Helias Doundoulakis – författare

An American-born boy grew up in a small village on the Greek island of Crete. In his last years in high school, he witnessed the German invasion of Crete, in May of 1941, during the early years of WW II. At the age of eighteen, he joined a resistance group headed by his brother, and supplied crucial information to the SOE, the arm of the English Intelligence Service. This resistance group is uncovered, resulting in their hasty evacuation by the SOE, to Cairo, Egypt.

In Cairo, the author and his brother were asked to join the English Intelligence Service, but rather, pursued the American OSS, or Office of Strategic Services, the newly formed American intelligence counterpart. They were enlisted into the US Army, and attached to the OSS, where the author was trained in the SI, or Secret Intelligence sector, which included parachute jumping, wireless/Morse code training, commando/defense training, locks/safe-cracking techniques, escape methods, and environment assimilation techniques.

After being transformed into a skilled spy, the author was sent back to Greece undercover, and along with a Greek naval intelligence officer, set up a communications cell in Salonica, Greeces second largest city, whereby daily coded messages to OSS Headquarters in Cairo were sent. One such message describes the course of events surrounding the bombing of the main railroad yard in Salonica, and the loss of thousands of German troops, as well as recalling the near-capture encounters with the German Gestapo and the Greek police. The author also recounts his personal experiences of his escape from Crete through the mountains, the evacuations by an English torpedo boat, his OSS training, the return mission to Greece, and his final return to the United States.

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Review

On an ordinary day in May 1941, a boy from a village in Crete faces an unexpected threat the invasion of German troops. He runs for cover his first escape in a series of encounters with destiny. The boy and his brother work for the SOE, an underground branch of the English Intelligence Service. When the resistance movement is uncovered, they escape through the mountains of Crete, hiding from the enemy in broad daylight. In Egypt, the boy joins the American Army and trains to be a spy for the OSS (the Office of Strategic Services), the SOEs newly formed American intelligence counterpart. Sent back to Salonica, Greece, the boy continually risks his life, operating a wireless radio in plain view. Will the German police ever discover his wireless, in a factory once owned by Greek Jews? If captured, the boy resolves to take a poison capsule that will end his young life, rather than endure torture. Often, he finds himself seconds away from death. Imagine the Victory of living to tell the tale at age 91, and his metamorphosis from boy to man, man to soldier, and soldier to spy.

The authors story was featured in the documentary Camp X: Secret Agent School on History Channel in Canada, and the Smithsonian Channels, World War II Spy School.

REVIEWS

An unvarnished, understated tale, full of youthful mistakes and narrow escapes, the book is written in a straightforward, conversational style.

"You only live twice, once when you are born and once when you look death in the face, Japanese poet Matsuo Basho wrote more than 300 years ago. Doundoulakis skillfully conveys that sense of being fully alive, as he transmitted an amazing 400 clandestine radio signals as an OSS spy. This is a tale you are not likely to find elsewhere, one that rings with authenticity.

BlueInk Review

Helias Doundoulakis, now in his nineties, shares the story of his time in the shadowy world of espionage in Trained to be an OSS Spy ... It''s a story they''re not likely to find anywhere else.

Foreword Clarion Review

The author''s memoir perfectly encapsulates the mixed feelings of his younger self; he was only 20 when sent to the city of Salonica, an event that was both exhilarating and terrifying. His flight from Greece, where he and others hid in caves, is an intense episode, as is his secret passage back into the country. ... Treads familiar territory ... but readers new to his work will enjoy the exciting life he''s chosen to share.

Kirkus Reviews

Although many accounts have been written about Patrick Leigh Fermor, the great travel writer, prose poet, adventurer and Renaissance man, few are more deeply personal and direct than this narrative by Helias Doundoulakis, author of I Was Trained To Be a Spy, Books I & II. The German presence was still everywhere on the island of Crete in July, 1942 when Helias, a nineteen-year-old member of his brother Georges famed resistance movement, went to the bus station in Chania Porte to greet Patrick Leigh Fermor (then known to the Greeks by his code name, Mihalis), who was scheduled to replace Captain Thomas Dunbabin of the Special Operations Executive (the SOE), the British equivalent of the United States Office of Strategic Services (the OSS), formed to assist local resistance movements fighting against the Axis powers. Filled with a spirit of adventure, young Helias hardly knew what to expect of the new captain, and was stunned when he encountered the charismatic Leigh Fermor, whose carefree - often dangerous - approach to life excited and intrigued the boy. What followed was a unique lifetime friendship that surpassed both mens expectations. Now, in his golden years, the author pays tribute to his memories of Leigh Fermor, and commemorates a time long gone, but never forgotten. Read this compelling account, and get to know two very remarkable figures and the heroes that supported the cause of freedom.