Myths & Legends of the Second World War

by James Hayward

  ‘As they stood …’ Butler and Bradford (1950), p. 110

  ‘I was asked …’ Affidavit sworn 11 September 1989

  ‘… Maurice Buckmaster’ Ruby (1988), pp. 12–13

  ‘Buckmaster records …’ Affidavit sworn 20 September 1989

  ‘… as early as 1966’ Stein (1966), p. 69

  ‘… never been envisaged’ Moore (1996), p. 21

  ‘… less than one hundred’ Atkin (1990), pp. 11–12, p. 173; Collier (1961), p. 241; Calder (1991), p. 107; The Times 17, 20 and 23 May 1940; Daily Telegraph, 4 June 1940

  ‘… overseas to Canada’ Moore (1996), p. 21, p. 26

  ‘… German paratroopers’ Pallud (1991), p. 153

  ‘The German prisoners …’ Sydnor (1977), p. 102

  ‘We suffered …’ statement to Laurence Turner, 1981

  ‘An officer of 7 RTR …’ Harman (1980), pp. 106–7

  ‘I continued into …’ statement to Laurence Turner, 1981

  ‘… quoted in the Official’ Ellis (1953), p. 93. Hepple wrote his report on 24 May 1940

  ‘… Laurence Turner’ Sunday Express, 25 October 1981

  ‘… George Self’ Bond (1997), p. 46

  ‘The three French …’ IWM Sound Archive, 10413

  ‘… some so exhausted’ Macksey (1965), pp. 227–8

  ‘Elsewhere in his book …’ Harman (1980), p. 95; p. 253

  ‘… renewed public debate’ World War Two Investigator (UK), June 1988

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ‘Picture if you can …’ Glover (1990), p. 21

  ‘The following year …’ Fitz Gibbon (1957), p. 6

  ‘… Anderson Committee’ Ziegler (1995), p. 11

  ‘… Stanley Baldwin’ Harrisson (1976), p. 22

  ‘… three years later Churchill’ Harrisson (1976), p. 22

  ‘By 1938 …’ Fitz Gibbon (1957), p. 6; Glover (1990), p. 22

  ‘… during the whole’ Turner (1961), p. 47

  ‘… Committee of Imperial’ Ziegler (1995), p. 11

  ‘In January 1938 …’ Ironside (1962), p. 46

  ‘… Blitz of 1940/41’ Ziegler (1995), p. 176

  ‘… the Mental Health …’ Fitz Gibbon (1957), p. 7

  ‘… J.B.S. Haldane’ Haldane (1938), p. 31

  ‘Lord Halsbury …’ Haldane (1938), p. 21

  ‘… of Guernica’ Neillands (2001), pp. 31–2

  ‘… such as Air Raid’ John Langdon-Davies (1938)

  ‘It has long been …’ Klemmer (1941), p. 23

  ‘… open trenches’ Ziegler (1995), p. 30, p. 71; Mosley (1971), p. 13

  ‘… cardboard coffins’ Mosley (1971), p. 13; Ziegler (1995), p. 71; Harrisson (1976), p. 24

  ‘… lime pits’ Harrisson (1976), p. 24

  ‘… the Channel’ Fitz Gibbon (1957), p. 7

  ‘The reality …’ Glover (1990), p. 22

  ‘… widespread rumours’ Brittain (1941), p. 13

  ‘… east coast’ EDP, 7 September 1939

  ‘In the absence …’ Harrisson and Madge (1940), pp. 57–8

  ‘… a Zeppelin’ Harrisson and Madge (1940), p. 62. p. 154

  ‘… from Bradford’ Longmate (1971), p. 95

  ‘… venereal disease’ Longmate (1971), p. 95

  ‘One Division …’ PRO. This Home Defence document was disclosed by the Army Historical Branch in 1992 in relation to the Shingle Street controversy, but carries no PRO reference.

