by gerald hall
“This is the same Harold Cavill that Admiral Canaris told us about earlier and that Herr von Braun met in French Indochina?” Field Marshall Walter Model asked.
“Jawohr. He has been involved with Prime Minister Churchill for close to twenty years now. It is ironic that Herr Cavill is from Australia, a nation that does not think very highly of Winston Churchill as a result of decisions that were made during the previous war by Herr Churchill that cost numerous Australian casualties.” Speidel answered.
“So Herr Cavill is not terribly sentimental. This is very good. We can deal with a practical man such as this.” Field Marshall von Rundstedt interjected.
“Perhaps, but he is also obviously a very shrewd man as well. Otherwise, he would not have accomplished what he has done in such a short period of time. We must be very careful with this man.” Admiral Canaris warned.
“But if we are going to finally end the threat of the Bolsheviks, we need to be able to move more of our resources from the Western Front. While the Englanders had significantly reduced their support to the Bolsheviks, they still mount raids in Norway and all along the French coast. This is taking badly needed troops and equipment away from the battle for Moscow.” Field Marshall von Manstein explained.
“Perhaps we should give the Englanders someone else to focus upon? The Italians have not been particularly helpful to us in recent years. The Alps can give us a very useful defensive line still even without the Italians being involved.” General Hubert Lanz suggested.
“You wish to throw the Italians to the wolves to keep the Englanders busy in addition to our new plans for the relocation of the Juden?” Model asked.
“That and other things. It’s not like the Italians did very much to help us in the North African campaign.” Lanz replied.
“Yes, after General Rommel and the Afrika Korps were pulled out of North Africa, the Englanders and the American mercenaries under Patton very quickly overwhelmed the Italians.” Model noted.
“So let us withdraw our troops from Italy to add to the Eastern Front. Our new policies in the Ukraine concerning the civilians there have garnered us much more support there. I think that the Americans refer to this as offering more of the carrot than the stick. Our Ukrainian auxiliary troops now outnumber those from Italy on the Eastern front. They are also much more motivated to fight against the Bolsheviks after the years of abuse imposed upon them by Moscow.” General Guderian said.
“Won’t the Englander spies surely notice the movement of our troops?” Speidel asked.
“Of course, they will. But they will hesitate because they will first think that it is a trick. By the time that we have completed our redeployment of our troops, the Englanders and their Commonwealth allies will have wasted precious months. We will have also established our new defensive line as well.” Guderian explained with a predatory smile on his face.
“Then we will have the orders written and sent immediately to begin the movement of troops from Italy. It is time for us to deliver the final blow to Bolshevism, once and for all. Then we can go home and rebuild our nation after we have made a peace agreement with Churchill from a position of strength this time.” von Manstein firmly stated.
Everyone in the room nodded their heads in silent agreement before adjourning for the moment. There was much to do for the High Command. Manstein, Rommel, Guderian and many of the others in the room would be traveling back to the Eastern Front before the week was out. Until then, they took the time to have brief but joyful reunions with loved ones before returning to the battlefield.
Swiss Foreign Ministry
Geneva, Switzerland
October 13, 1943.
Harold had flown to Geneva aboard a Swiss airliner. Ironically, the Swiss used a German-built tri-motor Junkers Ju-52 transport for their airlines. Churchill had sent a military attaché, Major Scott Canterbury, with Harold along with a minor functionary from the Foreign Office. At least that is what Churchill said that Colin Adams was. Harold suspected that Colin was actually a spy from Military Intelligence however.
Once the three men got off the plane, they were quickly driven to the Swiss Foreign Ministry with a minimum of attention. The Swiss were taking great care to ensure that no one would be aware of the meeting or who was attending it.
“It was certainly kind of the Swiss to provide us with a confidential and secure location for our meetings here.” Harold noted as he waited in the small conference room that the Swiss guards had led him and his companions to.
“I’m sure that the Swiss would like for this conflict to come to a peaceful end as well. But either way, they make money. But the uncertainty as to German intentions about Switzerland has to be worrisome to the Swiss government.
Harold and his companions then took seats and patiently waited on the Germans to arrive for the conference.
The German delegation arrived in the room precisely on the hour. Harold ascribed this to typical German adherence to discipline. There were four men, ranging in age from their late thirties to mid-fifties. Half were in German military uniforms while the rest were in normal business attire.
Immediately, Harold noticed something very interesting about the attire of the German delegation, even the ones in military uniform. Not a single German there had even a hint of a swastika on their clothing or anything that they carried. The German military representative had the traditional Iron Cross on his uniform, but that dated back before the Nazi Party.
‘The Nazis must indeed be on the way out of power.’ Harold silently said to himself. Harold’s own private sources had informed him that German military equipment was systematically being stripped of swastikas and instead were being marked with the traditional Maltese Cross.
