488th Army Intelligence Unit

[Ed Berger]

3 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

I was waiting for Critchfield! 

Are you familiar with Kagnew Station, later designated Stonehouse? or Francis Raven, NSA cryptologist 

Back soon.

I am familiar with Kagnew Station but my knowledge of it is pretty limited. Francis Raven is a new one to me!

[Leslie Sharp]

11 minutes ago, Ed Berger said:

I am familiar with Kagnew Station but my knowledge of it is pretty limited. Francis Raven is a new one to me!

"Raven" appears in Lafitte's notes along side the code word "Holdout."

Raven was the star of cryptology in '63.  He apparently had a fairly close working relationship with Hoover (our primary candidate for "Holdout").  Raven once said that if Hoover told him to go surveil the Quakers, he surveilled the Quakers.

Kagnew is of interest primarily because of Eritrea, and potential implications related to the Eugene Dinkin story which Albarelli believed to be based in fact.  

Edited July 23, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Steve Thomas]

1 hour ago, Paul Brancato said:

Even the Military Order of World Wars states that Colonel Crichton ran a MID.

Paul,

You have to be a little careful with the MOWW. They are not a historical record like the Encyclopedia Britannica or something. They are a benevolent non-profit organization like the VFW. I wouldn't be surprised if the entries are written by the subjects themselves like Who's Who in America.

"Who We Are"

https://region-1-moww.org/region_i_home

Steve Thomas

 

[Ed Berger]

18 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

"Raven" appears in Lafitte's notes along side the code word "Holdout."

Raven was the star of cryptology in '63.  He apparently had a fairly close working relationship with Hoover (our primary candidate for "Holdout").  Raven once said that if Hoover told him to go surveil the Quakers, he surveilled the Quakers.

Kagnew is of interest primarily because of Eritrea, and potential implications related to the Eugene Dinkin story which Albarelli believed to be based in fact.  

Leslie, this is very interesting to me because in the exact time frame we're discussing, the territories of Yemen and Eritrea were intimately bound together. It all falls out of the waning British Empire's efforts to continue the Great Game: following the Suez Crisis, the British made Aden—then a protectorate bordering the Yemen territories—its primary foothold in the region. The British Petroleum refinery was there, and large portions of their military fleet were located in the nearby waters. It was also made into the British intelligence HQ for Middle Eastern operations. 

Eritrea was a key node in this geopolitical arrangement, both as a flourishing merchant zone ballooned by the commercial implications of this arrangement, and as the locale for important lighthouses that helped guide ships. With this flow, there was a massive influx of Yemeni merchants and the like into Eritrea, which eventually got to the point where Yemeni expats were among the largest foreign populations in Eritrea. So when the Yemen conflict breaks out between the Republicans (backed by Nasser) and the Royalists (backed by the CIA and MI-6), Eritrea would have been a focal point for the support operations. But in turn, this would have been immensely complicated by the outbreak of war between the Eritrean Liberation Front and Ethiopia at the exact same time.

[Leslie Sharp]

5 hours ago, Ed Berger said:

Leslie, this is very interesting to me because in the exact time frame we're discussing, the territories of Yemen and Eritrea were intimately bound together. It all falls out of the waning British Empire's efforts to continue the Great Game: following the Suez Crisis, the British made Aden—then a protectorate bordering the Yemen territories—its primary foothold in the region. The British Petroleum refinery was there, and large portions of their military fleet were located in the nearby waters. It was also made into the British intelligence HQ for Middle Eastern operations. 

Eritrea was a key node in this geopolitical arrangement, both as a flourishing merchant zone ballooned by the commercial implications of this arrangement, and as the locale for important lighthouses that helped guide ships. With this flow, there was a massive influx of Yemeni merchants and the like into Eritrea, which eventually got to the point where Yemeni expats were among the largest foreign populations in Eritrea. So when the Yemen conflict breaks out between the Republicans (backed by Nasser) and the Royalists (backed by the CIA and MI-6), Eritrea would have been a focal point for the support operations. But in turn, this would have been immensely complicated by the outbreak of war between the Eritrean Liberation Front and Ethiopia at the exact same time.

Great insight. And, we can't ignore the Italians.

What time frame are you considering in context of Nasser? Otto Skorzeny enjoyed a lengthy association with him.

I'm attempting to extrapolate from this research what might correspond with the direct investigation into Kennedy's assassination in Dallas.  Pres. Kennedy's last WH foreign head of state visit before leaving for Texas was Emperor Haile Selassie. 

We've yet to determine definitively whether the Feb 5 datebook entry which reads: 
WerBell guns — [next line is illigible although I contend it reads Vosjoli mission] dessert with Proctor - Eritrea 
 is a government or private enterprise.

WerBell is of course recognized as the arms mfg. and gunrunner he was.

Proctor is Thomas Proctor, Indiana attorney whose partner was Paul McNutt, once head of the War Munitions Dept., involved in an investment scheme with producer/director Sam Bronston in Madrid. Other investors included C.D. Jackson, one of THE Rockefeller Bros., and a du Pont, and Otto Skorzeny's friend global arms dealer Viktor Oswald (who served in the OSS and later tapped as Madrid rep for Chase Bank). We speculate the film, John Paul Jones, may have been a cover for transactions distinct from making movies. (Note: Proctor was the father of Phillip Proctor of Firesign Theatre. Phil was generous enough to share a photo of his father, in full Heil Hitler salute. He thought it was a family joke until I shared what we had uncovered. He also confirmed that Tom in Eritrea made total sense to him.)

Vosjoli is Philippe de Vosjoli, DC based agent of the SDECE, recruited by Angleton and close friend of Frank Brandy Brandstetter. (all three men appear in Lafitte's records.)

