A recent book release from Mercier Press ‘The Puppet Masters’ should interest readers throughout Kerry as well as at least four or five other counties around the country.
Its pages cover diverse events and locations all over Ireland, focusing on Dublin, Roscommon, Kerry, Cork, and Wicklow.
The Kerry aspect focuses on Kenneth Littlejohn and his strange lifestyle and flashy cars and an incident involving a Russian AK47 rifle that had apparently been landed as part of an arms shipment at a very dangerous time in Ireland’s history.
Kenneth and Kieth Littlejohn were British born brothers with a long history of unsavory activity behind them even at a young age.
Periods of Imprisonment
Bank and payroll robberies were their stock-in-trade as young men and periods of imprisonment were imposed on both.
But it was Kenneth who ingratiated himself with several development associations around Kerry in particular and with various business deals and the promises that came with them.
He lived in Castleisland for a while and, as Ken Austin, took flying lessons at the fledgeling Farranfore Airport.
He was also known to play bridge with the club in Castleisland the early 1970s. If there was talk about his while he was here it only grew louder after his flight back to England and subsequent arrest there.
Foals Tied to Parish Pumps
While no individual, community group or public body is likely to admit to have been taken in by the smooth-talking Englishman it is believed that he left many a foal tied to parish pumps in this county and beyond.
Set in the 70s ‘The Puppet Masters, How MI6 Masterminded Ireland’s Deepest State Crisis’ is about dirty tricks and crimes perpetrated by the British Secret Service, MI6, in the Republic of Ireland.
Starting in Bray, Co Wicklow, it quickly moves to other parts of the Republic.
“This book is an insightful look into a period marked by covert operations, betrayal, and a power struggle that shaped modern Irish history,” said author David Burke.
Paedophiles and Rent Boys
It looks at spy handler, John Wyman who ran MI6’s network in the Republic of Ireland during the 1960s and early 1970s; in the era of Kincora, the probability he picked out paedophiles and rent boys to be blackmailed is high; he was a ruthless, amoral character who committed multiple crimes in the Republic during his spy career.
He ran the notorious Littlejohn brothers, who conducted bank robberies and petrol-bombed Garda stations to push the Irish government into enacting anti-IRA legislation. Wyman was in Dublin on the night of the December 1st 1972 bombings. This M16 agent may still be alive.
The book exposes MI6’s shady dealings, attempts to wrongfully implicate politicians in criminal activities, to use criminals for assassinations.
Surveillance of a Key IRA Member
It reveals the secret surveillance of a key IRA member and entanglements with some of Ireland’s top politicians.
In the early 1971The Kerryman caught up with the elusive Ken Austin / Kenneth Littlejohn. In an unaccredited article under the heading below the reporters wrote:
Bank Robber Kenneth Littlejohn Comes under Spying Spotlight
“Kenneth Littlejohn, the bank robber in the middle of the row over his spying activities in Ireland on behalf of the British government, is well known to many Kerry people.
But in Cahersiveen, Milltown, Killorglin, Castleisland, Farranfore and Killarney, where he made many friends, he was known as Ken Austen.
I met him briefly in the Ringisde Rest, Cahersiveen, on New Year’s Day of 1971. He talked about the industry he was going to set up in the town.
As I was in a hurry to get to the function that marked the official opening of Valentia Bridge, I arranged to meet him the next day for lunch: and further talk about his plans. But he didn’t show up.
During that meeting, he indicated that he was married with two children. Subsequently, when he shifted his interest in locating a clothing industry from Cahersiveen to Farranfore he told me he was a bachelor.
Hot Pants – The Height of Fashion
His clothing interests centered on hot pants, then the height of fashion, and he rented an office at Farranfore where he took orders not alone from Kerry business people but also from clients flown to Kerry from other parts of the country.
The name he traded under in the hot pants business was Whiz Kids Ltd. and in many people’s eyes lived up to that image as he drove around in an E type Jaguar and a red MG and was taught to fly at Farranfore by Andy Minihan, the instructor there. Early in 1971, Mr. Austin brought a lady from London whom he described as a secretary model. She was based at Farranfore and for The Kerryman at least, modeled one of the hot pants which the fair-haired Londoner said was being imported from England to keep things moving until he went into production here.
Whiz Kid Boss
The Whiz Kidd boss sold directly to some people around Kerry, giving him an entree to extended levels of society in the county.
Austin was a frequent visitor to Hotel Europe in Killarney, where he is reported to have made the acquaintance of Miss Zolda Liebherr, daughter of a German industrialist.
While in Cahersiveen, he lived in a bungalow at Carhan owned by Mr. Maurice Murphy. Subsequently, he stayed in an apartment in Killorglin owned by Mr. Henry C. Dodd.
In Cahersiveen he was a familiar figure for a few months. From time to time he set foot in the town in the spring of 1971 he made friends readily warm and won the confidence (for a while) of the local Development Association.
Even the banking fraternity checked out his ‘bona fides’ and found nothing wanting.
Cahersiveen Development Association
He approached the Cahersiveen Development Association and said he was interested in acquiring a suitable site for the setting up of an industry ‘connected with the rag trade.’
The association had a list of sites which had been advertised. As one member put it: “We showed him around the place but he was hedging from the beginning.”
They told him there was one particular site going very cheap off the main road. At this stage, Austin said he was returning to England and when he came back to Kerry again he informed the Development Association that he was no longer interested and that he was moving onto Farranfore.
Nobody Caught Napping
While staying in Cahersiveen, he always paid his bills. Locals today proudly boast that “nobody was caught napping” by the smooth-talking stranger.
As one local remarked: “Littlejohn’s attitude was very unusual. He had a tremendous grasp of local knowledge and local affairs.”
Austin indicated an interest in property in Milltown but this faded in favor of the venture in Farranfore.
He said at the time that Farranfore would be more suitable for his project because of its advantage for customers who wanted to fly to and from it in a day.
He disappeared suddenly from the Kerry scene – after being here for about a year – and it took the and efforts to trace him to cover his debts to the airport failed.
£67,000 Bank Robbery in Dublin
The next that was heard of him was his arrest in England in connection with the £67,000 bank robbery in Dublin in October 1972.
Kerry Gardai, subsequently, began to probe around among friends and acquaintances of the arrested Englishman to build up a picture of his life and times in the county. They were particularly anxious to lay their hands on a photograph of Austen. But he was a camera shy man. And the search was not easy.
The book is available at €16.99 in bookshops and through: www.mercierpress.ie
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