Full Version: OPERATION TILT.... aka REDCROSS (ref, by Brown SOF)
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QUOTE(William Plumlee @ Mar 13 2008, 09:40 PM) 
The following was taken from a post of a few years ago. Eye whitness to history; first person......
"... "... In 1963, John Martino came to me with a fascinating story. He had attended a meeting in Palm Beach at which a Cuban who used the nom de guerre of Bayo...".
"...What had begun as a small, covert operation was now mushrooming into a fairly large enterprise. William Pawley, former US Ambassador, godfather of the World War II Flying Tigers and poker-playing crony of President Harry Truman, entered the picture. The CIA came aboard and took charge. The escorting boat would be Bill Pawley's yacht, the Flying Tiger. The Russians would be photographed on board by a Life magazine camera man. Henry Luce would see that their revelations reached the world.
"...What happened to the Cubans who were offloaded from the Flying Tiger, heavily armed with ClA-supplied weapons? We know that the Pawley yacht weighed anchor ten miles to sea from the port of Baracoa in Oriente Province on the night of June 8, 1963. Three CIA people kept machine-guns trained on Bayo and his Cuban commandos as the latter piled into the speedboat that was to take them to shore (Warren Hinckle and William W. Turner, Deadly Secrets, p. 194). Weapons were aimed at the Cubans because the CIA considered the possibility that they were Castro agents and that the operation was an ambush.
"...The commandos vanished into the night. Pawley saw to it that a Catalina flying boat search the skies for them until a week had elapsed. The generally accepted theory is that their secret purpose had been to get modern arms with which to kill Castro, but that they had been intercepted and killed or captured in a firefight. A year or so after the tragedy, Bill Pawley told me he believed that the men never landed. When they boarded the speedboat, he warned them that it was dangerously overloaded and urged them in vain to take rubber rafts aboard. Pawley heard a large freighter pass between the Flying Tiger and the shore. He believed that the Cuban boat was swamped in the freighter's wake and that the men drowned.
Was their secret purpose to get CIA arms with which to kill Fidel Castro? This is the conclusion researchers have arrived at, but it seems to me illogical. When I was approached to find a yacht and meet the defectors at sea, there was no mention of sending armed commandos ashore. Nor did I have any access to assault weapons nor did Martino have any reason to imagine I would be willing or able to supply them.
The source of guns was the CIA and Bayo and his companions had made it abundantly clear that they distrusted the agency and wanted to have nothing to do with it.
When the plan mushroomed to comprise a Cuban commando force, heavily armed by the CIA with weapons, none of which was, of course, of US origin, plans may well have changed. Assassination? Mere havoc and sabotage? We will probable never know.
reply from Plumlee:
"...A LITTLE KNOW SIDEBAR TO THE FLYING TIGER:
Nathaniel:
Perhaps I can shed a little light on a few matters I know about first hand:
I enjoyed your paper. It was informative and brought up some very good points.
However, there are few matters that I would like to establish for historical content.
John (Martino) had also talked with William Wyland of the State Department (March of 1963) and he had been sent by State to see a Tim Simmons (cut-out) to fund the operation. (Simmons was assigned to the CIA's Covert Action Group (CAG) of the Miami Cuban Desk) Simmons meet with Wild Bill Harvey and his associate who told Simmons to tell Martino to forget the operation. The CIA was involved in another operation and these activites of Martino and his group would "Compromise" a(CIA's) on going operation; code name "Pawalla". ( Ref; FBI-105 76xxx file and 62-2116-12)
Martino then (later) early April meet with Wm. Pawley for funding and support. This was the begginning of the "Flying Tiger affair. Pawley used his influence and contacts to get the green light from the CIA for this small "independent" operation. Pawley was used as a 'cut out' by the CIA and a buffer for the Cubans involved because they did not trust the CIA or Miami Station. Harvy was convienced to sign off on the operation and hold the other operation back for two weeks. This he did. Ref; xxx FBI 104-xxxx declassified 1997
"... What happened to the Cubans who were offloaded from the Flying Tiger, heavily armed with ClA-supplied weapons? We know that the Pawley yacht weighed anchor ten miles to sea from the port of Baracoa in Oriente Province on the night of June 8, 1963. Three CIA people kept machine-guns trained on Bayo and his Cuban commandos as the latter piled into the speedboat that was to take them to shore (Warren Hinckle and William W. Turner, Deadly Secrets, p. 194). Weapons were aimed at the Cubans because the CIA considered the possibility that they were Castro agents and that the operation was an ambush.
