April 8, 2024 • 30 mins
Please enjoy The Swastika on the a great episode of the legendaryCloak and Dagger radio show - A Classic Old Time radio Show - OTR
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Are you willing to undertake a dangerousmission behind the enemy lines, knowing you
may never return alive. What youhave just heard is the question asked during
the war to agents of the OSS. Ordinary citizens to this question answered yes.
(00:25):
This is cloak and dagger, blackwarfare, espionage, international intrigue.
(00:49):
These are the weapons of the OSS. In today's adventure, the swastika on
the windmill, the role of Paulhalfand an OSS agent in Holland, is
played by lest. The story issuggested by actual incidents recorded in the Washington
piles of the Office of Strategic Services, a story that can now be told.
(01:11):
My mouth was asdry as ashes.The palms of my hands were ringing
wet. My revolver was drawn andI moved slowly, slowly along the dark
hall. Everything I have been taughtled up to this moment. Boards under
my feet heated. For a terrifyingmoment, I almost lost my balance and
fell backwards. Something was ahead ofme in a room along that dark passage.
(01:37):
I incensed it more than anything else. Then I heard it. I
stopped breathing until I've passed that room, and the voices of the hidden Germans
almost slid past them. To theend of the corridor. There was a
Nazi storm trooper in uniform right infront of me blocking the exit. Well,
(01:57):
fire, fire, fire, again, I should work for Well,
that's it, you're past the test. All the colonel wants to see you.
What I had just come through wasa cleverly designed scarehouse that rivaled any
Coney Island Chamber of horrors for onea minute thrills. This was part of
(02:21):
the training of an OSS agent andit took place less than an hour's ride
from Washington, d C. TheSenate, how found, at the present
time we have no information and noway of getting information. I'm the disposition
and plans of German troops and theNetherlands. Well you think they're up to
something, Well to know what nowyou'll be flown to England and from there
(02:42):
a submarine will take you to thecoast of Holland. The coast of Holland
to me, Holland was that littlecountry where my uncle Brohm lived, where
I visited when I was twelve,where the windmills were now under the shadow
of the Swastika. I guess wecan surface about here. There's mac on
(03:05):
Holland. I want to take alook with Tanhalphno thanks, Madas Funny.
Through the periscope of the submarine Tuna, I could see a windmill in the
flat lowland of the Netherlands. Icouldn't see the swastika, but I knew
it was there. The pressure gageshowed twenty feet of salt water above us.
Take her up over the hat.We climbed the ladder through the hatch,
(03:42):
where an inflated rubber boat was waitingto take me to shore. I'm
only a couple of yards from sureI can get out here. I mean
that rucksack. Please, Hey,you auser. Have you fought to go
from here? It's only about fivemiles from Macum to Volsward, where my
uncle lives. I can make itbefore the sun comes up. Goodbye and
(04:08):
thanks, good luck, good answer. So when you rang the bell at
Salah Paul, I jumped for mybed the devil, I said, it's
the guest tap. They finally puttwo and two together and connected me with
(04:30):
the underground. Hush, brahm,hush, God gave you a tongue,
Must you use it so loosely?I'm afraid my new aunt Hilda doesn't trust
me completely. I trust no oneneeds Hey, hey, this is poor.
How often have I spoken to youof the times he came here when
he was how old? Poor?Twelve? Uncle BROWNA yes, twelve and
(04:55):
soap oper so cortect a miniature modelof propriety. If on the looks of
it, you've grown that, youhaven't changed much still proper is the devil
the result of my strict Quaker upbringing, Uncle Brom. Remember that we were
both taught never to drink or smoke, or lie or or swear, Uncle
(05:15):
Brom? Why, yes, ever, how long will you stay in Holland?
Only long enough to contact the leaderof the underground and get the information
I'm after? I see? Tellme why should we believe that you are
an Allied spy? Answer me?Surely you don't expect me to carry proof
(05:36):
about me that I'm a spy incase the Germans find me? Then how
do we know? That's enough?At the devil, I say, I'll
hear no more of this talk,All right, Brown, it will be
as you say, and on yourconscience. Your your wife doesn't trust me.
(05:59):
You were surprised and without to findyour aunt Katrina dead, and I
remarried. Yes, yes I was, Uncle Braum, I was lonesome.
It's not good for her man tolive for himself. And she is a
good woman, but she doesn't trustme. She has her reasons. There
(06:20):
was a man in these parts notlong ago. He passed himself off as
a British agent, gained the confidenceof some of the underground. Then he
turned them over to the Gestapo.Oh, I see here, as family
was among those executed. You understandnow, Uncle Braum. You haven't seen
(06:45):
me or heard from me since Iwas a boy. You don't know where
I've been during those years in between. You don't know what my loyalties are.
