"In some of Great Britain's Asian colonies, especially in the part of British India that would become Pakistan, the outbreak of the Second World War was received with enthusiasm. As in many other colonial possessions, the local population hoped for liberation from the colonial yoke. The most warlike mountaineers waged permanent guerrilla warfare, attacking military convoys and isolated posts. Until 1939, many tribes living in the highlands did not actually obey the British administration and pursued an independent policy. The centre of the resistance was Waziristan, a mountainous region on the border with Afghanistan. There, Pashtun tribes, headed by their leader the Fakir, controlled a large area.
On 5 May 1940 at the airport near Vienna a group of people began to arrive, among whom stood out about twenty people with black beards, dressed in identical light suits and very similar to Persians or Arabs. They quickly loaded their suitcases, bags and baggage into the Ju 52 from Aufkl.Gr.Ob.d.L. The pilot of the aircraft, which had Swiss marking was Unteroffizier Kranz.
This was the beginning of Dr Oberdorfer's ‘expedition'. It had been organized by the Abwehr and was on its way to Kabul. In addition to Oberdorfer (an experienced Abwehr agent), it consisted of the Indian expert Leutnant Dr Freytag, Feldwebel Geretenacker, Gefreiter Mohr and twenty commandos from the Afghan company of the ‘Brandenburg' regiment. The mission of the expedition was to establish links with the leader of the rebel tribes, after landing south-west of the Afghan capital…"
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