The Last Prussian
Page 48
90.
Letter Lt Col Clements to the Author, 3 June 1989, and medical reports in PRO WO 32/15304.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
1.
Letter Telford Taylor to the author, 27 February 1989.
2.
PRO FO 371/64474.
3.
Letter Lord Shawcross to the author, 21 March 1989.
4.
Letter Shawcross to Bevin, 9 September 1947, PRO FO 371/64474.
5.
Minute dated 6 October 1947, PRO FO 371/64474.
6.
Various minutes, ibid.
7.
Ibid.
8.
Letter Elwyn-Jones to Shawcross, 8 October 1947, PRO FO 371/64474.
9.
Brief by Marjoribanks, 11 October 1947, ibid.
10.
PRO FO 371/64475.
11.
Minutes Chaput de Saintoge to Bevin, 15 October 1947, ibid.
12.
Smith ed The Clay Papers pp440–1.
13.
PRO FO 371/64475.
14.
PRO FO 371/64474.
15.
PRO FO 371/64475.
16.
Ibid.
17.
Ibid.
18.
Telegram, 26 November 1947, PRO FO 1032/2215.
19.
Letter dated 17 November 1947, PRO FO 371/64475.
20.
Letters Bevin dated 2 December 1947 and Jowitt dated 5 December 1947, ibid.
21.
Ibid.
22.
Minute Jowitt to Bevin, 22 December 1947, ibid.
23.
This account of Clements’ arrival at Island Farm is taken from letters written by him to Matthew Barry Sullivan dated 21 March and 15 April 1978, and I am indebted to Lt Col Clements for allowing me to quote from them.
24.
Letter dated 3 December 1947, PRO FO 371/64475.
25.
Ibid.
26.
Letter Luise von Rundstedt to Liddell Hart, 9 February 1948, LH 9/24/77.
27.
Letters to the Author, 3 January and 14 February 1990.
28.
Letter dated 2 January 1948, LH 9/24/77.
29.
PRO FO 371/70652.
30.
Letter dated 29 January 1948, ibid.
31.
Ibid.
32.
Telegram British Embassy Brussels to Foreign Office, 20 February 1948, ibid.
33.
News Chronicle, 10 & 19 February 1948, La dernière Heure 22 February 1948.
34.
Telegram to Foreign Office, 14 February 1948, PRO FO 371/70652.
35.
PRO FO 1032/2215.
36.
PRO FO 371/70797.
37.
Letter dated 10 February 1948, PRO WO 32/15304.
38.
Letter dated 10 February 1948 and reproduced in Hawthorne op cit p43.
39.
PRO FO 371/70798.
40.
Ibid.
41.
Letter dated 27 April 1948, ibid.
42.
Sullivan op cit pp359–360, Clements letters op cit. The crucifix is now held by Dean Gravell’s family and the individuals to whom von Rundstedt gave his walking sticks still have them. I am indebted to Dr Tom Jefferson for this information. The letter to the Bishop is quoted in Hawthorne op cit p42. It is dated 5 May 1949 and is addressed from Island Farm which is curious since von Rundstedt had left the previous day. He also wrote in the letter: ‘On May 12th we shall leave Bridgend. With the exception of three Generals the Senior Officers will return home.’ He does not indicate that he was one of the three.
43.
Von Senger und Etterlin op cit p354.
44.
Letter 6 May, LH 9/24/77.
45.
Letter 21 May, ibid.
46.
Letter P J Holt-Wilson to the author, 30 March 1989.
47.
PRO WO 311/648.
48.
CM 47(48), PRO CAB 128/13.
49.
PRO WO 311/648.
50.
Daily Telegraph 23 July 1948.
51.
Letter to Liddell Hart dated 11 August 1948, LH 9/24/156–163.
52.
Letter dated 13 July 1948, PRO WO 311/648.
53.
Letter to the Author, 27 February 1989.
54.
Minute dated 26 August 1948, PRO FO 371/70805.
55.
Original transcript copy of the court order in the von Rundstedt Archive.
56.
PRO WO 267/28A.
57.