You trust me. Tomorrow I wouldtake steps to put you in contact
with Hans spoke In lew Arden,the leader of the Dutch underground. When
(07:05):
I awoke a few hours later,it was about ten o'clock. Through the
window of a spare room that AuntHilda had made up for me, I
could see the neat little milk cartsjolting over the Christine and the cobblestones,
and I could see the endless streamof bicycles, and here and there a
German soldier in uniform, like ablot on the landscape. I am as
(07:32):
flit. The breakfast is not asumptuous that it was in the old day's
poor do not apologize for what theycannot change. Aunt Hilda is right,
it was very good. The RogueBrood was just as I remembered it.
And these current bunds, these Cretonbruges, are wonderful. I will leave
(07:54):
you. I have a house toclean. You're still suspicious of me?
Have I any reason? Be itenough? Paul is my sister's son.
I will stake my own life's bloodthat he is to be trusted. Let
us hope you do not have to. Hilda and Hilda, look this pistol.
(08:15):
I'm giving it to you. It'sthe only one I have, the
only one you have, and yougive it to me. Yeah. I
put myself at your mercy. Ifat any time you have proof even the
slightest that I'm not what I claimto be, take my own gun and
turn it on me. I willtake your gun and take you at your
(08:41):
word. That should convince her,for you are what you say. I
hope. So now, what aboutthis hunts Buck? How can I get
in touch with him? I willarrange for a meeting between you halfway at
the handling in five days from nowto give him time to collect the information.
(09:05):
You are after. The days untilThursday, when I was supposed to
meet Hans Buck passed slowly, butthey weren't wasted. I set up a
short wave radio and a wine cellarred in the living room. I had
long talks with Uncle Brahm, andI went out of my way to win
(09:26):
over Aunt Huda. Are you surethere's nothing I can do to help you
with dinner? Aunt Hulda? Nothing? Thank you? Oh it's it's still
raining. One need not be tooclever to see that. In Holland it
(09:50):
seems always to be raining now,rain, mud and despair. I remember
when I came here years ago,it was winter. I was in time
for the skaters races, Yeah,skaters races and the booths. Remember the
(10:13):
little booths that sold chocolate and milkcooked with aniseed, and the little cakes,
all the varieties of gingerbread, Oh, how I love them. Handle
me the spoon here here you are. Thank you? Tell me about America?
(10:33):
What is it like? Well,it's too large to describe in a
sentence. It too. When thewar is over, you must come visitors
when the war is over. Well, lit can't last forever, and America
is helping. And remember our leader, President Roosevelt is himself of Dutch ancestry.
(11:03):
Tomorrow, tomorrow, perhaps I willmake you a gingerbread cake. Yes.
I won her over slowly, andon Thursday when I left for Hallingen,
she said goodbye to me at thedoor with uncle Brom. You know
(11:26):
where to meet him for? Yes? Everything clear? Yeah, everything uncle
Bron. I'm to meet him besidethe monument of a stone Man on the
North Sea Dikes. I'll be noddingand unknotting a piece of string, so
you'll know I'm good. Good youwill you related to night them? Yeah?
(11:50):
Paul, here, this is foryou in case you should have need
of it. My pistol take itback, Thank you, Thank you,
Aunt Huda Curtain Morgan Morgan. Thishabit you have of nothing and non knocking
(12:26):
string? Is it not a wasteof time? Nothing is a waste if
it serves a purpose? Yeh buckYeah, write enough. You need to
blend the information? Do you haveit? Yeah? Where where in my
head? You'll have to memorize itas I give it to you. I
(12:46):
could not take a chance of writinganything down. I'll remember them, remember
it and use it well. Andthere are forty thousand Nazi troops in Holland
and Beltram. But these troops willbe on the move within two weeks.
Where they're going northern Italy. Theywill be used to cut off the American
advance there. The colonel did suspectthe worst. Thank you, thank you.
(13:09):
I'll radio this out tonight. Itis appropriate, is it not for
us to meet under the statue ofthe Stoneman? See the inscription terminus.
It means thus far and no farthera threat to the sea that is held
back by the banks. Thus farand no farther, a threat also to
(13:33):
the lasting. Yeah you understand me, well, remember me to your ankle,
and goodbye for now. A bookis in constant danger of discovery by
(13:56):
the Gestapo. Pot It's why hecould not take a chance and write that
information down for you. It wasn'tnecessarily over Brown. He passed it from
his head to mine. When willyou radio it to London? After midnight?
I think I can start now.What's that ah stopping in front of
the house. They are men gettingout so late? Who are they?
(14:24):
Brown? Do you know them?No? I don't. I'm afraid.
I'm afraid. It was like thisonce before, when I came to get
my family, Paul, we wereturned in in by someone who pretended to
be friends. I don't know.I don't know what to believe. I'll
answer it, heman, Yeah,business with you. I mean this is
(14:52):
my wife, my nephew, allher fund you nephew. Next, take
a good look at him. Wouldyou say? He looks as if he's
to be trusted. I never trustthe man who looks so innocent. What
are you talking about? Who areyou? You don't be so suspicious.