Lafitte also references kill teams, a term H. L. Hunt employed, but his presence in Yemen was much later.  That doesn't mean Crichton wasn't his proxy long before Hunt signed a contract with North Yemen.

Those are a few of my random, stream of consciousness thoughts for now.

Edited July 23, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Ed Berger]

46 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

Great insight. And, we can't ignore the Italians.

What time frame are you considering in context of Nasser? Otto Skorzeny enjoyed a lengthy association with him.

I'm attempting to extrapolate from this research what might correspond with the direct investigation into Kennedy's assassination in Dallas.  Pres. Kennedy's last WH foreign head of state visit before leaving for Texas was Emperor Haile Selassie. 

We've yet to determine definitively whether the Feb 5 datebook entry which reads: 
WerBell guns — [next line is illigible although I contend it reads Vosjoli mission] dessert with Proctor - Eritrea 
 is a government or private enterprise.

WerBell is of course recognized as the arms mfg. and gunrunner he was.

Proctor is Thomas Proctor, Indiana attorney whose partner was Paul McNutt, once head of the War Munitions Dept., involved in an investment scheme with producer/director Sam Bronston in Madrid. Other investors included C.D. Jackson, one of THE Rockefeller Bros., and a du Pont, and Otto Skorzeny's friend global arms dealer Viktor Oswald (who served in the OSS and later tapped as Madrid rep for Chase Bank). We speculate the film, John Paul Jones, may have been a cover for transactions distinct from making movies. (Note: Proctor was the father of Phillip Proctor of Firesign Theatre. Phil was generous enough to share a photo of his father, in full Heil Hitler salute. He thought it was a family joke until I shared what we had uncovered. He also confirmed that Tom in Eritrea made total sense to him.)

Vosjoli is Philippe de Vosjoli, DC based agent of the SDECE, recruited by Angleton and close friend of Frank Brandy Brandstetter. (all three men appear in Lafitte's records.)

Lafitte also references kill teams, a term H. L. Hunt employed, but his presence in Yemen was much later.  That doesn't mean Crichton wasn't his proxy long before Hunt signed a contract with North Yemen.

Those are a few of my random, stream of consciousness thoughts for now.

I'll throw in a few more stream of consciousness ramblings in here and see if anything sticks!

The Skorzeny/Nasser connection is a curious one, and I'm wondering if we have the full story of what that relationship entailed. It's my understanding that Skorzeny's original introduction to Egypt (with Nasser's predecessor, with Nasser 'inheriting' Skorzeny) was made by the CIA. It's an area of history that I need a better grasp on: why did the CIA have this sort of interest in Egypt, given that the direction that things went was in the name of third world revolution and the non-aligned movement? At any rate, Skorzny's involvement in Nasser took place in that critical run-up to the Suez crisis, and it was the way that Suez shook out that led the Brits down to Aden, the protectorate bordering the Yemen territories, and made that into such a critical geopolitical hotspot (exacerbated, of course, by the US's strategic priorities with the Saudis and their oil fields—a fabled Soviet beachhead in Yemen would be them on the doorstep of those oil fields, which was a doomsday proposition for the US). 

So in terms of a rough timeline, we have:

1953: Skorzeny in Egypt.

1956: Suez crisis.

1956: Crichton in Yemen (changing geopolitical headwinds in relation to Suez?)

1958: The Imam of North Yemen, the ruling figure in the tribal territories there, joins the United Arab Republic, then led by Nasser.

1960: Egypt begins to support Eritreans.

January 20 1961: John F. Kennedy takes office. 

March, 1961: John W. Mecom gains oil concessions in Yemen. 

September 1961: The Imam of North Yemen breaks with the United Arab Republic/Nasser.

September 1, 1961: The Eritrean War of Independence against Ethiopia begins. In the conflict, the monarchy leading Ethiopia leaned closer to the US, while the Eritreans forged alliances with wider revolutionary currents at the time. 

September 19 - 26 1962: The Imam passes away, and pro-Nasser elements in the military—the Republicans—launch a coup

October 1962: MI-6, in tandem with the Saudis and a smathering of Mossad assets, begin to plan an off-the-books support operation to bolster the Royalists against the Republicans. 

Late October 1962: Kennedy begins to put pressure on the British government to recognize the Republican government in Yemen

November 1962: Saudi money and arms begin to flow to the Royalists

Late November 1962: Jim Critchfield of the CIA meets with MI-6 in London and says that the Republican government must be stopped. At this date the CIA is acting in opposition to Kennedy administration policy. 

December 19 1962: The Kennedy administration formally recognizes the Republican government as the leadership of Yemen. 

January - March 1963: The Kennedy administration begins pressuring the Saudis to not support the Royalists, citing the potential for a protracted conflict that would destabilize the whole region. The Saudis go the other route and begin increasing support.

February 5 1963: Proctor and Werbell in Eritrea.

April 1963: MI-6 arranges for an SAS veteran, David Stirling, to set up a 'mercenary' operation, where SAS veterans under his command could train and manage Royalist forces in Yemen against the Republicans

June 1963 - onwards: Stirling's band of mercenaries begin to conduct the off-the-books war first hypothesized in October 1962.

Late summer/early fall 1963: The CIA's Jim Critchfield visits MI-6 to offer a closer cooperation between the CIA and MI-6 in a way that bypasses the Kennedy administration and the State Department. Sometime soon after this, a CIA officer named Jim Fees (who will later turn up in the Iran-Contra affair), leaks critical information on the Republicans to MI-6.

November 21, 1963: Kennedy requests that the British end their mercenary operation with David Stirling. 

November 22, 1963: Kennedy is assassinated.

