Operation Mainau - Mission Plan

Mission Plan

The mission was directed against Northern Ireland. He was tasked with using resources gathered in Éire to

1. Establish a secure communications link between Ireland and Nazi Germany,
2. Consult with the IRA on the prospect of a reconciliation between the Irish state and the IRA.
3. Direct the military activities of the IRA towards British military targets (specifically naval installations),
4. Report any incidental items of military importance.

He was not authorized to interfere in Irish politics or threaten its neutrality.

Görtz was to be unaccompanied on his mission and the attempt to insert him into Ireland was to take place originally in April but it was canceled due to bad weather. In the interval IRA chief of staff Stephen Hayes sent Plan Kathleen to Germany and Görtz was recalled to Berlin to look it over.

Görtz claimed after his capture that the dropzone for the mission was County Tyrone but this is probably a subterfuge concocted to indicate that he meant no mischief in neutral Ireland. He requested a poison capsule to take with him and this had to be cleared via Abwehr chief Wilhelm Canaris. His codename was "Gilka".

He was not equipped with any of the material later spies sent to Ireland would carry, although he was given an Afu transmitter, a 9mm Browning, and some invisible ink ("G-Tinten").