Operation Tilt (Bayo/Pawley Mission)

[David Andrews]

21 minutes ago, Larry Hancock said:

Interestingly the scenario of Castro "turning" a CIA strike team against JFK is exactly what Roselli offered to Washinton DC in the winter of 67/68 just as the Garrison investigation was getting underway...it was taken to Warren, to the FBI, to the Secret Service and even to LBJ and nobody wanted to touch it....even though CIA was well aware of Roselli's very real Castro assassination efforts.

Personally I happen to think that was just a spin on what really did happen, that individuals who had indeed been sent in for attacks on Castro were turned against JFK,  just not by Castro. Roselli was presenting something close to the truth, always the best disinformation.

You're dead on about the Roselli disinformation, which I'm sure came from higher circles.

Who really knows?  Maybe an ulterior mission to Bayo-Pawley was that any dead that Bayo left in Cuba could live in legend as uncaptured co-conspirators to a single dead Cuban patsy assassin said to have been a man once presumed killed in the Bayo raid.  A kind of piggybacking?  Time for bed....

Edited November 1, 2019 by David Andrews

[David Boylan]

Rip Robertson noted that when he was training Perez's team, they were more interested in the infiltration procedures than in ex-filtration procedures. There was an 8/23/63 report from Victor Garcia (Guanantamo Naval Base)  that Eddie Perez and his team had a fire fight with members of Castro's militia and had inflicted major casualties. Perez had lost two men in the fight - Thomas Vaquero and Rolando Rodriguez. Angel Luis Castillo, Bayo's brother-in-law, approached Martino about recruiting Rip Robertson to infiltrate Castillo and his men to help ex-filtrate Perez and his remaining men. Robertson turned down Martino's request.

Angel Luis Castillo was an asset of ACSI (Army Intelligence). Perez (CIA crypt AMDENIM-11) had gone on previous missions with the CIA Paramilitary officers that went with him on Operation Tilt - Rudy Enders and Mickey Kappes. Kappes was closely associated with Alberto Fernandez (AMDENIM-1), Tony Cuesta (AMDENIM-14) and Larry Laborde (AMDENIM-4). Laborde was close friends with Gerry Hemming. Fernandez was the owner of the Tejana. The Tejana was used in many infiltration missions into Cuba, both proceeding and after the Bay of Pigs.

 

[Larry Hancock]

Really glad  you brought that up David, as I recall there were more than one appeals to Martino to go to his CIA contacts with a plea for help in getting members of the team out of Cuba - but at that point both Robertson and Morales essentially felt the CIA had effectively been used by Bayo (with his story of Russian defectors ready to testify to Congress about Russian missiles still in Cuba) and were of no mind to respond.

[David Boylan]

A few of my takeaways:

How close Martino and Robertson were. Martino could call up Robertson, a deep cover JMWAVE/PM officer? Robertson would call him John in his reports.

How intertwined the Perez mission and CIA were. The CIA supplied the Leda to shadow them.

This went as far up as Deputy Director Marshall Carter as you previously noted.

The Flyer Tiger was tracked by the Coast Guard, buoy by buoy.

[Larry Hancock]

To elaborate a bit,  Robertson had been assigned to obtain information from Martino upon his release from Cuba - but beyond that he appears to have bonded with him and maintained a close social contact through the following months; Martion's son told me Robertson was frequently at their home.  Martino's son actually observed the bus with the Alpha 66 team members outside his house prior to the mission leaving Miami.

The CIA actually sponsored the TILT mission,  literally taking charge of it - that was supported at Western Hemisphere level by J.C. King, approved by the Deputy Director and under the supervision of Shackley at JMWAVE.   A variety of CIA assets including personnel were assigned to and went on the mission; Robertson was the mission leader.  However there is absolutely no record - that I could find - that the Special Group Augmented or the President were advised of it and they were officially charged with approving all JMWAVE supported missions.

And while the mission itself appears to soured Morales and Robertson on Bayo, it appears not to have damaged Robertson's relationship with Martino as they they continued to communicate on a regular basis. 