Now, there are several things that are interesting here, besides the obvious alignment of the CIA and MI-6 against Kennedy policies. There is the fact that the CIA's role increases the closer we get to the fatal date of November 22nd, with a burst of activity by people like Jim Critchfield and Jim Fees working to block out the State Department and conduct their own foreign policy. There is also the story, recounted in Ralph Ganis' book, that in 1959 Skorzeny traveled to an airport in London to meet with David Stirling, and that William Harvey may have been present for this meeting. To then see this same Stirling put in charge of the mercenary operation in Yemen in spring of 1963 is remarkable. 

But does this have anything to do with the assassination, much less Proctor + WerBell in Eritrea in Feb 1963? On the Yemen side, I can't shake the succession of events here following Crichton, then Dalzell, then Mecom (with Mecom being there the year that the Imam breaks with Nasser?). On the other side, it would be interesting to know *who* the guns referenced in that datebook entry were going to. In a September 1962 meeting concerning the situation between Ethiopia and Somalia (a situation that ran parallel to, and overlapped directly with, the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict), Kennedy showed that he was reluctant to provide arms to Ethiopia, and opted instead to continue with non-military foreign aid. The discussions over the following months show a close of trying to dampen the crisis, instead of exacerbating a regional conflict. By fall, however, it appears that the US was more willing to provide military aid to Ethiopia, and there are references to authorizing a MAAG to operate there in December. Part of the cited rationale is Kagnew, thus foregrounding the Eritrean connection. 

It would be interesting to know what role, if any, the Yemeni population within Ethiopia played in the situations around Eritrea. Eritrean independence aligned both historically and intellectually with the Republican forces in Yemen, but beyond that I'm frankly not sure. But it is rather tantalizing that Proctor and WerBell arrive in Eritrea as all these things in the region are coming to a head. 

 

Quote

Lafitte also references kill teams, a term H. L. Hunt employed, but his presence in Yemen was much later.  That doesn't mean Crichton wasn't his proxy long before Hunt signed a contract with North Yemen.
 

Another question I'm wondering is if the Hunt oil interests had any contact with the Empire Trust Oil & Gas division, since this was Crichton's baby and was located in Dallas—and was Empire's main interface with Dorchester and with the Yemen Development Corporation.

[Leslie Sharp]

2 hours ago, Ed Berger said:

I'll throw in a few more stream of consciousness ramblings in here and see if anything sticks!

The Skorzeny/Nasser connection is a curious one, and I'm wondering if we have the full story of what that relationship entailed. It's my understanding that Skorzeny's original introduction to Egypt (with Nasser's predecessor, with Nasser 'inheriting' Skorzeny) was made by the CIA. It's an area of history that I need a better grasp on: why did the CIA have this sort of interest in Egypt, given that the direction that things went was in the name of third world revolution and the non-aligned movement? At any rate, Skorzny's involvement in Nasser took place in that critical run-up to the Suez crisis, and it was the way that Suez shook out that led the Brits down to Aden, the protectorate bordering the Yemen territories, and made that into such a critical geopolitical hotspot (exacerbated, of course, by the US's strategic priorities with the Saudis and their oil fields—a fabled Soviet beachhead in Yemen would be them on the doorstep of those oil fields, which was a doomsday proposition for the US). 

So in terms of a rough timeline, we have:

1953: Skorzeny in Egypt.

1956: Suez crisis.

1956: Crichton in Yemen (changing geopolitical headwinds in relation to Suez?)

1958: The Imam of North Yemen, the ruling figure in the tribal territories there, joins the United Arab Republic, then led by Nasser.

1960: Egypt begins to support Eritreans.

January 20 1961: John F. Kennedy takes office. 

March, 1961: John W. Mecom gains oil concessions in Yemen. 

September 1961: The Imam of North Yemen breaks with the United Arab Republic/Nasser.

September 1, 1961: The Eritrean War of Independence against Ethiopia begins. In the conflict, the monarchy leading Ethiopia leaned closer to the US, while the Eritreans forged alliances with wider revolutionary currents at the time. 

September 19 - 26 1962: The Imam passes away, and pro-Nasser elements in the military—the Republicans—launch a coup

October 1962: MI-6, in tandem with the Saudis and a smathering of Mossad assets, begin to plan an off-the-books support operation to bolster the Royalists against the Republicans. 

Late October 1962: Kennedy begins to put pressure on the British government to recognize the Republican government in Yemen

November 1962: Saudi money and arms begin to flow to the Royalists

Late November 1962: Jim Critchfield of the CIA meets with MI-6 in London and says that the Republican government must be stopped. At this date the CIA is acting in opposition to Kennedy administration policy. 

December 19 1962: The Kennedy administration formally recognizes the Republican government as the leadership of Yemen. 

January - March 1963: The Kennedy administration begins pressuring the Saudis to not support the Royalists, citing the potential for a protracted conflict that would destabilize the whole region. The Saudis go the other route and begin increasing support.

February 5 1963: Proctor and Werbell in Eritrea.

April 1963: MI-6 arranges for an SAS veteran, David Stirling, to set up a 'mercenary' operation, where SAS veterans under his command could train and manage Royalist forces in Yemen against the Republicans

June 1963 - onwards: Stirling's band of mercenaries begin to conduct the off-the-books war first hypothesized in October 1962.

Late summer/early fall 1963: The CIA's Jim Critchfield visits MI-6 to offer a closer cooperation between the CIA and MI-6 in a way that bypasses the Kennedy administration and the State Department. Sometime soon after this, a CIA officer named Jim Fees (who will later turn up in the Iran-Contra affair), leaks critical information on the Republicans to MI-6.

November 21, 1963: Kennedy requests that the British end their mercenary operation with David Stirling. 

