17

HITLER ON THE 9 770306 154080

£3.25

WESTERN FRONT Number 117

NUMBER 117
Editor-in-Chief: Winston G. Ramsey
Editor: Karel Margry
Published by
Battle of Britain International Ltd.,
Church House, Church Street,
London E15 3JA, England
Telephone: (020) 8534 8833
Fax: (020) 8555 7567
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.afterthebattle.com
Printed in Great Britain by
Trafford Print Colour Ltd.,
Shaw Wood Way, Doncaster DN2 5TB.
© Copyright 2002
After the Battle is published on the 15th
of February, May, August and November.
United Kingdom Newsagent Distribution:
Lakeside Publishing Services Ltd, Unit 1D,
Tideway Industrial Estate, Kirtling Street,
London SW8 5BP
United States Distribution and Subscriptions:
RZM Imports, PO Box 995, Southbury, CT, 06488
Telephone: 1-203-264-0774
Toll Free: 1-800-562-7308
Website: www.rzm.com
1 Year subscription (4 issues) $28.00
Canadian Distribution and Subscriptions:
Vanwell Publishing Ltd., PO Box 2131,
1 Northrup Crescent,
St. Catharines, Ontario L2R 7S2.
Telephone: (905) 937 3100 Fax: (905) 937 1760
Toll Free: 1-800-661-6136
E-mail: [email protected]
Australian Subscriptions and Back Issues:
Technical Book and Magazine Company, Pty, Ltd., During the early hours of Friday, May 10, Hitler moved to his advanced headquarters,
295 Swanston Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000. code-named ‘Felsennest’, a secret installation established near Rodert, from where
Telephone: 03 9 663 3951 Fax: 03 9 663 2094
E-mail: [email protected]
he followed the development of ‘Plan Yellow’ with Generaloberst Wilhelm Keitel, the
New Zealand Distribution: chief of OKW, and Generalmajor Alfred Jodl, chief of OKW’s Wehrmacht-
Dal McGuirk’s “MILITARY ARCHIVE”, P.O. Box 24486, führungsstab. Above: Hitler leaving the Lagebaracke, the camouflaged chalet where
Royal Oak, Auckland 1030 New Zealand. the situation conferences were held. For a week, Hitler remained at ‘Felsennest’ but
Telephone: 021 627 870 Fax: 9-6252817 on Friday, May 17, and again on the following Friday (24th), he left to visit the front,
E-mail: [email protected]
being flown to the headquarters of Heeresgruppe A to confer with Generaloberst von
Italian Distribution:
Tuttostoria, Casella Postale 395, 1-43100 Parma. Rundstedt. Then on the weekend of June 1 and 2 he went on a major tour of the
Telephone: 0521 292 733, Telex 532274 EDIALB I Western Front — part business, part pleasure — to visit the various army and corps
Dutch Language Edition: commanders. Finally, after a whistle-stop tour of cultural sites in Paris on Sunday,
SI Publicaties/Quo Vadis, Postbus 282, 6800 AG Arnhem. June 23 (see After the Battle No. 14), he undertook a nostalgic two-day battlefield
Telephone: 026-4462834 tour (June 25-26) in the company of two of his old comrades from the First World
War. No precise written record was made of the routes taken or the locations visited
CONTENTS so it has been a painstaking job to piece together each day’s journey. Jean Paul’s pri-
mary source has been 35mm photographs taken by Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler’s offi-
HITLER ON THE WESTERN FRONT 2 cial photographer, and his assistants. Captured by the Americans at the end of the
IT HAPPENED HERE war, these negatives, still in uncut rolls, have been retained in the Collection of
The Carlton Hotel Crash 34 Seized Enemy Records held in the US National Archives. Some places could easily be
OPERATION ‘MARKET-GARDEN’ recognised but to confirm the routes taken, Jean Paul drove all the roads in between.
The Odyssey of ‘With the foul deeds committed by these men and the millions who had died in their
Private Bachenheimer 40 camps ever present in my thoughts’, writes Jean Paul, ‘it was an uncomfortable
PRESERVATION experience to follow so closely in the footsteps of Hitler and his inner circle’.
Twinwood Farm Then and Now 50
The signal ‘Fall Gelb, 10.5.40, 5.35 Uhr’ bourg – the Blitzkrieg in the West had begun.
Front cover: It has previously been said that this well- was despatched on the afternoon of Thurs- For one week, while ‘Plan Yellow’ unrolled
known picture of Hitler on his tour of the Western Front day, May 9, 1940 and that evening the code- across western Europe, Hitler remained
in 1940 was taken at the Lille Gate in Ypres. However, word ‘Danzig’ was signalled to all units. ‘Pro- secluded in the ‘Felsennest’. He followed the
Jean Paul discovered that the shot had actually been
taken in Kauwekijnstraat, with the Menin Gate behind ceed with offensive’. development of the attack in daily confer-
the photographer. From L-R: SS-Obersturmführer Pfeif- During the afternoon Hitler boarded his ences with the advanced echelon of the
fer, ordnance officer; SS-Untersturmführer Linge, private train, the Führersonderzug Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW),
Hitler’s valet; Hitler; Major Engel, his army adjutant.
Centre pages, left: At Vimy, General der Infanterie Hoth
‘Amerika’, at the small station at Finkenkrug particularly with Generaloberst Wilhelm
briefed Hitler and his party on the terrace of the north of Berlin, allegedly for a trip to Keitel, the chief of OKW, and Generalmajor
Canadian Memorial. In the background the figure of Schleswig-Holstein. The train set off at Alfred Jodl, chief of OKW’s Wehrmacht-
‘Canada in Mourning’ was still covered by wooden 5 p.m., heading north but then turned west- führungsstab.
shuttering to protect it from being damaged in the
recent battle. wards to arrive in the early hours of May 10 On the afternoon of May 11, Hitler went
Centre pages, right: At Bouchain, Hitler and his retinue at the station in Euskirchen west of Bonn to confer with Generaloberst Walther von
walk up Rue d’Ostrevant. In the front row, from left to where a detachment from the Führer- Brauchitsch, the Commander-in-Chief of the
right: Generaloberst von Kluge, Hitler, General Heitz, Begleit-Bataillon was waiting. Leaving the Army, whose advanced OKH headquarters
Generaloberst Keitel. In the second row: Reichsleiter Dr
Dietrich (off von Kluge’s right shoulder), Reichsleiter station around 5 a.m., Hitler was driven to was established at Forsthaus von Haniel, not
Bormann and Hauptmann von Below (between von the nearby Führerhauptquartier (Führer’s far from the FHQu. The conference lasted
Kluge and Hitler) and SS-Obersturmbannführer Dr Headquarters, officially abbreviated FHQu). for over two hours and General der
Brandt (to Keitel’s left).
Back cover: Beryl Davis at Twinwood Farm — see
Code-named ‘Felsennest’ (Rocky Nest), this Artillerie Franz Halder, the OKH Director
page 55 secret installation had been established near of Operations, noted that the Führer was
Acknowledgements: Jean Paul Pallud would like to Rodert, about one kilometre south of Bad- ‘happy with the success but anticipated
thank Mrs Monique Obled and Josef Charita, Jean Münstereifel, as Hitler’s headquarters for the attacks from the south’.
Louis Roba and Peter Taghon for their assistance with attack on the Western Front (see After the Though he already displayed worries
his research on Hitler’s tour of the Western Front, also
René Mathot, author of Au ravin du loup, (Racine Publi- Battle No. 19). The various High Commands about the extended southern flank, Hitler
cations, 2000), the best published account to date on followed Hitler westwards to reach their own was still fully confident in the Fall Gelb plan
this subject. All wartime pictures are from the US advanced command posts dispersed in the and on Tuesday, May 14, he issued his Direc-
National Archives Collection of Seized Enemy Records.
For help with the Bachenheimer story, the Editor and proximity of the ‘Felsennest’. tive No. 11 which laid down that available
Frank van Lunteren would like to thank, in the Nether- At 5.35 a.m. (German time) on Friday, motorised divisions ‘will be transferred as
lands: Norbert de Groot and Father Gerard Thuring; May 10, German troops crossed the borders soon as possible to the operational area of
and in the United States: Ethel Betry; James McNa-
mara, Jr; and Fred Baldino. of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxem- Heeresgruppe A’.

2
HITLER ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Starting out from the ‘Felsennest’ FHQu
at 1 p.m. on Friday, May 17, Hitler travelled
therefore prefers to halt us. The pretext is
concern for the left flank. His orders, which
By Jean Paul Pallud
the 15 kilometres to the airfield at Oden- were conveyed by Keitel in discussions with
dorf, north-east of Bad-Münstereifel, and the army groups, and his own visit to Heeres-
was flown from there to Bastogne to confer gruppe A have simply caused uncertainty FHQu. They finally settled on Brûly-de-
with Generaloberst Gerd von Rundstedt, and doubt.’ Pesche, a small wooded village between
the commander of Heeresgruppe A. The With the Wehrmacht’s rapid advance, Rocroi in France and Couvin in Belgium.
conference started about 3 p.m. and von Hitler was now pressing to relocate the The lay-out of the installation was soon
Rundstedt and his staff officers reported on Führerhauptquartier further west, nearer to agreed and a code-name was chosen: ‘Wald-
the successful development of the attack. the action. At 8 a.m. on Wednesday, May 22, wiese’ (Forest Meadow).
Hitler insisted that the southern flank be Oberst Rudolf Schmundt, Hitler’s OKW On Friday (May 24), in company with
secured quickly but von Rundstedt argued adjutant, Major Gerhard Engel, Hitler’s Generalmajor Jodl and Oberst Schmundt,
that the initiative must be maintained. Hitler army adjutant, and Oberstleutnant Kurt Hitler flew from Odendorf to Charleville-
finally approved the order that Gruppe von Thomas, the Kommandant FHQu (comman- Mézières just west of Sedan for another con-
Kleist should continue to push forward. der of the Führer’s Headquarters), started ference with Heeresgruppe A. He endorsed
Hitler and his party returned to ‘Felsennest’ out by air from Odendorf in company with the decision taken the day before by von
by 6.15 p.m. Dr Fritz Todt, the Minister of Armaments Rundstedt and about 12.45 a.m. the ‘Halt-
That evening General Halder wrote in his and Munitions. They landed in Belgium at Befehl’ was sent to the 4. Armee: ‘By the
diary: ‘A really unpleasant day. The Führer Philippeville, 20 kilometres south of Führer’s order . . . the general line Lens-
is terribly nervous. He’s afraid of his own Charleroi, and from there drove south in Béthune-Aire-St.Omer-Gravelines (canal
success and would rather not take risks and search for a suitable place to set up the new line) will not be passed . . .’

Friday, May 17, Bastogne. A detachment of the Führer-Begleit- By the time Hitler came for another conference, the HQ had
Bataillon under Oberleutnant Struck (comprising Hitler’s six- moved to Charleville-Mézières. On Friday, May 24 a guard
wheeled Mercedes-Benz, four other six-wheelers for the escort party from the Führer-Begleit-Bataillon under Hauptmann von
and one reserve car) met Hitler’s party at the airfield and drove Blomberg escorted Hitler from the aerodrome to von Rund-
him to the Heeresgruppe A HQ at No. 3 Avenue de la Gare. stedt’s HQ in Blairon House on Avenue Georges Corneau.

3
Left: On Saturday, June 1, the first of the four aircraft carrying Below (Luftwaffe adjutant), SS-Obersturmbannführer Dr Karl
Hitler and his staff to Brussels landed at the airfield at Evere. Brandt (physician), SS-Sturmbannführer Erich Kempka (chauf-
With Hitler in this aircraft — a Focke Wulf FW 200 Condor num- feur) and SS-Untersturmführer Heinz Linge (valet). Right: The
bered D-2600 — were SS-Gruppenführer Julius Schaub Führer was greeted by Generaloberst Fedor von Bock, the com-
(personal adjutant), Oberst Rudolf Schmundt (OKW adjutant), mander of Heeresgruppe B. In the background stands General-
Major Gerhard Engel (army adjutant), Hauptmann Nicolaus von oberst Walther von Brauchitsch, the C-in-C Army.

In the evening of Wednesday, May 29, just the roads from the Bissegem airfield, just Driving via Saint-Amand, Thomas arrived
back at ‘Felsennest’ from Brûly-de-Pesche west of Courtrai, eastwards and westwards, at Annapes at 11.30 a.m. The staff of 253.
where they had surveyed the construction of and southwards to Annapes. Infanterie-Division had already departed
‘Waldwiese’, Thomas and Schmundt learned
of Hitler’s plan for a two-day visit to the
army and corps commanders on Thursday
and Friday. He was to fly to Brussels in the
morning and an accommodation for the
evening had to be prepared in the Lille-
Armentières area. At 10 p.m., one detach-
ment of the Führer-Begleit-Bataillon under
Hauptmann Nähring was despatched so that
it would already be in place next morning at
Evere, Brussels airport. Under Hauptmann
von Blomberg, another detachment was
ordered to take up station at the southern
entrance of Tournai.
At 8 a.m. on May 30, the first aircraft took
off from Odendorf with Oberstleutnant
Thomas on board. On arrival at Brussels-
Evere, he met the commanders of the
Führer-Begleit-Bataillon troops — Flak,
security and communications — that he had
sent on ahead, but at 9.15 a.m. a phone call
from the FHQu informed him that the
Führer’s tour had been postponed.
On receiving the news, Thomas went to
Tournai to see Hauptmann von Blomberg,
who had reached the sector with his detach-
ment as planned, and then journeyed south-
wards to Lille to discuss the situation in that
sector with the commander of the 253. Infan-
terie-Division, Generalleutnant Fritz Kühne. The party leaves the control tower. From L-R: Generaloberst Keitel, Hitler,
From him he learned that fighting was still Generaloberst von Bock, General Georg von Küchler (commanding 18. Armee) and
taking place in the south-western part of the General Albert Kesselring (commanding Luftflotte 2).
city.
Kühne’s HQ had been established in the
Château de Brigode at Annapes, six kilome-
tres east of Lille, and as he was scheduled to
move out with his staff next morning,
Thomas thought that the château would be
an ideal base for the Führer for the night he
was planning to spend in the sector. During
the afternoon, Thomas went on to recon-
noitre other possibilites in the Lesquin and
Seclin areas but he could not find anything
better. He returned to ‘Felsennest’ that
evening and, following a discussion with
Schmundt, the selection of the Château de
Brigode was confirmed. At 11 p.m. Thomas
sent Oberleutnant Ebering and another
detachment to occupy the château immedi-
ately and discreetly.
At 8.30 a.m. on Friday (May 31), Thomas
took off from Odendorf for Evere. There he
gave new orders to the commanders of the
Führer-Begleit-Bataillon troops waiting for
the Führer before flying on to Valenciennes
at 9.45 a.m. The landing strip there was still
obstructed by farm machinery spread across
it by the French to prevent the use of the air-
field but, nevertheless, they succeeded in get- The building is now occupied by the logistics division of the Belgian Air Force and
ting down safely. Thomas met with von Karel Margry had to undertake a lengthy negotiation at the gate and get special press
Blomberg and ordered him to reconnoitre clearance before being allowed to take this comparison.

4
Entering Brussels from the east, the motorcade arrives at the the ADCs, and two with security guards. The second echelon
Cinquantenaire Arch, a monument built to commemorate the formed the motorcycle platoon under Oberleutnant Bock, the
50th anniversary of the founding of Belgium in 1831. From the Flak platoon under Oberleutnant Rossmann, with one vehicle
war diary of the FHQu Kommandantur, we know the compo- in reserve. Following in the third echelon under Oberleutnant
sition of the Führer-Begleit-Bataillon convoy which toured Neumann were the communications team, an armoured car for
Brussels on June 1. The first echelon comprised five motor reconnaissance, the field kitchen, and a vehicle carrying sup-
cars, including one for Hitler, another for Keitel, one containing plies and luggage.

and Oberleutnant Ebering was in charge.

