Kommandant Albrecht Brandi, Doppelfernrohr 8x60 BEH (Leitz), circa 1944
Doppelfernrohr BEH (Leitz) 8x60 Belonged to Commander Albrecht Brandi who gave it as a gift, immediately after the war, to Mario de Monte considered the number one secret agent of the Royal Italian Navy from 1939 to 1943, the one who directed the sophisticated wiretapping apparatus secrets as Director of the SIS, acronym for "Secret Information Service" of the Royal Italian Navy and, following the Armistice, appointed Director of the SID, acronym for "Defense Information Service" of the Italian Social Republic.
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We know what united the fate and careers of Albrecht Brandi and Mario de Monte thanks to the information reported in an original document, dated 24 October 1942, in which the Ministry of the Navy, the only authority capable of issuing directives to SIS, or the "General Directorate of Personnel and Military Services" in the figure of the "General Director", orders the then Lieutenant Mario de Monte, Head of the "Secret Information Service" Office of the Royal Italian Navy (headquartered at same Ministry), to go to the 29th Unterseebootflottille stationed in La Spezia to arrange and assist safe routes, thanks to its role, its ability and experience, for the entry into the Mediterranean waters of some German submarines coming from the Atlantic, through the Strait of Gibraltar, which was heavily patrolled by Anglo-American shipping, in what was defined as the "2nd Mediterranean Patrol" or "Mediterranean U-boat campaign". It is on this occasion that he had, under his instructions and directives, the submarines "Unterseeboot-259/407/595/596/617/755" and among these, Commander Albrecht Brandi at the head of the Unterseeboot 617.
The content of the letter states the following:
By assignment given to me by H.E. the Inspector General, please S.V. with the utmost promptness, please arrange for his person to arrive at the Command of the 29.Unterseebootsflottille stationed in La Spezia (Ref. R. Arsenale M.M.) no later than 29 October.
Your presence is required to acquire information useful for navigation and assist in a safe route in the waters of the Mediterranean, of the Untersee boats........(omissis).........., up to the expected operational destination.
We also inform S.V. who in command of the 29.Unterseebootsflottille,......(omissis).......
Any further information will be communicated to you once "in situ".
For appropriate knowledge and regulation, in order to promptly prepare the necessary obligations, this order will be sent, in a certified copy, to the Head of the Administrative Office.......(omissis).......
In fact, with this "Service Order", in light of the events relating to that precise historical moment, the Ministry of the Navy arranged for the sending of its best Secret Agent, namely Lieutenant Mario De Monte - Head of the Secret Information Office, with relative advance to facilitate the maneuvers necessary for the entry into the Mediterranean of some Submarines involved in what was called "2nd Patrol - War in the Mediterranean" operation aimed at protecting ships and convoys which were sailing on supply routes for the Afrikakorps in North Africa .
It is with extreme probability that at the end of this operation, which took place between 2 and 28 November 1942, that the then Kapitänleutnant Albrecht Brandi and the Lieutenant Mario de Monte had their first meeting since Brandi returned in La Spezia at the Command of the 29th Unterseebootflottille on 28 November 1942 where he remained there until September 1943, so he had the opportunity to meet the person who directed and operated those operations surgically.
Furthermore, it is thanks to a letter dated 10 December 1952 on Mario de Monte headed paper and addressed to Francesco De Robertis, a confidant friend since the time of the Naval Academy of Livorno and also a Navy officer with the task of coordinating the activities of the Film center established at the Ministry of the Navy and subsequently successful director, who learned that the Beh 8x60 N°XXXX binoculars belonged to Commander Albrecht Brandi.
In fact, in this letter, addressed to De Robertis, i.e. the person who 2 years later would produce a successful film inspired by Mario de Monte entitled "Shadow Men" (referring to Italian secret agents during the Second World War), De Monte makes gift to De Robertis of the binoculars that belonged to Brandi which we read "had received directly from him, together with an old photo portraying Brandi in uniform, during a personal meeting held in Germany shortly after the end of the Second World War, which had argued to obtain from Brandi some testimonies, fundamental to the completion of his memoirs, relating to some events that occurred towards the end of 1942".
The letter, dated 10 December 1952 and addressed to Francesco de Robertis, reports the following:
Dear Francesco,
I hereby express to you the most authentic gratitude for the perseverance with which you are dealing with the events that affected my role as an Officer.
In this regard, given the impossibility of meeting you shortly, but also mindful of your interest in collecting optical and cinematographic instruments, it is my wish to have you deliver, as a confidential sign of gratitude, the 8x60 XXXX N binoculars that belonged to the German Commander of U-Boot Albrecht Brandi, as well as a photo portraying him in uniform, who wanted to deserve a personal gift when a few years ago, favorable economic circumstances allowed me to meet him again.
From that meeting, which was full of enthusiasm and mutual respect, I obtained some testimonies regarding episodes that occurred towards the end of 1942 when, at the beginning........(omissis).......
These, which saw me involved in strategic maritime operations which directly interested him and which were very useful to me in completing my memorial, you will find written up in my exposition of which, in this context, I am sending you a copy.
Hoping that the conditions to meet you personally will arise as soon as possible, I take my leave with the utmost respect.
In fact, we learn that De Monte gave the binoculars as a gift to his friend De Robertis (among other things, a historic researcher and enthusiast of optical instruments for cinema and more) to thank him for his interest in his life as an Officer and Secret Agent of the Royal Italian Navy .
It was certainly in that context that De Monte sent, in the impossibility of being able to deliver them personally (his forced transfer abroad towards the end of the war is probable since, adhering to the Italian Social Republic and appointed by Mussolini himself as Director of the SID , acronym "Defense Information Service" in which he played a fundamental role, he had pending charges for which he would have risked prison), also his complete memoirs, useful for De Robertis to adapt them to the creation of a book or the screenplay of a film: in fact, 2 years later, De Robertis himself shot a successful film entitled "Shadow Men" inspired by De Monte's life and the Secret Services during the war period.
SPECIAL NOTE:
This binoculars, which belonged to Commander Albrecht Brandi, and all the original documents concerning the context described here, were the subject of a single lot which was temporarily exhibited in the rooms of the Naval Technical Museum of La Spezia in 1974, as shown by further present document, drawn up by the Historical Office of the Italian Navy.
Extraordinary historical artefact of the German Kriegsmarine, the Royal Italian Navy, the wartime counter-espionage, the Navy and the Italian cinematography of the post-war period.