We are from Hans Box remembers ofthe underground, and that ground I was
(15:16):
not conscious there was an underground inthe Netherlands. What do you want with
us? Being very careful, Ican see that the killer man, and
that's good. Perhaps this prover weare? Would you not say that is
hairbox own signature. Yeah, thatis all right. I know it there
(15:37):
convinced. Now read it aloud,Okabron, let me read it. For
every reason to distrust man you sentme today, show proof he is,
or turn him over to these menfor underground execution. But this is ridicuous.
I do not understand why Bok seemto trust me well enough this afternoon.
(16:00):
And if he's a German spy,a treasure a mid s he is
I do not believe that, NotPaul, he is not a spy,
not for the Germans. You wantpoof, I will give you poof.
I see here in the vine,sell of it. This is his short
befriend you. He was going tosend the message tonight. He is a
(16:22):
friend, he is an ally,He's a member of the American oasis.
Don't you believe me? Mm hmmm, that is the matter. We will
believe you well enough. Thank youfor giving us proof of what we suspected.
What's this? Shall I tho tomy bad take a good look the
(16:47):
sculling cosbons. We've been chilling,have barked. But we have no definite
proof that he was connected with theunderground. We only suspected. And today
we saw I meet your nephew hereon the North Sea d Where did you
wait until Jim? If we arrestedthem, then then there we might get
nothing from them. So we waited. We arrested her walk and we found
a paper with his signature on thatnote you showed us for us forge quite
(17:11):
right, not forged by little Ihad made my way into the kitchen door.
You have killed him right again,and then around the corner and up
the backs, get up with youin a foot of memory. It came
(17:36):
back chamber of horrors, and hoursdrive from Washington. My mouth was dry
as ashes. The palms of myhands were ringing wet along the dark hor
my revolver drawn. Everything I hadbeen taught led up to this, this
momentary. Have you covered from bothsides? Drop your cod well fire,
fire, fire again into the darkness. This Chinda was no instructor to say,
(17:59):
good word, Paul. There wasjust a gun in my back and
the leader of the Gestapo to say, you are under a rest, Lieutenant
hal, how long do you thinkyou can hold out? We have ways
of making you talk. No,must we convince you more, Sergeant Commando,
(18:27):
Well, nahles really have better luckyre question your aunt, Sergeant,
get and bring her here. No, don't do that there alone, simply
because you requested, Sergeant, doas I say. You'll see how long
shields out she is absolute. We'llhave a shot and you will be a
(18:48):
witness. The amusing I know whenI'm beaten. Don't bother the old lady
or the old man. Either.What they're you saying? Well, I
thought I could hold out. Ican see now there's no point in holding
out. You've won. What moreis there to say if you're just starling
(19:11):
for time, not stalling. AirCommander, approve it. I'll confess everything,
tell you everything you want to know. Wow, you're becoming smart.
And so I told them everything theywanted to know. General Donovan. It's
the OSS in Washington. The OSSis part of the American State Department.
(19:32):
The Minister of Finance in Britain isalso head of the British Secret Intelligence.
Ahead, Lieutenant Harfund, we're listening, Corper, take this down. I
gave them a mixture of facts andfantasy that would have done the German propaganda
Ministry crime. The true facts Itold them I knew they already knew the
(19:53):
rest. They seem to accept theface value, so I kept my story
with a real whapper. You takingall this down, Corporal, We'll take
this down with a red pencil.An invasion of North Holland is part of
the Allied plan. What the invasionwill be made in the eastern area of
Friesland on the Dutch North Sea,coast. You are lying to Russ.
(20:15):
We'll see if you know you're eaten. Mhm, that's you've been on the
wrong side. You turned turphon.You've pick up radio. I think you
ought to use it tonight. Timeis now twenty three hundred, twenty three
(20:41):
hundred. Paul Halfon calling headquarters.Can you hear me over Oss Headquarters to
Paul wulf On, you're coming inclear. I've been waiting for your message
for good to hear your voice.Why don't you say that's a gun in
your back? I can see it'sgoing to take a lot to convince you.
Paul hawf On the headquarters, listen, listen carefully. It's stinking weather
(21:07):
for a drop, but I've gotto have supplies. It's darned important.
Over Would you mind repeating so we'resure? Repeat? Please? Over?
What the bebel's the matter? Yousaid you were getting gone good reception.
I said, the weather's lousy,but it's darned important that I get a
supply drop at designated point tomorrow night. Can't make it any darn clearer than
(21:32):
that. Over, Okay, okay, we get it. It's done,
clear enough. You get your suppliedup all right? Out you heard it
yourself, the drop will be made. Are you beginning to be convinced of
my sincerity? Well? Are younervous? Lieutenant? Why do you say
(21:57):
that I never use such language before? Oh? My, I expect to
get over my nervousness after I broadcastmany of these radio messages for you,
Commander Brandt. After that they droveme back to the jail. Commander Brandt
(22:18):
of the Gestapo had never heard meuse such language before, and neither had
os as headquarters in the army.They used to make fun of me because
of my proper speech. I gambledon the chance that the radio operator who
knew me would detect something odd aboutmy speech. When he answered back the
same way, I knew he understoodI was a prisoner of the Germans and
(22:41):
that the supply drop would probably savemy neck. I didn't sleep that night,
and I didn't really take a deepbreath until eleven o'clock the next morning.
