The Hitler-Hess Deception

On the evening of 10 May 1941 Rudolf Hess, Hitler's Deputy Fuhrer and philosopher of National Socialism, arrived unexpectedly in Scotland by Messerschmitt and parachute. It was his unconventional choice of transport almost as much as the initial bewilderment about his intentions, which turned his apparently pointless mission into one of the twentieth century's most durable mysteries.

The British Government announced that Hess was mad and had deluded himself into believing that he could broker an unlikely peace between Axis and Allies. Berlin continued London's explanation. But doubts persisted. Martin Allen has produced a rival account of the Hess affair which, although unlikely, is certainly plausible. The way in which he sets it out makes The Hitler-Hess Deception a thoroughly enjoyable detective story.

It begins with Dr Ludwig Weissauer - 'understood to be a direct secret emissary of Hitler' - suggesting a meeting with the British Ambassador to Sweden. Sir Robert Vansittart, the Foreign Secretary's 'chief diplomatic adviser', urged Lord Halifax to issue 'the most categorical instruction' that the invitation must be declined. Weissauer wanted to talk peace. The terms which intelligence suggested he was offering included the continued German annexation of Czechoslovakia and were, therefore, unacceptable. But what really disturbed Vansittart was the implication inherent in the meeting. Germany suspected that Britain was not firm in its resolve to fight the war to a finish.

Even when Winston Churchill succeeded Chamberlain there were still hopes in the Berlin High Command that the appeasement faction in Britain would organise a successful coup and install a Prime Minister who was prepared to sue for peace. According to Allen, the Nazis were reinforced in that judgment by the occasional (and invariably unsuccessful) attempts to carry a parliamentary vote of no confidence in Churchill's coalition government. If that is so, we can only conclude that Hitler and his cronies had no idea how the House of Commons worked.

British intelligence did, however, recognise how susceptible the Germans were to the notion that Churchill's strategy of blood, sweat and tears had not been wholeheartedly accepted in Westminster and Whitehall. Berlin, it was thought, assumed that Sir Samuel Hoare, a Cabinet Minister in Chamberlain's government whom Churchill had made Ambassador to Spain, had been 'banished' by the new Prime Minister because his loyalty was suspect. The scene was set for Hoare to at least feed the Germans' suspicion. Allen (a distinguished exponent of the 'it is reasonable to assume' school of historical analysis) believes, but admits he cannot prove, that Hoare met Hess in Madrid. From then on the reader is fed a series of plausible assumptions made more convincing by the details with which they are justified.

During Hess's preparations for bed on the night before he flew to Britain he noticed that his wife was reading the Duke of Hamilton's account of flying over Everest. It was, the author assures us, an unlikely coincidence. 'Hess himself had been looking at it, left it out, and Ilse had subsequently picked it up.' Ergo, the plan to drop in on the Duke of Hamilton had been carefully prepared and the location of his arrival in Scotland precisely determined in advance.

On the basis of that quality of circumstantial evidence Allen comes to his novel conclusion that Hess and Hitler were duped by British intelligence into believing that something called the Hoare-Halifax Pact had been created, and that the plotters were preparing to depose Churchill and end the war. The object of the complicated exercise was to persuade Hitler that Britain was no longer a threat and that he could invade Russia without fearing that the Wehrmacht would be forced to fight on two fronts. Hess, according to the Allen thesis, flew into Britain just to make sure that everything was going according to what he believed to be the plan.

Why do you think Hess, Hitlers next in line, dropped in the u.k, No body seems to really know for sure.

here is a clue: Allies = all lies

reply to post by JesusLives


I just thought id post the topic as it is the kind of thing that would suit this site, there is also a book called, was Hitler a British agent, that is quite interesting too

Effective deception is layered. Someone once told me how many layers, but I think he was lying.