Thomas allocated rooms for the expected
visitors and sent Hauptmann Nähring to
reconnoitre the Annapes-Menin and the
Menin-Ypres roads, and at 8 p.m. he flew
back to ‘Felsennest’ to confer with Schmundt
and map out the details of Hitler’s two-day
tour.
At 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 1, Hitler and
his entourage left FHQu ‘Felsennest’ for the
airfield at Odendorf bound for Brussels-
Evere and took off some 20 minutes later.
When they landed at about 11 a.m. they were
greeted by Generaloberst Fedor von Bock
commanding Heeresgruppe B. The army
group’s two subordinate commanders were
also there, Generaloberst Walter von
Reichenau of the 6. Armee and General der
Artillerie Georg von Küchler of the 18.
Armee, as was the C-in-C Army, General-
oberst Walther von Brauchitsch, and the
commander of the Luftflotte 2, General der
Flieger Albert Kesselring.
Von Bock noted: ‘I summarise the situa-
tion, development and present state of play
at Dunkirk. The Führer thanks us and devel-
ops his ideas about the overall war situation
and the new operation. He announces the
imminent entry of Italy into the war. He is
concerned about Paris from where he is
expecting French counter-attacks. After- Having driven along Rue de la Loi and past the Palais de Justice, the convoy turned
wards the Führer drives through the city with into Rue de la Régence towards the Place Royale. This picture was taken just as the
me; only a few people recognise him and car was about to reach Place du Petit Sablon. The Synagogue stands on the left (the
they point at him excitedly. He knows more tower-like building) with the Palais de Justice in the background. These vehicles are
about Brussels than I do, presumably this is part of the first echelon and it appears that the photographer was riding with the
from the Great War.’ security guards as an MG34 can be seen at the ready.

After exposing ten more frames, the party reached the Grand Nothing has changed in the historical centre of Brussels,
Place which is the main square in Brussels. This shot was taken always a popular tourist destination although this group of
on the western side as Hitler’s car was about to drive into Rue British schoolchildren appear to be undecided as to their next
du Marché au Charbon. port of call!

5
Left: Instead of driving directly to Ghent, Hitler’s motorcade their ACG 1 light tanks to cover the demolished bridges and try
made a detour north to have a look at the bridges blown by the to stop the Germans from crossing the canal. Right: The canal
Belgians over the Willebroek canal. There had been a battle at was widened in the 1950s and road and rail bridges now cross
Kapelle-op-den-Bos on May 17 when the Belgians sent two of the canal together at the same spot.

Left: At Ghent there was a conference with General von Küchler, führer Linge, Hitler’s valet: ‘Men, women and children stood
the 18. Armee commander, followed by a midday meal from a along the streets. A few made a friendly impression and shouted
field kitchen. The convoy then crossed the city, heading for Cour- “Heil Hitler”. There were garlands everywhere. Flowers adorned
trai. Right: However this photo taken on Limburgstraat contrasts the houses. There were pictures of Hitler in the windows. I was
the description of the Flanders’ tour given by SS-Untersturm- surprised by this unusual reception . . .’

The Führer-Begleit-Bataillon convoy com- Küchler commanding 18. Armee and then sturmführer Heinz Linge, Hitler’s valet, later
prising five motor cars for the personalities, partook of a midday meal from the field recalled: ‘Curious inhabitants stood around
an armoured car for reconnaissance, a motor- kitchen. The Führer’s party then started out our car when Hitler got out, looked around
cycle platoon, Flak platoon, communications for Courtrai. Though there is neither any him, and walked alone to the farm of farmer
team, a press car and a field kitchen, then set indication in the FHQu Kommandantur war Joseph Goethals at Markt 18. There he had
out from the airfield. They crossed the centre diary, nor any photograph to support this been billeted 23 years ago. His former host
of Brussels on a generally east to west route supposition, I think that it might have been at and hostess stood in the door. Hitler talked to
before heading north to Kapelle-op-den-Bos. this point that a diversion was made to enable them but nobody could hear what was said.
Motoring via Alost, they reached Ghent for a Hitler to visit the farm at Ardooie where he Hitler, who did not need an interpreter,
conference with General der Artillerie von had been in July 1917. Of this visit, SS-Unter- returned looking serious.’

While Hitler and his generals were absorbed in yet another conversation with some SS men. Right: The old Armée de l’Air
conference — this time with Generaloberst von Reichenau, the barracks have since been demolished and Bissegem is now a
6. Armee commander, and his staff at Bissegem airfield — their civilian airfield used by a flying club and small business aircraft.
aides were able to relax outside. Left: Heinrich Hoffmann in Peter Taghon took the comparison for us.

6
At Ypres Hitler wanted to visit the Menin Gate which had been weather. In December, Infanterie-Regiment 16 fought in the
inaugurated in 1927 as a British Memorial to the Missing. This Messines-Wijtschate sector when Hitler was awarded the Iron
great archway bears the names of nearly 55,000 men of the Cross Second Class. His regiment fought on this part of the
armies of the British Empire who died between 1914 and front throughout 1915 until it was moved to another sector in
August 15, 1917 and have no known grave. At Ypres, Hitler was 1916. It returned to Ypres in September 1918 and on October
retracing his own footsteps for he had received his baptism of 13 Hitler was blinded in a gas attack on the high ground of La
fire near Geluveld on October 29, 1914, in the first Ypres battle. Montagne, two kilometres south of Wervik. He was first taken
He then served with the Bayerisches Infanterie-Regiment 16. to the hospital at Oudenaarde before being transferred on
The first Ypres battle raged until mid-November when the Ger- October 21 to the Pasewalk Hospital (west of Stettin). He was
mans finally ceased their attacks with the onset of bad still a patient there when the war ended on November 11,
The party resumed their journey and soon Hitler met with General der Infanterie Vik- War. The bridge at Comines had been blown
arrived at Bissegem airfield, just west of tor von Schwedler, commanding IV. so they diverted to cross the Lys at Wervik
Courtrai, where Hitler conferred with Gen- Armeekorps, and looked at the huge First before heading southwards through Tour-
eraloberst von Reichenau, commanding 6. World War German war cemetery there. coing. At 7.20 p.m., having toured the centre
Armee. Continuing via Wevelgem and The return trip started via Boezinge and of Lille where Hitler had been in October
Menin, the convoy reached Ypres where Poperinge, in the direction of Kemmel where 1914, the convoy arrived at the Château de
they halted in front of the Menin Gate. After the party pulled up at the Belvédère Café on Brigode. Later that evening Thomas and his
spending around ten minutes inspecting the Mount Kemmel. After a survey of the area officers held a conference to sort out the
Memorial to the Missing the motorcade from this viewpoint, the tour ended via details for the following day and Oberleut-
resumed its course and crossed the city of Wijtschate and Wervik, crossing the sector nant Ebering was sent on ahead to Cambrai
Ypres. They then visited Langemark where where Hitler had fought in the First World to set up the field kitchen at the aerodrome.

Left: The convoy then crossed Ypres on its way to Langemark,

ten kilometres to the north. Here they pass the partly-rebuilt
Cloth Hall. This great building had been destroyed in 1915
during month-long German artillery barrages. Above: Although
restoration began in 1920, it would take another 40 years
before the work was completed, King Baudouin finally
unveiling a commemorative tablet in 1967.

7
Left: The Germans suffered crushing losses in the first battle of German Soldatenfriedhof which incorporates a mass grave
Ypres in October 1914 with some 1,500 dead being counted in containing 25,000. Right: Mature trees have greatly altered the
the Langemark area alone. Over 44,000 now lie in the huge appearance of this northern part of the cemetery.

‘Der Führer ehrte die toten Helden der deutschen Jugend aus rich Hoffmann. ‘The Führer paid homage to the dead heroes of
dem Weltkrieg’ was the original caption of this picture by Hein- the German youth of the World War.’

Left: After paying his respects, Hitler emerges from the ceme- entrance remains exactly as it was in June 1940 but the heavy
tery followed by General von Schwedler. Right: The red stone iron gate was closed when we took this comparison.

8
The Führer’s party then stopped for a visit to Mount Kemmel, a in the fighting of 1918. ‘One can now survey the countryside
strategic hill that had been taken by the Germans in April 1918. while taking a coffee’, says Jean Paul, ‘the beauty of the view
Left: In front of the Belvédère Café, General von Schwedler and the peacefulness of the place, with empty seats and tables,
points out significant features of the WWI battlefield. Right: assuaging the discomfort that I initially felt following in the
The café has been rebuilt on the site of the old one destroyed footsteps of these infamous “tourists”.’

GHENT

KAPELLE-OP-DEN-BOS
ARDOOIE

LANGEMARK

YPRES BRUSSELS
COURTRAI
KEMMEL

LILLE ANNAPES

While Hitler observes and discusses the battlefield with his The Belvédère Café has been enlarged since 1940 but the
party, the security troops relax by the transport. In the fore- observation tower, to the right of the building, remains
ground, a Kfz 70 mounting a 20mm Flak 30. unchanged though it is now covered with ivy.

9
On the evening of Saturday, June 1, instead of driving directly in front of the railway station were surprised as Hitler passed
to the Château de Brigode where he was to spend the night, them by. Right: ‘The Lille Flandres railway station still looks
Hitler choose instead to backtrack and tour the centre of Lille exactly as it did in 1940’, says Jean Paul, ‘although more space
where he had been billeted in October 1914. Jean Paul: ‘Study- has now been devoted to pedestrians and less for driving cars.
ing the exposures of Hoffmann Roll 5045, frame by frame, I fol- Hitler returned to Lille again on the morning of June 2, en route
lowed the route of the convoy as it proceeded along Place du to Pont-à-Marck, when more pictures were taken, including
Théâtre, Rue Faidherbe, Place de la Gare, Rue de Tournai . . .’ ones showing abandoned French vehicles on Boulevard de la
Left: A few townspeople and some German soldiers gathered Liberté and Boulevard Jean-Baptiste Lebas.’

Sunday, June 2. Having been woken at

7.30 a.m. and taken breakfast at eight, the
party left the château half an hour later.
They crossed the urban area of Lille to reach
Pont-à-Marck were Hitler had a brief meet-
ing with Generaloberst Günther von Kluge
commanding 4. Armee. They then drove on
to Avelin where they conferred with General
der Infanterie Adolf Strauss, the commander
of the II. Armeekorps. Motoring via Seclin,
Carvin and Lens, the party arrived at Vimy
where they visited the Canadian Memorial
Park. At the base of the twin pillars of the
memorial, General der Infanterie Hermann
Hoth of the V. Armeekorps had set up maps
detailing the crossing of the Meuse river at
Dinant and the tank battle near Cambrai.
Hitler then said to Generalmajor Erwin
Rommel, the commander of the 7. Panzer-
Division: “Rommel, we were very worried
about you during the attack” (see Blitzkrieg
in the West Then and Now). Behind the audi-
ence, covered with wooden shuttering put up
by the French to protect it from being dam-
aged in the fighting, stood the figure of
‘Canada in Mourning’ (see centre pages).
Mixing business with pleasure, the party
resumed its tour via Neuville, Souchez and
Notre-Dame de Lorette, where they visited
the French Memorial and cemetery, before
The convoy arrived at the Château de Brigode at 7.20 p.m. where the party was to be passing through Arras and Douai to reach
quartered for the night. Here, together with Generaloberst Keitel, chief of OKW, Bouchain to receive a report from General
SS-Gruppenführer Schaub, his personal adjutant, and Generalleutnant Karl Boden- der Artillerie Walter Heitz of the VIII.
schatz, Göring’s envoy to the FHQu, Hitler takes a breath of fresh air. Armeekorps.

After having stood since 1770, the Château de Brigode was ings (off to the left in this picture) remain, now converted into
unceremoniously demolished in 1969 and a golf course and the club-house. Right: Though it has been modified, this small
housing estate built over the former parkland. Only the outbuild- bridge, which now leads down to the course, has also survived.

10
Sunday morning at Vimy. With General Hoth having completed envoy, Generalleutnant Bodenschatz, and Reichsleiter Dr Otto
his lecture, the visitors return to their cars. Hitler leads with Dietrich, the Reich press chief, with Generalmajor Jodl
Generaloberst Keitel on his right and Generaloberst von Kluge between Keitel and Hitler and SS-Gruppenführer Schaub, the
on his left. Behind, from left to right, we can see Göring’s personal adjutant, between Hitler and von Kluge.

Before leaving the Canadian Memorial Park, Hitler stopped to trenches and craters. The party then set off for the French
walk over that part of the old front line which had been Memorial and Cemetery at Notre-Dame de Lorette, Hitler sit-
preserved just as it had been left in 1918, complete with ting beside his chauffeur, SS-Sturmbannführer Kempka.

11
Having alighted at the entrance to the French Memorial, Hitler another 20,000 unknown in the ossuary. Left: The impact of a
and his retinue walk up to the chapel. There are 20,000 graves stray shell was visible in the stonework on the corner of the
in the Notre-Dame de Lorette cemetery with the bones of chapel but no trace remains of the damage today (right).

LILLE ANNAPES

PONT-A-MARCQ

LENS

N.D. de LORETTE
DOUAI
VIMY

ARRAS BOUCHAIN

CAMBRAI

At the top of this 50-metre-high tower, a searchlight shines all

night, rotating 360 degrees. Behind Keitel, Hitler and von Kluge
we can see, from left to right, Reichsleiter Dr Otto Dietrich
(between Keitel and Hitler), SS-Gruppenführer Schaub (between
Hitler and von Kluge), Reichsleiter Martin Bormann and SS-Ober-
sturmbannführer Dr Brandt (the tall figure behind Bormann).

The visit completed, the party cross in front of the chapel to The stone which appears in the pictures at the top of this page
return to the vehicles. In the front row, von Kluge, Hitler, is the same one that is visible on the corner to the left of the
Bormann and Schaub. entrance.

12
Arras. Since the Romans established a legion here, the town French soon forced them to retire. After a heavy bombardment
has been the focal point of many wars. By 863, it was part of by German artillery in October 1914, the Hôtel de Ville caught
Flanders, then the Normans sacked it. In the centuries there- fire, the belfry collapsing on the 21st. For months thereafter,
after, the French, the English, the Austrians and the Spanish battles were fought for the city which was completely ruined
held sway for varying periods. In 1541 the English and the by more German artillery shelling and air raids. Left: By the
Spaniards fought the French for the city and between 1633 and time Hitler visited Arras in June 1940, the beautiful Hôtel de
1707, a strong citadel was built on designs by Vauban. In 1914 Ville on the Place des Héros had been rebuilt in the original
the Germans occupied the city from September 18 but the style of the 15th and 16th Centuries.

Left: Hitler’s motorcade turned left in front of the railway sta- to cheer him as he passed by. Right: Peaceful day in Arras in
tion, heading north-eastwards in the direction of Douai. 2002. The massive station has been replaced by this functional,
Whether German troops had been warned in advance of the if less ornate, building but the same houses still stand in the
Führer’s visit we do not know but many were out on the street left background.

Left: After reaching Douai, the convoy continued eastwards in the other places where Hitler was to stop for a walkabout —
the direction of Bouchain where they were to meet with Gen- see Bouchain overleaf). Nevertheless, guards were posted at
eral der Artillerie Heitz, the commander of VIII. Armeekorps. cross-roads and other spots considered vulnerable.’ Right: A
Jean Paul: ‘I found that this picture had been taken at the level flyover now takes the N45 over the railway line but a near-per-
crossing at Sin-le-Noble about two kilometres east of Douai. fect comparison is still possible underneath while juggling with
As can be seen in the picture, the Germans had not evacuated the concrete supports, the dark shadows . . . and approaching
people along the roads followed by the convoy (unlike some of trains!

13
Left: By 1 p.m. the motorcade reached Bouchain where the and Hitler and Heitz started out on foot along the Rue d’Ostre-
crossings of the Escaut river had been hotly contested just a vant, the whole party following on behind. Right: The French
few days previously. General Heitz was waiting for them at the had held out for six days in May 1940 and this part of the town
end of the pioneer bridge built some distance from the one near the bridge suffered badly. Today every house has been
blown by the French. The cars pulled up by the side of the road totally reconstructed.

Left: Just as Hoth had done at Vimy, General Heitz chose an ing of May 26, the French surrendering that afternoon. From L-
excellent vantage point — the very top of the 12th century R: Hitler, General Heitz, Generaloberst Keitel, Generalleutnant
Ostrevant tower — to outline the battle to Hitler. Two maps Bodenschatz and Generaloberst von Kluge. From October 1939
detailing the corps advance had been set up on wooden board. to May 11, 1940 when the corps advanced into Belgium as part
Heitz described the fighting at Bouchain and explained how of Plan Dyle, Général Benoit de la Laurencie, the commander of
the French defenders from the 43ème Régiment d’Infanterie the IIIème Corps d’Armée had had his command post in the
had blown all the bridges as the German leading elements Ostrevant tower (see Blitzkrieg in the West Then and Now).
approached on the morning of May 20. The French held their Right: ‘The tower is now open to the public but it was due to
ground along the river delaying the 8. Infanterie-Division for six Mrs Monique Obled of the local museum that I was given the
days during which time Bouchain had been pounded by Ger- opportunity to climb up to the very top of the tower to take
man artillery. The river was successfully crossed on the morn- this perfect comparison.’

