No Other Choice—别无选择（乔治·布莱克）（第四章~Section 6）

     Apart from these general considerations, which made SIS squeamish of contact with SOE in the field, there was another more weighty reason. This was the tragic disaster of operation 'Nordpol' which made a deep and lasting impression on all who were concerned with clandestine operations in Holland during the war. It started in March1942 with the arrest by the Germans of an agent and his W/T operator, who had been sent to Holland by SOE to set up sabotage networks.

【除去这些一般性的考虑，还有另一个更重要的因素。这就是“北极”行动的悲剧性灾难，它给所有在战争期间关注荷兰间谍行动的人都留下了深刻的印象。1942年3月，德国人逮捕了一名特工和他的线人，他们被特别行动局派到荷兰建立破坏网络。】

     It was accepted by the British intelligence services that too heavy a burden would be put on agents if they were given instructions never to give anything away under interrogation. It was well known that the Gestapo used torture methods under which virtually no one could hold out. Agents were therefore permitted, when forced, to give away their personal code and transmitting schedule. This being so, it was considered likely that the Germans would use their knowledge to make the arrested W/T operator continue to transmit to London as if nothing had happened. Such a game or 'Spiel', as it was called by the Germans, represented serious dangers. If it was not noticed, radio contact with the arrested agent would be continued with the result that all information or material sent to him would fall into German hands; if the W/T contact was used to make arrangements for new agents to be dropped, these would either immediately be arrested or allowed to operate for a while under surveillance so as to discover their contacts in the underground. Thus entire resistance organisations might be rolled up. Finally, the Germans could use this radio contact to pass on misleading information.

【英国情报部门认为，如果特工被告诫在被审讯时绝不能泄露任何信息，他们的压力就会太大了。众所周知，盖世太保使用的酷刑几乎没有人能坚持下去。因此，在紧急情况下，特工被允许提供他们的个人密码和对接时间表。在这种情况下，人们认为德国人很可能会利用他们所掌握的信息，让被捕的线人继续向伦敦发送电报，就好像什么都没发生过一样。这种被德国人称为“Spiel”的游戏，代表着十足的危机。如果没有人注意到，情报机构将继续同被捕的特工进行无线电联系，结果是发给他的所有情报或材料都将落入德国人之手;如果线人被用来安排接待新的特工，这些人要么立即被逮捕，要么就会在被德国人监视的情况下活动一段时间，以便发现他们的其他线人。因此，整个抵抗组织可能会被发现。最后，德国人可以利用这种无线电联系传递误导性信息。】

     It was in order to guard against this danger that so-called security checks were devised. These consisted of the intentional inclusion in the text of a coded telegram of certain, pre-arranged, small mistakes, syllables or words. As long as the agent continued to include the pre-arranged mistakes in his telegrams all was well. Under pressure the arrested SOE agent and his W/T operator agreed to continue sending telegrams to London, but omitted the pre-arranged security checks as a warning that they were under enemy control.

【正是为了防范这种危险，人们设计了所谓的安全检查。这包括在编码电报的文本中故意包含某些预先安排的小错误、音节或单词。只要线人继续在电报中包括预先安排的错误，就表明一切都是正常的。在酷刑下，被捕的特勤局特工和他的接头人同意继续向伦敦发送电报，但不带有预先安排的安全检查，以警告他们处于敌人控制之下。】

     Although the Dutch section of SOE noticed the absence of the security checks it refused to draw the obvious conclusions, attributing this fact to bad atmospherics. It continued radio contact with the arrested agents under the impression that all was well. The Germans, hardly believing their luck, then mounted a cleverly executed deception operation to which they gave the code name 'Nordpol'. They proposed new sabotage operations and asked London for more agents and supplies. These were duly despatched and naturally fell straight into the hands of the Germans. At one point the Gestapo was in contact with London through no less than eighteen W/T transmitters. The 'Spiel' lasted till November 1943, when two of the arrested agents managed to escape from prison and make their way to Switzerland where they warned the Dutch and British authorities of what was going on.

【尽管特勤局的荷兰分部注意到安全检查的缺失，但它阴差阳错的没有得出明显的结论，并将这一事实归因于恶劣的气氛。它在自以为一切顺利的情况下继续同被捕的特工进行无线电联系。德国人几乎不相信自己的运气，于是发动了一次巧妙的欺骗行动，代号为“北极”。他们提出新的破坏计划行动，并要求伦敦提供更多的特工和物资。这些货物及时发运，自然直接落入德国人手中。盖世太保一度通过不少于18个电报发射机与伦敦取得联系。这场“骗局”一直持续到1943年11月，当时两名被捕的特工成功越狱，前往瑞士，并向荷兰和英国当局警告了正在发生的事情。】

     Official Dutch sources estimate that as a result of the 'Nordpol Spiel' some 49 agents and 430 of their contacts in the Dutch resistance were arrested and a vast quantity of weapons, sabotage equipment, radio transmitters, as well as large sums of money fell into German hands. In addition, twelve British bombers, used for dropping agents and stores, were shot down.