[I]The commandos vanished into the night. Pawley saw to it that a Catalina flying boat search the skies for them until a week had elapsed. The generally accepted theory is that their secret purpose had been to get modern arms with which to kill Castro, but that they had been intercepted and killed or captured in a firefight. A year or so after the tragedy, Bill Pawley told me he believed that the men never landed. When they boarded the speedboat, he warned them that it was dangerously overloaded and urged them in vain to take rubber rafts aboard. Pawley heard a large freighter pass between the Flying Tiger and the shore. He believed that the Cuban boat was swamped in the freighter's wake and that the men drowned.".
"... For the sake of time and space I'll step in here:[/i]
I was one of the pilots of the PBY. ("Galloping Sue".) It belong to "Texaco" The PBY Catalina Galloping Sue, was based at Miami International Airport and sometimes parked at Marathron Florida, across from Jack Tarrs resort hotel. (Ref; Martino/Plumlee FBI 105-xxxxxx Cin xxx declassified FOIA 1997)
I will state the following: The group was not ran down by a frighter. They did make it to shore. We received their radio contack through radio Swan. Their code message was as followes: (From a song of the time Poinsetta (sp) these are the words and what they meant:
"Poinseatta-- your branches speak to me of love...Pale moon casting shadows from above...". The Flying Tiger had received this transmission from the beach. It meant: ABORT! ABORT!. The small band were captured by Castro's men on the beach shortly after that and the raiders had signaled the Flying Tiger to leave the area.., a patrol boat was paceing toward them in the darkness. They left.
Three days later Pawley, and two of the Cubans who had stayed on board the Tiger (who were supposed to go on a type of second landing with explosives) received another radio signal from the beach. It was thought this transmission was sent by Castro's men on the beach drawing them back into Cuban waters.
Pawley called Marathron for the PBY and another boat known as the WindJammer II. A rescue mission was planned using the WindJammer as bait. THe Wind Jammer would drawn the Patrol crafts away in a chase. The PBY would go into a "Cove" not far from where the first landing party had landed. They would use their code light flashers in hopes of finding any one hiding out in case some had not been captured.
(the following details are still Classified TS COM SEN)
Rough Recap:
When the PBY got to the LP (landing point) and a rubber raft was sent the 200yards or so, to the beach, the landing party found the bodies of three of the raiders. They had been drawn and quartered, throats slit and a note pinned on their bodies. Bayo was not one of them. We removed the notes and loaded the bodies in the raft and took them back to the PBY and home. The CIA shut the book and Pawley was told another story as to the final fate of his raiding party. I told Pawley the story a few years later a little before he died.
John never really knew what happened to this part from the Flying Tiger. We talked about it briefly one day in 1991 whenI was down in Miami on another matter. We decided we would not talk about it again.
How do I know these things? I was there. I thought you might like to know a little unknown matter, for it too is a part of history. Not nice.. but true. There is more... much more... but I will leave it at this point for now. I am sure the wrath of God and the gate keepers of experts will now pounce on me from above and scatter my ashes to the winds.
Thanks for the fine paper. Tosh. ...".
Forum: JFK Online Seminars · Post Preview: #14412 · Replies: 11
"... "... In 1963, John Martino came to me with a fascinating story. He had attended a meeting in Palm Beach at which a Cuban who used the nom de guerre of Bayo...".
"...What had begun as a small, covert operation was now mushrooming into a fairly large enterprise. William Pawley, former US Ambassador, godfather of the World War II Flying Tigers and poker-playing crony of President Harry Truman, entered the picture. The CIA came aboard and took charge. The escorting boat would be Bill Pawley's yacht, the Flying Tiger. The Russians would be photographed on board by a Life magazine camera man. Henry Luce would see that their revelations reached the world.