The conference completed, this picture shows the group walk- German troops having earlier assembled all the civilians on the
ing back along Rue d’Ostrevant to return to the bridge near street. They then searched every house, pulling out anyone
which their cars were parked. It was taken from the top of the remaining, before marching the column — over 100 people in
rampart along the bank of the river. For this particular visit all total — to the nearby Boucheneuil farm. Those who were too
the inhabitants had been cleared from the town. Not a single old to walk that far were permitted to stay in doors with all
person remained in Bouchain on the morning of that Sunday, shutters closed under armed guard.

14
From Bouchain, the Führer’s cavalcade moved out southwards like a Roman conquerer in his chariot to acknowledge the
on their way to the airfield at Niergnies which lay just beyond cheers from his troops lining Place Aristide Briand, now having
Cambrai. As the convoy passed through the town, Hitler stood more mundane use as an off-street car park.

Although the airfield still remains at Niergnies, sadly none of in the 1930s and these show the same control tower (in the left
the old buildings have survived. However, a local air enthusiast, background) confirming that the ones of Hitler were also taken
Michel Cahiez, provided us with photos taken at the aerodrome there. The actual spot is now an empty field.

The convoy then crossed Cambrai to reach

Niergnies airfield just south of the city. Gen-
eral der Kavallerie Ewald von Kleist, com-
manding Gruppe von Kleist, was there to
meet them and discuss the current situation
before everyone had a midday meal together
from the field kitchen.
The Führer’s party took off at 3 p.m. for
Charleville, over 100 kilometres to the east,
where the headquarters of Heeresgruppe A
was still located. Von Rundstedt had sum-
moned all his army commanders to the con-
ference: General der Kavallerie Maximilian
von Weichs (2. Armee), Generaloberst Gün-
ther von Kluge (4. Armee), General der
Infanterie Adolf Strauss (9. Armee),
Generaloberst Wilhelm List (12. Armee) and
General der Infanterie Ernst Busch (16.
Armee), all with their Chiefs-of-Staff. Also
present was Generaloberst Wilhelm von
Leeb, the commander of Heeresgruppe C on
the left wing further to the south, with his
Chief-of-Staff. Hitler arrived at 4 p.m. and
the conference lasted about an hour after
which the party returned to the airfield. They
flew back to Odendorf and by 6.30 p.m. were
safely back at ‘Felsennest’.
As planned, the Führerhauptquartier was Niergnies. At 2.50 p.m. Hitler boarded his Focke Wulf FW 200 Condor which was to
moved westwards to Brûly-de-Pesche on take him to Charleville for another conference with von Rundstedt.

15
On Thursday, June 6, the FHQu moved to Brûly-de-Pesche for 19.) Left: Having moved his private train the previous day to a
which Hitler chose the code-name ‘Wolfsschlucht’ (Wolf’s Lair). tunnel at Yvoir, Generalfeldmarschall Göring is pictured visiting
It comprised a concrete bunker and three wooden chalets, Hitler’s new HQ. Right: Wolfsschlucht lives again. Since the war,
while the church, the presbytery, the school and the local vil- two of the chalets have been rebuilt on the original locations
lage inn were turned into offices. (See also After the Battle No. beside the bunker which was never demolished.

Thursday, June 6. Thomas had scheduled the

move by air in three phases. The first echelon
comprising FHQu personnel was to take off
from Odendorf from 8 a.m.; the second, with
Hitler and his entourage, by midday, and the
third with all the luggage and the last of the
personnel at 2 p.m.
Hitler’s party left ‘Felsennest’ at 11.15 a.m.
where they boarded the three aircraft of the
second echelon waiting for them at the air-
field. Thomas was on hand personally to meet
Hitler on arrival at Gros-Caillou, 15 kilome-
tres to the south of Brûly-de-Pesche, and he
led him to the FHQu where they arrived at
1.30 p.m. (While the airfield was in France,
the HQ lay over the frontier in Belgium.)
Hitler promptly changed the code-name of his
new Führerhauptquartier from ‘Waldwiese’
to ‘Wolfsschlucht’ (Wolf’s Glen).
About 3 p.m., von Brauchitsch arrived to
confer with Hitler (the OKH advanced head-
quarters had been moved to Forges, near
Chimay, 15 kilometres north-west of ‘Wolfs-
schlucht’, on June 3). Two days later, von
Brauchitsch returned to ‘Wolfsschlucht’ for a
further meeting with Hitler after which the
Führer issued his Directive No. 14 confirm- Hitler’s entourage at the FHQu. Front row: Reichsleiter Dr Dietrich, Reich press
ing the attack south-westwards by Heeres- chief; Keitel; Hitler; Jodl; Bormann; Hauptmann von Below; Heinrich Hoffmann.
gruppe A. Middle row: SA-Obergruppenführer Wilhelm Brückner, chief personal adjutant;
During this period Hitler left ‘Wolfs- Generalleutnant Bodenschatz; Oberst Schmundt; SS-Gruppenführer Karl Wolff,
schlucht’ twice to visit the Château de Laues- Himmler’s envoy to the FHQu; Dr Theodor Morell, chief physician; SS-Ober-
prelle, at Acoz, just south of Charleroi. He sturmführer Hans-Georg Schulze, ordnance officer. Back row: Major Engel; Dr
met Karl von Wiegand, an American Brandt; Fregattenkapitän Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer, Kriegs marine adjutant;
journalist, there on the 9th, and on the 16th Oberbannführer Heinz Lorenz, Dr Dietrich’s deputy; Legationsrat Walther Hewel,
conferred with General Juan Vigon, Gener- von Ribbentrop’s envoy to the FHQu; unknown; SS-Gruppenführer Julius
alissimo Franco’s envoy. Schaub, and SS-Hauptsturmführer Max Wünsche, ordnance officer.

On Sunday, June 9, Hitler went by road via Couvin and Château de Lauesprelle where, in concert with Joachim von
Philippeville to the Château de Lauesprelle at Acoz to hold an Ribbentrop, he met with General Juan Vigon, Franco’s envoy.
interview with an American journalist, Karl von Wiegand, the Left: Watched by Walther Hewel, von Ribbentrop’s envoy at
chief representative of the Hearst Press in Europe (this inter- the FHQu, Hitler has a final word with his Foreign Minister.
view was published in America on June 14). In the afternoon of Right: Hewel salutes the Spanish general from the top of the
the following Sunday (June 16), Hitler returned by car to the stairs as Vigon departs.

16
Left: On his way to Rethondes near Compiègne, where the Deputy Führer, and Reichsleiter Dr Otto Dietrich, the Reich
armistice was to be signed with the French, Hitler made a brief press chief. Right: A café has since been opened on this corner
halt in Laon. On the Rue de la Herse, in front of the cathedral, of the square which is normally packed with tourists who
he was pictured in conversation with Reichsminister Dr Hans would no doubt have been surprised to learn that Hitler had
Lammers, head of the Reich Chancellery, Rudolf Hess, the also once stopped here.

In the early morning of Monday, June 17,

the French made an overture through Span-
ish channels for terms for an Armistice. The
Foreign Office in Berlin immediately relayed
the request to Walther Hewel, the office
envoy at the FHQu, and around 10 a.m. he
joyfully informed Hitler. Momentarily ecsta-
tic upon hearing the news the Führer raised
his right leg and stamped his foot sharply in
what has become known as ‘Hitler’s Jig’.
Hitler had already decided that negotiations
with the French would be held at Rethondes,
near Compiègne, where the German delega-
tion had been brought in November 1918 to
discuss their Armistice. To reconnoitre the
site and prepare for the ceremony, Oberst-
leutnant Thomas was despatched to Rethon-
des that afternoon.
Meanwhile Hitler and Mussolini had to
confer to agree their respective positions so
that France could not play one against the
other in the coming negotiations. At 6.45 p.m.,
Hitler left ‘Wolfsschlucht’ for the Gros-Cail-
lou airfield from where he flew to Frankfurt
where his Foreign Minister, Joachim von
Ribbentrop, was waiting for him. After a
short update, they both boarded Hitler’s pri-
vate train ‘Amerika’ bound for Munich where Hitler made another stop at Urcel, ten kilometres to the south-west of Laon, to exam-
they arrived at midday on Tuesday, June 18. ine a destroyed Renault B1bis tank of the 4ème D.C.R., de Gaulle’s armoured division.
In the afternoon Hitler met with Mussolini in From L-R: SS-Obersturmführer Hans Pfeiffer, ordnance officer, Reichsminister Dr
the Führerbau, each leader being accompa- Hans Lammers, Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler, Hitler and, in the background,
nied by their respective Foreign Ministers, Reichsleiter Dr Dietrich. Hitler had stayed in Urcel in March 1918.
von Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano, and
members of the High Command, among
whom were Generaloberst Wilhelm Keitel
and Generale Mario Roatta.
Back in France, two platoons of the
Führer-Begleit-Bataillon under Hauptmann
Bertram had been detailed to go to Rethon-
des with orders to carry out special prepara-
tions for the ceremony. The railway carriage
in which the 1918 Armistice had been signed
was to be set up in the centre of the clearing
on the exact spot where it had stood in 1918.
To achieve this, the end wall of the museum
where the carriage was preserved was to be
demolished and the carriage pulled out on
tracks laid to the centre of the clearing, and
Oberstleutnant Thomas went to Rethondes
on Wednesday (June 19) to inspect the
progress. Meanwhile Hitler arrived back at
‘Wolfsschlucht’ from Munich at 2.15 p.m.
At 8 a.m. on Friday, June 21, the first
Junkers Ju 52 took off from Gros-Caillou to
transport members of the press to Rethon-
des. More aircraft followed during the morn-
ing, one with Oberstleutnant Thomas,
another with Keitel, Jodl and their ADCs.
Hitler left ‘Wolfsschlucht’ at 11.30 a.m.
preferring to motor the 150 kilometres to It would appear from the photographic evidence that Himmler and Lammers had
Compiègne. On his way, he found the time to travelled together from ‘Wolfsschlucht’ and, contrary to what has always been writ-
stop at Laon and also at Urcel, ten kilome- ten, it was while Hitler was on his way to Rethondes that he had stopped at Laon and
tres to the south-west. He arrived at Rethon- Urcel, not on the return journey. The analysis of Hoffmann’s negatives (film rolls 5070
des at 3.15 p.m. and 5072) clearly proves this point.

17
 Having joined Generalfeldmarschall Her-
mann Göring (C-in-C Luftwaffe), Admiral
Karl Raeder (C-in-C Kriegsmarine), Gener-
aloberst Wilhelm Keitel (chief of OKW), Gen-
eraloberst Walther von Brauchitsch (C-in-C
Army), Joachim von Ribbentrop (Foreign
Minister) and Rudolf Hess (Deputy Führer),
he strode past the troops lining the avenue to
the clearing where the Armistice coach was
positioned. They approached the large French
memorial and paused for a moment to read
the triumphant words engraved in French:
‘Here on the eleventh of November 1918 per-
ished the criminal ambition of the German
Empire, vanquished by the free peoples which
it tried to enslave’. (The granite slab was sub-
sequently destroyed on his orders, see After
the Battle No. 80, pages 8-9.)
At 3.30 p.m. the German delegation
entered the railway carriage, Hitler sitting
himself in the same chair occupied by
Maréchal Ferdinand Foch in 1918. The
French delegation entered the carriage ten
minutes later. Hitler said nothing. Both dele-
gations listened to a statement read by Keitel
which blamed the Allies not only for the war
of 1940 but also for the wrongdoings of 1914
but gave the French Army credit for its
heroic resistance. As soon as this preamble
Arriving at Rethondes, Hitler alighted from his car and saluted the other members of had been read – it was now about 4 p.m. –
the German delegation who were waiting for him. From L-R: Rudolf Hess, Joachim Hitler and his entourage got up and left leav-
von Ribbentrop, Admiral Raeder (shaking hands with Hitler), Generalfeldmarschall ing Keitel in charge of the actual negotia-
Göring and Generaloberst von Brauchitsch. In the background the Alsace-Lorraine tions. Hitler arrived back at ‘Wolfsschlucht’
statue has been draped with German flags to cover the stone image of the German at 8 p.m. (The Armistice was finally signed
eagle being stabbed by the Allied golden sword. on Saturday evening.)

Although there is no clue in the war diary of the FHQu Kom- the city that day on its way to Rethondes but there is no pho-
mandantur to establish Hitler’s precise return route from tographic evidence to indicate that he stopped there. Also,
Rethondes, most probably it was fairly direct via Laon and although it has been said that he visited the cathedrals at Laon
Rozoy-sur-Serre, yet one sequence on Roll 5106 shows some of and Reims on that same June 21, he did not for the photos
the FHQu party journeying via Saint-Quentin. Left and right: A clearly show Amann and Schmied accompanying him so this
deserted Place de l’Hôtel de Ville in Saint-Quentin . . . then and visit could only have occurred on June 25. Finally, there are no
now. Contrary to what has been written, Hitler did not visit photos to prove that Hitler returned by air from Reims on June
Soissons cathedral on June 21. His convoy certainly crossed 21 as has been suggested previously.

Hitler does not appear on these shots from Roll 5106 so it is pos- Left: This picture was taken at the Bellevue crossroads between
sible that it was only one detachment of the FHQu troops Hirson and Rocroi. From here ‘Wolfsschlucht’ is still some 30
(Hauptmann Bertram?) that returned via this northern route. kilometres away. Right: Bellevue crossroads, June 2001.

18
Two architects, Albert Speer and Hermann Giesler, and the Bodenschatz, Schmundt and Engel. Left: The second stop of
sculptor Arno Breker accompanied Hitler for his long-awaited the tour was at the church of La Madeleine. Right: On the other
visit to Paris. Also present on this lightning tour were some of side of the Seine river, another halt at Les Invalides to contem-
his normal entourage like Keitel, Brückner, Schaub, Dietrich, plate the tomb of Napoleon.

Though the Armistice was not to come Invalides. The party entered the building and some time to have a last look at the city bask-
into force until further negotiations had Hitler stood for a long time in silence con- ing in radiant sunshine. It was then about
taken place in Italy (the French delegation templating the tomb of Napoleon. 8 a.m. and the party quickly returned to Le
left Paris for Rome on board three German They next visited the Panthéon where Bourget.
transport aircraft on Sunday morning, June Hitler admired the dimensions although he They took off an hour later and Hitler
23), Hitler decided that he could not delay later recalled that he found its interior a dis- asked his pilot, Hans Baur, to circle several
any longer to make a long-awaited cultural appointment. The whistle-stop tour then times over Paris while Hoffmann took some
visit to Paris. The French capital had fasci- took in Sainte Chapelle, the Hôtel de Ville, pictures. They then returned to Gros-Caillou
nated him since his early years and he had Place des Vosges, the Louvre, Rue de Rivoli and by 10.30 a.m. the party was back at
spent much time studying maps and plans of and Montmartre where they stopped for ‘Wolfsschlucht’.
the city. In the event, he chose to be accom-
panied by three artists: architects Albert
Speer and Hermann Giesler and sculptor
Arno Breker who were familiar with the
architectural history of Paris and had pre-
pared a route to take in all the important
buildings (see After the Battle No. 14).
The party took off from Gros-Caillou at
3.30 a.m. on Sunday morning and landed at
Le Bourget airfield an hour later, while it
was still dark. They boarded the waiting
vehicles and, escorted by a small Führer-
Begleit-Bataillon detachment, the ten-car
convoy moved off, reaching Paris at dawn.
The tour began at l’Opéra where
Théodore Pierre, a surprised attendant,
guided the small group through the empty
building. He was businesslike but reserved
and he refused the 50-Mark note that Hitler
told Brückner to offer as they left. It is said
that M. Pierre did not recognise Hitler and it
was only later in the morning that he was
told the identity of his early visitor.
The convoy then drove to the church of La
Madeleine, the classical form of which
impressed Hitler, before they continued via
the Place de la Concorde, up the Champs
Elysées and around the Arc de Triomphe.
Reaching the Place du Trocadéro, Hitler
ordered another stop and he posed in the
well-known picture with Speer and Breker The convoy crossed the Place de l’Etoile, turning around the Arc de Triomphe. From
with their backs to the Eifel Tower. They his studies of plans of the city, Hitler knew Paris quite well and he claimed that he
then crossed the Seine via the Pont d’Iena, would be able to find his way about the streets and monuments without a guide. For
past the Eifel Tower, making for Les more pictures of his tour in Paris see After the Battle No. 14.

19
With Max Amann and Ernst Schmied, two of his old comrades field tour. Left: At Laon, he drove up to the top of the hill on
from Infanterie-Regiment 16, having joined his regular group, which the town is built to visit the cathedral. Right: ‘The
on the morning of Tuesday, June 25, Hitler left ‘Wolfsschlucht’ weather was poor when we stopped in Laon 60 years later’,
for the Champagne area of France on his own personal battle- says Jean Paul, ‘and the Place du Parvis was all but deserted.’