【荷兰官方消息来源估计，由于这次“北极行动”，大约49名特工和430名他们在荷兰抵抗运动中的线人被捕，大量武器、破坏设备、电报发射器以及大量资金落入德国人手中。此外，12架用于投放特工和器材的英国战斗机被击落。】

     To put the record straight, it should be pointed out that the successes achieved by the Germans with the 'Nordpol Spiel' were never more than tactical. The British Double-cross Committee booked real strategic successes against the Abwehr by managing to arrest and turn virtually all German agents sent to Great Britain during the war and using them in 'Spiele' which far exceeded the 'Nordpol Spiel' both in scope and duration. I have read everything on 'Nordpol', including the voluminous Dutch work and although my personal knowledge of the operation is limited because I came in only on the tail end of it, I feel that it went wrong as a result of genuine mistakes rather than a conspiracy.

【为了呈现完整的事实，应该指出的是，德国人在“北极行动”上取得的成功从来都只是战术上的。英国反间谍委员会在打击阿博维尔取得了真正的战略成功，他们设法逮捕并策反了几乎所有在战争期间派往英国的德国特工，并将他们用于间谍活动，其范围和持续时间都远远超过了“北极行动”。我已经阅读了所有关于“北极行动”的资料，包括荷兰在的大量工作，虽然我个人对行动的了解有限，因为我只是在行动的最后才加入，但我觉得它的发生是工作纰漏而不是阴谋的结果。】

     SOE, this time with an entirely new team in charge of their Dutch section, had to start building up its organisation in Holland again from scratch. Fortunately, partly because its networks there were still very small and partly because of the innate caution with which it had always approached anything to do with sabotage, SIS activities were little affected by this disaster.

【特勤局，这一次有了一个全新的团队来负责他们的荷兰分部，不得不重新开始建立它在荷兰的组织。幸运的是，部分原因是秘密情报局在那里的间谍网络仍然很小，部分原因是它在处理任何与破坏有关的事情时总是与生俱来的谨慎，秘密情报局的活动几乎没有受到这次灾难的影响。】

     The officers in P8 were assisted in their work by four secretaries. One, as in many SIS sections, was a middle-aged spinster, the other three were young girls of my age.

【P8的工作人员由四名秘书协助工作。和秘密情报局的许多小组一样，其中一个是中年妇女，另外三个是和我年龄相仿的年轻女孩。】

     If most SIS officers were of middle-class or upper-middle-class origin, many of the secretaries were decidedly upper class and belonged to the higher strata of the establishment. There were among them daughters of Tory MPs and ministers, of bishops, of a Viceroy of India, of court dignitaries and some were even related to the Royal Family. Though often scatterbrained, they worked hard because they were very conscious of their patriotic duty, instinctively equating the interests of England with those of their own class. They had joined mostly on the recommendation of friends or relatives who had contacts in the Service. It was considered a good way for them to do their national service for it enabled them to stay in London and join the social round without exposing them to too intimate a contact with the lower classes, inevitable if they had joined one of the Armed Services. They were mostly pretty, some very beautiful, but inclined to be vague and incompetent in varying degrees, though to this there were exceptions. They were pleasant to work with and helped to create a cheerful, friendly atmosphere in the office. I was a beneficiary of this as I spent most of my time there.

【如果说秘密情报局的大多数官员出身于中产阶级或中上层阶级，那么许多秘书无疑是上层阶级，属于机构的较高阶层。其中有党派议员和大臣的女儿，主教的女儿，印度总督的女儿，宫廷要人的女儿，有些甚至和王室有亲戚关系。尽管她们常常心不在焉，但她们工作努力，因为她们非常清楚自己的爱国责任，本能地将英国的利益与自己阶级的利益等同起来。她们大多是通过在该处有熟人的朋友或亲戚的推荐加入的。这被认为是她们服兵役的好方法，因为这使她们能够留在伦敦，远离下层社会，不会与下层社会有太亲密的接触，如果她们加入了武装部队，这种接触是不可避免的。她们大多很漂亮，有些非常漂亮，但在不同程度上工作倾向于模糊和无能，尽管也有例外。和她们一起工作很愉快，有助于在办公室里创造愉快、友好的气氛。我是其中的受益者，因为我在那里度过了大部分时间。】

     The war was now in its last bitter months. For us in London they were marked by the constant menace of V1 and V2 rockets.

【战争现在已进入最后的艰苦时期。对我们在伦敦的人来说，艰苦时期的标志是V1和V2火箭的持续威胁。】