November 22, 1963: Kennedy is assassinated.

Now, there are several things that are interesting here, besides the obvious alignment of the CIA and MI-6 against Kennedy policies. There is the fact that the CIA's role increases the closer we get to the fatal date of November 22nd, with a burst of activity by people like Jim Critchfield and Jim Fees working to block out the State Department and conduct their own foreign policy. There is also the story, recounted in Ralph Ganis' book, that in 1959 Skorzeny traveled to an airport in London to meet with David Stirling, and that William Harvey may have been present for this meeting. To then see this same Stirling put in charge of the mercenary operation in Yemen in spring of 1963 is remarkable. 

But does this have anything to do with the assassination, much less Proctor + WerBell in Eritrea in Feb 1963? On the Yemen side, I can't shake the succession of events here following Crichton, then Dalzell, then Mecom (with Mecom being there the year that the Imam breaks with Nasser?). On the other side, it would be interesting to know *who* the guns referenced in that datebook entry were going to. In a September 1962 meeting concerning the situation between Ethiopia and Somalia (a situation that ran parallel to, and overlapped directly with, the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict), Kennedy showed that he was reluctant to provide arms to Ethiopia, and opted instead to continue with non-military foreign aid. The discussions over the following months show a close of trying to dampen the crisis, instead of exacerbating a regional conflict. By fall, however, it appears that the US was more willing to provide military aid to Ethiopia, and there are references to authorizing a MAAG to operate there in December. Part of the cited rationale is Kagnew, thus foregrounding the Eritrean connection. 

It would be interesting to know what role, if any, the Yemeni population within Ethiopia played in the situations around Eritrea. Eritrean independence aligned both historically and intellectually with the Republican forces in Yemen, but beyond that I'm frankly not sure. But it is rather tantalizing that Proctor and WerBell arrive in Eritrea as all these things in the region are coming to a head. 

 

Another question I'm wondering is if the Hunt oil interests had any contact with the Empire Trust Oil & Gas division, since this was Crichton's baby and was located in Dallas—and was Empire's main interface with Dorchester and with the Yemen Development Corporation.

Before we move too far along, remember that Skorzeny allegedly accepted a Mossad contract during the time period to take out a scientist contracted by Nasser; and from there, biased researchers have concluded the Israelis collaborated with the Nazis. I'm not suggesting I'm an authority, but I think the interpretation is agenda driven.  We recently identified Angleton with IDF then Chief Mossad Meir Amit in a photo taken in Tucson in 1966; from there I read up on Amit's interaction with Otto which he says occurred in 1963 when he asked Otto to open a back door with Egyptian officials to discuss a peace initiative. The offer went no where, according to Amit.

Another question I'm wondering is if the Hunt oil interests had any contact with the Empire Trust Oil & Gas division, since this was Crichton's baby and was located in Dallas—and was Empire's main interface with Dorchester and with the Yemen Development Corporation.

My own study of H. L. Hunt, and subsequent first hand observations of his family influence my response:  1) H. L. Hunt was a lone wolf.  (I know that Robert Montgomery has a working theory based a string of documents that suggest (and I'm paraphrasing here) Hunt was at one time OSS or CIA and/or directly associated with World Commerce. I remain skeptical.). 2) Hunt despised government, ergo he wouldn't work with any of the three letter agencies unless he was in charge.  3) Hunt was a racist, anti-Semite at his core so the possibility he was in league with Bronfman's Empire is slim  4) that said, it's not implausible that he would do business with anyone who made him a $.  

I'll dig out my Empire Trust file and review the board. I know McCloy's brother in law, Lewis Douglas was a longstanding member. Forgive if I repeat myself, but Crichton's Dorchester was headquartered in Amarillo TX; my father's best friend in the oil-bidness was the treasurer then president of Diamond Shamrock outside Amarillo; Sam Ballen purchased a division of Schlumberger Ltd. based in Canadian; D. H. Byrd was on Crichton's Dorchester board along with a partner of the Raine Harrell law firm which morphed into Locke Purnell Raine Harrell; by way of saying that I've long suspected that some serious plotting and planning and maybe even target practice took place in and near the Amarillo Petroleum Club and the Palo Duro Canyon.  Pan-Tex and Bell plants were top secret sites that ensured safety and secrecy in the sleepy Panhandle and Amarillo was a bastion of the John Birch Society, Fred Koch Sr. having made his fortune just east of town.  

That film script aside, I'm glad you referenced Ganis's "The Skorzeny Papers."  Hank said many times that regardless of their differences, he believed that the book would prove invaluable to serious historians.  Obviously, he was right.

I'll get to Skorzeny/Nasser, Stirling, and to your timeline tomorrow.  In the meantime, you may be be interested in Carlton Coon and William Eddy (I maybe have already mentioned them.) And Hanna Yazbek, a bizarre character operating casinos in Cairo; and Warren Broglie of Hotel Luma was raised in Cairo. 

Do you see a role for Han-Ulrich Rudel in the guns/Eritrea vignette?  He's mentioned in September and again on December 9 with reference to guns again? Otto and Hans set up Kamerandenwerke, and along with Gerhard Mertins established Merex AG in Mexico right under Win Scott's nose.



 

Edited July 24, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Ed Berger]

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Tue, Dec 5, 1967:

Reserve Honors, Retires Col. Crichton

DALLAS (API) Col. Jack Crichton. commanding officer of the 488th Military Intelligence Detachment, was awarded the Legion of Merit Monday night on his retirement from the Army Reserve after 30 years of service.

The medal was presented in a ceremony by Col. Robert D. Offer, commander of the VIII U.S. Army Corps at Austin.