Left: His entourage waited outside as Hitler entered the cathe- Verlag, the Party’s publishing house. He had lost his left arm in
dral with Schmied and Amann. Amann, who had been Hitler’s 1931 in a shooting accident while on hunting. Right: As these
company sergeant in WWI, had been a member of the Nazi two pictures taken six decades apart show, time has stood still
Party from the beginning and in 1940 was the director of Eher in the historic cathedral.

20
To retrace his own footsteps of over two decades earlier, Hitler clue as to where he had been billeted some 22 years before.
then directed the convoy to the sector to the west where his Right: Hitler came this way. Jean Paul: ‘I found the very same
regiment had been stationed from October 1917. Left: Sonder- place in Cerny-les-Bucy. Bernard Millet, the mayor of the vil-
führer Walter Frenz, the Führerhauptquartier motion picture lage, looks on with amazement at the same picture which
cameraman, can be seen at work while Hitler searches for a I have shown him!’

Having planned a nostalgic tour of the

First World War battlefields to revisit the
places where he had served, Hitler had asked CERNY-LES-BUCY
two of his old comrades from Infanterie- LAON
Regiment 16, Ernst Schmied and Max MONTBAVIN
Amann, to accompany him. On Monday FESTIEUX
(June 24) Amann (Hitler’s company
sergeant) and ex-corporal Schmied arrived at URCEL
‘Wolfsschlucht’ specially for this battlefield
tour. That same day, the Armistice between
France and Italy was signed at Villa Incisa
near Rome with the cease-fire due to be
sounded at 1.35 a.m. the next day, Tuesday,
June 25. BERRY-AU-BAC
That evening at ‘Wolfsschlucht’, Hitler
was sitting with his entourage in the officers’ SOISSONS
mess. The windows were open and the room
was dark for the lights had been extinguished
because of an air raid warning. At 1.35 a.m.,
from four positions around the headquarters,
buglers of the 1. Kompagnie sounded ‘Das
Ganze Halt’ (Cease-Fire). In the mess,
everyone stood to attention in complete
silence. As the notes died away, Keitel said a REIMS
few words and three cheers went up in
honour of the Führer, the Supreme Com-
mander of the German Armed Forces. Hitler
sat in silence for a minute or so, stood up and
then left. Later, both Breker and Giesler
who were present testified that they had seen
tears in his eyes.
That morning Hitler left Brûly-de-Pesche mann and his photographers (5078, 5079, dral. They then drove out of the city to the
at 9 a.m. for the battlefields in Champagne. 5080, 5081 and 5108) have enabled me to pin- west to visit Cerny-les-Bucy and the Fort de
Unfortunately, there is nothing in the FHQu point salient points where they stopped. Laniscourt, Hitler obviously wanting to
war diary to trace the precise route they fol- Travelling via Montcornet, the party first retrace his own footsteps when he was in this
lowed but five rolls of film taken by Hoff- halted at Laon where they visited the cathe- sector in 1917 and 1918.

Left: The party resumed its nostalgic tour, driving south in the ‘but Hitler, finding no easy access to the Fort de Laniscourt from
direction of Laniscourt. ‘I found out that this picture had been there, was about to turn the convoy round and return to head
taken at the eastern entrance of the village,’ explains Jean Paul, south in the direction of Mons-en-Laonnois’.

21
Left: The convoy has finally reached the remote Fort de Lanis- to where these pictures had been taken, I managed to find the
court along a field track and, followed by Bormann, Hitler and very same corner of the yard. Although the fort is no longer a
Schmied went inside to inspect the central area of the fort. military place, access to it is explicitly forbidden, so one enters
Right: ‘Quite surprisingly, for I had absolutely no indication as at one’s own risk!’

The party leaves. Behind Schmied and Hitler are, from left to right, and the tall figure of SA-Obergruppenführer Brückner. In between
Hauptmann von Below, Bormann and Amann (hidden by Hitler) Hitler and Brückner is SS-Obersturmbannführer Dr Brandt.

Continuing his journey south, Hitler next went to Montbavin, a The building must have held some significance to them but,
small hilltop village, where he visited the church. whatever it was, is now lost to history.

22
Returning to Laon (the hilly city is visible in the background), Hitler & Co turn southwards in the direction of Reims.

Continuing south-eastwards, along roads north-west of Reims, where pictures were tinuing south to Reims as Hitler wanted to
lined with disabled French tanks and taken of the Memorial to the French visit the cathedral there. They then went to
armoured cars (see Blitzkrieg in the West armoured forces of 1917-18. They then the aerodrome just north of the city to return
Then and Now, page 331), they passed the crossed Berry-au-Bac and halted at the to Gros-Caillou by air and at 5 p.m., the
Choléra cross-roads, 20 kilometres to the French cemetery at La Neuville before con- party arrived back at the FHQu.

Near Festieux, about ten kilometres south of Laon, they passed Cars now drive at speed along this bend of the N44 and no
a disabled Panhard armoured car and the lonely grave of its memorial recalls the sacrifice of the forgotten soldiers of June
crew. 1940.

Left and centre: The front of the cathedral in Reims was still Reims had fallen into German hands on June 10. Right: Sadly,
hidden behind sand-bags piled up by the French to protect the polluted air and acid rain has done more damage to the cathe-
13th-century building from being damaged in the fighting. dral in the last few decades than the erosion of centuries.

23
 On the following day, June 26, Hitler and
his party left Brûly-de-Pesche at 9 a.m. for
another sentimental tour of the WWI battle-
fields, this time covering Flanders. Again,
there is nothing in the FHQu war diary to
follow the tour step by step but my analysis
of three rolls of film (5081 and 5090 and
5091) indicates the main features.
They first went by air to Lille from where
they motored to Fournes-en-Weppes and
Fromelles, revisiting there the places where
Hitler had been stationed. The former village
was of particular interest to Hitler for he had
been billeted there when Infanterie-Regi-
ment 16 was moved to the sector of the front
north-east of La Bassée in July 1916.
Of this tour of the Flanders battlefields on
June 26, SS-Untersturmführer Heinz Linge,
Hitler’s valet, later recalled: ‘Notwithstand-
ing all the great successes, Hitler was unusu-
ally sentimental, pensive and mild during
these days. He praised Napoleon and some
of the French kings, which I had never seen
him do before. There was no longer talk of
the “impure French” about which he always
talked. Like he was at Ardooie, so he reacted
at Fournes, Wavrin and Noyelles-lez-Seclin,
Above: On the second day of the battlefield tour, Wednesday, June 26 (see map page places in which he was specially interested.’
32), the convoy drove into Fournes-en-Weppes and halted in front of the village Linge continued that, ‘at Fournes, where
butcher’s shop. Like any ex-serviceman, Hitler was delighted to have returned to the during WWI he had been billeted in a
house where he had been billeted in 1916. Its location must have been researched butchery, he even went with Amann and
earlier as a notice had already been put in the shop window to signify its historical Schmied into the room where he had slept
importance. This fact was later cast in stone when a large marble plaque identifying as a regimental messenger. Although I
the building as the location of Hitler’s 1916 billet was fixed to the facade in April 1942. noted that in conversations with foreigners,

Left: No. 966 Rue Faidherbe, Fournes-en-Weppes, June 2002. Bottom left: The plaque was broken when it was removed in
Jean Paul: ‘I found that the shop was now closed with the win- 1944 but the pieces were saved and are now on display in the
dow bricked up but, in between the two windows of the first Fromelles Museum where Peter Thompson took this picture
floor, the four pins on which the plaque once hung, were still to for us. Named ‘Souvenir de la Bataille de Fromelles’, the
be seen.’ Fromelles Museum is dedicated to the WWI battles for the
Aubers Ridge. Above right: Jean Paul explains that ‘on this
same roll of Hoffmann’s film taken at Fournes-en-Weppes,
I focused my attention on this shot of a man happily showing
off a picture to the German photographer. I dearly wanted to
trace the location of this ‘then and now’ comparison taken by
Hoffmann (see opposite page), a seemingly impossible chal-
lenge as all we see in the background is a short length of brick
wall. In his book Mit Hitler im Westen Hoffmann captions it as
Fromelles but other authors have stated that it was taken in
nearby Fournes-en-Weppes or at Ardooie in Belgium! To me, it
was obvious that this man is saying: “Look, it’s here!” so I had
this small part of the negative blown up. As I expected, it
turned out to be the First War picture of Hitler and his com-
rades in front of the same brick wall. To me, it signified that the
picture was taken at Fournes! I met with Françis Delattre and
André Daumars of the Fromelles Museum who agreed with me
that the picture might well have been taken in the village but
M. Delattre said that he had recently received information that
it was taken at Wavrin, five kilometres to the east. Anyway,
close examination of the garden behind the old butcher’s shop
in Rue Faidherbe quickly revealed that it had not been taken
there. So just where was the elusive wall?’

24
‘Nevertheless my faith that this picture
had actually been taken in Fournes-en-
Weppes was not shaken by this first set-
back, all the more so that Messrs
Delattre and Daumars identified the man
showing off the picture as Louis
Guichard, in 1940 the local tax collector!
They also recalled that in 1916 the Ger-
mans had established an infirmary in the
village tax office. We rushed down the
street to where it had been located in
Rue Faidherbe. M. Guichard had died
years ago but the house still belonged to
the family and they kindly agreed to let
us inspect the courtyard. However,
although the door was obviously the
right one, the width of the wall between
the door and the window was far too
small. I then reasoned that the house
might be symmetrical, with another
door at the rear similar the one in the
front . . . so I went round to look.’ Below:
‘And there it was! An elated André Dau-
mars proudly shows off the same WWI
picture. Having recognised the young
lady leaning in the doorway as Mme
Marthe Lescot, M. Guichard’s secretary
in 1940, M. Delattre later questioned her
about the visit. The main thing she
remembered was how Hitler and those Fournes-en-Weppes, then and now. Jean Paul continues that ‘Mit Hitler im Westen
with him had paid no attention at all to was published in 1940, and Hoffmann captioned the picture above as “billet 1916”
the French and obviously knew exactly and the one below said that “Hitler visited his former billet of 1916 with two of his
where to go as they went straight to the old comrades”. Hence, the 1940 picture was taken to match the one taken during the
rear garden.’ First World War as a fitting “then and now” comparison.’

The incredible discovery. ‘In spite of confidence in my deduc- tures, it was clear that the two pictures were not an exact
tions, I could not believe my eyes when I saw the same brick match but had actually been taken side by side, the 1940 pic-
wall at the far end of the garden, exactly as it had been in 1916 ture to the left, in the middle of the garden wall, and the 1916
and 1940! It was as if nothing had changed throughout 85 picture to the right. Left: Messrs Delattre and Daumars stand in
years. On closer inspection of the brickwork in Hoffmann’s pic- for Schmied and Amann.

25
Left: From Fournes, Hitler’s tour continued north to Fromelles heavy, the 5th Australian Division losing over 5,500 men in just
where the front line had been in the summer of 1916. In July 27 hours. Right: ‘I found that this picture has been taken on the
that year, the Allies had launched a major attack on the Aubers D141A road between Fournes and Fromelles and I climbed
Ridge but no gains were achieved and the losses were very onto the roof of my car to take this comparison.’

‘This was another picture which had not been identified as to its leads to the old front line some distance to the north. By the side
location. I discovered that it had been taken at the crossroads in of this road, one kilometre or so north of Fromelles, lies the VC
the centre of Fromelles with the D141 ahead, looking westwards Corner Australian Memorial and Cemetery. The four central
in the direction of Aubers, and the perpendicular D22 which figures are Bormann, Amann, Hitler and Schmied.

Fromelles suffered badly in the First World War and Hitler had ‘From the height of the sun’, comments Jean Paul, ‘I estimated
difficulty recognising where he had been. This picture of the that the photograph had been taken about midday.’ This is my
tour group was taken at the southern entrance to the village in comparison looking south in the direction of Herlies. The house
front of what was then the farm of Louis Equine. has remained remarkably unchanged in over 60 years.’

26
‘When I first contacted the staff of the Fromelles Museum as myself. I was joined by three of the museum’s staff: Messrs
to the location of bunkers visited by Hitler in 1940, they sent Daumars, Delattre and Delepierre, although none of the
me to the so-called “Hitler bunker” at Aubers. I knew that this gentlemen could identify the locations from the photos.
was not the correct one and to prove it I sent them copies of I started by checking out the various places where witnesses
photos from the Hoffmann negatives taken during the June had allegedly seen Hitler and his party making stops in June
1940 tour. However they could not recognise either of the 1940 so we first visited a WWI bunker in a field south of the
two bunkers visible in the pictures. Therefore in the summer village but it took only a second to see that it was not one of
of 2001, I decided to go to Fromelles and make a search the two I was looking for.’

‘We then went to the western side of the

village and drove along Rue de la Biette
until it turned into a field track. There, in
June 1940, Mme Adeline Frémaut had
seen German cars parked in a field and
men walking about. We left our cars and
walked to a field where we were informed
that a bunker dating from the First World
War was still standing. However, the field
was planted with maize that was over
two-metres high so there was absolutely
no sign of the reputed bunker! The five of
us (the three locals, plus myself and my
wife) separated to walk between the
rows, searching for the mystery bunker.
Shouting to remain in contact in the deep
jungle, we walked in one direction, then in
another, then yet in another. After 20 min-
utes of searching in vain, I must confess
that I was loosing faith and was debating
with myself whether to abort the mission
when a shout came from far away. It was
from M. Delepierre: “Here it is!”. It took
some time and numerous calls to join up
with Henri. When I reached him I finally
emerged from the maize which was
planted closely around the bunker and
different from usual, he did not need inter- bered every house and every barn. Here immediately I saw that it was the right
preters and acted differently in other ways and there he even recognised trees and one. “It’s it! It’s it!”. We spent a long time
too, I did not pay any attention to it. I stretches of railway lines (for example the cutting down the weeds which sur-
assumed the successful general had become one at Noyelles). At the time he had made rounded the bunker before we could take
melancholous when he saw the towns from drawings and paintings of them. “From here pictures but it was well worth it. Look at
his (for him too not very exciting) military I went with Fritz Wiedemann and the regi- this superb comparison (left). Another
past again. As the surroundings had mental commander on a hare hunt”, he incredible discovery while tracing Hitler’s
nowhere changed very much, he remem- pointed out at Wavrin.’ footsteps . . . in 1918 and in 1940.’

‘On the other side of the bunker, the one which would have ‘I discovered that there were about 700 German bunkers of var-
faced the Australian lines, Hitler was pictured pointing out a ious size in the Fromelles sector of the WWI front line of which
direct hit to Amann. Were they both sheltering in this bunker only about ten per cent remain today. How strange that
when it was hit? We shall never know.’ Hitler’s bunker is one of the survivors.’

27
Left: ‘M. Delepierre then talked about another bunker in a field had to crawl under a barbed wire fence to approach it. We were
on the other side of the track. Though I felt I had already used still a 100 metres away when I saw that, incredibly, it was the
up more than my fair share of luck for this day, nevertheless I one featured on another of Hoffman’s shots’. Right: ‘A proud
decided to go and look at it. There were cows in this field so we Henri Delepierre poses in front of our discovery.’

‘Back in 1940 the party returned to their cars where Schmied recollection that we narrowed our search to the end of Rue de
was pictured watching Linge cleaning mud from Hitler’s shoes. la Biette. She later related that she was digging in her garden
A hundred metres or so off the picture to the right Mrs Adeline that day when several German cars arrived, and men got out
Frémaut was also observing the same scene and it is from her and walked into the field.

Left: It seems that German engineers had the practice of ‘auto- second one at the top of this page was constructed by Reserve-
graphing’ the bunkers they built. The one in the maize field Pionier-Kompanie 81, the inscription (right) indicating that it
(page 27) was built by Bau-Pionier-Kompanie 13, while the had been built (erbaut) in 1917.

30
Jean Paul: ‘Leaving Fromelles, no doubt in high spirits having Left: ‘Passing the bridge over the canal, one of the photo-
discovered their old bunker, the 1940 tour carried on to Aubers graphers stood up and took this picture of a sunken barge.’
where Hitler stopped at the British Aubers Ridge cemetery. Right: ‘The V-shaped roof of the factory has remained
Driving southwards to La Bassée, the convoy then crossed the unchanged for over 60 years but this picture shows how, over
canal at the southern end of the town and seemingly turned the last few years, trees have been left growing in areas from
westwards in the direction of Béthune.’ where they were previously carefully removed.’
They also stopped at the British cemetery at Bergues and Rexpoëde the party entered Bel- French border. They passed through Lille to
Aubers Ridge before crossing the canal at La gium at Roesbrugge. Continuing southwards reach the nearby aerodrome from where they
Bassée. They then drove northwards, probably though Poperinge, the motorcade reached flew back to Gros-Caillou and they were back
through Cassel, to Dunkirk. Returning via Messines in the afternoon and crossed the at the Führer’s headquarters by 5 p.m.

