Operations Sinon and Switchblade are, of course, completely fictional . . . but they could have easily happened. Operations Fortitude North, Fortitude South, Ironside, and Zeppelin all took place. The information Peter reads in McDougall’s office about these operations is factual. As a result of Fortitude South, the German Army met news of the D-day invasion with disbelief and slow reactions. The German Fifteenth Army didn’t move from the Calais region to the real front in Normandy until the end of July. Radio Berlin was the first to broadcast news of the invasion, and SHAEF issued an official communiqué only hours after the amphibious landings began.
Throughout the book, references to those with a rank of general are real, historical individuals. Those of lower rank are fictional. With any mention of real, historical figures, I have tried to keep their involvement as true to history as possible. General von Rundstedt did predict that the invasion would come near Calais, and General Patton was in command of the fictitious Dover invasion force.
I have made an effort to accurately describe firearms, limpet mines, airplanes, vehicles, and other equipment as they were in 1944. Spy gear, such as L-pills and microdots, existed at the time of this story.
The description of Calais and the surrounding countryside is largely factual. Maroilles cheese and lacemaking are common to the area. Calais was surrounded by canals, hedgerows, and a wall. There is an outdoor market at the Place d’Armes, a Notre Dame cathedral, and a medieval watchtower. During World War II, the Germans did set up their army headquarters near the train station. The beaches would have looked as they are described in this novel, though without Olivier’s narrow mine-free path. The description of the city’s wartime devastation is also accurate. Residents of the city had to deal with rationed food, curfews, air raids, checkpoints, and round-ups for forced labor in Germany. In fact, there was an air raid in the Pas-de-Calais the night of June 4–5. The homes of the characters and Gestapo headquarters are a product of my imagination.
Details of the Gestapo and Abwehr are factual, and the Gestapo methods described in this book have been documented by historians. Prinz’s home province of Carinthia was the source of more death camp guards than any other province in Germany or Austria, and many of its inhabitants were of mixed Slovene/Austrian ancestry. Fresnes prison was a real place. Having one’s head shaved was a common consequence for French women who collaborated with the Nazis, although it was more common after liberation than during occupation.
If you have any questions about what is fact and what is fiction, please contact me on my website: ALSowards.com.