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Some Personalities in SIS Operations in World War Two Yugoslavia (Clarke-Gatoni)

There is a widespread misconception that the Special Operations Executive (SOE) was the only British secret organisation involved in Yugoslavia in the Second World War. In fact the research for Our Man in Yugoslavia revealed that a considerable number of SIS personnel served in this theatre. A few, like Robert Lethbridge and James Millar, had joined SIS before the war, but most were recruited after the outbreak of hostilities. There were former British Council lecturers like Ennals and Syers, who had worked in Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1941, Yugoslav émigrés like Pavelic and Stichman, Jews of central or eastern European origin like Gatoni, and British officers who transferred into SIS from the regular armed services, such as Park, Whitfield, and Reed himself. Three - Stuart, Park and Stichman - were killed in action; they have no known graves but are commemorated on Commonwealth War Memorials. Others, such as Leonard, were killed by the Partisan security service after the war because of their earlier associations with SIS. These notes do not by any means cover all SIS personnel involved in Yugoslav operations during the war, but they do shed some interesting light on the scope and duration of SIS activities.

Desmond Clarke

Desmond Clarke was based at the British consulate at Split in 1940-41, along with another SIS officer named R. Sherwood. Clarke is said to have worked for the Ministry of Information at first, but was then apparently transferred to SIS. Like Millar and Stuart he managed to escape the Germans in April 1941, and was afterwards sent to join SIS (known as 'ISLD') in Cairo, where he worked as James Millar’s deputy in the Yugoslavia section.

Captain Cooke Adrian Cooke worked as an English lecturer at the University of Zagreb in 1940-41. Later, in October 1943, a ‘Captain Cooke’ was infiltrated into Yugoslavia and became SIS representative with the Partisan navy. It is impossible to verify that this was Adrian Cooke, but it is certain that Cooke became known to James Millar before the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, for he also functioned as press attaché in the British consulate in Zagreb. Presumably he was later recruited into SIS. In the summer of 1944 Cooke joined the Partisan naval headquarters on the Adriatic island of Vis, after Tito located his own headquarters there. He is said to have collected intelligence through Partisan channels and to have furnished a number of reports on German shipping movements which were of the greatest value to the Royal Navy and to the Royal Air Force, and which resulted in several successful naval and air strikes. But early in September Tito suddenly demanded Cooke’s immediate withdrawal, alleging that he had been exceeding his duties and conducting private investigations into the Partisan armed forces. John Ennals John Ennals was on the teaching staff of the British Council in Yugoslavia in 1940-41. In April 1941 he surrendered to the Italians with the rest of the British diplomatic community (see entry on Robert Lethbridge below). He later manned SIS’s Yugoslav desk in London, but by 1945 he was serving in the field in Yugoslavia. Details of his subsequent career can be found in Who's Who. Dan Gatoni The sources on Gatoni are contradictory. One book gives his rank as lieutenant; another records that he was a sergeant, and spells his name ‘Catoni’. Gatoni’s real name was Dan Linar. Recruited through the Jewish Agency, he had presumably lived in central or eastern Europe before the war. He is said primarily to have worked as a radio operator attached to an SOE mission (codenamed ‘Clowder’), which was attempting to penetrate the Austrian frontier through Slovenia in 1944. He was later transferred to an SIS mission at Partisan 4th Zone – the Stajerska region of northern Slovenia. Towards the end of the year, probably in December, Gatoni was captured, along with a group of Partisans. The Partisans were shot, but Gatoni was separated from them, apparently for intensive interrogation, and somehow managed to escape. He later pursued a successful career in the Israeli army.

Personalities (Lawrenson-Lloyd-Evans)