‘The photographer has now stopped his own vehicle by the prove it. It was not easy to trace the location where this picture
side of the road to take a shot of Hitler’s car passing by. The was taken because there are hundreds of cafés in northern
convoy was then moving northwards towards Dunkirk, France sporting ‘Motte Cordonnier’ advertising a local beer and
possibly going via Hazebrouck although there are no photos to I received many false leads.’

31
Left: ‘Having pinpointed Frame 25 on Roll 5090 as being taken spot at Cappelle-la-Grande, just south of Dunkirk. It seems that
at Roesbrugge, between Dunkirk and Poperinge, it was of par- rain had suddenly started to fall and the convoy had halted to
ticular importance to identify this exposure, Frame 7, for I raise their hoods.’ Right: ‘The same butcher’s shop is still in
could thus then ‘bracket’ all the exposures in between. As the business at the village and the road, now the D916, and the
place had not changed, it was not too difficult to locate this parallel canal look very similar to 1940.’

Left: Having crossed Bergues, the German convoy then turned side of the road. Right: ‘Driving along the D916A, I took this
eastwards in the direction of Belgium. The rain must have comparison to match Frame 17 at Rattekot, a small hamlet
stopped because the journey has resumed with the tops down. between Bergues and Rexpoëde. Unlike what had happened in
This enabled the photographer to stand up while the car was June 1940, the weather was not so kind to me and it was pour-
on the move and take this shot of vehicles abandoned by the ing with rain when I arrived at Rattekot.’

DUNKIRK

BERGUES

ROESBRUGGE

CASSEL

HAZEBROUCK

LILLE
FROMELLES
FOURNES

LA BASSEE
The convoy continued along the D916A and at the western
entrance of Rexpoëde the photographer got to his feet again to
take this picture of the following car. But for the house at left
which had been damaged during the fighting, this part of Rex-
poëde has remained unchanged since June 1940.

32
Having moved to his new ‘Tannenberg’ headquarters in the stopped by the Rhine near Breisach to inspect battered French
Black Forest on Friday, June 28, two days later Hitler toured casemates. From left to right: Keitel, Bormann, Hitler and
the battlefields in Alsace. On the return journey, the party General Friedrich Dollmann, commanding 7. Armee.

Left: The motorcade then crossed the Rhine via a floating through Waldkirch and Wolfach. Right: Across the Rhine, in
bridge and returned to the FHQu ‘Tannenberg’ travelling Germany, the church at Breisach still stands.

On Friday, June 28, at 8 a.m. Hitler

departed by air from Gros-Caillou bound for
Eutingen, east of Freudenstadt in Germany.
From there, he was driven to his new head-
quarters code-named ‘Tannenberg’ which had
been built in woodland in the Black Forest
between Baden-Baden and Freudenstadt.
Hitler left ‘Tannenberg’ at 9 a.m. on Sunday
June 30 for a tour of Alsace. Crossing the
Rhine at Kehl, the party stopped at Strasbourg
to visit the cathedral and then continued south-
wards to Sélestat (Schlettstadt in German) and
Colmar. There, they turned eastwards and
stopped on the western bank of the Rhine to
inspect French blockhouses. They crossed the
river on a floating bridge at Breisach and by 7
p.m. they were back at ‘Tannenberg’.
After first visiting hospitalised soldiers in
Freudenstadt on the morning of July 5,
Hitler left ‘Tannenberg’ at 1 p.m. when he
boarded ‘Amerika’ at Oppenau, 15 kilome-
tres west of the FHQu. The Führersonderzug
started at 1.20 p.m. and about 3 p.m. it
reached Karlsruhe and Nürnberg at 8.30 p.m.
where it turned north to stop for the night at
Münchberg, 30 kilometres north of
Bayreuth. ‘Amerika’ started out again at 9.06
a.m. on July 6, crossed Leipzig some time At ‘Tannenberg’, the HQ was dispersed within an evergreen forest. There were two
after midday and finally arrived at the bunkers, one for Hitler and another which housed the communication centre, and
Anhalter station in Berlin at 3 p.m. The 1940 several wooden chalets. Here, Hitler strolls in a typical Black Forest setting with
campaign in the West was over. Baldur von Schirach, the Hitler Youth Leader. Von Ribbentrop brings up the rear.

33
Left: The Carlton Hotel, left, in Amsterdam was — until 1943 — next door (on the right) to hold court-martials. (NIOD) Right:
the headquarters of the Luftwaffe command in Holland. The The hotel undergoing restoration work in the 1980s beside the
Germans had also taken over the historic Huydekoopers House new building for the United Savings Bank of Amsterdam.

THE CARLTON HOTEL CRASH

When German forces invaded the Nether-
lands on May 10, 1940, and Dutch troops suc-
cumbed after their short but gallant resis-
Canadian Air Force) as gunners.
The briefing to the crews described how
their target would first be marked by red tar-
By J. C. Maarschalkerweerd
tance, many important buildings were soon get indicators dropped by seven of the Oboe- runway at Linton at 0051 and set course for
taken over by the occupying authorities. In guided Mosquitos, replenished by green TIs the usual window into the Continent over the
Amsterdam, the capital, the Carlton Hotel, from the back-up aircraft. The wind at 20,000 Zuider Zee (IJsselmeer). From there a turn
situated in the centre of the city on the cor- feet was estimated to be 70-75 miles per hour onto 110 degrees led to the next course west
ner of Vijzelstraat and Singel, became the necessitating a take-off just after midnight of Winterswijk to 180 degrees which led
headquarters of Luftgau-Kommando Hol- for an ETA over the target area at 0255. across the German border to the target,
land (the Provincial Air Command of the Sergeant McNab lifted his aircraft off the Duisburg.
Luftwaffe), and the adjoining building
pressed into service for the Luftgau’s
Feldgericht (Military Court-Martial).
Just over three years later, the Carlton was LINTON-ON-OUSE
totally destroyed when a Halifax of RAF
Bomber Command crashed into the building.
The fact that the aircraft accurately hit such
an important headquarters led many Dutch-
men to believe that this was a deliberate
attempt to crash the bomber into the build-
ing in a suicide attack. Though such tactics
are abhorrent to Western mentality never-
theless the myth has persisted, even to this
day. The facts, however, are somewhat
different.
On April 26, 1943, Easter Monday, Duis-
burg in the Ruhr had been selected as the tar- AMSTERDAM
get for a massed attack that night by 561 air-
craft: 215 Lancasters, 135 Wellingtons, 119
Halifaxes, 78 Stirlings and 14 Mosquitos. Sev-
enteen aircraft failed to make it back to
Britain, one being Halifax DG423 ‘H’ Harry of
No. 76 Squadron based at Linton-on-Ouse (see DUISBURG
Bases of Bomber Command Then and Now).
The seven-man crew of Harry comprised a
New Zealander, Sergeant Donald McNab, the
pilot; Pilot Officer Noel Fleming as the bomb-
aimer; Sergeant Fred Slingsby, the navigator;
Sergeant Bert Keable, the wireless operator;
Sergeant John Wood, flight engineer; and
Sergeants Jack Clegg and Cliff Strain (Royal

34
A British bomber is targeted by searchlights and guns — the same sight witnessed over the city on the night of April 26/27, 1943.

Meanwhile, at the German night fighter As soon as the bomber stream was The crippled ‘H’ Harry was next spotted
base at Leeuwarden, pilots of NJG 1 were detected by German radar, the Bf 110s were on fire flying low over the Noordzee Canal
preparing to meet the threat. Their 36 scrambled, Vinke at 15.000 feet being guided which runs from IJmuiden on the coast to
Messerschmitt Bf 110s were on standby, onto his target by Station Zander near Zand- Amsterdam where the German flak was
with six of their number having been dis- voort. Closing on one of the bombers — ‘H’ waiting to finish the job. Whether any of the
persed to the satellite airfield at Bergen on Harry — he fired a well-aimed burst. Vinke crew were still alive, injured, or dead at that
the coast to the west. One of the pilots on let out a triumphant call over the radio of stage will never be known for no one
Sitzbereitschaft, as the Germans called it, at ‘Sieg Heil Halifax’ as the aircraft entered a attempted to bail out. From eyewitness
Leeuwarden was the IV. Gruppe’s night steep dive. Vinke then turned attentions reports on the ground, it appears that after
fighter ace, Oberfeldwebel Heinz Vinke, elsewhere and claimed a Stirling — most the aircraft reached the western outskirts of
with his regular radio operator, Bordfunker probably BF383 (WP-T) of No. 90 Squadron the city, it flew in a wide circle before it
Karl Schodl. which crashed into the IJsselmeer. crashed into the Carlton Hotel.

4 REGU
LIERS
BREE
6 STRA
AT
SINGEL
IN

2
NDT PLE

1
5
REMBRA

REGULIE
RSDWAR
SSTRAAT
RAAT

KE PLEIN
VIJZELST

THORBEC

HERENG
RACHT

The last fateful moments of Halifax ‘H’ Harry. [1] Carlton Hotel. Oberfeldwebel Heinz Vinke of IV./NJG1 displays his ‘Victory
[2] Huydekoopers House. [3] Munttoren. [4] Singel Canal. [5] Cane’ indicating 26 kills, one being Halifax DG423 of No. 76
Social Security building. [6] Flower-market barges. Squadron, another the Stirling BF383 of No. 90 Squadron.

35
Left: Orteliusstraat. The home of the Herman family is on the witnessed the death throes of the Halifax. Right: G. H. Krüger pic-
right. It was from the balcony that young Jan and his father tured the precise moment when the fuel tanks exploded. (NIOD)

At No. 364/1 Orteliusstraat lived the Her-

man family and although it was long past his
bedtime, ten-year-old Jan was on the balcony
with his father. They had a clear view
towards Haarlemmerweg and the small ham-
let of Sloterdijk just to the west of Amster-
dam. A flak battery, with associated search-
lights, was sited near the Marechaussee
(military police) barracks which, Jan recalls,
were frequently strafed by British or Ameri-
can fighters.
‘That night, my father and I were alarmed
by the noises of increasing activity around
the battery’, recalls Jan. ‘From where we
stood, we could not see the flak guns but it
was obvious that something was going on as
the beams of the searchlights were scanning
the sky. But since the air raid warning had
not sounded, there was no reason for us to go
to the shelter.
‘Suddenly we heard the sound of aero-
engines from an approaching multi-engine
aircraft, probably a British bomber. Looking
up into the sky, we observed underneath the
low heavy rain cloud a four-engined aircraft
caught in the beams of the searchlight. The
pilot was desperately trying to get out of the
blinding light. The flak guns began to fire as
well as several anti-aircraft guns on top of View from across the Singel Canal. With the Carlton on the left, this is the ruin of the
the dyke. We saw the tracer bullet streams German court-martial building. (NIOD)
coming from those machine guns hitting the
aircraft. Turning around and around in wide
circles in an attempt to avoid the hell of fire
coming towards it, the aircraft lost height
rapidly. It then flew low across the rooftops
of the houses alongside Hoofdweg [the street
next to Orteliusstraat] and disappeared from
our view. Next morning we were told that a
British bomber had crashed on top of the
Carlton Hotel.
‘A few days later, my father and I went to
take a look at the spot where the aircraft
crashed. From what we could see, the
bomber had in fact not come down on the
hotel itself but just behind it, nearer to
Geelvincksteeg. The hotel was burned out
and had collapsed completely. The windows
of most of the houses and buildings in the
area were broken but I remember one
remarkable thing: due to the immense heat
the glass of some bottles in a crate on a barge
on the nearby Singel canal had softened and
the necks were now hanging down instead of
standing straight up!’
In this post-war picture, taken from the
top of the Mint Tower, the courthouse
has been reduced to a single-storey
structure. (NIOD)

36
 Another witness was Peter Saul who lived The Halifax crashed behind the hotel, the burning fuel and incendiaries setting the
at No. 6 Utrechtsedwarsstraat, just a few whole block alight. This is the western end facing the canal with the corner of
minutes away from the hotel. ‘That night was Geelvincksteeg on the right. (NIOD) In the comparison below, note that the same
like so many others in the early months of building still stands on the extreme right of the photo.
1943 when night after night we heard the
sounds of aero-engines overhead. On that
particular night our sleep was also disturbed
by the firing of the anti-aircraft guns. I saw a
British bomber caught in the searchlights
getting the immediate attention of other
searchlights and the co-ordinated fire from
guns in different locations. All were concen-
trating on that one aeroplane — the noise
was incredible.
‘I remember the bomber was in great dis-
tress. It was on fire with one or two engines
out. The cockpit area seemed free of flames
but as it flew overhead I could see straight
through large parts of the wings and fuselage.
Burning fuel and molten metal was falling
down on the streets and houses, and it was so
low that I could feel the heat as it passed our
house. It was a most frightening sight and I
was shocked, unable to move, wondering
how the crew could possibly keep their crate
flying for so long. It was almost unbelievable
that it was flying at all!’
The Halifax crashed still with its 4,000
incendiaries on board at 0234 (Dutch time)
and a few minutes later there were two
explosions. All the crew were killed and
Peter Saul’s grandfather, who was employed
as a maintenance man at the hotel, helped in
the recovery of the charred corpses.

Left and centre: Two more views showing the rear of the Luft- but five civilians were killed including a young boy whose body
waffe HQ on the left. Bearing in mind the damage, German was never found. (NIOD) Right: The replacement for the court
casualties were quite light: three dead and nine wounded, alongside the enlarged hotel.

37
On the following morning, spectators
were held back on Koningsplein as the
fire brigade were still tackling the fires
which can be seen burning further down
the street. (NIOD)

One other ‘witness’ was the 13-year-old

diarist Anne Frank in her secret hiding place
in the centre of the city (see After the Battle
No. 102): ‘The Carlton Hotel has been
destroyed, two English flyers with a heavy
load of incendiaries fell exactly on the
Offiziersheim. The whole corner of Vijzel-
straat-Singel burnt down. The air attacks on
German cities have been increased from day
to day. We do not have a good night of rest
any more and I have black circles around my
eyes due to lack of sleep.’
Anne also mentioned that the Burgerlijke
Stand — the Registry of the Municipal
Bureau of Social Affairs — suffered extra
damage because members of the civil fire
brigade deliberately pumped an unnecessary
amount of water into the building in a partly-
successful attempt to destroy personal infor-
mation to deny it to the German secret police.

The scaffolding highlights the position of

the Carlton undergoing restoration in
this comparison taken 46 years later.

The streets were sealed off until 4 a.m. but

then, as soon as they were allowed out, peo-
ple flocked to the scene. The crash was a
talking point for weeks and the fact that it
had neatly wiped out the German HQ
fuelled speculation that it had been done
deliberately. Nevertheless, it was just the sort
of fillip that the people of Amsterdam
needed to boost their flagging morale at that
stage of the war.
As far as the Germans were concerned,
they sought to play down the event and the
German-controlled newspapers did not pub-
lish anything about the extent of the damage,
or its effect on the Luftwaffe, or that num-
bers of Germans had been killed as well as
civilians. Behind the scenes, the Reichs-
fuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler was informed
by the SS police chief, SS-Gruppenführer
Hanns Rauter (who would be assassinated in
March 1945 — see After the Battle No. 56), in
a telex on April 27:
One of the Rolls-Royce Merlins is removed
with the help of a block and tackle. (NIOD)

38
 ‘When American bomber aircraft, attack- leutnant [Hans] Siburg. Because it was a Life gets back to normal after the largest
ing Oberhausen last night, flew back early bomber loaded with quite a number of metal fire in Amsterdam’s history which had
this morning, among others, one of these phosphor canisters, the hotel burnt down been fought by 150 firemen with 50
heavy four-engined Americans was shot almost completely. An assisting unit of the hoses including the fire-float Jean van
down by one of our night fighters over the Civil Dutch Fire Brigade Regiment [Rijks- der Heijden. This is Reguliersdwarsstraat
city of Amsterdam. The bomber fell right brandweer, a national-socialist organisation] (see plan page 35), looking down
onto the Carlton Hotel, headquarters of the from The Hague succeeded in saving one of towards the side of the hotel which faces
commander of Luftgau Holland, General- the wings of the hotel.’ Vijzelstraat — then and now.

