by Scott Palter
“A social gathering last night with the Führer, Generaloberst. It didn’t break up until a few minutes ago. The commander called in before going home. I can summon him at once … ” Leutnants are not used to having to brief Generaloberst’s. Still less used to outlining the social life of their unit commander for such an exalted superior .
“Not necessary. Is this normal?”
“Some or all of us are invited to occasions with the Führer a few times a month, Herr Generaloberst.” The Leutnant was clearly sweating, and working hard at not stammering. “Ourselves. The LAH. The new Herman Göring Division. The various watch battalions in Berlin. The 1st Parachute Division. In the event of an emergency, we are to be stood up as a Herman Göring Reserve Panzer Korps. I can show you the directive from OKW. Your headquarters was clearly carbon copied. Even the new SA Feldherrnhalle Brigade’s advance cadre sometimes take part.”
Halder tried to defuse the situation. The Leutnant was not to blame. However, some fool at OKH who had not brought this to his attention clearly merited being sent to the Norwegian Arctic with that fool Keitel. “I am sure it is all as you say, Leutnant. You have been to such a ‘social gathering’?” He saw the boy nod. “Tell me about it.”
“An open bar. A buffet with large servings of food. A dance band, which the Führer allows to play ‘jungle music’. There are a lot of young Fräulein’s from the cinema industry, the music industries, the other entertainment industries, to dance with. The Führer’s wife is there. She is very gracious … ”
The Leutnant was turning bright red and now starting to stutter. Halder could guess why. “Be at ease, Leutnant. I am aware that the Führer has a ‘special friend’ as well as a wife. An actress. White Russian refugee. Relation of the famous writer Chekov. The Führer bears unique burdens for the nation. He is allowed such things as a ‘special friend’, as dancing to ‘Nigger music’. Kaisers before him had ‘special friends’, could bend social rules. It eases the otherwise crushing burden of command.” He saw the puppy nodding vigorously. No sense telling Beck about any of this. The man was hopeless. He would destroy the officer caste with his attitude. The alliance of three from the Wannsee meeting was what was needed.
1100 Hours CET
18 October 1940
Ministère de l'Air (Air Ministry), Vichy, France
The building had actually been a primary school, before the French government had fled to the provincial spa and resort town of Vichy. All the hotels and official buildings had been taken over by the senior ministries, leaving the less important or less lucky ones to make do with buildings like this. Traces of its original use still were obvious to the discerning eye, and the "conference room" was packed tight.
The French side was headed by the French Ministre de l'Air Jean Bergeret and his major flunkies. They were supported by delegations from each of the six state-owned aircraft companies, amalgamated from the gaggle of smaller private airplane builders a few years ago.
The German side from the Reichsluftfahrtministerium was much smaller – three officers, plus two civilian experts, plus a few translators, and two BDM stenographers – whose main point apart from looks, was that they were able to take fluent shorthand in both German and French.
The leader of the German delegation, Otto Abetz, got up and cleared his throat, stopping all the whispered conversations in the room. The German ambassador was a well-known Francophile, and perhaps the happiest person in the foreign ministry over the change in direction Berlin had dictated. “Monsieur le Ministre, we thank you very much for organizing this meeting. We also thank all present for making time on their calendars and traveling here on such short notice and without knowing what this is all about.” Left unsaid was that the timing bore no relation to when this had been announced as happening at the prior meeting on these subjects in Germany. Dictatorships in wartime are as subject to bureaucratic chaos as any other large organization, peace or war.
The fact that these opening remarks had been made in French did not pass unnoticed, even if the accent was rough. Ambassador Abetz continued in French; the grammar and style was good, if a bit old-fashioned.
“The subject is something that must interest you all very much – the future of the French aircraft industry.” The slight rustling and uneasy movements and the note-taking in the room stopped – everyone was waiting for the anvil to drop.
“Let me start with what we – that is the Reichsluftfahrtministerium and the Luftwaffe – do not want to do. We do not want to dissolve the French aircraft companies. We do not want to take you all over. We do not want you to stop your development work – France has always been in the avant-garde in aeronautics, and we have no interest at all in abolishing that proud tradition.”
He continued after a short look at his notes: “But there need to be some changes. Let me give an example. At this time or until very recently, continental Europe is producing roughly 50 different kinds of fighter aircraft. Fifty – and we are not counting subtypes and minor variants here. This is a tremendous waste that cannot be allowed to continue.”
