Superspy: Hans Tofte, Intelligence Officer for Soe, OSS and CIA

Dane Hans Tofte’s remarkable career spanned covert operations in WWII, the OSS, CIA, and Cold War intelligence.

When World War II broke out, Dane Hans Tofte gave up his promising career in the maritime industry to come first to the aid of his own country, and then to the assistance of several other nations in a time of need

He went undercover with the British SOE, aiding Chinese guerrillas in the China Commando Group against the Japanese, then with OSS as a training officer then an operations officer, engaged in paramilitary operations supporting the Yugoslav partisans, investigating the credible threat of U-boats launching V-1 rockets against New York City, and training foreign agents to parachute into Germany late in the war. Post-war he joined CIA, where he engaged in paramilitary and psychological warfare operations during the Korean War, including launching an escape and evasion (E&E) operation to rescue downed Allied pilots, as well as creatively and effectively thwarting a Chinese resupply operation, thereby saving the US government ＄1 million. During the Cold War, he engaged in various disinformation campaigns, morale operations, and regime change, to stymie the Soviet Union and its allies.

When the end came, it began on an innocuous note--Tofte simply wanted to rent out the basement apartment in his home in the most fashionable quadrant of Washington D.C. in 1966. However, by its denouement, his accomplished career in the intelligence community would be at an abrupt end, a national agency already facing harsh scrutiny would be embroiled in controversy, and America would be reading all about it as the case progressed through the judicial system.

Tofte was an imperfect but accomplished role model; a little-known but significant figure in the history of 20th-century military and civilian intelligence whose factual and nuanced story should be told and appreciated. This first English-language biography highlights his boldly creative and extensive contributions to the developing intelligence community.