Good Morgan lut would you care perhapsfor if he's a chocolate American cigarette?
(23:08):
I knew the drop had been successful. They sent us home Uncle brahm
Ant Hilda and me, but webrought a border with us in the person
of Commander Brandt. House was differentnow. Ant Hilda prepared meal silently.
Uncle Bram smoked his pipe and lookedat me wondering. And twice a week
(23:33):
they sat in the living room andwatched and listened as Commander brand and I
contacted always as headquarters, oh sS Headquarters to Paul Alvin. This is
important. Four and twenty blackbirds arecoming through the rye storm clouds overhead.
Take in your washing, good night, foreg enough hum what did that mean?
(23:59):
Fifteen thousand more troops are added topreparations for the invasion of Holland,
and maybe Will rushed twenty thousand moreGerman troops to the Dutch North Sea course.
Already we have forty thousand troops waitingthere. We were going to send
them to elsewhere, but they wouldundoubtedly be it more use here, undoubtedly.
(24:19):
Yeah. We go up to bednow, dog shit. The dinner
was very good, Frock. Ican't help being a good cook. It's
thoughtful of him to leave us aloneso much, is it. I do
(24:45):
not care much for your company.Maybe he's got his reasons. I wanted
to tell them my reasons, butI didn't. Dare instead and I stood
at the piano and played the scalewith one finger. Even Uncle Bram was
getting to the point where he couldn'tbook me straight in the eye. But
as Uncle Brahm became more suspicious,Commander Brandt became less suspicious. I think
(25:11):
I will go up to bed too. Something was wrong with the piano.
The sea was sharp, as ifsomething were pressing on it, making it
sharp. I walked around at theback of the Baby Grand and I saw
it. It's a small round discbeside of an overcoat button. I knew
(25:33):
it was attached to a dictaphone inBrand's room. That was why he left
us alone so much. I'd givehim something to listen to, for I
know them as these some explanations forthese things you are doing. Now.
Look, you haven't had it sogood for years. Eggs on the table?
When did you have eggs on thetable? Last privileges? Nobody else
has extra ration books. You mightas well face it. This is a
(25:56):
new order, Germany's order, Andif you're smart like I am, you'll
fall in with the paulishness you.I told you he was a traitor a
sty I warned you you wanted tosee me her commander four. Thank you
(26:26):
for coming to my office so promptly. At my corn I follow orders,
so I'm beginning to see I sitdown to them. I want you to
hear something. MM. I thinkI'll go up. I don't understand.
It's addict your phone. If Istill don't know, there must be some
(26:56):
explanation problem. You haven't had itso good for years, that's me.
What's the idea of doing it onthe table? Last privilege is nobody else
has exploration. You might as wellface it. This is a new matter.
Germany have convinced me complete you're smartlike I am. You're all in
with them. I have a propositionfor you. Yes, I want you
(27:22):
to go to any land for us. Actors are sub religion. You can
be more valuable to us there.Leave Holland. But by a great help
to you here. I know therisk. It involves what Germany would pay
you well after the war. Takeit over. I thought it over and
(27:48):
let him convince me, and afew days later a German stormtrooper gave me
a personal escort to the border,and I made my way back from the
enemy lions. I left, myaunt and uncle escaped and were hidden by
the underground, and it wasn't untilthe war was over that I was able
to see them and explained Lieutenant PaulHalfan returned to OSS headquarters and thousands of
(28:21):
Nazi troops waited on the shore ofthe North Sea for an invasion that never
came. Thus, once again,the report of another OSS agent closed with
the words mission accomplished. Listen againnext week for another true adventure from the
files of the OSS on Clock andDagger heard him. Today's Clock and Dagger
(28:57):
Adventurer's Paul how Fond was less.Tremaine Brahm was played by Stefan Schavel,
Hilda by Virginia Payne, bat byBarry Kroger, the Colonel by Raymond Edward
Johnson. Others were Carl Weber,Jerry Jarrett, Arnold Robertson and Bob Wyam.
The script was written by Winterfred Wolfand Jack Gordon. The music was
(29:18):
under the direction of Murray Ross.Today's True Assess Adventure was based on the
book Klokendagger by Corey Ford and AlistairMcBain. This program was produced by Lewis
G. Cowen and Alfred Hollander andwas under the direction of Sherman Marx Programs.
Get your programs here, mystery fans, there's an exciting evening waiting for
you tonight on NBC. First,some listener will have a chance to win
(29:41):
a double reward for solving the caseon one thousand dollars reward. Next,
when a woman reads her own obituaryin the paper, the saint finds himself
involved in a case that leads tomurder. Then Sam Spade works his way
through the rod and reel caper.Yes, you'll find adventure here tonight.
