Classical Spies: American Archaeologists with the OSS in World War II Greece

13. Things Fall Apart

thirteen  Things Fall Apart on december 3, 1944, the winter sun rose over a ravaged Athens. Avenues empty of cars brimmed with impoverished citizens peddling American cigarettes , pushing overburdened carts, or just standing around. The once jubilant residents who had celebrated the end of the Nazi occupation wondered if life would ever be normal. As winter approached and conditions deteriorated, elation gave way to fear of different enemies. Buildings were tagged with graf‹ti, and splashy signs defaced walls. Some welcomed the British and the Yanks while others declared allegiance to sparring political factions ranging from Communists to royalists. Demonstrations were not uncommon. The chief ground for hope of peace was the realization that violence would end in mutual destruction. Or would the royalist British and the EAM avoid an impasse? It seemed a fragile temporary state of affairs.1 Caskey had been in Athens for almost a week. Disgruntled and exhausted , he thought he had seen the best and worst that war had to offer. He had evacuated spies, survived bombardments and endless bureaucratic snafus with British and rival American services.2 After a valedictory voyage across the Aegean, Caskey had come to Athens to check on his godfather. That done, he was ready to go. Everything had changed. Oliver had already left Cairo. Daniel had departed to gather intelligence in Western Macedonia , where he had hiked in the thirties. Young was engulfed in the shadow world of relief and rehabilitation.And Sperling was in Salonika coping with the aftermath of the occupation as EAM police began settling scores, ar238 resting and killing collaborators. Gerald Else a classicist from the prairies of South Dakota, was in charge now. That morning, Else cabled Donovan for direction.Washington expected him to close out the six-week-old base and all missions by the New Year, but this seemed neither advisable nor possible. Else was tired of stopgap measures and wanted his agents protected by cover. British commander in chief General Ronald Scobie’s proclamations to the guerrillas ordering the ELAS demobilization had provoked the EAM ministers to resign from the government , and EAM mobilized its reserves. It was a standoff; EAM controlled the countryside, and the British were concentrated in Athens. Those in the know expected the British to marshal the Greek armed forces from the Middle East, to augment the Greek police, reactionary royalists (CHIites ), and security battalions. As the birds began squawking, Else gleaned disturbing information. Awk, Gander, Glafyx, Buzzard, Black Bustard, Shrike, Penguin, Peacock, Plover, and Grouse noted increased tension. King‹sher reported that the Volos Greeks were outraged that the British had garrisoned their city with Gurkhas, who had forti‹ed their billet with barbed wire to keep out the Greeks, and accused the British of withholding food to press their royalist agenda. Starling cawed that for over a week Patras had been plagued by leftist demonstrations of children, teens, refugees, and factory and dock workers although the majority of residents hewed to the right. Elsewhere in the Peloponnese, 7,500 national guards deserted to ELAS. That morning, Major Daniel (Duck) was heading north in an American jeep ›ying the Stars and Stripes. He reported that EAM had planned to strike at the Lamia electrical plant the night before, but called it off and now all was quiet on the AthensLamia road. Sperling (Sparrow) reported that the numbers of workers marching in grim formations had increased, as had spokesmen for the unemployed. “Vociferous pro-Russian elements” protested the British demobilization of ELAS.3 That night, megaphone men and bell ringers led Salonika crowds through outlying streets, demanding that ELAS be retained and Prime Minister George Papandreou be ousted. They continued past midnight, tearing down Scobie’s posted proclamations. The next morning, a high of‹cer in ELAS advised the British that it would not tolerate interference. Colonel Glavin cabled Donovan and Cairo that Caserta command considered the present transition period in Greece “highly important.” He was Things Fall Apart • 239 “anxious that nothing be done precipitately which might prejudice or preclude future SI activities of potential value to the Athens embassy, State Department , and other government agencies.”4 He recommended that Penrose get to Athens at once. Independently, Else requested that Penrose come and assess the situation, but he was departing for Washington, where he would work with SI chief Whitney Shepardson, and the acting head of the Greek Desk was leaving for Italy.5...