The graves of the crew in Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats buried in collective graves. In the case of the dead from DG423,
cemetery in Amsterdam. As is often the case in Commonwealth who were originally buried in Plot 78 of the New Eastern Ceme-
War Graves Commission cemeteries where the remains from tery with other shot-down airmen, 38 graves in that plot were
aircraft crashes could not be seperately identified, crews are regrouped to their present location in Plot 69 in the 1950s.

39
As an appetizer to our forthcoming book Operation ‘Market- ‘The private who became a general’. Three weeks later, sent on
Garden Then and Now (due to be published next month) we a secret mission behind enemy lines, Bachenheimer disap-
present the story of Pfc Ted Bachenheimer (left), legendary peared without a trace. For many years after the war his
scout of the US 82nd Airborne Division. Already held in awe former comrades in the 82nd, who remembered him with
within his own regiment, the 504th Parachute Infantry, for his veneration, wondered how he had come to his end. Though his
dare-devil solo infiltrations behind enemy lines in Sicily and remains had been recovered after the war, for nearly four
Italy in 1943, Bachenheimer became famous overnight during decades the facts surrounding his last days remained a mys-
the Holland operation of September 1944 when he took over tery — that is until a schoolmaster at the Dutch village of
and commanded a large force of Dutch underground fighters at ‘t Harde started to wonder about the Allied soldier whose
Nijmegen — a story that made headlines in the US as death had been commemorated in his village since the war.

THE ODYSSEY OF PRIVATE BACHENHEIMER

Theodore H. Bachenheimer was born on
April 23, 1923, in Braunschweig in Germany
as the eldest son in a Jewish family. His
dent of drama at Los Angeles City College
with aspirations to become an opera singer.
Shortly after, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor
By Frank van Lunteren and
father, Wilhelm, was a pianist, composer and
director of opera, his mother Katharina a
stage actress. He had one brother, Klaus,
and the United States entered World War II.
In early 1942, Ted enlisted for service, volun-
teering for the new paratroops arm. He com-
Karel Margry
who was three years younger. pleted the gruelling paratroopers’ training, In August 1942, the 504th Regiment was
When the Nazis came to power in 1933, acquired his jump wings and was assigned to made part of the 82nd Airborne Division,
and with the growing persecution of the the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, transferring to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It
Jews, the Bachenheimers decided to leave newly activated on May 1 at Fort Benning, was here that Bachenheimer took the oath of
Germany. The family fled to Prague, then on Georgia, under the command of Colonel American citizenship. Just before he went
to Vienna, and from there to France. By Reuben H. Tucker. Bachenheimer was in overseas, on March 23, 1943, he married
then, Ted’s parents had decided to emigrate Company C of the 1st Battalion. Ethel Murfield (whom he called Penny), a
to the United States. In 1934 the family Gentle and soft-spoken, his boyish rosy- girl who worked as time-keeper for Douglas
boarded the SS Majestic at Cherbourg and cheeked face topped by dark curly hair, Aircraft Co at Fullerton.
crossed the Atlantic. They filed applications young Bachenheimer appeared anything but On April 29, 1943, the 82nd Airborne left
for US citizenship and went to live in Holly- a tough paratrooper and his comrades won- for North Africa, Bachenheimer sailing with
wood, California, where Ted’s parents soon dered whether he would be able to endure the 504th from New York harbour aboard the
found work in the entertainment industry. the rigours of combat. However, his outside troopship George Washington. Arriving in
His uncle, Theodore Bachenheimer, who appearance belied an strong inner determi- Casablanca, Morocco, on May 10, the 82nd
had also emigrated to the US, directed The nation. The young trooper made no outward Airborne spent the following two months
Waltz King, The Merry Widow and many display of his hatred for Nazi Germany but training and waiting for combat at Oujda
other successful productions. Ted grew up in he was pledged to conducting a one-man war camp in the Algerian desert. In early July the
a theatre environment and it was only logical against Hitler. division moved by truck to Kairouan,
that he would follow in his parents’ footsteps. A saddening occasion around this time Tunisia, the point of departure for its first
In 1941, at the age of 18, he enroled as a stu- was the death of his father. combat mission, the Allied invasion of Sicily.

40
 behind-the-line exploits. He went on numer- constant heavy enemy shelling and in dismal
ous night patrols, volunteering for many of winter weather. Throughout this period,
them. He often went out on patrols alone, combat was mostly restricted to small local
never failing to come back with valuable engagements between patrols — an ideal set-
information or prisoners for interrogation. ting for Bachenheimer’s solo infiltrations. By
There were other troopers who did the same, then, he had been made a member of the
but Bachenheimer used his mastery of Ger- 504th Regimental Reconnaissance Platoon.
man to develop his own unique method. On Part of the S-2 (Intelligence) section of Regi-
more than one occasion, he would creep up mental HQ, it united the best scouts from all
to a German trench or foxhole in the dark- units within the regiment.
ness and, keeping a discreet distance, engage One night, so the story goes, while roving
the occupant in friendly conversation in Ger- the dark trails of the Volturno country, he
man. When he had extracted enough infor- discovered a six-man enemy patrol toiling
mation from him, or had grown tired of the uphill. Sneaking up on them, he killed the
masquerade, he would pull his pistol, shove it rear man with his knife and took his place.
in the startled German’s stomach and quietly One by one he liquidated the man in front
order him to come along. If the man resisted, until only two were left. These he shot. (In
he would kill him. Either way, he would then another version of this same story, the two
nonchalantly return to his own lines. By the remaining Germans sat down near the crest
time the Sicily campaign ended, Bachen- to catch their breath. Clutching a machine
heimer had acquired the reputation of being gun, Bachenheimer closed in on them and
an extraordinary master scout. said: ‘Sit perfectly still. You are my prison-
On the night of September 13/14, the 504th ers.’ One of the Germans appeared ready to
Regiment (minus the 3rd Battalion which leap at him but Bachenheimer just said,
had come in by sea) jumped into the Salerno ‘Think of your comrades’.)
beach-head, a hastily-mounted reinforce- On November 14, Bachenheimer was with
ment operation that helped to save the situa- a scout patrol of 12-14 men in a farmhouse in
tion for the Allies (see After the Battle No. the village of Rochetta when they suddenly
95). Moving into the hills overlooking the found themselves cornered by a heavily
beach-head, Bachenheimer’s 1st Battalion armed platoon of Germans. Just before an
fought a series of ferocious battles around intense fire-fight broke out the patrol com-
Altavilla, staving of German counter-attacks mander, Lieutenant Harold M. Gutterman,
and braving the heavy artillery. Relieved on ordered Bachenheimer to get help from the
the 20th and moving round by LCI (infantry 2nd Battalion. He dashed out of the front
landing craft) to the western flank, the 504th door, keeping close to a cemetery wall for
then led the dash to Naples, entering the cover. While he was away, things at the farm
scarred city on October 1. For a while, the got critical. Bachenheimer returned with
troops enjoyed a break from the war doing reinforcements just in time to save the situa-
garrison duty in the city. tion and turn the scale of battle, but by then
For the next two and a half months, the Lieutenant Gutterman had been killed. In a
504th was used as regular infantry in the letter home to his family Bachenheimer
rugged mountains of central Italy. On Octo- wrote: ‘They had wounded one of us and
ber 29 the regiment was committed on Fifth killed my lieutenant. He is the reason we did
Army’s right flank in a drive across the not celebrate. He was one of the swellest
Volturno to Isernia and the summit of Hill human beings I ever knew. He reminded me
1017 — which it gained in mid-November. somewhat of Papa. Both neither smoked nor
On December 10 the 504th was ordered to drank outside of an occasional beer. Both
assault Mt Sammucro and the adjacent hills were very quiet and helpful, and both were
around Venafro, positions dominating the liked by everyone they ever met. It was a real
gateway to Cassino. It was an uphill fight shock when I heard of his death.’
against bare, rocky, 45-degree slopes, under On January 22, 1944, the 504th Parachute

Bachenheimer pictured prior to a training

jump at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in early
1942. Of German-Jewish descent, only
nine years before he had been a schoolboy
in Germany. (courtesy Ethel Betry)
On the first night of Operation ‘Husky’,
July 9/10, the 505th Parachute Infantry and
the 3rd Battalion of the 504th jumped near
Gela. The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 504th
arrived the following night. Their mission
turned into disaster when friendly naval flak
shot up their aircraft, and the drop was badly
scattered (see After the Battle No. 77).
Bachenheimer was one of the unlucky ones.
He parachuted directly onto a German forti-
fied position and was taken prisoner before
he could get out of his harness. Taken to a
German command post, he was questioned,
but his interrogators got little out of the
lanky paratrooper. His captors were unaware
that he could speak German and so they
talked freely in his presence. Standing out-
side the CP, waiting for transfer to a POW
enclosure, Bachenheimer listened through
the open door as German commanders dis-
cussed plans for an attack. A little later,
noticing that his guard had carelessly gone to
a latrine, he bolted away into the darkness
and escaped. When he rejoined friendly units
a few hours later, he was able to pass on the
information he had picked up at the enemy Bachenheimer’s baptism of fire was the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. Captured
CP. That was the beginning of his unusual immediately after his jump, he escaped the same night with important tactical
combat career. information on enemy plans, which he had overheard at the command post where he
During the remaining days of the Sicilian had been questioned. It was at Sicily that he established himself as a trooper who
campaign, Bachenheimer showed what kind daringly made use of his fluency in German to get information on the enemy. Here a
of soldier he was. It was here that he began patrol of paratroopers cautiously advances through an olive grove ‘somewhere in the
making a name for himself for his dare-devil, Sicilian countryside’. (USNA)

41
 hearsay, some stories were altered or gained
embellishing details as they went along and it
becomes difficult to distinguish myth from
reality.
One night, accompanied by a buddy who
spoke no German — according to one story
— he sneaked up on a German having a meal
of wieners and potatoes. The unsuspecting
German invited them to share his rations.
The three men sat eating in the darkness
until Bachenheimer told the German that he
had better eat well as he might not eat for a
long time. When the suspicious soldier
reached for his gun Bachenheimer shot him
through the throat. This story may be the ori-
gin of another one which told how he joined
a German chow line and, having finished the
meal, captured the whole group of soldiers
with whom he had been eating and led them
back to the 504th.
Bachenheimer’s unusual encounters with
Germans became so widely known that Stars
Bachenheimer’s reputation with his fellow-troopers grew to almost mythical propor- and Stripes, the official Army newspaper,
tions during the battle for the Anzio beach-head in Italy from January 22 to March 23, sent a special reporter out to get a story
1944. Roving behind enemy lines almost daily, mostly on his own, he never failed to about ‘the Lone Raider of Anzio’. After
bring back information or prisoners for interrogation. For most of the eight-week bat- crawling around the front lines for two days,
tle, the 504th Regiment was dug in along the Mussolini Canal in the south-eastern the Army correspondent filed a report that
corner of the beach-head. Here troopers of the 2nd Battalion, 504th, cross the canal he could not find Bachenheimer because he
on January 26, when the situation was still fluid. (USNA) was always out on patrol somewhere.
Despite his growing fame, Bachenheimer
Infantry participated in the Anzio seaborne younger than me’ and insisted on telling the remained something of a mystery man, even
assault (see After the Battle No. 52), disem- 504th intelligence officers what had hap- within his own unit. A few of his buddies
barking from 13 LCIs on Red Beach. The pened. His men had been nervous about were aware that his family had felt forced to
regiment fought under command of the US enemy patrols and one of his outposts had flee from Germany, but most troopers knew
3rd Infantry Division on the right flank of opened fire at a ‘movement’. Going forward little of his background. No one knew for
the beach-head, mostly along the line of the to investigate, the Feldwebel had heard a sure how many Germans he had killed or
Mussolini Canal. There was offensive fight- voice call out in German ‘Hier sind die Amis. how many prisoners he accounted for. The
ing in the first ten days of the battle but after Wir haben Sie.’ (Here are the Americans. war forced him to kill, but he did not talk
that, and for the remaining seven weeks of We’ve got them.) As he walked toward the about it. If he worried about death he rarely
the campaign, it was strictly trench-type war- voice, its owner turned out to be Bachen- showed it. Once, at Anzio, he confided to
fare, the paratroops digging in along the heimer who had pointed a pistol at his stom- Sergeant Ross Carter of Company C that he
canal and the Cisterna river and living in fox- ach and said, ‘Come with me or you’re dead’. knew he would not survive if he persisted in
holes. Combat was limited to night patrols Bachenheimer prowled so often behind his behind-the-line forays but, so he
through enemy lines and minefields. It was enemy lines that he knew the names of Ger- explained, his sense of duty and the attrac-
during this period that Bachenheimer man company commanders, where various tion of dangerous adventure were simply too
became really legendary. headquarters, supply points and medical sta- strong.
One night, he and a fellow soldier from the tions were located, and even if certain offi- Watching Bachenheimer apply soot and
Recon Platoon, Pfc James McNamara, left cers were liked or disliked by their men. dirt to his face prior to one of his treks
the outpost line aided by a diversionary burst One night, he was out again on his own behind Germans lines, his battalion com-
of fire by other troopers. The two men bel- when he came upon a German soldier in a mander, Lieutenant Colonel Williams, once
lied their way through the German lines, cir- slit trench. He sat down as usual and engaged asked Bachenheimer: ‘Tell the truth, Ted.
cling round to come up from behind on a the soldier in conversation, telling him that Aren’t you sort of scared of these missions?’
German machine-gunner. ‘Bachenheimer he was from a neighbouring unit. However, Bachenheimer pondered for a moment, then
told me to wait’, McNamara afterwards when he pulled his pistol and quietly ordered replied softly: ‘Well, I’m a little nervous
recounted. ‘I watched as he stood up and the soldier to come with him, another Ger- when I leave friendly lines, and have to piss a
walked towards the outpost, stopping once to man, who had overheard the last remark, few times, out in no man’s land. But after
talk to the Kraut, to reassure him that every- raised up and shot Bachenheimer through that, I’m not bothered.’
thing was okay. I lay there with my stomach the left hand. The paratrooper killed both The 504th left the Anzio beach-head on
flipping over, afraid even to breathe. All this Germans, then returned to his own lines. March 23 to rejoin the 82nd Airborne in
time I could hear Bachenheimer and this On the way back he stuffed dirt into his England. In June, while the regiment was
Kraut carrying on a muffled conversation wound to stop the bleeding. When his battal- stationed at Evington near Leicester,
like they were long-lost buddies. Finally the ion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Warren Bachenheimer was awarded the Silver Star
talking stopped. I heard our pre-arranged Williams, told him that he would be for bravery at Anzio. The application for it
signal and crawled toward them. Ted had evacuated to Naples for treatment, Bachen- had been made by the 3rd Infantry Division,
relieved the surprised Kraut of his pistol. heimer protested so vigorously that Williams under whose command the 504th had fought,
With the prisoner between us we made our in the end let him stay. the 3rd Division’s chief-of-staff, Colonel
way back to Company C.’ By now, stories about Bachenheimer were Charles E. Johnson, having written up the
On yet another night, Bachenheimer was circulating throughout the regiment. Most citation.
persuaded to take along three other troopers were true but, as always happens with On September 17, 1944, the 82nd Airborne
on a patrol. Out in no man’s land, a flare
went up and the patrol was raked by
machine-gun fire. The other three men, rea-
soning that their task was to locate German
positions, headed back to their own lines but
Bachenheimer carried on forward. Minutes
later, automatic weapons were heard in the
direction that he had taken, followed by omi-
nous silence. His three comrades speculated
that Bachenheimer must have been killed.
However, a half hour after they had returned
to their lines, an outpost telephoned the
504th: ‘Bachenheimer just passed here on the
way back. He has got a Kraut sergeant in
tow.’
The Feldwebel in question was mortified
that he been captured by ‘a kid ten years
Jean Paul Pallud pictured the exact same
spot, a few hundred yards south of the
‘Railway Bed Bridge’, in 1986.

