Lieutenant colonel Montague R. Chidson was one of the most experienced and productive officers in the Continental service of MI-6, Great Britain’s overseas intelligence operation. On May 10, 1940, the forty-eight-year old officer was seated at his desk in The Hague, Holland, when he received word that Adolf Hitler’s powerful military machine had invaded the country. The news came as no surprise to Chidson: his high-level moles in the German secret service had alerted him that the offensive was imminent. Chidson, who had been with MI-6 since World War I, rapidly changed into civilian clothes and launched a personal operation for which he had been prepared. He hurried to Amsterdam, the capital and largest city (850,000 population). Founded in about 1275, Amsterdam had been a world center of the diamond industry for centuries. At the Amsterdam Mart, where most of the Dutch diamond cache was safeguarded, Chidson found the main door locked and the place deserted. Using a key he had had the foresight to “borrow” a few weeks earlier, the secret agent entered the building. From information he had obtained a month before for just such a crisis, he spent twenty-four hours fiddling with the combination in the huge master vault. Down the hall, he heard shouts and the scuffling of many boots on the floor. He surmised that these were German soldiers whose mission was to seize the same priceless diamonds that he was coveting … wealth to help fuel the Nazi war juggernaut. The footsteps drew closer. If caught in civilian clothes, Chidson would probably be shot on the spot as a spy. Just then, the vault opened and he fled with the entire stock of Dutch industrial diamonds. Although the Wehrmacht had swarmed all over the Netherlands, Chidson managed to sneak the diamonds, which were of colossal value to an industrial power at war, to London. There this valuable cache was turned over to Queen Wilhelmina, who, along with top members of her government, had just escaped from her country on a British destroyer. For Chidson’s incredible exploit, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order … in secret. Public recognition would have unmasked one of Great Britain’s most skilled and innovative undercover operatives.
Adventure in Diamonds & Operation Amsterdam Dear Jim, There was a book by David Walker called Adventure in Diamonds, a movie with Peter Finch called Operation Amsterdam...all about how 3 men went over on the HMS Walpole to save the diamonds....not so sure Chidson worked alone or got into the vault as it was on a time lock and was the Whitsuntide weekend...where did you find that story about Chidson? Your post intrigued me, Cheers, Suze
Hello Suze, Thanks for the info regarding this thread, i will need to keep a look out for the Book ... :thumb: Don't recall the source, but it may have come about with something to do with the Distinguished Service Order that i was researching at the time?? When i have the time i will try to find it ...
Well, here we are 11 years on, but I believe this gentleman was my Great uncle. As children we were often told the story of how 'Uncle Monty' saved the industrial diamonds, although of course he couldn't have done it without some form of assistance!
Hello Penelope, Hello everybody, It just so happens that I have been researching this very mission, so I would love (Penelope) to speak with you and, if possible, others in your family. Please by all means send me a personal message at your convenience. Alternatively, my e-mail is in one of the links I'll include below. Going back to the original post of 2010, the story as relayed above has been spread around the interweb copiously. I suspect that the original source is 'Daring Missions of World War II' by William Breuer. Unfortunately, I have found nothing in my research that supports this particular retelling, and, frustratingly, Breuer only mentions 'personal papers' and Lt. Col. Chidson's Times obit as sources. However, even a casual glance at the latter suggests a somewhat different story, namely that it was a co-operative venture involving three people. All other sources, including Dutch ones, point to at least two of those three people participating, but not necessarily the same two in every account! The obit follows the path that was outlined earlier by David Erskine Walker's dramatised 'Adventure in Diamonds'. The task with that book, though, is to sort out the fact from the drama, especially as Lt. Col. Chidson declined to co-operate. Going further, please consider the even more dramatised film - to the extent its fictionalised - 'Operation Amsterdam' a nice way to spend an afternoon post Sunday-roast. I have, and it works! For people wishing to know a little bit more of the diamonds story, you can look here (Ely warship's secret mission at the start of the war to retrieve diamon...), or here for a more extensive account (Diamonds). Hope you find this of interest. Again, happy to hear from anybody via PM or e-mail. Best/groeten, Darron in NL