Stay tuned now for high Adventure andThe Big Guy on NBC. Uh uh
Are you willing to undertake a dangerousmission behind the enemy lines, knowing you
may never return alive. What youhave just heard is the question asked during
the war to agents of the OSS. Ordinary citizens to this question answered yes.
(00:25):
This is cloak and dagger, blackwarfare, espionage, international intrigue.
(00:49):
These are the weapons of the OSS. In today's adventure, the swastika on
the windmill, the role of Paulhalfand an OSS agent in Holland, is
played by lest. The story issuggested by actual incidents recorded in the Washington
piles of the Office of Strategic Services, a story that can now be told.
(01:11):
My mouth was asdry as ashes.The palms of my hands were ringing
wet. My revolver was drawn andI moved slowly, slowly along the dark
hall. Everything I have been taughtled up to this moment. Boards under
my feet heated. For a terrifyingmoment, I almost lost my balance and
fell backwards. Something was ahead ofme in a room along that dark passage.
(01:37):
I incensed it more than anything else. Then I heard it. I
stopped breathing until I've passed that room, and the voices of the hidden Germans
almost slid past them. To theend of the corridor. There was a
Nazi storm trooper in uniform right infront of me blocking the exit. Well,
(01:57):
fire, fire, fire, again, I should work for Well,
that's it, you're past the test. All the colonel wants to see you.
What I had just come through wasa cleverly designed scarehouse that rivaled any
Coney Island Chamber of horrors for onea minute thrills. This was part of
(02:21):
the training of an OSS agent andit took place less than an hour's ride
from Washington, d C. TheSenate, how found, at the present
time we have no information and noway of getting information. I'm the disposition
and plans of German troops and theNetherlands. Well you think they're up to
something, Well to know what nowyou'll be flown to England and from there
(02:42):
a submarine will take you to thecoast of Holland. The coast of Holland
to me, Holland was that littlecountry where my uncle Brohm lived, where
I visited when I was twelve,where the windmills were now under the shadow
of the Swastika. I guess wecan surface about here. There's mac on
(03:05):
Holland. I want to take alook with Tanhalphno thanks, Madas Funny.
Through the periscope of the submarine Tuna, I could see a windmill in the
flat lowland of the Netherlands. Icouldn't see the swastika, but I knew
it was there. The pressure gageshowed twenty feet of salt water above us.
Take her up over the hat.We climbed the ladder through the hatch,
(03:42):
where an inflated rubber boat was waitingto take me to shore. I'm
only a couple of yards from sureI can get out here. I mean
that rucksack. Please, Hey,you auser. Have you fought to go
from here? It's only about fivemiles from Macum to Volsward, where my
uncle lives. I can make itbefore the sun comes up. Goodbye and
(04:08):
thanks, good luck, good answer. So when you rang the bell at
Salah Paul, I jumped for mybed the devil, I said, it's
the guest tap. They finally puttwo and two together and connected me with
(04:30):
the underground. Hush, brahm,hush, God gave you a tongue,
Must you use it so loosely?I'm afraid my new aunt Hilda doesn't trust
me completely. I trust no oneneeds Hey, hey, this is poor.
How often have I spoken to youof the times he came here when
he was how old? Poor?Twelve? Uncle BROWNA yes, twelve and
(04:55):
soap oper so cortect a miniature modelof propriety. If on the looks of
it, you've grown that, youhaven't changed much still proper is the devil
the result of my strict Quaker upbringing, Uncle Brom. Remember that we were
both taught never to drink or smoke, or lie or or swear, Uncle
(05:15):
Brom? Why, yes, ever, how long will you stay in Holland?
Only long enough to contact the leaderof the underground and get the information
I'm after? I see? Tellme why should we believe that you are
an Allied spy? Answer me?Surely you don't expect me to carry proof
(05:36):
about me that I'm a spy incase the Germans find me? Then how
do we know? That's enough?At the devil, I say, I'll
hear no more of this talk,All right, Brown, it will be
as you say, and on yourconscience. Your your wife doesn't trust me.
(05:59):
You were surprised and without to findyour aunt Katrina dead, and I
remarried. Yes, yes I was, Uncle Braum, I was lonesome.
It's not good for her man tolive for himself. And she is a
good woman, but she doesn't trustme. She has her reasons. There
(06:20):
was a man in these parts notlong ago. He passed himself off as
a British agent, gained the confidenceof some of the underground. Then he
turned them over to the Gestapo.Oh, I see here, as family
was among those executed. You understandnow, Uncle Braum. You haven't seen
(06:45):
me or heard from me since Iwas a boy. You don't know where
I've been during those years in between. You don't know what my loyalties are.