42
jumped into Holland as part of Operation Above: Holland, September 18, 1944, and Bachenheimer comes peddling into town
‘Market-Garden’, the massive airborne on his one-man reconnaissance of Nijmegen on the second day of Operation ‘Market-
undertaking designed to carry British Second Garden’. Although the paratrooper in this picture is unnamed, it is practically certain
Army across the main Dutch river and canals that it is Bachenheimer. Not only is there the strong physical likeness, but the time
and win the war. Bachenheimer landed with and place — and not least the fact that he is on a Dutch bicycle — all perfectly fit the
the 504th on Drop Zone ‘O’ at Overasselt, the details of his entry into town. The picture was taken by a civilian on Dobbelmanweg,
regimental mission being to capture the Maas which is a side street of Groenestraat. This is another strong indication that it is him
river bridge at Grave and four bridges across as the latter street is where the next episode in Bachenheimer’s career would unroll.
the Maas-Waal Canal. It was during the Hol- (courtesy N. A. de Groot) Below: A Dutch cyclist stands in for the ‘lone rider’ of 1944.
land campaign that Bachenheimer became
the most famous private of the entire 82nd.
On the first day he joined a 2nd Battalion
patrol from DZ ‘O’ that crossed the Maas
bridge at Grave under fire.
On the afternoon of the second day, Sep-
tember 18, troopers of the 1st Battalion guard-
ing the damaged bridge over the Maas-Waal
Canal at Neerbosch (captured earlier that
morning) saw an American soldier pedalling a
bicycle across in the direction of Nijmegen. It
was Bachenheimer. The troopers warned him
that the town was in German hands but he
reacted; ‘Ah, hell! I’m going over there to see
what the score is.’ (This was just at a moment
when the 82nd Division had pulled virtually all
its troops out of the city to counter a German
attack that threatened to overrun the glider
landing zones at Groesbeek.)
Shortly after, about 1600 hours, Bachen-
heimer showed up at the local headquarters
of the Ordedienst (OD) resistance organisa-
tion, which was located in the Willem Smit
transformer factory on Groenestraat in the
south-west part of the city. The core of this
underground group was not very large, per-
haps 20 people, but the news that an Ameri-
can had arrived at the factory caused patriots
to flock to the factory and their numbers
swelled. At the insistence of the OD chief,
P.J. Verlee, Bachenheimer assumed com-
mand of the whole group. Making the factory
his CP, he began despatching spy patrols into
the city, interrogating prisoners brought in
by the Dutch, and passing information back
to his own HQ.
The next day, September 19, he responded

The Willem Smit transformer factory on

Groenestraat, where Bachenheimer
found the headquarters of the Nijmegen
underground and which he made his
command post. The factory complex
stands unchanged beside the railway
crossing on Groenestraat.

43
 REPRODUCED FROM GSGS 4427, HOLLAND 1:25000,
SHEETS 6 SW (EAST) AND 6 SW (WEST)

RAILWAY STATION

WILLEM SMIT FACTORY

AGNES REINIERA SCHOOL

DOBBELMANWEG

NEERBOSCH BRIDGE

Map showing the Neerbosch bridge (known to the Americans as ‘Honinghutje’) and the other sites of Bachenheimer’s time in Nijmegen.

to a Dutch request to help clear the few bursts from his Thompson sub-machine occupy the station area in force. When later
Nijmegen railway station from German gun. Amplified ten-fold, the sound thun- asked why he had gone on the station foray,
harassing fire. At 1630, he arrived at the sta- dered out from four loudspeakers, reverber- Bachenheimer said: ‘Well, this was the first
tion accompanied by just one member of the ating like heavy artillery. The effect was time any of these Dutch saw an American,
OD — much to the surprise of the man in immediate. The doors of the station restau- and it wouldn’t look right for the American
charge there, A. van Hedel, who had rant flew open and some 40 German soldiers to run off just as soon as he saw some Ger-
expected a much larger force. Quickly the came running out, stumbling and falling over mans.’
three men hatched a plan. First, searching a like in a comic movie. Bachenheimer and his When the 504th finally moved into the city
bombed-out German train for weapons, they companions fired a few rounds after them. on the 20th, they found Bachenheimer sitting
found two carbines, ammunition and hand- The station was theirs. in his headquarters issuing orders to his
grenades to arm the two Dutchmen. Next, When evening came, the Germans started guerillas. That afternoon, he joined his unit
they sneaked to a post on Platform No. 2 shelling the station area and the three men to participate in the 504th’s assault crossing
which controlled the station’s public-address had to retire. By then, the Guards Armoured of the Waal river, rowing across the wide
system. Mr van Hedel switched on the micro- Division, leading the British ground army, river in flimsy canvas boats under murderous
phone and called out in German: ‘Come on had reached Nijmegen and penetrated the German fire. But he was soon back at his
out with your hands up, or you will all die!’ city. British tanks and vehicles had arrived at Groenestraat CP.
This was followed by Bachenheimer firing a the Groenestraat CP and they were able to During the next couple of days, and

On September 19 Bachenheimer, helped by just two Dutchmen, the station from the railway viaduct on Graafseweg and this is
audaciously cleared the Nijmegen railway station, chasing off the the view they would have had from that direction. Although the
German soldiers inside by calling on them to surrender via the station’s main building (behind the tower on the right) is post-
loudspeaker system. Bachenheimer and his helpers approached war, the roofed platforms have seen little change since 1944.

44
In the last week of September, Bachen-
heimer and his army of patriots
transferred their HQ to the Agnes
Reiniera Kindergarten, further down
Groenestraat. The change had become
necessary because the Willem Smit
factory had started up again. The school
at No. 210, a protected work of architec-
ture, is today the De Tweeling crèche.

assisted by two other 504th paratroopers —

Pfc Willard M. Strunk and Pfc Bill Zeller —
he organised recruitment and training for the
resistance, opened bakeries to help feed the
population, set up telephone lines, and con-
tinued to organise patrols to scout out Ger-
man positions around Nijmegen.
Operation ‘Market-Garden’ officially
ended on September 26, but the 82nd
Airborne was to stay in the Nijmegen front
line as regular infantry for another seven
weeks. Bachenheimer continued his work
with the Dutch patriots, moving his head-
quarters from the transformer factory to the
Agnes Reiniera Infant School further down
Groenestraat.
Tales about ‘an American private leading

Above: In this group photo, taken on the

side lawn of the kindergarten, Bachen-
heimer [3] is just turning around to talk
to P. J. Verlee [4], the leader of the Orde-
dienst resistance group. The other Dutch
are Watse Jansen [1], Loes Schreuder
[5], Jo van Hest [6], Jan Postulart [7],
Mies van Haeren [8], and Opperwacht-
meester der Politie Broere [9]. Jan Postu-
lart (‘Black Jan’) was a team leader of
the Knokploegen, the underground
organisation engaged in armed resis-
tance in the Netherlands, and he carried
out many of the spying patrols for
Bachenheimer. Most of the girls had
been couriers for the Resistance and
were now employed as typists or tele-
phone operators. Also in the picture are
Bachenheimer’s two assistants from the
S-2 section of 504th Regimental HQ
Company, Pfc Willard Strunk [2] and Pfc
Bill Zeller [10]. Zeller would be killed in
action near Hitdorf on the Rhine, Ger-
many, on April 7, 1945. (courtesy N. A. de Due to the trees we had to take our comparison from a slightly different angle.
Groot) The houses in the background stand on Brederostraat.

45
 Intelligence School 9 (Western European
Area) — was a small joint Anglo-American
unit, an off-spring of MI9, the British secret
service branch responsible for organising
escape and evasion of Allied personnel from
enemy territory. In the aftermath of ‘Market-
Garden’, the IS-9 (WEA) team in Holland
concentrated on organising the escape of
British airborne soldiers who had been left
behind north of the Rhine after the evacua-
tion of the 1st Airborne from the Oosterbeek
perimeter. Two operations were planned:
one was a mass escape across the Rhine, an
operation to take place near Wageningen in
mid-October (Operation ‘Pegasus’); the
other a more permanent escape line across
both the Rhine and Waal rivers, to run fur-
ther west (Operation ‘Windmill’). The start-
ing point of this line would be near Tiel, 20
miles west of Nijmegen, where the Dutch
underground had already started slipping
across the river in rowing boats at dead of
night, sometimes bringing an evader or two
with them.
Major Airey Neave, the operational com-
A permit written out by Bachenheimer for Jan Postulart, who used the motorcycle mander of IS-9 (who had himself escaped
referred to — an old Harley-Davidson — for reconnaissance trips into the no man’s from Colditz in 1942 — see After the Battle
land west of Nijmegen. (courtesy N. A. de Groot) No. 63), decided to send Captain Baker
(code-named ‘Harrier’ for the operation)
an army of 300 Dutch patriots’ drew several the American press exaggerated the size of and Private Bachenheimer across the Waal
war correspondents there. One of them was Bachenheimer’s underground army, quoting to set up the ‘Windmill’ line. Exactly how
Martha Gellhorn (then Mrs Ernest Heming- the number of patriots as 300. They also pre- IS-9 was able to recruit Bachenheimer for
way), the female war correspondent of Col- sented a garbled version of his action at the this ‘cloak and dagger’ operation is not clear.
lier’s Magazine, whose despatch is worth railway station, saying the Germans had According to Neave, Bachenheimer just vol-
quoting in some length: trapped him in the building and used the unteered for the mission. Baker — a 23-year-
‘His headquarters is a very small crowded loudspeaker system to ask him to give up — old, excitable romantic who fancied himself a
room in a former Nijmegen schoolhouse. Bill whereas in fact it had been exactly the other secret agent though he had received no for-
One, who is Willard Strunk of Abilene, and way round!) mal training for it — was rowed across on the
Bill Two, who is Bill Zeller of Pittsburgh — Meanwhile, Bachenheimer was still only a night of October 11/12. Although Neave
also old men of 21 — work with him in this private first class. (Actually he had been a later wrote that Bachenheimer went across
room. They eat here and they have a neat, sergeant while in North Africa in 1943 but in the same boat, it is more likely that he
small arsenal hanging on the wall. They col- been demoted to pfc before the Sicily jump.) crossed one night later (as Baker remem-
lect their souvenirs in one corner and they He had been offered promotion to sergeant bered it), unreeling a telephone line as he
have the most fantastic list of callers every several times since but on each occasion he went across.
day. had turned the offer down because the rank Whether they crossed together or sepa-
‘I listened to Bachenheimer interrogating would, he said, ‘interfere with my activities’ rately, both men were taken to the same safe
an Alsatian prisoner and never saw a prettier — by which he meant prowling behind house, the home of fruit farmer Fekko
or more thorough job; next he received a enemy lines on his own. Brigadier General Ebbens. Located on the Linge river, halfway
German informer whom he wanted to get James M. Gavin, the 82nd Airborne’s com- between the Waal and Rhine, on the edge of
some information about German defence mander, is said to have asked Colonel a tiny hamlet and set well back in the
constructions in the region; then, two Tucker why such a valuable man was still a orchards, the red-brick house could not be
sergeants from other regiments who were private. As the story goes, the General even seen from the road. Farmer Ebbens lived
also engaged in collecting information came ordered Bachenheimer to report to him, here with his wife and mother-in-law but at
and had a brisk argument about a patrol they intending to give him a battlefield commis- the same time the house was used for a mul-
wanted Bachenheimer to send out and which sion, but Bachenheimer showed up for the titude of illegal activities. Upstairs he had a
he deemed unsound. interview wearing a jump suit, moccasins and Jewish family hiding from persecution. In the
‘English officers, also, arrived from time to a knitted wool cap. In actual fact, papers basement he had large stores of arms and
time, and Dutch undergrounders and Dutch were filed in September for his commission ammunition. Shot-down airmen passed
civilians who wanted to get collaborators to 2nd lieutenant, but he would not live to through the house. Resistance workers used
arrested or wanted to get people released receive his promotion. it for meetings. In the garage were half a
from jail on the grounds that a mistake had One of his visitors during this time was dozen local men and students hiding to avoid
been made. Nothing seemed to worry Captain Peter Baker, a British intelligence forced labour.
Bachenheimer who is an extremely compe- officer who was destined to become Bachen- For a few days, Bachenheimer and Baker
tent and serious boy, and nothing seemed to heimer’s companion in the final days of his
shake his modesty. His previous training for life. Baker had heard from a Resistance man
this work consisted of one job in America — that his particular group was commanded by
he had briefly been press agent for a show an American major. When he and his sec-
that failed. ond-in-command, Captain Pringle Dunn,
‘Bachenheimer, who has this curious talent went to inspect the next day, they found Pfc
for war, is actually a man of peace. “As a Bachenheimer instead who grinningly
matter of fact, I am against war in principle”, explained: `I hope you’ll forgive them, Sir,
he said. “I just can’t hate anybody.” Accord- for calling me major, but that’s my under-
ing to Bachenheimer it does not take more ground rank, if you understand me.’
guts to work behind enemy lines; it just takes Bachenheimer led Baker and Dunn into
a different kind of will. I think it must take a his operations room where he had a large-
very special kind of guts, as well as a cool and scale map with all his private army’s activi-
agile mind. But who am I to argue with ties marked in crayon. ‘We are holding the
Bachenheimer?’ south bank of the Waal here’, he explained.
Articles about Bachenheimer appeared in ‘I have sent patrols as far as this . . . also I
the New York Times and the Los Angeles have despatched two men across the river at
Times. The latter paper sent a reporter to this point and I expect them to return tomor-
interview his wife Penny who at that time row.’ Baker and Dunn were amazed. ‘You
lived with her sister and brother-in-law at seem to have as much command of the situa-
144 East Street, Fullerton. When told that tion as a general’, said Dunn. ‘Considerably
her husband had wandered into a German- more than our generals, I hope’, Bachen-
held town on a personal reconnaissance and heimer rejoined with a smile. Baker and
formed his own army in Holland, she Dunn left duly impressed — it was Baker
reacted: ‘Just like him. He’s always out who tipped off Martha Gellhorn about Captain Peter Baker of IS-9 (WEA),
patrolling along, trying to win the war all by Bachenheimer. Bachenheimer’s companion during the
himself.’ (Most of the articles appearing in Baker’s unit, IS-9 (WEA) — short for last days of his life.

46
 REPRODUCED FROM GSGS 4427, HOLLAND 1:25000,
SHEETS 5 NW AND 5 SW

EBBENS FARM

Sent out to set up an escape line, Baker

and Bachenheimer were secretly rowed
across the Waal river near Tiel by the
Dutch underground. Both were taken to
the farmhouse of fruit farmer Fekko
Ebbens (above), a man deeply involved
in many different underground activities.
stayed there, preparing further moves.
Though they had been given strict orders
always to operate in military uniform and not
leave their safe house in daylight, they dis-
obeyed orders and went for a stroll in the vil- TIEL
lage in civilian clothes, even giving directions
to two German soldiers. A Dutch traitor may
have spotted them and warned the Germans.
It made little difference because the house
they were in was already doomed. With so
much activity going on, the Ebbens farm had
caught the attention of the German Sicher-
heitsdienst. They had sent a Dutch quisling,
Johannes Dolron, to find out more. Posing as
a deserter who needed a place to hide, he
had spent two weeks at the farm and then
sneaked away and informed the Germans
that Ebbens was hiding Jews. The Germans
planned a raid on the farm.
Shortly before midnight on the 16th, there

The Ebbens farm lay on the Linge river, two miles north of Tiel. Known locally as De Wildt, in 1944 it was surrounded by orchards.

47
 which already contained Mr and Mrs Ebbens
and the other arrested civilians and was
guarded by a dozen soldiers. A half-hour
journey brought them to a village near
‘s-Hertogenbosch full of German troops
where there was another headquarters.
Bachenheimer and Baker were told to dis-
mount, the others were driven away. They
were interrogated in turns for several hours
but gave away nothing.
The arrested civilians met different fates.
The captured Jews were sent to a concentra-
tion camp. Van Zanten bluffed his way out
by claiming that he was just an innocent
neighbour who happened to be on a visit.
He and Ebbens’ wife were released. Farmer
Ebbens took all responsibility on him. The
Resistance, desperate to help him, even
tried to purchase his freedom but to no
avail. Together with four others, he was
shot by a firing squad at Renswoude on
November 14. The Ebbens farm was plun-
dered and burned to the ground. (The
On the night of October 16/17, the Germans raided the Ebbens farm, arresting every- rumour that careless behaviour by Baker
one in the house, including Bachenheimer and Baker. The farm and all its outbuildings and Bachenheimer had caused the raid led
was burned to the ground as a reprisal measure. Today a new house occupies the site. MI9 later to make an official investigation
into the affair. Ebbens’ death aroused much
was a quiet knock on the door. As it hap- Bachenheimer and Baker were able to con- resentment from the Dutch after the war,
pened, Ebbens was expecting a shipment of vince their captors that they were ordinary leading to another inquiry.)
arms from across the Waal. When he Allied soldiers who had been cut off from Early on the 18th, Bachenheimer and
answered the door, two Germans asked their units. Separated from the others, they Baker were taken to a POW transit camp at
whether they could come in to look at their were marched away to a schoolhouse in Tiel Culemborg, from where they and 30 other
map in the light of the living room. The which was in use as a German battalion CP. captives then marched 30 miles to another
deception worked. The Germans had sur- Here, to their surprise, they were offered a POW camp at Amersfoort which contained
rounded the house. Although they came drink of red wine and a sandwich by the about 250 prisoners, many of them airborne
looking only for the Jews, they trapped and battalion commander and his staff. troops from the Arnhem battle.
arrested ten men, including Johannes van Next morning they were put in a truck
Zanten (alias Van Buren), the chief of the
entire Resistance district. Bachenheimer and
Baker were caught asleep in beds upstairs.
Just then the Resistance men arrived with
the consignment of arms. There was a brief ‘T HARDE
exchange of shots, in which one German was
wounded, and a few of the Dutchmen
arrested outside managed to escape. The
Resistance fighters withdrew, shifting the
arms to another hiding place.
When the Germans found their uniforms,
Below: Johannes Dolron, who betrayed
Ebbens to the Germans. Planted by the
Germans, he posed as a Dutch deserter
from the Wehrmacht looking for a hide-
out. After spending two weeks at the
farm, he disappeared and reported every-
thing he knew to his Nazi controllers.
AMERSFOORT

CULEMBORG

EBBENS FARM
TIEL

NIJMEGEN

‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH

Bachenheimer’s route after capture led him — via stops at Tiel, ‘s-Hertogenbosch and
Culemborg — to the POW camp at Amersfoort. Put on a train to Germany, he
escaped before the train had left Holland (his second evasion of the war), only to be
caught again soon afterwards. Twenty-four hours later he was dead, murdered by a
German guard and dumped from the back of a truck in the village of ‘t Harde,
35 miles north of Amersfoort.