An oil man and petroleum consultant, Crichton organized his Reserve unit in 1956 and has been its only commander. The award cited him for "exceptionally outstanding service" as commander and for the preparation of a series of military intelligence studies.

The above definitely leads credence to the reality of the 488th and Crichton's role in it: the reference to military intelligence studies conforms to what is known about the 488th's own activities, and it seems unlikely to me that false information cooked up by Crichton himself would be filtered out through a Legion of Merit award ceremony and announcement. 

Picture of Crichton and Col. Robert Offer here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Army_Reserve_Magazine/cW3UxFbBfScC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA13&printsec=frontcover

[Steve Thomas]

2 hours ago, Ed Berger said:

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Tue, Dec 5, 1967:

Reserve Honors, Retires Col. Crichton

 

An oil man and petroleum consultant, Crichton organized his Reserve unit in 1956 and has been its only commander.

Ed,

The same picture was also published in the Dallas Morning News of December 5, 1967 issue too.

The caption on the DMN photo reads,

 

Sounds like a stock press release to me.

How many people in the U.S. Army just up and formed their own Reserve Units? What was it's command structure? Who did he report to? Who was on his staff?

Crichton may have been a member of the U.S. Army Reserves, but I have real doubts about his own "Military Intelligence Detachment"

Steve Thomas

 

[Leslie Sharp]

6 hours ago, Ed Berger said:

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Tue, Dec 5, 1967:

Reserve Honors, Retires Col. Crichton

DALLAS (API) Col. Jack Crichton. commanding officer of the 488th Military Intelligence Detachment, was awarded the Legion of Merit Monday night on his retirement from the Army Reserve after 30 years of service.

The medal was presented in a ceremony by Col. Robert D. Offer, commander of the VIII U.S. Army Corps at Austin.

An oil man and petroleum consultant, Crichton organized his Reserve unit in 1956 and has been its only commander. The award cited him for "exceptionally outstanding service" as commander and for the preparation of a series of military intelligence studies.

The above definitely leads credence to the reality of the 488th and Crichton's role in it: the reference to military intelligence studies conforms to what is known about the 488th's own activities, and it seems unlikely to me that false information cooked up by Crichton himself would be filtered out through a Legion of Merit award ceremony and announcement. 

Picture of Crichton and Col. Robert Offer here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Army_Reserve_Magazine/cW3UxFbBfScC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA13&printsec=frontcover

@Ed Berger
Jack Crichton

In 1963, the president of Republic National Bank—parent company of Bob Storey’s Lakewood Bank & Trust—and reporting directly to chairman Karl Hoblitzelle was James W. Aston who was also engaged in a number of private pursuits including oil ventures with one John Alston “Jack” Crichton, the ultraconservative oilman who has long been suspected of involvement in the assassination. This book lays to rest any doubt of Crichton’s role in the COUP of November 22, 1963. 

            According to esteemed assassination researcher and author Prof. Peter D. Scott, Crichton signed on as director of the newly formed H. L. Hunt Foundation as evidenced in a document dated July 22, 1963, one day after Crichton’s 488th Military Intelligence concluded annual training. In 1956, while engaged in machinations in Batista’s Cuba, Crichton had time and inclination to organize the 488^th which he headquartered in Dallas, with himself ultimately responsible. The stated focus of the unit was covert petrochemical intelligence studies at home and abroad, including in the Soviet Union. In direct control of the unit was Lt. Col. George Whitmeyer, commander of all Army Reserve units in oil-rich East Texas, home of Delta Drilling. Delta had been integral to the 1952 Meadows-Skorzeny venture in Spain. It has been repeatedly estimated that at least fifty percent of the Dallas Police Department’s officers and detectives were members of the 488^th Intelligence Detachment. During an interview about the 488^th, Crichton claimed there were “about a hundred men in the unit and about forty or fifty of them were from the Dallas Police Department.”

            The 488th annual training in ’63 took place at The Pentagon, one of only two attachments from Texas to be in DC that summer. 

            Contributing to Crichton’s joining the board of the Hunt Foundation that summer was his shared political views with H. L. Hunt, the eccentric oilman who, but for his wealth might never have been taken seriously. Their rigid position on segregation was best exemplified during Crichton’s 1964 run for Texas governor when he argued against “the unjust, unconstitutional federally forced desegregation in the state of Texas.” In light of datebook entries referring to meetings with Jack Crichton through the year, it is possible that he also served as conduit for funding from H. L. Hunt. 

            Crichton received a BS degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University and a MS degree from MIT. By age twenty-six, he was a Major in the Army, serving in Bill Donovan’s OSS, precursor to the CIA. With his language and technological and engineering skills, Crichton was “more than a natural for the intelligence agency.” The nature of his secretive work for Wild Bill’s agency remains difficult to obtain but we know from a diary he kept through 1965 that his assignments eventually covered five theatres some of which clearly ignited his interests in oil production, and prepared him for one of his first major breakthroughs—a project on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. As a soldier and officer, Crichton was awarded the Air Medal, five Battle Stars, and the Bronze Star. He returned as a Colonel in the US Army Reserve, a civilian to pursue a profession in energy, a Republican with undefined aspirations. His life would soon become a grab-bag of intelligence and political activities.

“They honed my experience at finding oil and gas, and understanding intricate oil negotiations.” 

 

Crichton was referring to the firm of DeGolyer & MacNaughton, one of the country’s most sought after oil and gas exploration and engineering firms. 

            In 1946, Everette Lee DeGolyer, while working for the wartime OSS, recruited the young and energetic trained intelligence officer to operate a network of key petroleum companies that within about fourteen months folded into the larger network of Donovan’s World Commerce Corporation (WCC). As noted in Chapter 2, many of these WCC enterprises also served as fronts for covert activities, including commercial sabotage and assassination. 

