Book description
Published to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Falangist
uprising in July 2011, Franco's Friends tells the little-known true
story of how MI6 orchestrated the coup that brought General Franco to
power in Spain in 1936, leading to the Spanish civil war and 40 years
of right-wing dictatorship. It has long been known that a British
plane took Franco from the Canaries to Morocco at the start of the
coup and that Major Hugh Pollard travelled on the plane from London,
masquerading as a tourist and accompanied by two attractive blondes to
add to the deception that this was just a pleasure trip. What is not
known is the importance of his role and the extent of the involvement
of the British intelligence services. Franco's Friends shows that
Pollard was a lifelong member of MI6 and discloses a list of Britons
who helped engineer Franco's coup that reads like a who's who of
British intelligence (including james Bond creator, Ian Fleming). The
book shows that MI6 continued working in Spain through to the Second
World War, putting together behind-the-scenes deals and ensuring that
the UK's interests were maintained. Crucially, MI6 even financed
bribes paid to the Spanish generals by the British naval attache in
Madrid to keep Spain neutral, thus reaping the benefits for Britain in
1939-45. Franco's Friends , based on previously unknown material from
the National Archives, Imperial War Museum, the British Library and
private archives, is one of the great previously untold stories of the
Second World War, revealing how Britain made a dubious but difficult
moral choice that would have repercussions on the outcome of the
Second World War.
Peter Day is a former senior reporter on the Mail on Sunday. A
writer and journalist, he writes regularly for the Sunday Times and
Mail on Sunday. He lives in Surrey.