“So, you want to force our companies to build your aircraft, preferably minor things like trainers and liaison aircraft?”
“No, M. Dewoitine,” he said, reading the name from the little identifying placards on every table. “Or not in the way you describe. There will be a flying competition in six weeks, in which all of you will have a chance to present their best fighter-type aircraft. The standard you will be flying against for this competition will be a Bf-109 E-4 without any special modifications.”
“So, there will be a German victory in this competition, with your propaganda trumpeting the superiority of your army and your pilots to the world.” The minister hissed at one of his minions, and set him into motion in order to shush the belligerent Gaul.
“No. The competition will be fair, as fair as we can make it. The Messerschmitt aircraft will not take part as a competitor, only a standard to fly against. The rules for the competition will be handed over to you at the end of this meeting, and they do contain provisions for making requests for rule changes and additions. Please read them carefully.” Abetz paused to be sure he had the attention of the Frenchmen in the room. “Let me outline three possibilities: One, we can dismantle all your factories. Move the tools to Germany. Much production is lost, and France ceases to be a major player in Europe’s aviation future. Two, you all become contracted producers for German or Italian designs.” He could see the looks of surprise and shock at the mention of Italy. The French never took the Italians seriously as equals. “We keep your productive capacity, but you cease to be designers and developers. You lose a generation or two of hands-on knowledge, from which you will probably never recover. The best of your experts move to Germany. The rest find other fields of work. Three, we truly do European cartels as we in Germany wish. The best designs of all of Europe are produced. The French design bureaus remain at the forefront of aviation. We are offering you the best of these three choices. Never forget that the other two exist. France declared war on Germany, not the reverse. You let the British drag you into a war you were near totally unprepared for. When things got tough, the British ran away across the Channel. Now they have started a war with you to steal your Empire. We are aiding you in this struggle. We do not have to. It would be ever so easy to buy peace with the British using your colonies as coin. We have no way to occupy Senegal or Madagascar or Indochina. So they are a cheap price to us, but a valuable prize for Perfidious Albion. Show that Cartesian logic you French are famous for. What do we gain by humiliating you with a fake competition?”
Otto Abetz leaned forward and fixed on the glowering director of Dewoitine Aircraft: “The prize for the winning aircraft will be a permission to keep producing this aircraft, and to search for customers both in Europe – for example Bulgaria, Romania, Finland, Greece – and with the permission of Berlin, also selected countries outside Europe. An exceptional winner will also be considered for future Luftwaffe contracts.�
�� He paused for dramatic effect. “We have warned our German industrial leaders that if they don’t mend their ways, they risk becoming mere contract makers for French designs. Certainly so in engines, and possibly in airframes as well.” He paused again to watch the delighted shock spread around the room. “I also would like to point out that the invitation to this competition will also go to aircraft manufacturers of some selected other countries, like Fokker of the Netherlands, so if the French aircraft industry chooses not to participate, someone else might reap the benefits.”
After a short period of agitated whispering, one of the other company directors present got up and asked: “What will happen with those companies that do not win this competition?”
“M. Bloch, they will be free to take part in the next competition for fighters … or in similar selections for other types of aircraft, like transports and bombers. You will also be free to tender proposals for new aircraft according to specifications issued by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium, the French Ministère de l’Air, or other European governments or private interests that Berlin will approve for European participation.
“Alternatively, or additionally, you will also be invited to participate in development and manufacturing of several aircraft we are currently developing, but where we are lacking capacity. Among these aircraft would be the Hs-129 battle aircraft and the He-177 heavy bomber – but we will invite you to discuss these after this meeting. However, let us be clear. You will work, or you will lose your machines and cease to exist. Those are your choices. Sitting on the productive capacity and waiting out the war is not an alternative. You try for that at your peril, both individually and as a nation.”
That tidbit seemed to be of interest to at least a few of the managers, who had probably wondered how they were going to pay their workers in the near future.
“So, we will do work for the German Luftwaffe – or not at all. But will we receive enough money for our work, to keep our companies afloat? Or will we be driven deeper and deeper in debt, to be finally bought up by German aircraft builders?”