            DeGolyer had first encountered Crichton while serving the war effort as director of the Petroleum Reserves Corporation mission to the Middle East. Prior to that, DeGolyer had served as director of conservation with the Office of the Coordinator for National Defense and then as assistant deputy director of the Petroleum Administration for War. The reader may recognize that DeGolyer would have worked in close proximity with Thomas Proctor’s mentor, Paul McNutt—both identified in Chapter 5—in managing manpower and logistics for the war.

            Following the merger of the Crichton-run network of companies on behalf of DeGolyer into WCC, Jack remained on as vice president of DeGolyer & McNaughton and its subsidiary, Core Laboratories, Inc. Before taking his own life in 1956, DeGolyer, who was born into a dirt-poor family in Kansas and suffered for years from aplastic anemia, organized a company called Isotopes, Inc. to provide radioactive isotopes for oilfield purposes. He had also enjoyed the friendship and priceless professional endorsement of Lord Cowdray, British engineer and heir to the Pearson family fortune including Mexican Eagle Petroleum Co. whose favored hotel in Dallas was The Stoneleigh.

            By the mid ’50s, Crichton was ensconced in a penthouse office suite of the Vaughn Tower, twelve stories above busy Commerce Street in downtown Dallas. Crichton felt very much at home in the office building named for Dallas businessman and ardent Republican Jack Vaughn, who also preferred T. E. Stanley’s architectural designs. In fact, he commissioned Stanley to design a number of buildings in oil-rich areas of the state, including Midland and Amarillo, Texas, headquarters of Dorchester Gas, one of Crichton’s most commercially successful domestic oil ventures.

            Fellow students in his Texas A&M class included the future mayor of Dallas, Earl Cabell, also an alleged CIA asset. At the time, sources identified Crichton as being the president of a successful oil and gas company founded by a New York bank, The Pinnacle Trust Company, established in New York with Dean Matthey as chairman of the board and Dean’s colleague, Harry Brurdydi. They set up under the direction of C. Leslie Roos. It was said that “Roos was connected.” Jack was hired to serve as president. Prior to that, he had been Vice President of Operations of San Juan Oil Company. His tenacity was key in his hiring.’ 

            The numerous deals Jack made during this period included purchase of East Texas Oil, followed by Old Ocean Field in South Texas. This in turn was followed by Karot properties in Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas, and the huge properties of Hagy, Harrington, and Marsh in the Panhandle and Hugoton Fields of Texas and Oklahoma. “Pinnacle holdings were huge and successful,” wrote Crichton. 

            When Pinnacle needed to make a deal with the King of Yemen to look for oil in the desert, they first consulted with the US State Department whose primary goal was to beat the Russians. Crichton suggested to his bosses that he go to Yemen to prepare a full report. His bosses then conferred with State and came back to Jack to order his group to Yemen within the week. 

            “And tell nobody,” execs at Pinnacle told him. 

            “Where have I heard that before?” said Jack.

            Before leaving, Crichton gave the second in charge at Pinnacle a cover story and met with a rep from the Navy Academy and Wharton School of Finance to get briefed. “Jack carefully tucked his .38 revolver into a bag.” and packed the papers for a Yemen Development Corporation. He had negotiated a $100,000 salary and fifty percent of the net profit to the Yemen Development Corporation. @Ed Berger

            Soon after, the CIA sent Jack a secret cable that read: “We believe the King of Yemen is under the influence of an Italian doctor and is being given morphine shots repeatedly. Find out what you can regarding this and report back to us upon your return.” 

            The CIA wrote upon the cable at the bottom of the message: “OS or IS may know the King.” We safely assume this refers to Otto or his wife, Ilse Skorzeny.

            During the trip, Jack had learned that the Russians were speeding up efforts to get a concession asap in Yemen. Later the same week, Pinnacle execs, including Dean Mathey, who would eventually head Empire Trust, reported the oil concession term was for thirty years from the date of signing with an option to renew at the end of the period. Jack carefully read the English version and said all was fine. “We can live with this,” he said. And with that success, Crichton advanced his value to a myriad of government and private interests.

There’s So Much More to Jack Crichton

Jesus, let me tell you, let me… in so many ways Jack Crichton is critical… is the critical linchpin to solving any mystery in the JFK assassination, but any real investigator must have all the pieces to the Crichton puzzle. I mean it.

—Col. Albert Haney, Florida, 1996 

 

Crichton has been scrutinized by assassination researchers for decades, prompted primarily by his role with the 488th Intel Unit, yet oddly, most have failed to closely examine his early activities in Spain after the war. Had they done so they most likely would have encountered details of his relationship with Otto Skorzeny. In Spain, in 1952, Crichton first met Skorzeny while he was working with Tyler TX based Delta Drilling on the Meadows-Skorzeny venture, led by Algur Meadows of Dallas. Crichton had heard the stories about the former Nazi’s daring exploits, the saga of his Mussolini rescue was everywhere, unavoidable, as were dark rumors about Skorzeny that traipsed the truth spectrum. When Crichton shook Skorzeny’s hand for the first time, his hand was gripped tightly, and he felt genuine friendship coming from the gregarious former SS officer. 

            Jack Crichton also felt friendship towards the man who would later befriend Lee Harvey Oswald and wife Marina. In late 1952, George de Mohrenschildt worked closely with Crichton on the Meadows-Skorzeny venture. Without doubt, George also consulted often with Skorzeny, advising on the need to finesse certain matters with the Spanish Government, providing him detailed explanations about problems the scheme would encounter. Crichton later said of him, “I liked George. He was a nice guy.” 