You trust me. Tomorrow I wouldtake steps to put you in contact
with Hans spoke In lew Arden,the leader of the Dutch underground. When
(07:05):
I awoke a few hours later,it was about ten o'clock. Through the
window of a spare room that AuntHilda had made up for me, I
could see the neat little milk cartsjolting over the Christine and the cobblestones,
and I could see the endless streamof bicycles, and here and there a
German soldier in uniform, like ablot on the landscape. I am as
(07:32):
flit. The breakfast is not asumptuous that it was in the old day's
poor do not apologize for what theycannot change. Aunt Hilda is right,
it was very good. The RogueBrood was just as I remembered it.
And these current bunds, these Cretonbruges, are wonderful. I will leave
(07:54):
you. I have a house toclean. You're still suspicious of me?
Have I any reason? Be itenough? Paul is my sister's son.
I will stake my own life's bloodthat he is to be trusted. Let
us hope you do not have to. Hilda and Hilda, look this pistol.
(08:15):
I'm giving it to you. It'sthe only one I have, the
only one you have, and yougive it to me. Yeah. I
put myself at your mercy. Ifat any time you have proof even the
slightest that I'm not what I claimto be, take my own gun and
turn it on me. I willtake your gun and take you at your
(08:41):
word. That should convince her,for you are what you say. I
hope. So now, what aboutthis hunts Buck? How can I get
in touch with him? I willarrange for a meeting between you halfway at
the handling in five days from nowto give him time to collect the information.
(09:05):
You are after. The days untilThursday, when I was supposed to
meet Hans Buck passed slowly, butthey weren't wasted. I set up a
short wave radio and a wine cellarred in the living room. I had
long talks with Uncle Brahm, andI went out of my way to win
(09:26):
over Aunt Huda. Are you surethere's nothing I can do to help you
with dinner? Aunt Hulda? Nothing? Thank you? Oh it's it's still
raining. One need not be tooclever to see that. In Holland it
(09:50):
seems always to be raining now,rain, mud and despair. I remember
when I came here years ago,it was winter. I was in time
for the skaters races, Yeah,skaters races and the booths. Remember the
(10:13):
little booths that sold chocolate and milkcooked with aniseed, and the little cakes,
all the varieties of gingerbread, Oh, how I love them. Handle
me the spoon here here you are. Thank you? Tell me about America?
(10:33):
What is it like? Well,it's too large to describe in a
sentence. It too. When thewar is over, you must come visitors
when the war is over. Well, lit can't last forever, and America
is helping. And remember our leader, President Roosevelt is himself of Dutch ancestry.
(11:03):
Tomorrow, tomorrow, perhaps I willmake you a gingerbread cake. Yes.
I won her over slowly, andon Thursday when I left for Hallingen,
she said goodbye to me at thedoor with uncle Brom. You know
(11:26):
where to meet him for? Yes? Everything clear? Yeah, everything uncle
Bron. I'm to meet him besidethe monument of a stone Man on the
North Sea Dikes. I'll be noddingand unknotting a piece of string, so
you'll know I'm good. Good youwill you related to night them? Yeah?
(11:50):
Paul, here, this is foryou in case you should have need
of it. My pistol take itback, Thank you, Thank you,
Aunt Huda Curtain Morgan Morgan. Thishabit you have of nothing and non knocking
(12:26):
string? Is it not a wasteof time? Nothing is a waste if
it serves a purpose? Yeh buckYeah, write enough. You need to
blend the information? Do you haveit? Yeah? Where where in my
head? You'll have to memorize itas I give it to you. I
(12:46):
could not take a chance of writinganything down. I'll remember them, remember
it and use it well. Andthere are forty thousand Nazi troops in Holland
and Beltram. But these troops willbe on the move within two weeks.
Where they're going northern Italy. Theywill be used to cut off the American
advance there. The colonel did suspectthe worst. Thank you, thank you.
(13:09):
I'll radio this out tonight. Itis appropriate, is it not for
us to meet under the statue ofthe Stoneman? See the inscription terminus.
It means thus far and no farthera threat to the sea that is held
back by the banks. Thus farand no farther, a threat also to
(13:33):
the lasting. Yeah you understand me, well, remember me to your ankle,
and goodbye for now. A bookis in constant danger of discovery by
(13:56):
the Gestapo. Pot It's why hecould not take a chance and write that
information down for you. It wasn'tnecessarily over Brown. He passed it from
his head to mine. When willyou radio it to London? After midnight?
I think I can start now.What's that ah stopping in front of
the house. They are men gettingout so late? Who are they?
(14:24):
Brown? Do you know them?No? I don't. I'm afraid.
I'm afraid. It was like thisonce before, when I came to get
my family, Paul, we wereturned in in by someone who pretended to
be friends. I don't know.I don't know what to believe. I'll
answer it, heman, Yeah,business with you. I mean this is
(14:52):
my wife, my nephew, allher fund you nephew. Next, take
a good look at him. Wouldyou say? He looks as if he's
to be trusted. I never trustthe man who looks so innocent. What
are you talking about? Who areyou? You don't be so suspicious.
