Possible Clues:

• Very feeble writer backed by American agents and Irish priest
• A diet came unstuck, making one excessively thin
• Came back with a diet designed for the undernourished
• Thin, wasted
• Detachment of troops mostly came back abnormally thin
• Half-starved spies held by English couple died
• Very thin, owing to disease or starvation
• Eastern spies with yoked clothing wasted
• Recalled most of working party turned up undernourished
• On reflection, short feature appeared wasted