Author’s conversation with Nightingale, 26 April 1989 and Bower Blind Eye to Murder p256. Bower’s description of the dinner is slightly misleading in that it could be interpreted that Nightingale was aware of the decision to charge von Rundstedt as a war criminal, but was not prepared to treat him as such. Nightingale was adamant to the author that he had no knowledge of the decision at the time. On the same page, Bower also asserts thay ‘the War Crimes Group officers, with a few exceptions, notably Gerald Draper, resigned en masse rather than accept the offer of helping the prosecution prepare the case for the forthcoming trial’. Nightingale vehemently denied this to the author, as did others involved in war crimes investigation. Further, the author could find no documentary evidence that this had happened. Given the ORC decision not to proceed with war crimes trials after 1 September 1948, the whole war crimes investigation machinery was being rapidly run down and it was this that probably created the mass exodus, if there was one.
58.
Typescript of Letter from X dated 3 August 1948, LH 9/24/132. This description is confirmed in letter Editha von Rundstedt to Sullivan, 26 March 1977.
59.
Letter Editha von Rundstedt to Sullivan op cit.
60.
PRO FO 371/70804.
61.
PRO FO 371/70805.
62.
PRO FO 371/70804.
63.
The Times 24 August 1948.
64.
Ibid 25 August 1948.
65.
Ibid 28 August 1948.
66.
Telegram Foreign Office to Franks, 1 September 1948, PRO CAB 122/1356.
67.
The Times 3 September 1948.
68.
Ibid 6 September 1948.
69.
Ibid 13 September 1948.
70.
Ibid 9 September 1948.
71.
PRO WO 267/28A.
72.
Original notice in German handed to von Rundstedt and signed by him, von Rundstedt Archive.
73.
Article III Paragraph 1(a).
74.
This payment is noted on von Rundstedt’s discharge certificate, von Rundstedt archive.
75.
Foreign Office to Robertson, 13 September 1948, and Clay’s response, PRO FO 1032/2215.
76.
Letter Taylor to the author, 10 April 1989 and John op cit p191.
77.
Foreign Office to Control Commission, 29 September 1948, PRO FO 1032/2215.
78.
The Times 17 & 21 September 1948.
79.
CM 61(48) PRO CAB 128/13.
80.
As reported in The Times of 25 September 1948.
81.
Minutes to the Foreign Office, 20 September 1948, PRO FO 371/70807.
82.
PRO FO 371/70809.
83.
Ibid.
84.
Manchester Guardian 6 December 1948.
85.
The Times 27 October 1948.
86.
Ibid, 16 November 1948.
87.
Abetz’s handwritten account dated 18 January
1949 is in the Wheeler-Bennett Papers.
88.
Shapcott to Marsden-Smedley, 11 November 1948, PRO FO 1032/2215.
89.
Marsden-Smedley to Robertson, 19 November 1948, ibid.
90.
See LH 9/24/77.
91.
Manchester Guardian 6 December 1948.
92.
Foreign Office to Robertson, 19 November 1948, PRO FO 371/77026, and Foreign Office to Robertson, 11 December 1948, PRO FO 1032/2215.
93.
Letter dated 30 December 1948, LH 9/24/77.
94.
Typescript copy of letter dated 14 December 1949, Author’s archive.
95.
Letter dated 3 January 1949, PRO FO 371/77029.
96.
John op cit pp191–2 and PRO FO 371/77026.
97.
A copy of the charge sheet, presumably sent to Liddell Hart by Dr Grimm, is to be found in LH 9/24/77. Another is held, with those for von Manstein and Strauss, under PRO WO 32/15304.
98.
Letter Grimm to Liddell Hart, 9 February 1949, ibid.
99.
Chajn to Elwyn-Jones, 22 December 1948, and reply dated 1 January 1949, PRO FO 371/77026.
100.
British Embassy, Moscow English language summary of Literary Gazette No 12 dated 9 February 1949, ibid.
101.
PRO FO 371/77027.
102.
Shinwell to Bevin, 4 April 1949, PRO FO 371/77028.
103.
PRO FO 371/77026.
104.
Medical Boards dated 30 August, 18 October, 30 December 1948, 2 March 1949, PRO WO 32/15304.