  ‘… widespread and persistent’ The Times, 7 September 1939, p. 3

  ‘… pet holocaust’ Longmate (1971), p. 216

  ‘… circled above’ Fussell (1989), p. 40; Perry (1972), p. 87

  ‘… German-Swiss resident’ Ziegler (1995), p. 69

  ‘… Bridgend station’ Hylton (2001), p. 85

  ‘… polished toe-nails’ Thomson (1947), p. 94

  ‘Several pilots …’ Klemmer (1941), p. 195

  ‘… torn to pieces’ Ziegler (1995), p. 174

  ‘… unfortunate Pole’ Hylton (2001), p. 99

  ‘A young pilot …’ Klemmer (1941), p. 196

  ‘There was a …’ Perry (1972), p. 54

  ‘… large eagles’ West (1981), p. 132

  ‘… another 59’ Perry (1972), p. 56; Daily Herald, 15 and 17 August 1940

  ‘… other than Joyce’ Cole (1964), pp. 132–4

  ‘… a certain church’ Longmate (1971), p. 97

  ‘Indeed an investigation …’ Calder (1991), p. 110

  ‘Weeks ago there …’ Royde Smith (1941), p. 66

  ‘Another dead rumour …’ Royde Smith (1941), pp. 79–80

  ‘… that Göring’ Longmate (1971), p. 95

  ‘… a Junkers 88’ Ramsey (1988)

  ‘Three weeks earlier …’ Savignon (1968), p. 134

  ‘… chance encounter’ Hayward (2002), p. 22

  ‘… of Leyland’ Longmate (1971), p. 95

  ‘… brutal Prussian’ Turner (1961), p. 269

  ‘… tank-carrying aircraft’ Klemmer (1941), p. 173

  ‘… generating earthquakes’ Jones (1978), p. 103

  ‘… cross-Channel tunnel’ Collier (1979), pp. 233–4

  ‘… on the Brocken’ Royde Smith (1941), p. 8

  ‘… overt German threats’ Daily Herald, 18 September 1940

  ‘It was freely …’ Klemmer (1941), pp. 178–9

  ‘… rocket gun’ Ziegler (1995), p. 268

  ‘… Park Lane’ Ziegler (1995), p. 282

  ‘… 400 ton bomb’ Ziegler (1995), p. 268

  ‘Remarkably, warnings …’ Woon (1941), p. 132

  ‘… mysterious white threads’ Klemmer (1941), p. 176

  ‘… sky-blue wool’ Thompson (1966), p. 134

  ‘… rice and tapioca’ Calder and Sheridan (1984), pp. 81–2

  ‘In W-- …’ Klemmer (1941), p. 177

  ‘… about ‘arsine’’ Longmate (1971), p. 76

  ‘… local pickle factory’ Royde Smith (1941), p. 11

  ‘… lull the population’ Royde Smith (1941), p. 132

  ‘… induce vomiting’ Ziegler (1995), p. 158

  ‘… to burst’ Jones (1978), p. 103

  ‘… the London Underground’ Hayward (2002), p. 19

  ‘The German pilot …’ Klemmer (1941), pp. 181–2

  ‘I have been told …’ Klemmer (1941), p. 182

  ‘The corollary …’ Klemmer (1941), pp. 51–2; Woon (1941), p. 78

  ‘… coiled springs’ Woon (1941), p. 79

  ‘… secret anti-raid weapon’ Royde Smith (1941), p. 141

  ‘… part of the loot’ Royde Smith (1941), p. 156

  ‘… death rays’ Klemmer (1941), p. 53

  ‘… British and German …’ Fussell (1989), p. 48

  ‘Pre-war motorists …’ Kinsey (1983), pp. 44–5

  ‘… the true nature’ Kinsey (1983), p. 68

  ‘… the Air Ministry’ Jones (1978), p. 42

  ‘Invariably he had …’ Jones (1978), p. 100

  ‘There is now …’ Perry (1972), p. 176

  ‘… supersonic beam’ Ziegler (1995), p. 282

  ‘… virtually defenceless’ Deighton (1980), p. 180

  ‘… 30,000 shells’ Ziegler (1995), p. 117

  ‘… 45 per cent’ Klemmer (1941), p. 33

  ‘… was so intense’ Mosley (1971), p. 143, p. 297; Ziegler (1995), p. 118, p. 208, pp. 235–6; see also Perry (1972), p. 197; Woon (1941), p. 97, p. 98