"...What happened to the Cubans who were offloaded from the Flying Tiger, heavily armed with ClA-supplied weapons? We know that the Pawley yacht weighed anchor ten miles to sea from the port of Baracoa in Oriente Province on the night of June 8, 1963. Three CIA people kept machine-guns trained on Bayo and his Cuban commandos as the latter piled into the speedboat that was to take them to shore (Warren Hinckle and William W. Turner, Deadly Secrets, p. 194). Weapons were aimed at the Cubans because the CIA considered the possibility that they were Castro agents and that the operation was an ambush.
"...The commandos vanished into the night. Pawley saw to it that a Catalina flying boat search the skies for them until a week had elapsed. The generally accepted theory is that their secret purpose had been to get modern arms with which to kill Castro, but that they had been intercepted and killed or captured in a firefight. A year or so after the tragedy, Bill Pawley told me he believed that the men never landed. When they boarded the speedboat, he warned them that it was dangerously overloaded and urged them in vain to take rubber rafts aboard. Pawley heard a large freighter pass between the Flying Tiger and the shore. He believed that the Cuban boat was swamped in the freighter's wake and that the men drowned.
Was their secret purpose to get CIA arms with which to kill Fidel Castro? This is the conclusion researchers have arrived at, but it seems to me illogical. When I was approached to find a yacht and meet the defectors at sea, there was no mention of sending armed commandos ashore. Nor did I have any access to assault weapons nor did Martino have any reason to imagine I would be willing or able to supply them.
The source of guns was the CIA and Bayo and his companions had made it abundantly clear that they distrusted the agency and wanted to have nothing to do with it.
When the plan mushroomed to comprise a Cuban commando force, heavily armed by the CIA with weapons, none of which was, of course, of US origin, plans may well have changed. Assassination? Mere havoc and sabotage? We will probable never know.
reply from Plumlee:
"...A LITTLE KNOW SIDEBAR TO THE FLYING TIGER:
Nathaniel:
Perhaps I can shed a little light on a few matters I know about first hand:
I enjoyed your paper. It was informative and brought up some very good points.
However, there are few matters that I would like to establish for historical content.
John (Martino) had also talked with William Wyland of the State Department (March of 1963) and he had been sent by State to see a Tim Simmons (cut-out) to fund the operation. (Simmons was assigned to the CIA's Covert Action Group (CAG) of the Miami Cuban Desk) Simmons meet with Wild Bill Harvey and his associate who told Simmons to tell Martino to forget the operation. The CIA was involved in another operation and these activites of Martino and his group would "Compromise" a(CIA's) on going operation; code name "Pawalla". ( Ref; FBI-105 76xxx file and 62-2116-12)
Martino then (later) early April meet with Wm. Pawley for funding and support. This was the begginning of the "Flying Tiger affair. Pawley used his influence and contacts to get the green light from the CIA for this small "independent" operation. Pawley was used as a 'cut out' by the CIA and a buffer for the Cubans involved because they did not trust the CIA or Miami Station. Harvy was convienced to sign off on the operation and hold the other operation back for two weeks. This he did. Ref; xxx FBI 104-xxxx declassified 1997
"... What happened to the Cubans who were offloaded from the Flying Tiger, heavily armed with ClA-supplied weapons? We know that the Pawley yacht weighed anchor ten miles to sea from the port of Baracoa in Oriente Province on the night of June 8, 1963. Three CIA people kept machine-guns trained on Bayo and his Cuban commandos as the latter piled into the speedboat that was to take them to shore (Warren Hinckle and William W. Turner, Deadly Secrets, p. 194). Weapons were aimed at the Cubans because the CIA considered the possibility that they were Castro agents and that the operation was an ambush.
[I]The commandos vanished into the night. Pawley saw to it that a Catalina flying boat search the skies for them until a week had elapsed. The generally accepted theory is that their secret purpose had been to get modern arms with which to kill Castro, but that they had been intercepted and killed or captured in a firefight. A year or so after the tragedy, Bill Pawley told me he believed that the men never landed. When they boarded the speedboat, he warned them that it was dangerously overloaded and urged them in vain to take rubber rafts aboard. Pawley heard a large freighter pass between the Flying Tiger and the shore. He believed that the Cuban boat was swamped in the freighter's wake and that the men drowned.".