We are from Hans Box remembers ofthe underground, and that ground I was
(15:16):
not conscious there was an underground inthe Netherlands. What do you want with
us? Being very careful, Ican see that the killer man, and
that's good. Perhaps this prover weare? Would you not say that is
hairbox own signature. Yeah, thatis all right. I know it there
(15:37):
convinced. Now read it aloud,Okabron, let me read it. For
every reason to distrust man you sentme today, show proof he is,
or turn him over to these menfor underground execution. But this is ridicuous.
I do not understand why Bok seemto trust me well enough this afternoon.
(16:00):
And if he's a German spy,a treasure a mid s he is
I do not believe that, NotPaul, he is not a spy,
not for the Germans. You wantpoof, I will give you poof.
I see here in the vine,sell of it. This is his short
befriend you. He was going tosend the message tonight. He is a
(16:22):
friend, he is an ally,He's a member of the American oasis.
Don't you believe me? Mm hmmm, that is the matter. We will
believe you well enough. Thank youfor giving us proof of what we suspected.
What's this? Shall I tho tomy bad take a good look the
(16:47):
sculling cosbons. We've been chilling,have barked. But we have no definite
proof that he was connected with theunderground. We only suspected. And today
we saw I meet your nephew hereon the North Sea d Where did you
wait until Jim? If we arrestedthem, then then there we might get
nothing from them. So we waited. We arrested her walk and we found
a paper with his signature on thatnote you showed us for us forge quite
(17:11):
right, not forged by little Ihad made my way into the kitchen door.
You have killed him right again,and then around the corner and up
the backs, get up with youin a foot of memory. It came
(17:36):
back chamber of horrors, and hoursdrive from Washington. My mouth was dry
as ashes. The palms of myhands were ringing wet along the dark hor
my revolver drawn. Everything I hadbeen taught led up to this, this
momentary. Have you covered from bothsides? Drop your cod well fire,
fire, fire again into the darkness. This Chinda was no instructor to say,
(17:59):
good word, Paul. There wasjust a gun in my back and
the leader of the Gestapo to say, you are under a rest, Lieutenant
hal, how long do you thinkyou can hold out? We have ways
of making you talk. No,must we convince you more, Sergeant Commando,
(18:27):
Well, nahles really have better luckyre question your aunt, Sergeant,
get and bring her here. No, don't do that there alone, simply
because you requested, Sergeant, doas I say. You'll see how long
shields out she is absolute. We'llhave a shot and you will be a
(18:48):
witness. The amusing I know whenI'm beaten. Don't bother the old lady
or the old man. Either.What they're you saying? Well, I
thought I could hold out. Ican see now there's no point in holding
out. You've won. What moreis there to say if you're just starling
(19:11):
for time, not stalling. AirCommander, approve it. I'll confess everything,
tell you everything you want to know. Wow, you're becoming smart.
And so I told them everything theywanted to know. General Donovan. It's
the OSS in Washington. The OSSis part of the American State Department.
(19:32):
The Minister of Finance in Britain isalso head of the British Secret Intelligence.
Ahead, Lieutenant Harfund, we're listening, Corper, take this down. I
gave them a mixture of facts andfantasy that would have done the German propaganda
Ministry crime. The true facts Itold them I knew they already knew the
(19:53):
rest. They seem to accept theface value, so I kept my story
with a real whapper. You takingall this down, Corporal, We'll take
this down with a red pencil.An invasion of North Holland is part of
the Allied plan. What the invasionwill be made in the eastern area of
Friesland on the Dutch North Sea,coast. You are lying to Russ.
(20:15):
We'll see if you know you're eaten. Mhm, that's you've been on the
wrong side. You turned turphon.You've pick up radio. I think you
ought to use it tonight. Timeis now twenty three hundred, twenty three
(20:41):
hundred. Paul Halfon calling headquarters.Can you hear me over Oss Headquarters to
Paul wulf On, you're coming inclear. I've been waiting for your message
for good to hear your voice.Why don't you say that's a gun in
your back? I can see it'sgoing to take a lot to convince you.
Paul hawf On the headquarters, listen, listen carefully. It's stinking weather
(21:07):
for a drop, but I've gotto have supplies. It's darned important.
Over Would you mind repeating so we'resure? Repeat? Please? Over?
What the bebel's the matter? Yousaid you were getting gone good reception.
I said, the weather's lousy,but it's darned important that I get a
supply drop at designated point tomorrow night. Can't make it any darn clearer than
(21:32):
that. Over, Okay, okay, we get it. It's done,
clear enough. You get your suppliedup all right? Out you heard it
yourself, the drop will be made. Are you beginning to be convinced of
my sincerity? Well? Are younervous? Lieutenant? Why do you say
(21:57):
that I never use such language before? Oh? My, I expect to
get over my nervousness after I broadcastmany of these radio messages for you,
Commander Brandt. After that they droveme back to the jail. Commander Brandt
(22:18):
of the Gestapo had never heard meuse such language before, and neither had
os as headquarters in the army.They used to make fun of me because
of my proper speech. I gambledon the chance that the radio operator who
knew me would detect something odd aboutmy speech. When he answered back the
same way, I knew he understoodI was a prisoner of the Germans and
(22:41):
that the supply drop would probably savemy neck. I didn't sleep that night,
and I didn't really take a deepbreath until eleven o'clock the next morning.
