| Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Telfer Howie Colonel Charles Howie South African Colonel in the British Army who was captured, and escaped to Hungary in 1943, where he made contact with the anti-Nazi underground. Howie was close to Polish aristocrats, in particular Countess Tarnopolska. He served as the highest ranking British officer in Hungary until his departure in autumn 1944, following attempted negotiations with Regent Horthy. Howie also made contact with the British A-Force and the Special Operations Executive. U.K. documents reveal that as he was not a trained agent, the British Intelligence had security concerns and therefore his involvement was kept minimal. Howie's funds were understandably low during his stay in Hungary. He was in hiding in Budapest. As per his personnel file, once he arrived, Howie asked an aristocrat to introduce him to Gerit Van der Waals, who in turn introduced him to Lolle Smit, the Director of Philips radio in the Balkans, so that Howie could communicate with Ankara. He was known to Gabor Haraszty (a.k.a. ISLD agent ALBERT, the most significant British agent in World War II Hungary). Howie also came into contact with Reginald Barratt, and had brief communication with Reuven Dafni. Years later, Joel Brand's testimony at the Eichmann trial included a shocking demand the colonel was said to have made ... Source: The London-Budapest Game (2007) |
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