"... For the sake of time and space I'll step in here:[/i]
I was one of the pilots of the PBY. ("Galloping Sue".) It belong to "Texaco" The PBY Catalina Galloping Sue, was based at Miami International Airport and sometimes parked at Marathron Florida, across from Jack Tarrs resort hotel. (Ref; Martino/Plumlee FBI 105-xxxxxx Cin xxx declassified FOIA 1997)
I will state the following: The group was not ran down by a frighter. They did make it to shore. We received their radio contack through radio Swan. Their code message was as followes: (From a song of the time Poinsetta (sp) these are the words and what they meant:
"Poinseatta-- your branches speak to me of love...Pale moon casting shadows from above...". The Flying Tiger had received this transmission from the beach. It meant: ABORT! ABORT!. The small band were captured by Castro's men on the beach shortly after that and the raiders had signaled the Flying Tiger to leave the area.., a patrol boat was paceing toward them in the darkness. They left.
Three days later Pawley, and two of the Cubans who had stayed on board the Tiger (who were supposed to go on a type of second landing with explosives) received another radio signal from the beach. It was thought this transmission was sent by Castro's men on the beach drawing them back into Cuban waters.
Pawley called Marathron for the PBY and another boat known as the WindJammer II. A rescue mission was planned using the WindJammer as bait. THe Wind Jammer would drawn the Patrol crafts away in a chase. The PBY would go into a "Cove" not far from where the first landing party had landed. They would use their code light flashers in hopes of finding any one hiding out in case some had not been captured.
(the following details are still Classified TS COM SEN)
Rough Recap:
When the PBY got to the LP (landing point) and a rubber raft was sent the 200yards or so, to the beach, the landing party found the bodies of three of the raiders. They had been drawn and quartered, throats slit and a note pinned on their bodies. Bayo was not one of them. We removed the notes and loaded the bodies in the raft and took them back to the PBY and home. The CIA shut the book and Pawley was told another story as to the final fate of his raiding party. I told Pawley the story a few years later a little before he died.
John never really knew what happened to this part from the Flying Tiger. We talked about it briefly one day in 1991 whenI was down in Miami on another matter. We decided we would not talk about it again.
How do I know these things? I was there. I thought you might like to know a little unknown matter, for it too is a part of history. Not nice.. but true. There is more... much more... but I will leave it at this point for now. I am sure the wrath of God and the gate keepers of experts will now pounce on me from above and scatter my ashes to the winds.
Thanks for the fine paper. Tosh. ...".
Forum: JFK Online Seminars · Post Preview: #14412 · Replies: 11
FWIW Tosh told me most of the above (minus his discussion with Pawley about it, I think - would have to consult my notes) nearly 17 years ago, now. Many laugh at or deride Tosh, but he is one of the few who can say, "Been there, done that" about some of the events we refer to here on the Forum.
Here's some photos from Operation Tilt that I just came across:
http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...amp;relPageId=2
James Richards, have you seen these before?
BK
http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...amp;relPageId=2
James Richards, have you seen these before?
BK
I have indeed, Bill.
Over the last few years, I have posted most of them either here or before that at the JFKresearch forum.
They were snapped by British photographer Terrance Spencer.
James
Over the last few years, I have posted most of them either here or before that at the JFKresearch forum.
They were snapped by British photographer Terrance Spencer.
James
QUOTE(James Richards @ Aug 30 2008, 08:46 AM)
I have indeed, Bill.
Over the last few years, I have posted most of them either here or before that at the JFKresearch forum.
They were snapped by British photographer Terrance Spencer.
James
Over the last few years, I have posted most of them either here or before that at the JFKresearch forum.
They were snapped by British photographer Terrance Spencer.
James
I thought they looked familiar.
Can you point out one for me of John Martino?
Thanks,
BK
Bill,
Those contact sheets are incomplete. They don't contain the images of Martino, Rip Robertson, Mickey Kappes, James Arthur Lewis and the main CIA contingent.
Having said that, this image below shows Martino on the left, Denys Regal in the middle and Eddie Bayo on the right.
James
Those contact sheets are incomplete. They don't contain the images of Martino, Rip Robertson, Mickey Kappes, James Arthur Lewis and the main CIA contingent.
Having said that, this image below shows Martino on the left, Denys Regal in the middle and Eddie Bayo on the right.
James
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