Good Morgan lut would you care perhapsfor if he's a chocolate American cigarette?
(23:08):
I knew the drop had been successful. They sent us home Uncle brahm
Ant Hilda and me, but webrought a border with us in the person
of Commander Brandt. House was differentnow. Ant Hilda prepared meal silently.
Uncle Bram smoked his pipe and lookedat me wondering. And twice a week
(23:33):
they sat in the living room andwatched and listened as Commander brand and I
contacted always as headquarters, oh sS Headquarters to Paul Alvin. This is
important. Four and twenty blackbirds arecoming through the rye storm clouds overhead.
Take in your washing, good night, foreg enough hum what did that mean?
(23:59):
Fifteen thousand more troops are added topreparations for the invasion of Holland,
and maybe Will rushed twenty thousand moreGerman troops to the Dutch North Sea course.
Already we have forty thousand troops waitingthere. We were going to send
them to elsewhere, but they wouldundoubtedly be it more use here, undoubtedly.
(24:19):
Yeah. We go up to bednow, dog shit. The dinner
was very good, Frock. Ican't help being a good cook. It's
thoughtful of him to leave us aloneso much, is it. I do
(24:45):
not care much for your company.Maybe he's got his reasons. I wanted
to tell them my reasons, butI didn't. Dare instead and I stood
at the piano and played the scalewith one finger. Even Uncle Bram was
getting to the point where he couldn'tbook me straight in the eye. But
as Uncle Brahm became more suspicious,Commander Brandt became less suspicious. I think
(25:11):
I will go up to bed too. Something was wrong with the piano.
The sea was sharp, as ifsomething were pressing on it, making it
sharp. I walked around at theback of the Baby Grand and I saw
it. It's a small round discbeside of an overcoat button. I knew
(25:33):
it was attached to a dictaphone inBrand's room. That was why he left
us alone so much. I'd givehim something to listen to, for I
know them as these some explanations forthese things you are doing. Now.
Look, you haven't had it sogood for years. Eggs on the table?
When did you have eggs on thetable? Last privileges? Nobody else
has extra ration books. You mightas well face it. This is a
(25:56):
new order, Germany's order, Andif you're smart like I am, you'll
fall in with the paulishness you.I told you he was a traitor a
sty I warned you you wanted tosee me her commander four. Thank you
(26:26):
for coming to my office so promptly. At my corn I follow orders,
so I'm beginning to see I sitdown to them. I want you to
hear something. MM. I thinkI'll go up. I don't understand.
It's addict your phone. If Istill don't know, there must be some
(26:56):
explanation problem. You haven't had itso good for years, that's me.
What's the idea of doing it onthe table? Last privilege is nobody else
has exploration. You might as wellface it. This is a new matter.
Germany have convinced me complete you're smartlike I am. You're all in
with them. I have a propositionfor you. Yes, I want you
(27:22):
to go to any land for us. Actors are sub religion. You can
be more valuable to us there.Leave Holland. But by a great help
to you here. I know therisk. It involves what Germany would pay
you well after the war. Takeit over. I thought it over and
(27:48):
let him convince me, and afew days later a German stormtrooper gave me
a personal escort to the border,and I made my way back from the
enemy lions. I left, myaunt and uncle escaped and were hidden by
the underground, and it wasn't untilthe war was over that I was able
to see them and explained Lieutenant PaulHalfan returned to OSS headquarters and thousands of
(28:21):
Nazi troops waited on the shore ofthe North Sea for an invasion that never
came. Thus, once again,the report of another OSS agent closed with
the words mission accomplished. Listen againnext week for another true adventure from the
files of the OSS on Clock andDagger heard him. Today's Clock and Dagger
(28:57):
Adventurer's Paul how Fond was less.Tremaine Brahm was played by Stefan Schavel,
Hilda by Virginia Payne, bat byBarry Kroger, the Colonel by Raymond Edward
Johnson. Others were Carl Weber,Jerry Jarrett, Arnold Robertson and Bob Wyam.
The script was written by Winterfred Wolfand Jack Gordon. The music was
(29:18):
under the direction of Murray Ross.Today's True Assess Adventure was based on the
book Klokendagger by Corey Ford and AlistairMcBain. This program was produced by Lewis
G. Cowen and Alfred Hollander andwas under the direction of Sherman Marx Programs.
Get your programs here, mystery fans, there's an exciting evening waiting for
you tonight on NBC. First,some listener will have a chance to win
(29:41):
a double reward for solving the caseon one thousand dollars reward. Next,
when a woman reads her own obituaryin the paper, the saint finds himself
involved in a case that leads tomurder. Then Sam Spade works his way
through the rod and reel caper.Yes, you'll find adventure here tonight.
Stay tuned now for high Adventure andThe Big Guy on NBC. Uh uh
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