Johannes Eppler (1914–1999), also known as Hans Eppler, John Eppler, and Hussein Gaafer, was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Abwehr The ''Abwehr'' ( German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', but the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context; ) was the German military-intelligence service for the '' Reichswehr'' and the ''Wehrmacht'' from 1920 to 1944. ...

spy, a German who had been raised in Egypt by his Egyptian stepfather. One of

Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...

's spies during the North African campaign in World War II, Operation Salaam led by

László Almásy László Ede Almásy de Zsadány et Törökszentmiklós ( hu, Almásy László Ede; ; 22 August/3 November 1895 – 22 March 1951) was a Hungarian aristocrat, motorist, desert explorer, aviator, Scout-leader and sportsman who served as th ...

spirited Eppler and Hans-Gerd Sandstede into Cairo although they were both arrested soon after arrival in July 1942. Eppler is the subject of

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Go ...

file KV 2/1467. After World War II, Eppler told dramatic stories about his spy exploits during the war, but historians have shown that his actual work was ineffective and amateurish.

Fictional portrayals

Eppler is the subject of a book by

Leonard Mosley Leonard Oswald Mosley (11 February 1913 – June 1992) was a British journalist, historian, biographer and novelist. His works include five novels and biographies of General George Marshall, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, Orde Wingate, Walt D ...

, ''The Cat and the Mice'', and is again referenced in Mosley's ''The Druid''. Eppler and his radio operator Sandstede are played by

Adrian Hoven Adrian Hoven (18 May 1922 – 28 April 1981) was an Austrian actor, producer and film director. He appeared in 100 films between 1947 and 1981. He was born in Wöllersdorf, Austria as ''Wilhelm Arpad Hofkirchner'' and died in Tegernsee, Ger ...

and Neil McCallum in the British film of ''The Cat and the Mice'', retitled ''

Foxhole in Cairo ''Foxhole in Cairo'' is a 1960 British war film directed by John Llewellyn Moxey and based on a novel by Leonard Mosley itself based upon the real-life Operation Salaam. It starred James Robertson Justice, Adrian Hoven, Fenella Fielding and Henry ...

'' (1960) (although Sandstede is renamed Sandy). Another depiction of Eppler's exploits is in the German film '' Rommel Calls Cairo'' (1959) based upon Eppler's book of the same name. In this film, Eppler is again portrayed by

. Eppler portrayed Rommel in the French film '' Le Mur de l'Atlantique'' (1970). The film and novel ''

The English Patient ''The English Patient'' is a 1992 novel by Michael Ondaatje. The book follows four dissimilar people brought together at an Italian villa during the Italian Campaign of the Second World War. The four main characters are: an unrecognisably burn ...

'' also reference Operation Salaam and Eppler's activities. Eppler's history is the same as that of the character Alexander (Achmed) Wolff, the Cairo spy in Ken Follett's "The Key to Rebecca" (1980).

Notes

References

*''The Cat and the Mice'' - Leonard Mosley, London 1960 *''Rommel ruft Kairo'' - Hans Eppler, 1959
- UK National Archives references"Deceiving Hitler"
1914 births 1999 deaths Abwehr German military personnel of World War II World War II spies for Germany {{Germany-mil-bio-stub

Fictional portrayals

See also

Notes

References