            In August 1953, on the heels of the Spanish oil deal, Crichton was hired by NY based investment firm, Empire Trust Company, the investment bank identified in a previous chapter in context of the Canadian-based Bronfman fortune and Permindex. Crichton was quickly named a vice president of the banking operation which could trace its roots to London. His boss at Pinnacle, Dean Mathey would soon become Chairman of the Board of Empire and honorary Chairman of the Bank of New York following the merger of the two financial empires. Decades later, BoNY would be purchased by Frankfurt based multinational investment bank and financial services company, Deutsche Bank, most recently infamous for lending massive funds to the future president of the US, Donald J. Trump. It should be noted that before the merger, Bank of New York had exchanged a major financial contribution for a seat on the board of the JFK Library at Columbia Point, MA. 

            Prior to the US declaring war on Germany in 1917, Empire Trust is reported to have been of keen interest to the German Secret Service developing a highly sophisticated wireless system to transmit critical information. The cipher code for the system employed innocuous personal names. Empire Trust was identified as “Albert Hardwood,” a name impossible to locate in contemporary records, phone books, business directories, etc., of the period. According to revelations in The German Secret Service in American by John P. Jones and Merrick Hollister, published in 1918, the diplomatic code was a dictionary, its pages designated by serial letters, its words by serial numbers. Thus the message “12-B-15-C-7” signified the twelfth and fifteenth words on the second page, and the seventh word on the third page. This particular dictionary was one of a rare edition. It is interesting to note that Lafitte, who cabled Otto Skorzeny on numerous occasions, frequently reverted to code in his entries. Two examples, back-to-back, August 10 and 11: 

A   Z+16-2 

(Ella R. check on)

 

 and

 

A   Z+18-2 (e)

-cables sent to O

Madrid (Souetre)

 

The authors’ further research finds that by 1951, Empire Trust served as a proprietary for the CIA as well as part of a well-concealed network of small to large banks, many located in the Dallas, Texas area. Among them was the Lakewood Trust, cofounded by the R. G. Storey family. — Albarelli / Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

 

The late William F. Buckley's "National Review" seems over the moon with Robert Kennedy Jr.s' run as an independent candidate against Biden and Trump.

Further to a previous post on EF Mainstream Water Cooler related to Buckley, it is important to note that the Buckley oil dynasty enjoyed business association with Jack Crichton prior to Castro's nationalization of US oil interests in Cuba. Crichton is identified in the 1963 datebook maintained by Pierre Lafitte that reveals significant clues to the plot to assassinate Kennedy in Dallas in November 1963.

President Kennedy on November 22, 1963. 

Meet with Crichton at Tech building.

O says Lancelot go

phone booth

—Lafitte datebook. November 5, 1963

 

Terry says call+ [illegible] 

7436 Kenshire, Dallas

J. Crichton

—Lafitte datebook, November 11, 1963

  

Crichton w T. (Caretaker)

—Lafitte datebook, November 14, 1963

from Conservapedia:

"Cuban-Venezuelan Oil Voting Trust Company"

Crichton was also involved with several other oilmen who negotiated drilling rights in Cuba under President Fulgencio Batista. Standard Oil of Indiana signed an agreement with the Cuban-Venezuelan Oil Voting Trust Company (CVOVTC), a unit originally established by William F. Buckley, Sr., for access to fifteen acres. During the mid-1950s, CVOVTC was one of the four or five most traded entities on the American Stock Exchange. Batista's communist successor, Fidel Castro, reduced the size of claims for oil exploration to a maximum of two thousand acres and ended large-scale explorations by private companies.[3]

The rise to power of Fidel Castro ruined CVOVTC, which had invested $30 million looking for oil in Cuba. The company was de-listed in December 1960 from the American Stock Exchange.[3]

 

Relevant to the rolling political shift in Texas from blue to red beginning in the mid-1950s, Crichton's 13 political points in his run for Texas governor 1964 reveal an ideology alive and well in Texas today:
 

"Crichton's 13 political points:

In the campaign, Crichton focused on these points: note his opposition to state civil rights and increase in Texas oil production.

(1) his opposition to the policies of President Johnson

(2) lowering state taxes

(3) cutting oil and beef imports

(4) stronger criminal justice measures to protect citizens

(5) increasing Texas' oil production

(6) opposition to a state civil rights law; the national Civil Rights Act of 1964 was at the time signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson

(7) full voting rights for U.S. military personnel

(8) state water resource development

(9) reduction of traffic problems

(10) decentralization in college and university administration

(11) higher public school teacher pay

(12) development of a two-party system

(13) ethics in state government.[9]

 

And for those who dispute Crichton organized the 488th Military Intelligence unit that has been credibly identified as playing a role in the lead up to November 22, 1963, this entry from Conservapedia citing the Dallas Morning News lays the controversy to rest:
 

"Crichton retired in December 1967 from the Army Reserve after thirty years of service. He received the Legion of Merit for having organized the 488th Military Intelligence Detachment."[2]

[2] Joe Simnache (December 15, 2007). "John Alston "Jack" Crichton: Oilman, military officer in WWII". Dallas Morning News.

 

https://www.conservapedia.com/Jack_Crichton

[Jonathan Cohen]

29 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

The late William F. Buckley's "National Review" seems over the moon with Robert Kennedy Jr.s' run as an independent candidate against Biden and Trump.

Further to a previous post on EF Mainstream Water Cooler related to Buckley, it is important to note that the Buckley oil dynasty enjoyed business association with Jack Crichton prior to Castro's nationalization of US oil interests in Cuba.

On what planet do any of these things have ANYTHING to do with one another? Why are you connecting the fact that William F. Buckley's family did business with Jack Crichton 70 years ago to the fact that a magazine founded by Buckley just as long ago is now, in 2023, supporting a specific presidential candidate? The leaps in logic are extraordinary and reveal absolutely nothing.

