C
Before WWII unlike the Europeans, American intelligence collection was done on an ad-hoc basis by various departments in the Executive Branch (State, Treasury, Navy, and War Departments) primarily for their own internal use. There was no one, coordinated source of intelligence from which to develop national priorities and foreign policy. This concerned President Franklin D. Roosevelt and he tasked Colonel William “Wild Bill” Donovan to draft a plan for a national intelligence service based upon the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Donovan’s plan was provided to the president as the, “Memorandum of Establishment of Service of Strategic Information” on June 10, 1941. The memorandum was approved in whole by the President and Colonel Dovonan was appointed as the "Coordinator of Information" (COI) on July 11, 1941. As one would expect the existing US agencies were both skeptical and hostile to the new organization.
Until after Pearl Harbor most intelligence products developed by the OSS was based upon information provided by the UK. Eventually it became imperative that the OSS have its own field agents. The first agents were trained by British Security Coordination (BSC) in Canada near Ontario. This facility was known as Camp X and after the US set up their own camps, Camp X was primarily devoted to an “assassination and elimination" training program and dubbed “the school of mayhem and murder.”
In order to provide training to the large number of agents needed, the US searched for existing facilities in the United States to convert for the purpose of training OSS agents. With the exception of survival training camp located on Santa Catalina Island, California, almost all other training was conducted in the Washington, D.C. area. Prince William Forest Park (then known as Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area) was the site of an OSS training camp that operated from 1942 to 1945. Area "C" (Cabins 1 & 4), consisting of approximately 6,000 acres, was used extensively for communications training, whereas Area "A" (Cabins 2 & 5) was used for training of Operations Groups (OGs). Catoctin Mountain Park, now the location of Camp David, was the site of OSS training Area "B." Congressional Country Club (Area F) in Bethesda, MD was also an OSS training facility.
Approximately 24,000 agents were trained as OSS agents. Some of the more notable agents include: Julia Child, Ralph Bunche, Arthur Goldberg, Saul K. Padover, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Bruce Sundlun, and John Ford.
Though the OSS did operate in the China-Burma-India Theater against the Japanese with the help of Ho Chi Minh (yes that Ho Chi Minh), the OSS’ primary adversary was the German Abwher. With the exception of the Duquesne Spy Ring (whose biggest coup was passing the Norden bombsight system to Germany in 1938), it is generally thought that Germany was unsuccessful in placing operating agents in the US after the war began. Most attempts to infiltrate agents were via U-boats. The agents were either caught immediately, or soon after they landed. Most Abwher intelligence collected against the US was of economic nature concerning the US' production in support of the war effort by a large contingency of German agents located in Mexico.
However; recently an interesting document was found as the result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request about OSS and Abwehr activities in the US. The below document was found stuck to the back of an operator’s manual for a SE-108/10 Agent/Spy Transceiver. The SE-108/10 Agent/Spy Transceiver was a standard radio used by the Abwehr. This document and the manual were found in the belongings of a German POW interrogated at POW Camp Fort Hunt (then located east of Mount Vernon on the Potomac) and then transferred to the POW work camp in Fairfax (ALLH#5- The German Prisoner of War camp—GC1JBN0).
Both the radio manual and the below document are in relatively bad shape. The radio manual seems to for a modified version of the SE-108 which consumed very little power and was attached to an unattended and unspecified “hilfssammlungsgerät.” The paper shown below seemed to indicate that this device might have been located somewhere close to cabins 5 and 2 in the Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area. Though one might think that other training areas in the Washington, D.C. area might have been a higher priority than this, but this may not be. Cabin 5 area was used for staging trained agents awaiting deployment. If the Abwher could identify OSS agents before, and as they are deployed, this would clearly help them in their efforts to protect against penetration by OSS agents.
To date neither the SE-108/10, nor the purported location of this device has been located, though it seems clear that the below document was intended for the individual(s) responsible for the maintenance of this device.
Thanks to the NPS for the special permission to NoVAGO to place this cache. Permit available to view on request
Warnings
* Ticks and chiggers are prevalent in the park. Appropriate precautions should be taken.
* Open wells have been found in the park. Known sites have been covered. It is possible others exist. Please use caution and pay close attention to footing and surroundings. (tree roots, etc. on and off trail pose tripping hazards).
* Thermal stresses may be a factor. Permittee should ensure that participants are dressed appropriately and stay hydrated
* Hunting of geocaches is done at searcher's risk as per geocaching.com guidelines
Prince William Forest Park Entrance Fees as of January 2020:
| $20.00 |
per vehicle, 7 consecutive days |
Valid for 7 consecutive days. |
| $15.00 |
per motorcycle, 7 consecutive days |
Valid for 7 consecutive days. |
| $10.00 |
Individual (walking, cycling) |
Valid for 7 consecutive days. |
| $35.00 |
Annual Pass, provides entry for pass holder and occupants of a single personal vehicle (capacity of 14 passengers or less). |
Valid for current year. |