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THE MAN WHO WOULDN’T TALK

During World War Two, George Dupré worked for Canadian intelligence. For much of the war, he worked in an office in Winnipeg, Canada, although he was sent to Britain later in the conflict.

When he returned to Canada after the war, people were naturally interested in hearing about what he had done.
(1) _____ He told his fascinated listeners about how he was sent to France to work undercover. Eventually, he had been arrested by the  Germans,  who had recognised his importance to the war effort. They had tortured him for information but  George was strong and brave. He had refused to tell them anything. He was the man who wouldn’t talk.

Once George started, he had to keep up the lie, no matter how far-fetched the story became. (2) _____ When he was vague about details or contradicted himself, it was easy to blame it on his suffering while a prisoner. No one suspected that his stories were invented.

News of George’s heroism quickly spread. (3) _____ He interviewed him and, in 1953, George’s story appeared with the title The Man Who Wouldn’t Talk. The story proved popular, but perhaps it should have been called ‘The Man Who Talked Too Much’.

The book caught the attention of one of his wartime colleagues who realised that George had been in Winnipeg at the  time  many of the book’s events took place. He told a journalist what he knew and the journalist had an idea. (4) _____ He then tricked George by making up some names of important intelligence agents working in France at that time. George was completely taken in and claimed he had known the same people.

When the story broke, the book’s publishers were forced to republish the story as a work of fiction. Quentin Reynolds joked that he had written his first novel. However, surprisingly, sales didn’t suffer. (5) _____ It also helped that George hadn’t invented the story for personal or financial gain. He gave away any money he earned from the book, even before the truth was revealed. He was just a normal person who had got carried away. As he said himself, the story just grew on him.