and forced by the RCMP to become Canada's first double-agent. For nearly fifty years the full story of the spy case, code-named Watchdog, was suppressed. Now, author Dean Beeby has uncovered nearly five thousand pages of formerly classified government documents, obtained through the Access to Information Act from the RCMP, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Department of Justice, the National Archives of Canada, and Naval Intelligence. He has supplemented this treasure trove with research among still heavily censored FBI files, and interviews with surviving participants in the Watchdog story. Although British records of the case remain closed, Beeby also interviewed the MI5 case officer for Watchdog, the late Cyril Mills. The operation was Canada's first major foray into international espionage, predating the Gouzenko defection by three years. Watchdog, as Beeby reveals, was not the Allied success the RCMP has long claimed. Agent `Bobbi' gradually ensnared his captors with a finely spun web of lies, transforming himself into a triple-agent who fed useful information back to Hamburg. Beeby argues that Canadian authorities were woefully unprepared for the subtleties of wartime counter-espionage, and that their mishandling of the case had long-term consequences that affected relations with their intelligence partners throughout the Cold War.

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9781442623675

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Reviews

'Beeby has succeeded in recreating the characters as well as the atmosphere of wartime Canada. And he unveils in some detail the bungling by Canadian authorities ignorant of intelligence matters...The book is a must read for any spy buff and will be enjoyed by everyone who loves a good story.' -- Peter Rehak * Toronto Star * 'Other attempts have been made to tell the story of Operation Watchdog, but none can compete with Dean Beeby's compelling reconstruction. ... He tells a dramatic tale, with overtones of John le Carré.' -- Wesley Wark * The Globe and Mail * 'A fascinating tale of espionage activity right on Canadian soil, by U-boat to Canada's shores.' -- Clare Mellor * Chronicle-Herald * 'Beeby has meticulously researched Watchdog down to the most minute point.' -- Gavin Murphy * Beaver *

'Beeby has succeeded in recreating the characters as well as the atmosphere of wartime Canada. And he unveils in some detail the bungling by Canadian authorities ignorant of intelligence matters...The book is a must read for any spy buff and will be enjoyed by everyone who loves a good story.' -- Peter Rehak 'Other attempts have been made to tell the story of Operation Watchdog, but none can compete with Dean Beeby's compelling reconstruction. ... He tells a dramatic tale, with overtones of John le Carr+.' -- Wesley Wark 'A fascinating tale of espionage activity right on Canadian soil, by U-boat to Canada's shores.' -- Clare Mellor 'Beeby has meticulously researched Watchdog down to the most minute point.' -- Gavin Murphy

Author Information

Dean Beeby is a journalist in Halifax with the Canadian Press. He is author of In a Crystal Land: Canadian Explorers in Antarctica, and co-editor, with William Kaplan, of Moscow Despatches: Inside Cold War Russia.

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