This was the question posed to a select few Dutch SOE agents during World War II not realising that the mission they were being sent on had an almost 100% certainty of Death.
Germans executed captured Allied spies by firing squad, guillotine (in France) or other gruesome manner, after usually lengthy torture!
The SOE the Allied Intelligence Service during WW2, tasked with preparing the way for the liberation of Continental Europe.
It was 1944, Germany held sway in Europe and the Allies had a problem, the landing site for the Allied Invasion. Which was going to be Normandy in France, but the Allies in a sleight of hand wanted the Germans to think it was the Pas-De-Calais in France to give the Normandy front the best chance possible and divert attention by the Germans from Normandy to somewhere else on the battle field including Norway (with the phantom First US Army Group (FUSAG) under General Patton or Pas De Calais. Therefore the SOE in a calculated manner derived a plan to implant a falsehood idea as fact (that the invasion was going to take place on the Pas-De-Calais) among the Dutch SOE agents who were led to believe so strongly being told that it was Pas-De-Calais, on arrival in the Netherlands these agents were greeted by the Gestapo some were undoubtedly tortured to death, taking the secret to the grave while others revealing the secret felt miserable betraying the allies cause to liberate Europe and others still were kept by the Nazis to be part of Operation “Englandspiel” or (England game)/(England play).
The Dutch underground were known to be compromised and the SOE knew their Dutch agents were facing certain capture, implanted them with the lie of the invasion location being Pas-De-Calais, they posed as convincing agents defending the lie under torture with their last breath not knowing it was a “Chess” sacrifice while under torture by the nazis. It was a sad prospect especially if the unfortunate agent believed they had betrayed the allied cause by revealing “Pas-De-Calais” secret and that made the subterfuge that much more convincing. The miserable end of an SOE spy, who when all secrets were revealed simply resigning themselves to their demise usually by firing squad.
Some of the captured SOE were rescued and kept on by a Dutch nazi known as Giskes, who had the idea, that these SOE agents, could be turned to transmit to London false information and confirm the location of the Pas De Calais as the likely invasion target and the German Operation “England Spiel” was born, the Allies seemingly believe Giskes subterfuge hook line and sinker, Supplying this phantom Dutch resistance community with supplies, material and finances by Air. This went on for months, but Giskes became no wiser to the game the British were playing with the Germans or that the actual location for the Allied Invasion would be Normandy, the German notion of holding fast to the invasion being in Pas De Calais. Then on the 6th June 1944, after a massive and overwhelming invasion of Normandy began. It was a few weeks into the invasion, the German High Command, realised that they had been outplayed, and the unit was wound up and the SOE agents executed by Firing Squad. A tragic state of affairs and a new meaning to “Would you die for your country”.
Post Script (I) My father said never become a spy for your own side will betray you, look at Aldrich Ames betraying his fellow agents in Russia and KAL007.
Post Script (II)
If I had the means I would erect a statue to these fallen forebears in the intelligence community, who were prepared to die for their country.
SOE Training to dispatch a German Sentry