‘So who was present at the meeting?’
‘Hitler, Churchill, Churchill’s colonel, our translator from the Foreign Office… ’ Kleiber scratched his head. ‘That’s all, I think. Nearby there were secretaries and two more translators waiting in case they were needed.’
‘So who wrote up the Hitler Minutes?’
Kleiber smiled. ‘Reichsführer Himmler had a bureaucratic turn of mind. He persuaded the Führer that some proper record of the proceedings must be made. The Führer was nervous about compromising the talks and eventually Himmler took it upon himself to rig an underground line and a hidden microphone so that one of the army’s shorthand writers could keep a record of what was said.’
‘Who was that?’
‘You’ve guessed already, haven’t you?’ said Kleiber. ‘It was Franz Wever. The Führer used him many times for keeping shorthand notes of important meetings. He was one of the best shorthand writers they had.’
‘Franz Wever.’ So Wever had known who Reichsbank Director Frank really was.
‘He even denied it to me. That’s funny, isn’t it? He denied it to me: the man who helped to rig the cable to the hut where he was sitting. Franz was terrified that someone would find out about it. He was frightened that he’d be murdered on account of his secret.’
‘And eventually he was murdered because of it.’
Kleiber pulled a face and seemed about to argue the facts but decided against it. Franz Wever’s death was not a subject he wished to discuss with a member of the British Secret Intelligence Service.
‘Hitler was clever,’ he said. ‘He knew how to be modest and magnanimous. Instead of adopting the manner of the conqueror he was quiet spoken and polite to Churchill. He was a wonderful judge of character, you see. He knew he’d get far more out of Churchill if he behaved like an English gentleman in the presence of another such “lord”.’
‘But Hitler’s terms were tough. You must have read the transcript.’
‘Considering the situation, no. He admired the British Empire but he envied it too. His first concern was to make the German war machine entirely independent in terms of raw materials-rubber, oil, tungsten, chrome and so on. He was obviously planning to attack the USSR once the west was resolved.’
‘You mean he would have taken over British colonies?’
‘He said the Union Jack would continue to fly everywhere from Vancouver to Calcutta to Hong Kong but he wanted his trading links secured. A large proportion of the British merchant fleet would have come under German control. Hitler had drafted some ideas about that. Then of course there was the Royal Navy. Germany could not have permitted Britain to retain control of the Atlantic sea routes; it would have been like offering Churchill a chance to have his hands round our throat.’
‘Occupation of Britain?’
‘No. Just a few Germans in sensitive posts. Himmler to vet all senior police appointments. It would have given us enough control, or at least warning in time to counteract trouble.’
‘There was no shouting?’
‘No shouting at all. The summit went off remarkably well. The second meeting was very late-after midnight-and then there was the final meeting on the morning of Wednesday, June 12. That was even more promising. Churchill and the Führer even shook hands. There were some muttered cheers. Churchill was smoking a cigar and smiling… To be allowed to smoke a cigar in the presence of the Führer-this was something unprecedented. We were all sure that the peace had been arranged. At least until the following Sunday.’
‘What happened on Sunday?’
‘It began very warm. I went past the church and saw four army officers kneeling in prayer. They were offering prayers for peace, they said. Hitler’s driver brought the big black three-axle Mercedes tourer up through the trees. Its roof was folded back, as it was for the big parades. The Führer drove to Schloss Acoz, near Charleroi, Belgium. I was one of the security detail that accompanied him.’
‘Schloss Acoz?’
‘To meet the young colonel who’d been with Churchill. He’d come to withdraw Churchill’s offer. He was a tall fellow, much taller than the Spanish staff officer who was with him. Spain was neutral of course. The Spanish officer came along to guarantee the safety of the Englishman. They were both in civilian clothes. The meeting took place in the open. There were just the three of them standing under the trees, the sun dappling the ground and making patches on the men as they shifted positions. Hitler was stiff. We saw his face tighten. We all knew that was a danger sign. The English colonel spoke first. He went on talking for two or three minutes. He had no notes to refer to but it was obviously a prepared message that he had committed to memory. Then Hitler asked some questions and there was a general conversation. The Spanish general said very little; he was there just to conduct the Englishman and be responsible for his safety.’
‘No one made a record of that conversation?’
‘We were all out of earshot.’
‘So what went wrong?’
‘Within forty-eight hours of the Churchill-Hitler conference our army had occupied Paris. By that Friday lunch-time Hitler was drafting tougher terms. And Churchill had talked with Roosevelt on the trans-Atlantic telephone. Roosevelt told him that if he was re-elected in November the USA would come into the war.’
‘How do you know that?’
“The Research Bureau of the Reichspost monitored the transatlantic telephone; it was a radio link with a very simple scrambling device. Roosevelt promised aid and that was enough to change Churchill’s mind. Hitler had the transcript within three hours. He knew what the answer was going to be.’ Kleiber scratched his nose. ‘Churchill phoned the French premier the night before he dispatched his courier. The French reacted immediately. On that same Sunday that the Führer went to Schloss Acoz, the French government resigned. Marshal Pétain took over and asked for peace. Churchill went on the BBC that Monday night and made a speech saying, that, “… we shall fight on unconquerable, until the curse of Hitler is removed from the brows of men.” By Friday, Hitler was sitting in Foch’s chair in the railway coach and hearing the peace terms that the French would have to accept.’
‘What about the Englishman who brought the message to Hitler?’
‘He returned with the Spanish general,’ said Kleiber.
‘I mean in respect of Operation Siegfried. Surely he’s another one who knows the secrets?’
‘He’s dead,’ said Kleiber. ‘He was one of the first people we had to check out. He must have been completely in Churchill’s confidence. He probably knew more about those secret meetings than any man, except for Hitler and Churchill. We ran a check on him some years ago. His name was Elliot Castelbridge, from the Coldstream Guards. He was awarded the DSO fighting in Italy, partially deafened by a shell burst at Cassino. He got another medal in northern Europe in 1944. I can’t remember the rest of it. We got the whole dossier through the British War Office. We know everything about Elliot Castelbridge.’
‘You say he’s dead?’
‘Long since dead,’ said Kleiber. ‘Died on the operating table after a motor car accident in 1959. Your people are thorough, I must say that for them. They had every last detail of that man’s life on paper. Death certificate, report by the operating surgeon, statements by the hospital registrar, blood transfusions, X-rays. Everything you could ever wish for in an investigation.’
‘Yes, they are thorough,’ said Stuart. That was truly an XPD, he thought. He heard the first of the cars arriving from Langley.