  ‘… following catalogue’ Ziegler (1995), p. 235

  ‘… an express train’ Ramsey (1990), p. 222

  ‘… Bethnal Green tube disaster’ Ramsey (1990), Vol 3, p. 222

  ‘… an oil bomb’ Ziegler (1995), p. 238

  ‘… balloon barrages’ Ramsey (1987), p. 95

  ‘… RAF Hampdens’ Ramsey (1987), p. 97, p. 98

  ‘… 278 V1’ Ramsey (1987), p. 95

  ‘… of KG 27’ Ramsey (1987), p. 89; Calder (1991), p. 135

  ‘… Dover Castle pub’ Ziegler (1995), p. 236
<
br />   ‘… turkey shoots’ Ramsey (1987), pp. 86–95; Woon (1941), p. 80; King (1970), pp. 72–3

  ‘Over 5,000 …’ Ponting (1990), p. 145

  ‘three sitting MPs …’ Ponting (1990), p. 146

  ‘… Crime in Wartime’ Smithies (1982), p. 161

  ‘… forced out of’ Hendon Times and Guardian, 19 January 1940

  ‘It is not only …’ Mannheim (1941), p. 133

  ‘Indeed almost half …’ Ziegler (1995), p. 149; Hylton (2001), pp. 154–6

  ‘Some men come …’ Calder and Sheridan (1984), pp. 99–100

  ‘… rescue work’ Marwick (1976), p. 71

  ‘… anti-looting detectives’ Smithies (1982), p. 49; Nixon (1943), pp. 146–7

  ‘… in Birmingham’ Smithies (1982), p. 49

  ‘… troops even stood’ Harrisson (1976), p. 185

  ‘… Café de Paris’ Ziegler (1995), pp. 147–8

  ‘The first thing …’ Monsarrat (1966), p. 288

  ‘It was a gory …’ Nixon (1943), p. 101

  ‘Coventry: there …’ PRO, INF 1/292

  ‘Outside London …’ Ponting (1990), p. 165

  ‘… in Belfast’ Calder (1991), p. 66; pp. 168–9

  ‘… Clydebank’ Harrisson (1976), p. 255

  ‘… martial law’ Harrisson (1976), p. 245

  ‘The Liverpool …’ Harrisson (1976), p. 243

  ‘… East Enders’ Fitz Gibbon (1957), p. 63

  ‘… the royal family’ Ponting (1990), p. 160

  ‘After the big raid …’ Harrisson (1976), p. 329

  ‘… stirring speeches’ Ponting (1990), pp. 157–9

  ‘I said to Lotbiniere …’ Snagge and Barsley (1972), pp. 16–7

  ‘… airmen refused’ Deighton (1977), p. 232

  ‘… Angus Calder’ Calder (1991), pp. 103–4

  ‘Later it was …’ Ramsey (1980), p. 147

  ‘There were a …’ Stockman (1986), p. 44

  ‘At about 3 pm …’ Winterbotham (1974), pp. 82–3

  ‘… a new verb’ Calder (1991), pp. 36–7

  ‘… man had been shot’ Harrisson (1976), p. 138

  ‘Should not the …’ Cave Brown (1976), p. 41

  ‘at least 48 …’ Cave Brown (1976), p. 40

  ‘The name of …’ Stevenson (1976), p. 153

  ‘The official history …’ Hinsley (1993), p. 534

  ‘… technical error’ Jones (1977), pp. 200–6; Collier (1979), pp. 277–81; West (1984), pp. 21–31

  ‘… out in time’ West (1984), p. 29

  ‘Whoever had …’ Jones (1977), p. 206

  ‘… V1 flying bombs’ for typical rumours attached to the first V1 see Nixon (1980), p. 171; Ziegler (1995), p. 296

  ‘It would be a …’ Masterson (1972), p. 180

  ‘… Croydon went on’ Ziegler (1995), pp. 285–6

  ‘… lost six men’ Moynihan (1974), p. 180

  CHAPTER SIX

  Author’s note: this chapter is based largely on material explored in more detail in my book The Bodies on the Beach (2001).

