Elvira Concepción Josefina de la Fuente Chaudoir[2] (born 1911 – died January 1996) was a Peruvian socialite and a double-agent for the British Secret Intelligence Service during World War II.
[1] Chaudoir's deceptive communications to the Abwehr are credited with preventing the 11th Panzer Division from reinforcing German forces at Normandy.
[4] Bored in England, Chaudoir spent much of her time gambling, losing, and complaining that because she was Peruvian, she could not find interesting work.
An RAF officer overheard her complaints and her name was passed around until it reached Lieutenant Colonel Claude Edward Marjoribanks Dansey, the assistant chief of MI6, who made contact with Chaudoir using the pseudonym "Mr. Masefield".
After several dates, Bleil suggested that Chaudoir might make money by providing political, financial, and industrial information about Britain to his unnamed "friends".
MI5's investigation into her background registered concern about her "lesbian tendencies" and they were unable to confirm Bleil's relationship with the German government.
"[9] Despite objections by John Cecil Masterman, Chaudoir was added to the Double-Cross System team on 28 October 1942 with a new code name, "Bronx", after the cocktail.
Under direction of her Double Cross handler, Chaudoir planted half-truths, propaganda, and invented quotes from real people in her letters to Chauvel.
"[11] As part of Operation Cockade, Chaudoir told the Germans that the invasion of France was planned for September while other Double Cross agents were sending similar misinformation to their contacts in corroboration.
[12] As the Germans became more anxious for immediate information about any invasion plans, Bleil instructed Chaudoir to send a message to a Lisbon bank indicating when and where the attack would occur.
Chaudoir's letter said, "Only part of Allied force in Normandy operations, bulk remains here at present" and hinted at a second invasion.