Assignment Algiers: With the OSS in the Mediterranean Theater by: Erasmus H. Kloman
Hardcover. Annapolis MD, Naval Institute Press, 1st, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 126 pages, b&w illustrations. Princeton grad Erasmus Kloman was undergoing Army training at Fort Bragg in 1943 when, due to his passing knowledge of French, he was interviewed for potential involvement in "a highly confidential activity." The interview culminated in the question, "Would you be willing to volunteer for hazardous duty behind enemy lines?" He signed up for duty with the newly formed Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and after an intensive period of training in various aspects of espionage, found himself on assignment in wartime Cairo, Algiers, and then Caserta. At age 24 with the title of OSS Acting Chief of Operations in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, he helped organize and coordinate the actions of Operational Groups (OGs) , which infiltrated Italy and occupied France on daring sabotage missions. Clean copy.