[Jon Pickering]

Impressed by the number of U.S. ofcrs and personnel in guiding roles over on and offshore operations, but the microanalytic speculation is forever circular and futile - this series amounts to nothing more than 'those dirty Cubans' did it.

[Guest]

Operation Tilt documents and photos.

Thanks to Malcolm Blunt

Digitising by yours truly.

[B. A. Copeland]

On 11/1/2019 at 10:59 AM, Bart Kamp said:

Operation Tilt documents and photos.

Thanks to Malcolm Blunt

Digitising by yours truly.

Thanks a ton Barto.

@David Andrews I think its important to remember that Doug was speculating on the Bayo/JFK hit team bit. He pretty much always makes it clear when he's speculating as far as I'm aware. I think we all know how important that is to do in this field of research. According to the document that Doug was reading from, Hall mentions that it was a "phony cover story to get three Russians". Fascinating, the least of which concerning Bayo's surviving the 'raid'. We've seen this before somewhat with another hit team suspect: Herminio Diaz Garcia (thanks D.Boy!) 

Edited November 8, 2019 by B. A. Copeland

[Guest]

You are most welcome B.A., I know only little of anti-Castro matters as I am too occupied with you know what. But I am glad that this material is of some good use. 

[Paul Brancato]

5 hours ago, Bart Kamp said:

You are most welcome B.A., I know only little of anti-Castro matters as I am too occupied with you know what. But I am glad that this material is of some good use. 

Curious - what are you occupied with?

[Guest]

Papers Paul.

Anatomy of the TSBD

Anatomy of Prayer Man

 

[David Andrews]

My thanks also for the Bayo files, Bart and Malcolm.

[B. A. Copeland]

8 hours ago, Bart Kamp said:

Papers Paul.

Anatomy of the TSBD

Anatomy of Prayer Man

 

Beat me by a long shot lol. 

[David Andrews]

On 11/6/2019 at 4:25 PM, B. A. Copeland said:

Thanks a ton Barto.

@David Andrews I think its important to remember that Doug was speculating on the Bayo/JFK hit team bit. He pretty much always makes it clear when he's speculating as far as I'm aware. I think we all know how important that is to do in this field of research. According to the document that Doug was reading from, Hall mentions that it was a "phony cover story to get three Russians". Fascinating, the least of which concerning Bayo's surviving the 'raid'. We've seen this before somewhat with another hit team suspect: Herminio Diaz Garcia (thanks D.Boy!) 

And I admit that it would have been an audacious plan to use the repatriated (to the US) Bayo guerillas as a hit squad against JFK in either Tampa or Miami in early November 1963 - in an attack scenario that would not have resembled the hidden riflemen plan used in Dealey.  It strikes up the memory of how Gerry Hemming and some Interpen commandos allegedly refused work guarding JFK on one of these appearances (I think it was Kennedy debarking AF-1 at a Florida airstrip) because of concerns that someone else would open fire, and he and his men would be left as patsies. 

But, as I detailed above, having all of Bayo's crew participate had logistical and psychological risks, and the whole enterprise of "turned" assassins could have been done from the bases in the Keys without so much expense, hardware and visibility for CIA and Pawley, not to mention the Luce press.  Would the powers that be have had any notion that in a few months Kennedy would make an appearance where all or some of Bayo's men would make successful assassins and sheep-dipped patsies, and the survivors keep quiet about it forever? 

I'll have to reread the Bob Brown article to see the context in which Hall discussed the "phony cover story," and ponder how it ties into using all those ships, planes and men. Maybe it was an intentional boondoggle, with Pawley and Robertson or their underlings collecting from interested parties bags and briefcases of cash to support the mission (as in one of Hemming's fables), which would be diverted into other anti-Castro or anti-Kennedy efforts.

Edited November 8, 2019 by David Andrews

[Guest]

20 hours ago, David Andrews said:

My thanks also for the Bayo files, Bart and Malcolm.

You are most welcome David, hope it is of some use.