 

29 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

Crichton is identified in the 1963 datebook maintained by Pierre Lafitte that reveals significant clues to the plot to assassinate Kennedy in Dallas in November 1963.

You mean the unverified, un-authenticated "datebook" ?

[Ron Bulman]

51 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

 

The late William F. Buckley's "National Review" seems over the moon with Robert Kennedy Jr.s' run as an independent candidate against Biden and Trump.

Further to a previous post on EF Mainstream Water Cooler related to Buckley, it is important to note that the Buckley oil dynasty enjoyed business association with Jack Crichton prior to Castro's nationalization of US oil interests in Cuba. Crichton is identified in the 1963 datebook maintained by Pierre Lafitte that reveals significant clues to the plot to assassinate Kennedy in Dallas in November 1963.

President Kennedy on November 22, 1963. 

Meet with Crichton at Tech building.

O says Lancelot go

phone booth

—Lafitte datebook. November 5, 1963

 

Terry says call+ [illegible] 

7436 Kenshire, Dallas

J. Crichton

—Lafitte datebook, November 11, 1963

  

Crichton w T. (Caretaker)

—Lafitte datebook, November 14, 1963

from Conservapedia:

"Cuban-Venezuelan Oil Voting Trust Company"

Crichton was also involved with several other oilmen who negotiated drilling rights in Cuba under President Fulgencio Batista. Standard Oil of Indiana signed an agreement with the Cuban-Venezuelan Oil Voting Trust Company (CVOVTC), a unit originally established by William F. Buckley, Sr., for access to fifteen acres. During the mid-1950s, CVOVTC was one of the four or five most traded entities on the American Stock Exchange. Batista's communist successor, Fidel Castro, reduced the size of claims for oil exploration to a maximum of two thousand acres and ended large-scale explorations by private companies.[3]

The rise to power of Fidel Castro ruined CVOVTC, which had invested $30 million looking for oil in Cuba. The company was de-listed in December 1960 from the American Stock Exchange.[3]

 

Relevant to the rolling political shift in Texas from blue to red beginning in the mid-1950s, Crichton's 13 political points in his run for Texas governor 1964 reveal an ideology alive and well in Texas today:
 

"Crichton's 13 political points:

In the campaign, Crichton focused on these points: note his opposition to state civil rights and increase in Texas oil production.

(1) his opposition to the policies of President Johnson

(2) lowering state taxes

(3) cutting oil and beef imports

(4) stronger criminal justice measures to protect citizens

(5) increasing Texas' oil production

(6) opposition to a state civil rights law; the national Civil Rights Act of 1964 was at the time signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson

(7) full voting rights for U.S. military personnel

(8) state water resource development

(9) reduction of traffic problems

(10) decentralization in college and university administration

(11) higher public school teacher pay

(12) development of a two-party system

(13) ethics in state government.[9]

 

And for those who dispute Crichton organized the 488th Military Intelligence unit that has been credibly identified as playing a role in the lead up to November 22, 1963, this entry from Conservapedia citing the Dallas Morning News lays the controversy to rest:
 

"Crichton retired in December 1967 from the Army Reserve after thirty years of service. He received the Legion of Merit for having organized the 488th Military Intelligence Detachment."[2]

[2] Joe Simnache (December 15, 2007). "John Alston "Jack" Crichton: Oilman, military officer in WWII". Dallas Morning News.

 

https://www.conservapedia.com/Jack_Crichton

So, the 11/5 datebook entry means Laffite himself met with Crichton at a Tech building, and, Skorzeny said the assassination was a "go"?

Then on 11/14, Crichton met with T (Caretaker), most likely Tracy Barnes?

[Steve Thomas]

Crichton said his 488th had 100 men, half of whom were members of the Dallas Police Departmet.

Who on the Dallas Police Department ever claimed to belong to Crichton's 488th?

Ever?

Who on the Dallas Police force was capapable of conducting international strategic oil reserve studies?

Steve Thomas

[Greg Doudna]

13 hours ago, Jonathan Cohen said:

On what planet do any of these things have ANYTHING to do with one another? Why are you connecting the fact that William F. Buckley's family did business with Jack Crichton 70 years ago to the fact that a magazine founded by Buckley just as long ago is now, in 2023, supporting a specific presidential candidate? The leaps in logic are extraordinary and reveal absolutely nothing.

 

You mean the unverified, un-authenticated "datebook" ?

There you go being logical again Jonathan. 

In the snowstorm of details and names and mystification being thrown up around Crichton, there are only two things in the whole blizzard which purport to connect Crichton to the JFK assassination at all: 

One is the Lafitte datebook which a sophisticated, professional publicity operation is continuing to try to sell the JFK research community as being authentic, legitimate, and sensational. 

The other is a repeated quote, mediated through the same sources promoting the Lafitte datebook, of the late Albert Haney of Sarasota, Florida, former CIA station chief of Seoul, South Korea, and CIA point man who carried out the CIA operation to overthrow the Arbenz government in Guatemala (see in the lengthy Wikipedia article “1954 Guatemala Coup d’etat”, section “PBSuccess” for references).

Haney, career CIA up to his ears in deep propaganda operations for his agency, advises the JFK research community that it is essential that such researchers go after Crichton. No actionable evidence provided, no statement in writing offered to a court or law enforcement investigative body or to the Congress of the American people, just a tip and a sayso mediated through the channels promoting the Lafitte datebook, from one “who knows” (supposedly).

So there you have it. A “look THERE and consume tons of energy and endless bandwidth of discussion looking THERE” direction to the JFK research community, direct from a veteran CIA professional propaganda and disinformation specialist as his job description, what he was paid to do in his career as his job.