Of course, those units like the SS that continued to use the swastika on their tanks and other vehicles were being singled out by the Soviets for the focus of their fire. That meant that the most hardcore Nazis on the front lines were being eliminated at an even higher rate than before. Harold’s clandestine intervention that led to Hitler meeting his end also meant that Harold knew that the German High Command was involved in the Fuhrer’s overthrow and death.
That knowledge will prove to be very helpful to Harold during the negotiations. One of the things that he feared most was that he would have to deal with the Nazis who had started the war in the first place. Now, it appeared that Harold would be negotiating with German leaders who perhaps would be far more reasonable.
“Good morning, gentlemen. My name is Harold Cavill. I came here at the behest of Prime Minister Winston Churchill because we wish to bring this conflict to a fair and peaceful resolution. Prime Minister Churchill had also been informed by other individuals with contacts in the German government of their desire to end this conflict as well.”
“Herr Cavill, We appreciate your involvement in this discussion. I am Heinrich Strassberg, the leader of this delegation. We do also wish to find a peaceful end to this unfortunate conflict. However, the rights of the German people must be respected this time, unlike what happened in 1918.”
Harold could see that Major Canterbury was clenching his fists while listening to the Germans. It was obvious that he was not completely accepting the German claim of wanting peace. Harold had to keep the dialogue going though.
“That is what I have been led to understand. What sort of concrete actions are you willing to take to show that you truly desire to have peace with the United Kingdom and its Commonwealth of States?” Harold asked.
“We are willing to suspend offensive naval operations against your naval vessels and commercial shipping coming to and from the United Kingdom in the North Atlantic. We will however continue military operations against any shipping going through the Baltic or conducting offensive operations against us or our allies.”
Harold could barely conceal his surprise at this German offer. But he knew that this proposal would not come without a hefty price tag. The Germans desperately needed to be able to focus their resources towards the
East, Harold reasoned. But they could not offer this without some assurances from Churchill concerning the German western flank.
“What would Germany want in exchange for this cessation of offensive operations against the United Kingdom and its Commonwealth? I must also note that there are other theatres of operation where our ships operate outside of the North Atlantic and have been attacked by German U-Boats, surface raiders and aircraft.”
“The shipping routes to the Soviet Union, the French coast and the northern Mediterranean are all of great interest to Germany and its allies. These areas will therefore be vigorously fought for. The same goes for the airspace over those same areas. If you sail ships through or fly aircraft over those areas, they will be attacked. Outside of those areas, we have little concern.”
The idea of a de facto cease fire was tantalizing. However, Harold knew that Churchill could not afford politically to agree to a total cease fire with Germany without also having a binding agreement for Germany to withdraw to its original borders. He would be ousted from power within days by his own party for certain if he did so.
There would also be repercussions internationally from all of the countries currently occupied by German forces. They would all see this as a betrayal by England, especially France. England had to keep on the attack whenever it could.
Of course, Churchill would decide what England’s military forces could realistically attack and what they could not. Ultimately, it would be his decision. But Churchill needed to know exactly what was being considered first before he could endorse anything Harold would offer the Germans. Harold had already arranged to have messages couriered back to London in diplomatic pouches. Within those messages, Harold would be sure to pass along his recommendations in addition to all details on the German proposals.
“What exactly do you mean?” Harold asked, wanting to confirm what the Germans’ initial proposal was.
“Let me say this in another way then. What I wish to propose is a ’Gentleman’s Agreement’, I think that the Englanders like to say. We will not attack your forces except in self-defense. We ask that you do likewise. We know that you will not be able to do that completely because of political considerations. But if England shows restraint in its operations against German forces, we will show a similar degree of restraint in return. We simply will not announce it to anyone.”
“What will the leaders of your National Socialist Party have to say about that?” Harold asked.
“At this point, they have very little to say about what the German High Command does or does not do, especially after the death of the Fuhrer.”
“What about conditions for the people in the occupied countries in Western Europe? They have to be improved over what has been the case.” Major Canterbury forcefully asked. Harold knew that the major had been one of the thousands of British soldiers who had fought in France and had been evacuated from Dunkirk just prior to the fall of France.
Harold understood the major’s concerns. Now Harold had to do something to get the Germans to show some degree of restraint towards those people in the occupied territories. Many of those people had suffered greatly as a result of Nazi atrocities.
“The same will apply to them as well. If they do not attack us, we will leave them in peace. After all, we all want to be able to live with each other after this conflict is finally over, don’t we?”
“I agree completely. This is also why it is so very important that Germany returns back to its original borders as one of the conditions for the cessation of hostilities. If Germany holds onto any territory that is within its prewar borders, then the neighboring nations will never agree to the conditions of the peace accords.”
