The Vatican Pimpernel (23 page)

In total, 40 men were removed from the train, including Furman. As he moved in the line for questioning he had managed to break open the tobacco in his pockets from its cellophane and dispose of the tell-tale wrappings. Just as it was his turn to be questioned he recollected the small Union Jack badge which he invariably wore under his lapel. It was too late to do anything about it then.

The documents which had been forged by Princess Nini were of high quality and managed to ensure his release.

On 18 May, the Allied Forces took Cassino and with that, it became clear a significant turn in the War had taken place.

In the meantime, Furman had decided that he had been over-optimistic in anticipating the arrival of Allied soldiers, and mindful of the necessity to account for money, sent a note to Sam Derry on 29 May:

Suddenly everyone wanted to help but way ‘ahead of the posse' was the double agent, Cipolla. The big fear at this stage was that the Germans, enraged by the turn of events, would start to shift all the prisoners out of Rome to concentration camps or even shoot them. Adrienne Lucidi came up with the answer. She was aware that Cipolla wanted to get into the Allies' good books as quickly as he could. She proposed that they give him his chance by instructing him to tell the Germans that he had made contact with the escape organisation and would be in a position to infiltrate it if he could get Simpson released as an earnest of good faith. It was decided that Cipolla should ask for the release of two prisoners of his choice. If this request was granted, he was to endeavour to secure the freedom of Simpson and a Captain John Armstrong who had been in the prison for about nine months. The Germans agreed and supplied Cipolla with a list of British prisoners. Neither name was on it. All he could do was pick two names at random, and to their great surprise, two English civilians who had been jailed since Italy entered the War found themselves free. The problem still remained to find Simpson and Armstrong. Blon Kiernan, the Irish Ambassador's daughter, had friends in the German Legation whom she visited regularly and she was often used as a source of information by O'Flaherty. She was able to advise that the Germans had been making enquiries at the Irish Legation about an Irishman named William O'Flynn and the Legation had replied, as was the case, that they knew nothing about him. Just then, through a cousin of one of his cellmates who was acting as the prison doctor, Simpson had managed to smuggle out information that he was in the prison and was using the name William O'Flynn. The organisation could not work out any way of being of assistance to him. Obviously no diplomatic intercession could be made now without confirming that he was a British officer with a false identity which would give the authorities every excuse for executing him as a spy.

As happened so often, something unusual turned up. O'Flaherty was at work in the Holy Office one morning when he was told a Roman nobleman wished to see him. The nobleman reminded O'Flaherty of the episode when he had rescued a girl by making her a temporary and informal member of the Swiss Guard in order to smuggle her to safety. There was some polite conversation as to how the girl had got on subsequently and O'Flaherty was pleased to hear that she was safe and well. However, the next comment surprised the Monsignor when the nobleman indicated that he had come seeking the Monsignor's help on behalf of Pietro Koch, one of his mortal enemies. However, the nobleman was quick to emphasise that he was not seeking direct assistance for Koch, who realised what his fate would be when the Allies took over. The request was that the Monsignor would assist Koch's wife and mother, in return for which Koch would ensure that all the Monsignor's friends were left in Regina Coeli, instead of being transported to Germany. The Monsignor agreed to help but set down a condition that as evidence of good faith Koch would have to deliver safely the two British officers in Regina Coeli, Simpson and Armstrong. He undertook to make arrangements to assist the wife and mother if this was carried out. Sitting in his cell the next day, Simpson heard the name ‘Lieutenant Simpson' called out but at this stage he did not know whether it was a trap or not; similarly with Armstrong, so neither responded to the call. This placed O'Flaherty in an exceptionally awkward position. When the nobleman returned and told him nobody had come forward he asked that Koch be informed that Simpson would be found under the name of O'Flynn but as regards Armstrong it was not known what alias he was using. Koch was given this message, but things were happening too quickly now, and so neither was released.