105.
Medical Board dated 10 March 1949, ibid.
106.
CM 24 (49) PRO CAB 128/15.
107.
PRO FO 371/77028.
108.
Secretary Peace Pledge Union to Attorney-General, 25 April 1949, ibid.
109.
Dated 8 April 1949, PRO WO 32/15304.
110.
CM 30(49) PRO CAB 128/15.
111.
PRO FO 371/77028.
112.
Ibid.
113.
CM 32(49) PRO CAB 128/15.
114.
The Times 6 May 1949.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
1.
10 May 1949.
2.
Letter to Liddell Hart, 18 May 1949, LH 9/24/77.
3.
Letter Regional Governmental Officer Hansestadt Hamburg to Dr Grimm dated 1 October 1949, von Rundstedt archive.
4.
See, for example, British Military Government Ordinance No 110, dated 1 October 1947.
5.
Telegram dated 18 May 1949, PRO FO 371/77029.
6.
HQ BAOR telegram to Foreign Office, 21 May 1949, ibid.
7.
Military Gvt Berlin to HQ BAOR telegram, 3 June 1949, PRO FO 371/77030.
8.
Telegram dated 3 June 1949, ibid.
9.
Telegram to Foreign Office, 13 June 1949, ibid.
10.
PRO FO 371/77029.
11.
British Embassy Warsaw telegram to Foreign Office dated 9 July 1949, PRO FO 371/77030.
12.
Summary of New Times No 21 (18 May 1949) article entitled ‘Protectors of the Hitlerite Hangmen’ given in telegram British Embassy Moscow to Foreign Office, 23 May 1949, PRO FO 371/77029.
13.
British Embassy Moscow note dated 7 June 1949, ibid.
14.
Letter dated 24 June 1949, PRO FO 1032/1948.
15.
The text of this, which was von Rundstedt’s formal release notice and merely said that he would not be brought to trial before a British court, is given in telegram Military Government (Berlin) to Foreign Office, 28 July 1949, PRO FO 371/77031. The original in German is in the von Rundstedt archive.
16.
Ibid.
17.
LH 9/24/77.
18.
PRO FO 371/77030.
19.
LH 9/24/77.
20.
Letter dated 16 July 1949, ibid.
21.
PRO FO 371/77031.
22.
Military Government (Berlin) telegram, 29 July 1949, PRO FO 371/77030.
23.
PRO FO 1032/1750.
24.
Telegram dated 16 July 1949, PRO FO 371/77030.
25.
Telegram to Foreign Office, 29 July 1949, PRO FO 371/77031.
26.
Regional Commissioner Lower Saxony letter dated 2 August 1949, PRO FO 1032/1948.
27.
Interview, 4 November 1989.
28.
Regional Commissioner Lower Saxony letter dated 2 August 1949 op cit.
29.
Telegram to Foreign Office dated 13 August 1949, PRO FO 371/77031.
30.
Minute to Marsden-Smedley, 11 August 1949, ibid.
31.
Ibid.
32.
Telegram Frankfurt to Lubbecke, 1 September 1949, PRO FO 371/77032 and reply dated 7 September, PRO FO 1032/1948.
33.
Letter dated 6 September 1949, PRO FO 371/77032 and von Rundstedt’s reply dated 11 September, PRO FO 1032/1948.
34.
Telegram dated 19 October 1949, PRO FO 1032/1948.
35.
PRO FO 371/77033.
36.
Extract from Land Commissioner’s Office Hannover Property Control Technical Report 1–31 October 1949, ibid.
37.
Ibid.
38.
Certificate of Discharge from Wehrmacht dated 18 November 1949, von Rundstedt archive.
39.
Information from Barbara Papanastassiou via letter to the Author from Gerd von Rundstedt dated 27 November 1989.
40.
IWM AL 1553/2.
41.
Letter dated 5 June 1950, LH 9/24/77.
42.
Letters von Rundstedt to Liddell Hart dated 12 January 1951 and Liddell Hart to von Rundstedt of 6 October 1951, ibid.
43.
Blumentritt-Liddell Hart correspondence, LH 9/24/53.
44.