“Herr Cavill, our leaders already understand this. However, there are other considerations that must also be considered. The Treaty of Versailles that was enacted after the end of the previous war unfairly took traditional German territory from us. That territory would have to be permanently restored to Germany, if we are to consider withdrawing from the areas that German troops are currently administering.”
“’Administering’. That is an extraordinarily sanitized term of having conquered and occupying another country’s territory.” Harold almost said out loud before speaking considerably more diplomatically to the German delegation. Major Canterbury’s discomfort with the Germans was apparently rubbing off onto Harold.
“I understand this. But the ownership at least some of this territory had been under dispute for many decades prior to the early conflict. These disputes will have to be resolved first before Germany can reclaim any territory that it once possessed.”
It was at this point that negotiations stalled for the next three days. The Germans continued to insist that what they considered to be all German lands be restored to them. At the same time, Harold persisted in maintaining that the return to Germany’s pre-war borders be a precondition for peace. After all, this was a point that Churchill insisted upon. Harold also proposed restrictions on Germany’s military, an idea that Churchill had included as a last minute addition. The restrictions were much less restrictive than those imposed on Germany by the Versailles Treaty however. The German representatives rejected those suggestions also.
But with the exception of Major Canterbury’s obvious tension, the discussions were congenial. The Germans continued to put forth their ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’ all the way to the last day of the negotiation sessions. Harold ended this series of discussions with handshakes and a promise to meet again in the near future.
Harold and his companions then flew back to London. Harold was quickly driven out to the Prime Minister’s residence outside of London to meet with Churchill. Harold quickly started to brief the Prime Minister with the details of the peace discussions.
“It appears that the Nazis are no longer in charge in Germany. Certainly, there are many Germans who are still loyal to the late Fuhrer. But there wasn’t a single sign of a Nazi loyalist in the German delegation. One other thing, the Germans are obviously stalling for time. They want us to believe that they want peace but I feel that they still want more time to achieve some other objective, Winston.”
“This ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ that the Germans have suggested is very tempting indeed. It is certainly quite an offer and tends to support your supposition about the Nazis. But I can’t afford to completely take all of the pressure off of the Germans in the West. That would be entirely too obvious. They want to be able to move troops and other assets from the West to move east to reinforce their attack upon Stalin, I’m sure.”
“But will Germany turn around and redouble their efforts against England once the Soviets are defeated? We have to consider that possibility.”
“That is a possibility certainly. But that is why I ordered those submarines from your shipyard. The German naval attacks are largely one-dimensional since their battleship Tirpitz was sunk in the North Sea a few months ago by elements of the Home Fleet. If your submarines are as good in killing U-Boats as they have been in sinking Japanese submarines, then we can eliminate or at least mitigate the German’s greatest threat to England.
The RAF is also getting stronger each day even though our latest strategic bombing campaign had to be severely curtailed due to heavy losses from German air defenses. We have started receiving small quantities of long-range escort fighters from the Americans to help defend our bombers, but not enough to totally resume our bomber raids yet. We will be able to stop the Germans in the air as well as on the water if the Germans decide to renew their offensive against us in any event.”
“There is always the threat of the Americans finally getting involved in the war in Europe to be considered. We have to keep that hanging over the Germans’ heads as well.”
“I completely agree, Harold. I just wish that we could end this war as quickly as possible. Roosevelt’s Lend-Lease program has helped us tremendously in spite of the fact that the destroyers that we received were largely obsolete and overage. However, England is going
to end up being bankrupt if this conflict lasts much longer. We will be paying the debts for this war for decades to come as it is.”
“You are afraid of that?”
“Of course, I am. You can rest assured that the liberal politicians from Labor will be demanding a dramatic shift in spending from defense to social programs once the war is over. They would rather spend the money buying votes than to pay down our national debts or to maintain our military strength in the face of an uncertain future.”
“I think that all democracies face that particular dilemma unfortunately, Winston.”
“I’m afraid so. So much about governing revolves around the perception of what the facts are rather than what the whole truth is.
So we keep fighting, or at least as far as the public is concerned, we keep appearing to take the war to the Hun. If the Germans will honor this ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’, so shall we to the extent that we can. Then we pray that the Germans do not turn upon us after they have finished consuming the Bolsheviks.”
“Where will you send British forces to fight?” Harold asked.
“It appears that we have had the most success against the Axis while fighting in the Mediterranean, especially against the Italians. So I think that perhaps after we reclaim the rest of North Africa from the Vichy government and the Axis, we will begin to plan major operations against Italy. Of course, I will continue launching commando operations against the Germans to probe for weaknesses elsewhere, just in case.”
“I need to get back to Australia to look after my businesses and spend some time with my family. These long trips are getting harder and harder for me as I get older. Plus my children are growing up. I need to spend as much time as I can with them so that I can make sure that they are the best people that they can be. That’s a job best done by two parents, not just one.”