A British army advance party had reached the Pope's villa at Castelgandolfo and had made radio contact with Derry. Liberation was only hours away. Amid a constant barrage of guns the Germans started to pull out. In the meantime, O'Flaherty, following his policy of always giving assistance to anyone in need, had begun to make arrangements for the safety of the wife and mother of Koch. They were to be taken to Naples and given shelter in a convent but they both refused this offer of assistance, deciding instead to try and make their own escape.

Of particular concern during those final days were the Russians. Of all those who had opposed them, the Germans reserved their most deep-seated hatred for the Russian army. There were in excess of 400 escaped Russian prisoners of war hidden in and around Rome by the organisation in late May 1944. The fear was that these were the people most at risk of lastminute reprisals by the Germans, if they were located. A student in the mother house of the Jesuit order, just beside St Peter's, approached Fr Joy who he knew was a friend of O'Flaherty's. Joy and O'Flaherty were both trained in the Jesuit Mungret College but Joy had not been involved in the escape organisation. His work in Rome was in a secretariat which had been devised to fight world Communism. The student explained to Fr Joy that, while those hidden in the Russian College were probably safe enough, those in the private accommodation could be at risk. Fr Joy immediately approached the Monsignor for help, whose response was, ‘Of course we must help them, Francis. Stay here for a moment.'
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O'Flaherty went across to Derry and explained the situation.

Derry immediately produced the equivalent of £400 in lire. ‘I hope Joe Stalin pays it back.'
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Immediately, the organisation swung into action on that first weekend in June and all the Russians who were in billets throughout the city were relocated as a precautionary measure.

Field Marshal Kesselring was one of Germany's most talented military strategists. He had particular talents in deploying the troops available to him in a defensive position and then, when appropriate, conducting an orderly withdrawal. He realised from the outset that defending Italy south of Rome was something he could not sustain in the long term but he had persuaded Hitler that this was the right strategy to adopt. The objective was to make the Allies pay very dearly for every inch of ground they gained in Italy and indeed he proved to be very successful in the implementation of this policy. Falling back from that position, he could easily have made Rome a battleground, in such a way that the experiences of the city of Stalingrad might have been repeated. Hitler had sent orders to Kesselring at midnight on 3 June, ordering him to defend the city at all costs and to blow up the Tiber bridges. Mussolini had sent a message to Kesselring making the same request. However, it seems Kesselring had already decided to withdraw. All day on 3 June, while the Fascists were making preparation to clear out of the city, Kesselring continued to move men and material to the front to give the appearance of continuing the fight. He arranged for a large number of his senior officers to attend the opera that night. Von Weizsaecker, at his request, went to the Vatican at 10.30 p. m. to meet with Montini and Tardini. His message was that Kesselring wanted to save Rome and he was hoping that the Vatican would intercede with the Allies to hold off on their attack. Essentially, this was a ploy to create a safe corridor of retreat for the Germans, but the Vatican diplomats refused to play their part. In the meantime, circumstances within the prison were changing. Simpson and Dukate had been questioned endlessly during the month of May. The fact that they had nothing in their possession other than a small amount of cash was to their advantage and they realised how lucky they had been to have got rid of the incriminating items in their wallets. Dukate maintained he was Italian and his papers supported that. Simpson's claim that he was Irish was reflected in his documents. However, his questioners clearly had an idea who he was. Eventually, they checked with the Irish Legation and asked if they knew of a Vatican employee called William O'Flynn. It was confirmed that there was such an employee, a priest, and he was currently in the Vatican. On 30 May, the prisoners were able to hear gunfire, distant but unmistakable, and they realised that the circumstances outside were altering radically. On that day also, a new squad of military police arrived to take over control of the prison and it was quickly realised that these were Austrians. The Germans were gone. Within a couple of days, the prison gates were open and hundreds were released. Derry's careful accounts show that a considerable sum of money was spent on bribery during this period. That morning, Furman had called to Renzo Lucidi's flat. They had arranged to meet to work out their accounts but he recalls that concentration was difficult.