Letter Blumentritt to Liddell Hart, 24 November 1950, ibid.
45.
Letter 4 October 1950, ibid.
46.
Interview of 26 November 1951 report, IZ 311/52.
47.
Letter dated 8 February 1952, LH 9/24/77.
48.
Letter Blumentritt to Liddell Hart, 31 July 1952, LH 9/24/53.
49.
Interview, 4 November 1989.
50.
San Francisco Examiner 25 February 1953.
51.
JRUSI November 1952.
52.
Daily Mail and News Chronicle of 9 September 1952, Daily Herald of 10 September 1952, Manchester Guardian of 12 September 1952.
53.
Unfortunately I have not been able to establish exactly what the sales figures were. Odhams has had several takeovers and is now part of the Hamlyn Group, which no longer holds any records on the book, which has been long out of print.
54.
Letter dated 3 May 1952, LH 9/24/77.
55.
Johnson-Liddell Hart correspondence, summer 1952, ibid.
56.
Letter Blumentritt to Liddell Hart, 13 October 1952, LH 9/24/53.
57.
Letter Barbara Papanastassiou to the Author, 3 January 1990.
58.
15 December 1952, LH 9/24/53.
59.
Letter to Liddell Hart, 5 January 1953, ibid.
60.
Collier’s, 3 January 1953.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
1.
All issues dated 25 February 1953.
2.
Interview Gerd and Eberhard von R
undstedt, 4 November 1989.
3.
Guderian obituary in Die Deutsche Soldatenzeitung 5 March 1953.
4.
Daily Express 28 February 1953. The report also described how ‘the victor of Dunkirk … lies dead and abandoned in the public building of the Hannover city Cemetery tonight. A cold draught blows through broken windows patched with planks of wood and four-inch nails.’
5.
Letter dated 5 March 1953, LH 9/24/77.
6.
Typescript of oration, Bibliothek für Zeitgeschichte BZ Z 3890 2.
7.
My information for this comes from a German newspaper cutting dated 5 October 1955 in a report of the handing over of von Rundstedt’s funeral plot to his daughter-in-law. The money to purchase the plot had been raised by various ex-soldiers’ associations. As for the US memorial, 29th Infantry Division Association Past National Commander Charles A Lusby Sr, stated to me in a letter dated 30th March 1990 that he had no knowledge of this and had asked all posts if they knew anything of it. None did, but the Rhode Island post, in whose area the memorial is situated, did not reply.
8.
Die Deutsche Soldatenzeitung 5 March 1953.
9.
Westphal op cit p33.
10.
Letter to the Author, 3 January 1990.
11.
Letter Blumentritt to Crowe, 21 May 1965, Sayer Archive.
12.
Carver Warlords op cit p189.
13.
Quoted Galante op cit p90.
14.
Instructions for his Generals pp2–3 (Stackpoole, Harrisburg Penn, 1960 edition).
15.
Goerlitz op cit p152.
16.
Stahlberg Bounden Duty pp 245–6.
17.
Ziemke in Barnett Hitler’s Generals op cit p180.
18.
Stahlberg op cit p330.
19.
Ibid p290.
20.
Quoted Taylor Sword and Swastika op cit p173.
21.
JRUSI, May 1952.
22.
An account of the Pescari massacres is given in Sayer, Ian and Botting, Douglas Hitler’s Last General: the Case against Wilhelm Mohnke pp355–358. Patton’s attempted cover up is taken from Patton’s diary, 14 July 1943 and cited in Blumenson, Martin The Patton Papers 1940–1945 p288 (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1974).
23.
Cunningham A Sailor’s Odyssey pp433, 435 (Hutchinson, London, 1951).
24.
Quoted Brett-Smith op cit p40.
25.
Best, Geoffrey Humanity in Warfare pp241–2 (Methuen University paperback edition, London, 1983).
26.
Letter to the author, 3 January 1990.
27.
Interview, 4 November 1989
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Trial of German Major War Criminals: Proceedings of the International Military Tribunal sitting at Nuremberg, Germany – Part 21 (HMSO, London, 1949)
Ansel, Walter Hitler Confronts England (Duke Univ, Durham NC, 1960)