A new book claims that British traitor Anthony Blunt, already known as a Soviet double agent, also spied for the Nazis, leaking details of a crucial Allied operation that led to tens of thousands of deaths. Author Robert Verkaik alleges Blunt was the mysterious spy codenamed Josephine, whose identity has never been revealed.
According to the book, Josephine provided the Germans with plans for Operation Market Garden in September 1944, the Allies' failed attempt to push into northern Germany via the Netherlands. The operation resulted in heavy Allied casualties when paratroopers met unexpected resistance, contributing to a prolonged war and countless civilian deaths.
Blunt, a Cambridge don and MI5 officer, would have had access to the Market Garden plans. The book suggests that Stalin wanted to prevent the Allies from reaching Berlin before the Soviets, making it advantageous for Blunt to leak the information. Verkaik also argues that Blunt's actions indirectly led to the rapes of at least a million German women by Soviet forces after their victory.
Blunt was exposed as the 'Fourth Man' in the Cambridge Five spy ring in 1979. The new allegations add a further dimension to his betrayal, though they remain unproven.
