‘Six German commandos hid in a gym but were overpowered by a group of Iranian wrestlers’

Storm Winston’s a gripping new ’ to succeeding

would be dangerously exposed during the four-mile drive from the US embassy to the secure walled compound housing the Russian and British embassies.

And a German spy discovered an unguarded secret entrance into the heavily-fortified embassy compound, through underground water tunnels wide enough for three commandos abreast.

General Skorzeny pulled together a suicide squad of Soviet defectors, armed with Russian sub-machine guns and captured British Gammon bombs. Split into two teams, they planned to parachute into Tehran wearing

BIRTHDAY BOY! Churchill wears a specially made hat presented by the British press in Tehran where he is seen flanked by Roosevelt, left, and Stalin. Main, the ‘Big Three’ later in the war

Russian uniforms to mingle with the heavy Soviet troop presence already there.

But the Germans were unaware that two of their operatives were double-agents, leaking assassination plans to the Russians.

The first team parachuting into the desert outside Tehran was massacred by waiting Russian troops, tipped off by a double-agent. The second team was arrested at a Tehran safe house.

“Their bodies were never found,” says Blum. “Skorzeny, seeing the element of surprise had been lost, stayed in Germany, not wanting to risk his life or his reputation.”

Only six German commandos, who landed 30 miles off course, evaded capture, and led by Sturmbannführer Rudolf von Holten-Pflug forged ahead with the attack. Churchill and FDR landed in Tehran on November 27, 1943, to be informed by the Soviets that 38 German parachutists had been captured, but six heavily-armed commandos remained on the loose. Russian General Dmitri Arkadiev confessed he “had no idea where they were, or when they might strike”.

Churchill was anxious, later writing: “Soviet Secret Intelligence had uncovered a plot to kill one or more of the Big Three.”

ASPOOKED Stalin refused to drive the four miles across Tehran to meet Roosevelt, instead insisting FDR move into the Russian embassy for safety. “FDR reluctantly agreed, laying low on the floor of a dusty Army sedan speeding through Tehran’s back streets, while his double sat in a cavalcade through the main roads waiting for an assassination attempt,” says Blum.

The six commandos hid in a Tehran gymnasium, but were betrayed by a group of Iranian wrestlers who overpowered them, inspired by a $20,000 reward, worth about $300,000 today.

Churchill celebrated his birthday with cake and candles rather than Nazi bombs and gunfire. FDR bodyguard Reilly recalled the PM “dancing a gay and abandoned hornpipe”.

Astonishingly, the commandos escaped, and continued with their mission. They quickly learned a captured German spy had disclosed the plot to attack through the embassy water tunnels, which were now under heavy guard.

Forced to adjust their plans, they decided on a suicide attack, bombing the Big Three when they left for Tehran airport. Shockingly, the commandos were again betrayed, and when surrounded by Russian troops, blew themselves up.

Not until Churchill, FDR and Stalin were back on their home soil could they finally count themselves safe.

Days later, FDR laughed off his close escape, saying: “In a place like Tehran there are hundreds of German spies, probably, all around the place. I suppose it would make a pretty good haul if they could get all three of us going through the streets.”

Stalin, after returning to Moscow, wrote a note to FDR taking credit for his spies saving the President from assassins: “I am glad that fate has given me an opportunity to render you a service in Tehran.”

Sceptics have questioned whether the plot was in fact a Soviet fabrication designed to force FDR into the Russian embassy where his rooms were bugged.

But Blum insists: “There is too much documentary evidence and too many witness statements proving that the assassination plot was real. But in espionage you never know the entire truth.”

It was a narrow escape, says the author. “The plot would have succeeded if the Russians hadn’t killed most of the commando force. And if a captured spy hadn’t disclosed the scheme to use the water tunnel to enter the embassy compound, German commandos would have burst in on Churchill’s birthday party. It would have changed the face of the war, and possibly reshaped the world for years to come.”

●●The Night Of The Assassins: The Untold Story Of Hitler’s Plot To Kill FDR, Churchill & Stalin, by Howard Blum (Harper Books) is published on Tuesday