  ‘… phantom parachutists’ Daily Herald, 15–17 August 1940

  ‘By the middle …’ Hayward (2001), pp. 37–8

  ‘… no less than 80,000’ New York Times, 15 December 1940. Quoted in Hayward (2001), pp. 60–1

  ‘In the whole …’ Thomson (1947), p. 73

  ‘After dinner …’ Colville (1985), p. 277

  ‘On making to intercept …’ Hayward (2001), pp. 33–4

  ‘… not to lack daring’ unpublished account by Lieutenant T.H. Waterhouse, navigating officer on HMS Intrepid, June 2002.

  ‘For two days …’ letter to ATV in 1992, quoted in Hayward (2001), p. 33

  ‘… Channel battle’ Fitz Gibbon (1957), p. 79

  ‘According to the censor …’ Thomson (1947), p. 70

  ‘… in Sandwich Bay’ Thompson (1966), pp. 233–4; White (1955), p. 22

  ‘Tales begin to come’ Brown (1981), p. 120

  ‘What is the …’ Brown (1998), p. 61

  ‘I hear from …’ Perry (1972), p. 134

  ‘On the 15th …’ Brown (1998), pp. 61–2

  ‘15 Division …’ Hayward (1994), p. 85

  ‘It has been …’ Hayward (2001), pp. 45–6

  ‘I suppose you’ve …’ Hodson (1941), p. 330

  ‘It began with …’ Royde Smith (1941), pp. 78–9

  ‘… in Southampton’ Klemmer (1941), p. 188

  ‘The fact is …’ quoted in Thomson (1947), p. 70

  ‘… ticklish circumstances’ Thomson (1947), p. 73

  ‘Although in 1914 …’ Hayward (2002), pp. 4–5

  ‘Our task …’ White (1955). p. 12–3

  ‘I cannot say today …’ White (1955), p. 17–8. White’s unsatisfactory account informed the risible telling of the failed invasion myth given by Seth (1969), pp. 93–100

  ‘… those in the know’ Hayward (2001), pp. 43–45

  ‘… Petroleum Warfare Department’ Hayward (2001), pp. 16–7

  ‘… Lord Maurice Hankey’ Hayward (2001), p. 4

  ‘Nazi dead said to …’ New York Times, 29 September 1940

  ‘Nazi losses seen …’ New York Times, 21 September 1940

  ‘Letter to the Editor …’ New York Times, 20 October 1940

  ‘… Marie Bonaparte’ Bonaparte (1947), pp. 109–117

  ‘The British sent …’ Daily Mail, 21 September 1940

  ‘… no ordinary refugee’ West (1983), p. 340

  ‘… Gunner William Robinson’ Hayward (2001), p. 1, p. 39. Robinson recounted his story on a BBC television programme in November 1957.

