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

445 Pages·2011·1.43 MB·English

by  Susan Heuck Allen

classical spies

Classical Spies
american archaeologists
with the oss in
world war ii greece
Susan Heuck Allen
the university of michigan press ann arbor
•
Jacket photo: “The welcoming party.” Evvia guerrillas.
Pericles mission to EAM Central headquarters in Karpenisi.
(Photo by Costas Couvaras. Copyright held by Department of
Special Collections and University Archives, The Library,
California State University, Sacramento.)
Copyright © by the University ofMichigan 2011
All rights reserved
Published in the United States ofAmerica by
The University ofMichigan Press
Manufactured in the United States ofAmerica
cPrinted on acid-free paper
2014 2013 2012 2011 4 3 2 1
No part ofthis publication may be reproduced,stored
in a retrieval system,or transmitted in any form or
by any means,electronic,mechanical,or otherwise,
without the written permission ofthe publisher.
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Allen,Susan Heuck,1952–
Classical spies :American archaeologists with the OSS in World
War II Greece / Susan Heuck Allen.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-472-11769-7 (hardback) — ISBN 978-0-472-02766-8
(e-book)
1.World War,1939–1945—Secret service—Greece. 2.World War,
1939–1945—Secret service—United States. 3.Espionage—Greece—
History—20th century. 4.Spies—Greece—History—20th century.
5.Archaeologists—Greece—History—20th century. 6.Archaeologists—
United States—History—20th century. 7.United States.
Office ofStrategic Services. I.Title.
D810.S7A54 2011
940.86473092—dc23 2011020863
I dedicate this book to the American men and women,
classical archaeologists and classicists,and the Greeks
who joined them,whose heroic deeds during World
War II are here told for the ‹rst time.
(cid:2)

Acknowledgments
i drew my inspiration for this project from the lives of my professor
John Langdon Caskey and my friend Clio Adossides Sperling.
I acknowledge with pleasure the generous support of a senior research
fellowship from the National Endowment of the Humanities in 2006, a
Seeger Fellowship at Princeton University’s Program in Hellenic Studies in
2007,and an Andrew Mellon Fellowship at the American Philosophical So-
ciety in 2008. Travel-to-conference grants from Providence College and
Smith College advanced my research in Turkey and enabled me to conduct
interviews at the annual meetings ofthe Archaeological Institute ofAmer-
ica.The AIA’s lecture program has helped me access additional archives.
I should like to thank John Taylor and Lawrence MacDonald at the Na-
tional Archives in College Park, Maryland; Alex Pezzati of the University
Museum Archives of the University of Pennsylvania; Natalia Vogeikoff of
the American School ofClassical Studies at Athens;Jan Jordan at the Agora
Archives;Carol Herschenson at the University of Cincinnati;Donald Ske-
mer,Rare Books and Manuscripts of Firestone Library of Princeton Uni-
versity;Erica Mosner,the Institute for Advanced Study,Princeton,New Jer-
sey; and Shelley Lightburn, United Nations Archives; archives in the
American Farm School; Anatolia College; California State University,
Sacramento; Hoover Institute,Stanford University; Mudd Manuscript Li-
brary of Princeton University; New Jersey Historical Society; Rockefeller
Foundation;State University of Iowa;University of Cincinnati;University
ofMinnesota;University ofOregon;and Yale University.
viii • Acknowledgments
I should like to single out Clio Sperling,with whom I had many good
conversations and who permitted scans to be made of her personal pho-
tographs,some ofwhich are included in the book.I thank John O.Iatrides
and William M.Calder III for their encouragement.The following individ-
uals shared their wartime experiences in Greece or relevant knowledge:
Miriam Caskey,Ellen Kohler,Edmund Keeley,Raphael Moizis,Kitty Kyria-
copoulou, George Paspati, Harry Tzalas, Kaiti Koumarianou, Nikos
Vernikos, Elizabeth Milburn Scho‹eld, Martha Heath Wiencke, Larissa
Bonfante,Sara Anderson Immerwahr,William H.McNeill,James Russell,
Crawford Greenewalt,James McCredie,T.Leslie Shear,Jr.,Alan Boegehold,
Emmett Bennett,Eve Harrison,Charles Williams,James Mc Credie,Spyro
Cappony, Machteld Mellink, George Bass, Stephen Tracey, Oscar White
Muscarella,G.Roger Edwards,Keith de Vries,Zoe Rees York,Gwynneth Gi-
raud,William K.Pritchett,Al Simes,John Coleman,Jack Davis,and Peter
Allen.They made it come alive.
I gladly acknowledge the hospitality offriends and institutions:Clopper
and Joan Almon,Melissa Hunsicker,Bülent and ElifBecan,Julie Steinmetz,
JeffClarke,Alain and Brian Giraud,Peggy and Eric Messer,Andrea Pilling,
Constance Degerberg,Penny Wilson and Nikos Zarganis,Miriam Caskey,
Alexis Phylactopoulos and the College Year in Athens,and Richard Jackson
and Anatolia College. I would also like to thank Miriam Caskey, Jack
Thompson, Abbott Gleason, Dorothy Emeline Allen, Alan Boegehold,
Wendy White,Beth Kiley Kinder,and Morris Nathanson for reading parts
ofthe manuscript and offering their insights.I owe a great deal to Miriam
Caskey,but supreme among my many debts is that to my husband,Peter
Sutton Allen.
Contents
List ofAbbreviations xi
Prologue 1
chapter1. “On the Rim ofa Volcano” 8
chapter2. Leaving the Ivory Tower 31
chapter3. Flight 51
chapter4. From Reliefto Intelligence:Forging a
“Grecian Formula” 68
chapter5. Recruiting the Four Captains 84
chapter6. “Playing Ball”and Striking Out with
the British 102
chapter7. “Preparing the Underground Railroad” 117
chapter8. “Entering the Danger Zone”:
The “Samos Show” 139
chapter9. “Oriental Endurance”and the “Somber World
ofSnafu” 163
chapter10. Operation Honeymoon 180
chapter11. The Birds Began to Sing 192
chapter12. Liberation and the “Dance ofthe
Seven Veils” 213