48
 On the 21st both men were included in a Above right: The memorial cross to ‘pilot’ Bachenheimer, erected by the inhabitants
train transport to Stalag XI-B at Falling- of ‘t Harde immediately after the war. (G. Thuring) Above right: In 1980, during the
bostel, each in a different box-car. The train 35th anniversary of the liberation, local school pupils wanted to know more about
left in the early evening. During the ride, the Allied soldier remembered in their village. Three years later, headmaster Albert
Bachenheimer and three British airborne Visser (right), finally identified Bachenheimer as the legendary airborne scout. In
soldiers pried open a window and jumped 1984, the cross was replaced by a Star of David. (A. Veldman)
from the train. Shortly after, they split up,
Bachenheimer preferring to carry on by him- The Dutch locals at ‘t Harde never forgot exceptional bravery at Nijmegen. The award
self. (Peter Baker spent the rest of the war at the incident on Eperweg and, shortly after was received by the American Ambassador
Stalag XI-B. He received the Military Cross, the war, erected a memorial cross at the on behalf of Bachenheimer’s widow.
founded the Falcon Press in 1945 and exact spot where the American soldier had For nearly 40 years, the facts surrounding
became a Tory MP for South Norfolk in 1950 been found. As they knew not better than the last days of Bachenheimer’s life
— a brilliant career which ended in ignominy that he had been an airman, the cross remained unknown to the airborne veterans
when he was sentenced to seven years’ referred to Bachenheimer as ‘pilot’. (many of whom still remembered him with
imprisonment for financial fraud in 1954. He In April 1946, his remains were recovered awe). The mystery of what had happened to
died in 1966.) from Oldebroek, and reinterred at the US him was only unravelled in 1983 when Albert
Sometime on the 22nd, the Germans must military cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz in Visser, director of the Petra Primary school
have recaptured Bachenheimer, but when, Belgium. In April 1949, at the request of the at ‘t Harde (whose pupils had asked him
where and how is completely unknown. That family, the remains were repatriated to the about who this man Bachenheimer had
evening, a Wehrmacht truck was driving US and given a final resting place at Beth been) discovered that the shot ‘airman’ still
from Harderwijk to Oldebroek when, about Olam Jewish Cemetery in Hollywood, Cali- commemorated at his village was in fact the
2100 hours, it stopped on Eperweg, the main fornia. Ethel Bachenheimer remarried in lost 504th paratrooper. In 1984, at the insti-
road past the village of ‘t Harde, in front of 1950 becoming Mrs Kenneth Betry. (She still gation of Father Gerard Thuring of Groes-
the house of the De Lange family. Two shots lives in Hollywood today.) beek-Bredeweg (an accomplished historian
rang out, but the inhabitants of the house On March 3, 1952 in the Royal Palace in of ‘Market-Garden’), the cross on Eperweg
were too scared to look out to see what was Amsterdam HRH Prince Bernhard of the was replaced with a Star of David. Every
happening. The following morning, German Netherlands presented a posthumous Dutch year on May 4, Dutch Remembrance Day, a
soldiers found the dead body of an Allied Bronze Cross to Bachenheimer for his wreath is laid at the memorial.
soldier by the side of the road. It was
Bachenheimer.
Dutch officials carried out a post-mortem.
They found Bachenheimer’s name and army
serial number on his dog-tags. For some
unexplained reason they identified his uni-
form as that of a lieutenant in the US Army
Air Force. They established that he had been
killed by two bullets, one through the neck
and another through the back of his head.
Among the few personal items found on the
body was a silver ring with the inscription Ik
hou van Holland (I love Holland). That same
day, October 23, Bachenheimer was buried
in the De Eekelenburg General Cemetery at
Oldebroek, a Dutch minister, the Rev. Kool-
haar leading the ceremony.
Exactly why Bachenheimer was shot
remains open to question. Although there
are no witnesses to confirm it, the story is
that he was killed by a guard in the truck
after he hit the man in another attempt to
escape.
Meanwhile, Bachenheimer’s friends in the
504th knew nothing of all this. They had
heard nothing of him since he had crossed
the Waal at Tiel. To them, the master scout
appeared to have vanished without a trace. Bachenheimer’s grave at Beth Olam Jewish Cemetery in Hollywood. General Gavin,
When the 82nd Airborne finally left Holland wartime commander of the 82nd Airborne, paid homage to Bachenheimer thus: ‘His
after 57 days of combat, on November 13, bravery was, beyond question, of an exceptionally high order. Bachenheimer stood
Bachenheimer was still listed as ‘missing in out more from the venturesome form his bravery took than because of the bravery
action’. itself.’ (H. Klösters via G. Thuring)

49
TWINWOOD FARM THEN AND NOW
During the build-up to the invasion of
Europe, Colonel Ed Kirby was charged with
order to join the United States Army but he
was soon transferred and given the job of
When Colonel Kirby arrived in the States,
he asked Miller for his advice over the choice
the task of setting up a new radio station to forming military bands for the Army Air of a band. Miller responded with alacrity that
begin broadcasting from England once the Force. During the spring of 1943, Captain he would be willing to bring his own orches-
landings had begun. It was to be called the Miller began to put together a 40-piece tra to Britain, an offer that was quickly
Allied Expeditionary Forces Programme orchestra which broadcast the first of six test approved. Two weeks after D-Day, Captain
and, apart from procuring the necessary programmes for Columbia Broadcasting on Miller and his radio producer, Sergeant Paul
technical equipment, Kirby had also to find May 29. The Army Air Forces Training Dudley, flew to Britain to make advance
and persuade a popular American radio Command Orchestra as it was known was an arrangements for the rest of the band arriv-
orchestra to come to London. instant success and for a year it made regular ing by sea. They all met up at Gourock on
In September 1942, Glenn Miller had dis- broadcasts and appeared in War Bond rallies the Firth of Clyde on June 28 and travelled
banded his highly-acclaimed civilian band in in the eastern states. together by troop train to London.

50
 CONTROL TOWER

A6

BROWNSWOOD FARM

Twinwood Farm has become synony-

mous with Glenn Miller as it was from
this airfield that he disappeared in
December 1944. For nearly 60 years, the
crumbling control tower has been a focal
point for Miller pilgrims; now it has been
lovingly restored and dedicated to his OLD WARTIME ENTRANCE
memory.
No sooner had the train pulled in to day, July 2, and it was not a moment too soon tioned beside the control tower, and con-
Euston than the air raid warning sounded for as the very next morning their former billet ducted by its recently-promoted leader, gave
London was now the target for V1 flying in Sloane Court received a direct hit (see a concert at RAF Twinwood Farm as a
bombs launched from France. Although the issue 107, page 10). thank-you to the officers and men of the air-
band had already been allocated billets in For the next six months the orchestra, first field which the band often used as a staging
Chelsea Miller and his Executive Officer, called the American Band of the Supreme point as it was conveniently situated three
Don Haynes, immediately went to SHAEF Allied Command but later renamed the miles north of Bedford. Just over three
headquarters to ask for alternative accom- American Band of the AEF, gave regular months later the same aerodrome was to wit-
modation outside the Capital. They saw broadcasts as well as performing at bases and ness the departure of Glenn Miller on a flight
Colonel Kirby and his deputy, Lieutenant- airfields (which are all fully documented in which not only deprived the world of a tal-
Colonel David Niven (see After the Battle Chris Way’s Glenn Miller in Britain Then ented band-leader, but spawned many fanci-
No. 4), who suggested Bedford, 50 miles and Now). ful theories as to why the single-engined
north of London. On Sunday, August 27, the full orchestra, Norseman had failed to arrive at its destina-
The band was transferred there on Sun- mounted on a pair of flat-bed trailers posi- tion.

Two months after the band arrived in Britain, they gave a con- being improvised from semi-trailers. In this picture, Sergeant
cert at Twinwood, their stage on Sunday, August 27, 1944 Johnny Desmond gives a solo while Miller conducts.

51
 OLD WARTIME ENTRANCE
CONTROL TOWER

SITE OF NEW AMPITHEATRE

NEW MAIN ENTRANCE

(Glenn Miller’s short cut)
POST-WAR ROAD

BROWNSWOOD FARM

FROM A6

An aerodrome had been established at The RAF moved out in June 1945 and by often used by Miller as it was closer to the
Twinwood Farm in the 1930s and at one time the time we investigated the airfield for VIII Air Force Service Command HQ
it was mooted as a possible location for a Chris Way’s book in 1995, as the picture located in nearby Milton Ernest rather than
commercial airport serving Bedford. During above shows, all the runway concrete had using the main entrance a mile or so further
the war it was used as a satellite by Cranfield been lifted. Fortunately most of the down the road through the village of
for training and type-conversion, enjoying a perimeter track remained so it was still pos- Clapham. The control tower still stood but
brief period of activity when night-fighters sible to enter the airfield by the ‘back-door’ it was in parlous condition and in danger of
and Pathfinder Mosquitos arrived. directly off the A6. This was the route most demolition.

Three days before I was to leave, and precede the band by

another couple of days, Glenn said that he felt he would go on
ahead and that I would bring the band over afterwards. Glenn
gave the impression that he had a lot of things to do and in a
very short space of time as though he did not have enough
time to do all the things that he had planned to do. This was
not unlike him, overseas, because he would make split-second
decisions and was seldom ever wrong. So I said ‘Well Glenn, I
have orders cut to precede the band to the Continent’, and he
said in his unmilitary jargon: ‘Well uncut ‘em and get some cut
for me!’ Which was done but I do have a funny feeling he went
on a plane trip that I had arranged with Colonel Baessell and
Flight Officer Morgan in my place. And I can’t help but feel
that I’m on a sort of rain-check, as it were.
The last time I saw Glenn was when I drove him and
Colonel Baessell out to a Beaufighter base, about three
miles outside of Bedford, England — that’s in the midlands
of England about 52 miles north of London. It was a cold
rainy, foggy afternoon which is typical of English weather
— they have summer over there on a Wednesday afternoon
in July. We waited for the plane that was to pick them up
coming from another base, piloted by a wonderful guy, a
Flight Officer Morgan, with whom I had flown all over the
European Theater.
We didn’t think he’d find the field; he finally did with his
instrument flying and came down and landed on the runway
and didn’t even set the motor off and I drove the staff car
out to the runway and put Glenn and Colonel Baessell on
the plane. That was the last time I saw him. As Glenn got on
the plane or stepped on the step to get into this C-64 Norse-
man — it was a single-engined plane — he gathered his
trench coat about him to ward off the chilling mist and
before closing the door of the ship, he glanced up at the
horrible weather and he said: ‘Haynsie. Even the birds are
grounded today!’
DON HAYNES,
The last man to see Glenn Miller alive was his Executive Offi-
cer, Don Haynes, left, this picture of them both being taken INTERVIEW WITH ANDY WILLIAMS, 1958
when the band played at Burtonwood on August 15.

52
Connie Richards with the former station commander, Wing Thanks to David and Liz Wooding (www.twinwoodevents.com),
Commander Herbert Tappin — who had returned to Twinwood the tower was now in pristine condition after its renovation
for the first time since the war — on Sunday, June 2, 2002. compared to when we last photographed it in 1995.

Connie Richards, who was born and had

lived in the bungalow next door to
Brownswood Farm beside the back-door
entrance during the war, was our guide that
day as her father had worked on the farm
and had witnessed Glenn Miller’s arrival at
the airfield that fateful Friday: December 15,
1944. Connie has always been a great fan of
Glenn Miller ever since she had met him
when she was smuggled into a dance at Mil-
ton Ernest Hall where the orchestra had
their mess in one of the Nissen huts. She is
steeped in the history of the band, particu-
larly during its time in Bedford, so naturally
Twinwood Farm has a special place in her
memories. It grieved her to see the historic
control tower deteriorating and it was only
its remote location that had saved it from
more serious vandalisation.
In 2001, Connie, together with Pete King,
another long-time fan of the band who had
already floated the idea of preserving the
control tower as a museum and visitors’ cen-
tre in an article he had written for Concert
Magazine; John Watson, who had led the
Glenn Miller (UK) Orchestra from 1988 to
1998; and a like-minded enthusiast, Richard
Green, met to form a steering committee.
The Glenn Miller Twinwood Project was Above and below: Flight control on the first-floor — then and now. The Woodings
launched on March 1 (Miller’s birthday) and have owned the airfield for the past five years and have spent an enormous sum on
it was initially intended to finance the the magnificent refurbishment and the creation of the nearby arena.
restoration via a charitable trust while rent-
ing the tower from its new owners, David
and Liz Wooding. However fund-raising was
disappointing so in October that year David
and Liz formed a new company, Twinwood
Events Ltd, to take the project over as a
commercial venture, appointing Connie as
Museum Curator designate.
The extent of the Woodings involvement,
both financially and physically, was really
amazing for not only was £100,000 ear-
marked, but a huge amphitheatre was con-
structed on the southern corner. Here, David
and Liz planned to hold a wide variety of
public events - from dog shows to pop con-
certs - in a magnificent setting backing onto
Twin Wood (after which the airfield was
originally named).
Over the following months the control
tower was beautifully restored with a new
roof, new windows (but of course still in the
original style), and all the rooms repaired
and painted. The exterior was camouflaged
again and other wartime buildings nearby
brought back into use. Connie, her husband
Gordon, and Liz and David Wooding pro-
cured enough exhibits to put on a good show
on the opening day but still more are sought.

53
Connie’s husband, Gordon, addressing the assembled guests prior to the dedication ceremony conducted by the Revd G. R. Muttram.
Sunday, June 2, dawned bright and clear
(the best day of the British summer so far!)
which boded well for the afternoon concert
which was to be given by the Glenn Miller
Orchestra conducted by Ray McVay with a
very special guest star who had flown over
from Hollywood specially for the occasion.
Beryl Davis, who had sung with Glenn dur-
ing the war, was to add a real magic touch to
mark the occasion.

The colour party was provided by the Joint Analysis Center at RAF Molesworth.

At 2.30 p.m. Connie Richards’ dream

came true when the refurbished tower was
officially re-opened and dedicated to the
memory of the band whose music will for-
ever be associated with those few, short,
momentous months in 1944, and its leader
who left from this very airfield that foggy
December day . . . never to return. Air Cadets and the Royal British Legion were also on parade with their standards.

54
The beautiful setting of the Twinwood Arena, with its wood- Woodings on the north-west corner of the airfield, outdoor
deck promenade overlooking the amphitheatre. Built by the concerts and other shows and events are planned at the arena.

Special guest star was the lovely Beryl Davis who had sung Corporal Arthur Mouncey; guitarists Sergeant Carmen Mastren
with Glenn’s band during the war. Overleaf top: She was and Ivor Mairants; pianist Sergeant Mel Powell; saxophonist
pictured on Sunday, September 3, 1944, with the Uptown Hall Billy Amstell; Beryl Davis; bassist Tommy Bromley; clarinet
Gang who were fraternising with their British friends at the player Sergeant ‘Peanuts’ Hucko; singers Benny Lee and
Feldman Swing Club (now the 100 Club in London’s Oxford Johnny Green with the young drummer, Victor ‘Kid Krupa’ Feld-
Street). Back row (L-R): drummers Carlo Krahmer, Sergeant Ray man, aged ten. Bottom: Beryl at Twinwood with Tim Bucklow,
McKinley and Maurice Burman. Front row: Trumpeter RAF Keith Jones and Neil Wright of the RAF Living History Group.

55