  ‘He was wearing …’ The Times, 22 October 1940, p. 4

  ‘… for burial’ Folkestone, Hythe and District Herald, 26 October 1940

  ‘… German flak trawlers’ Foynes (1994), p. 275; White (1955), p. 19–20

  ‘… a London railway station’ Klemmer (1941), p. 189

  ‘… by Clement Attlee’ Hansard Vol 430, written answer on 18 November 1946

  ‘… of Royal Engineers’ Hayward (2001), pp. 4–5

  ‘… Operation Lucid’ Hayward (2001), pp. 27–32

  ‘By May of that year …’ Hayward (2001), pp. 9–18

  ‘… trial at Dumpton’ (2001), pp. 14–5

  ‘… Flame Over Britain’ Banks (1946), p. 41

  ‘… as August 10th’ Schenk (1990), p. 139

  ‘At Wilhelmshaven …’ Schenk (1990), pp. 139–40

  ‘It was decided …’ Schenk (1990), p. 140; Ansel (1960), p. 244

  ‘… planted on German intelligence’ see Delmer (1962), p. 20

  ‘The first variant …’ Hayward (2001), p. 51

  ‘Short Invasion Phrasebook’ Hayward (2001), pp. 52–4

  ‘… on the radio’ Delmer (1962), p. 20

  ‘… New York Sun’ New York Sun, 7 October 1940

  ‘The carnage …’ War Illustrated, 1 November 1940

  ‘350,000 men …’ Bonaparte (1947), p. 113

  ‘We were caught …’ New York Times, 15 December 1940

  ‘… official denials’ Hayward (2001), pp. 50–1

  ‘… James Spaight’ Spaight (1941), p. 95; pp. 214–5

  ‘I first learned …’ Moen (1941), pp. 162–3

  ‘I noticed several …’ Shirer (1941), pp. 505–6

  ‘… at Charlottenburg’ Shirer (1941), pp. 508–9

  ‘Shirer later concluded …’ Shirer (1960), pp. 772–3

  ‘… thanked by name’ West (1998), p. 20

  ‘… Gare du Nord’ Hayward (2001), p. 66, p. 73

  ‘… Charles Barbe’ Hayward (2001), pp. 66–7

  ‘… duly reported’ Thomson (1947), p. 71

  ‘… near Bognor’ Thomson (1947), pp. 72–3

  ‘… fact and fiction’ Hayward (2001), pp. 68–9

  ‘Evelyn Waugh …’ Waugh (1952), p. 232

  ‘Thousands of …’ News of the World, 1 October 1944

  ‘… biggest secre
t’ Daily Express, 4 June 1945

  ‘… several questions raised’ Hayward (2001), pp. 69–70

  ‘… whose wife Mary’ Calder (1991), p. 121

  ‘It always seemed …’ Daily Express, 4 June 1945

  ‘And the Germans …’ News-Chronicle, 4 June 1945

  ‘In November 1946 …’ Hayward (2001), pp. 75–6

  ‘We took no steps …’ Churchill (1949), p. 275

  ‘… Enemy Coast Ahead’ Gibson (1946), p. 108

  ‘… Peter Fleming too’ Fleming (1957), pp. 104–5, pa. 210

  ‘In November 1957 …’ Hayward (2001), pp. 81–4

  ‘Produced in 1954 …’ Hayward (2001), p. 77

  ‘The line about …’ Delmer (1962), pp. 20

  ‘… Shingle Street’ Hayward (2001), pp. 85–104

  ‘When we engaged …’ White (1955), p. 124

  ‘… corpse deceptions’ see Chapter Nine

  ‘… Namier’ Namier, Diplomatic Prelude, Macmillan, 1948, p.v

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Note: references below to W&P are to Watson and Petrova

  ‘… gone off with’ EDP, 7 September 1939

  ‘… death and disappearance’ Royde-Smith (1941), p. 9

  ‘… among British troops’ Scannell (1987), p. 121

  ‘… American units’ Anonymous (1945), p. 157

  ‘… Prien’ see Chapter Two

  ‘… Bormann’ Infield (1980), p. 255

  ‘… Canaris’ see Chapter Ten

  ‘A poll taken …’ Byford-Jones (1947), p. 83

  ‘… variously seen’ O’Donnell (1979), p. 302

  ‘In July 1945 …’ Watson and Petrova (1995), p. 14

  ‘… Karl Dönitz’ O’Donnell (1979), p. 297

  ‘… Georgi Zhukov’ Trevor-Roper (1947), p. xlv

  ‘… Eisenhower, who voiced’ The Times, 16 June 1945

  ‘… Potsdam Conference’ O’Donnell (1979), p. 301

  ‘… Izvestiia carried’ O’Donnell (1979), p. 302

  ‘… the Iron Curtain’ Trevor-Roper (1995), p. xvi + xlvii

  ‘No trace …’ W&P (1995), p. 44

  ‘… continued to multiply’ W&P (1995), pp. 16–19

  ‘… in Colorado’ Hitler of the ?, C5 television programme, 22 May 2003

  ‘… Nauecilus’ Blundell (1995), pp. 92–3

  ‘Throughout the summer …’ Trevor-Roper (1947), p. xxviii

  ‘… Baumgart’ Trevor-Roper (1947), p. xxiii

  ‘If you look …’ W&P (1995), p. 19

  ‘… Canadian paper’ W&P (1995), p. 75

  ‘… at the last minute’ Infield (1980), p. 247

  ‘… Brazil in 1966’ Infield (1980), pp. 254–5