“There will be a profit. An honest, not exorbitant one, mind you, after all there is a war going on – but enough to keep you running and to support future development work. Just as we have also reined in the greed of our own companies. And if any companies want to buy each other, partner, merge – the RLM will keep an eye on such things to make sure things stay fair. Be prepared for onsite auditors both from your own government and from the European air cartel. Also for quality inspectors. Your design bureaus will also be open to visitations. There is one Europe at war with the British Empire. Hopefully not at war with Britain’s American cousins; but that remains a choice mostly of the Americans, who seem to dance to a tune only they can hear.”
1800 hours Eastern Daylight Time; 2400 hours CET
18 October 1940
Executive Office Building, Washington DC
This was supposed to have been a briefing for President Roosevelt and his alter ego Harry Hopkins. Hence the location. Both were still smoothing very rumpled Senate feathers over the multiple new laws rammed through. That left Navy Secretary Frank Knox taking the presentation, from a senior navy staff headed by Admiral Stark.
On one hand, it was clearly naval matters and thus within Knox’s remit as service Secretary. On the other hand, Knox was an anti-New Deal Republican who had taken the post from FDR in the interests of national unity. His remit was administrative and organizational … yet today he was taking a semi-secret operational briefing because no one else was available and the matter wouldn’t keep.
The German, Italian, and French naval attaches had been over to see the proper senior professionals of the USN with an urgent proposal. The stated point was to ‘avoid another Lusitania’. The ‘Europeans’, as they were calling themselves, wanted to avoid accidental combat with the US. They wanted the US ‘patrol zone’ defined, given the new US commitments to Ireland and Liberia. The idea was to restrict the Atlantic naval war to places US ships were not.
Thus for Ireland, they wanted the US to restrict US patrols and merchant shipping to the West Irish ports, leaving Dublin and the Irish Sea as war zones where Europe could fight the British. The war zone would extend south from there out to some agreed line in the ocean, a north-south marker. There would be war in the Bay of Biscay, Gibraltar, around the Iberian Atlantic island chains, and on as far south as Dakar. The war zone would end at an east-west line fixed at 20 miles south of Freetown in Sierre Leone. US shipping to the Baltic would have a protected zone in the North Sea such that all fighting would be south of an agreed line. US and Latin American trade to Iberia would be through Portugal by convoy from the USN. USN would announce when such were coming and the route. The ships would use running lights and display the US flag (or the flags of their nation, for Brazilian or other Latin American nations). The Europeans would instruct their forces to give these a wide corridor in and out.
Knox had not allowed the Europeans to brief him directly. He wanted USN input. “What happens if we say no?”
“Their hints were that they would feel it necessary to let the US public know that chances of avoiding war had been deliberately rejected, so the voters could draw their own conclusions.”
Knox was afraid of this. In his civilian life he owned the Chicago Daily News, which had bumped heads with the Chicago Tribune for long enough for Knox to be all too aware of what they would do with this story. This was just the sort of interventionist stab in the back they endlessly warned against. “Admiral Stark. Can the US Navy live with these rules? Don’t get bogged down in the weeds. These Nazis will bargain at the margins if they really want to avoid war with us that badly. Yes or no?”
Stark didn’t need time to think. The navy had already reached its conclusions. “Damn right we can. It’s insane as naval war, but makes total political sense if they really don’t want war with us. This helps the British more than it does us. Which shows the Germans are either stupid or don’t care. We have nothing to go by to figure out which it is, but our best guess is ‘don’t care’. The naval war here is about French colonies, not Italian or German. How the Nazis set this up you’ll have to get State to tell us, but this amounts to an Anglo-French war. Either way Germany wins. Even if they lose all their ships, they didn’t have a functional navy anyway. This keeps the war as far from our shores as possible and minimizes the risk on Ireland and Liberia. If the president will buy this, it gives us time to keep rebuilding the Fleet. What do you think, sir?”
Knox didn’t like it. He was sure FDR would hate it. However, if the administration turned this offer down ... it would be Willkie taking the oath of office next January. It was a slick propaganda move. The Nazis were usually very clumsy with such things. What had changed? Knox didn’t know, but he placed a call to Hopkins saying he had something that couldn’t keep. Knox and his room of admirals would wait all night, if that was what it took to get one of the two senior people. When the secretary taking the note for Hopkins asked for the subject of the meeting, Knox said it was losing the election in the next 18 hours. That should force a response.
0800 hours local; 0430 CET
19 October 1940
Viceroy’s residence, New Delhi, British Raj, India
The sensible morning start time of the meeting was deliberate. The Viceroy, Sir Winston Churchill, was a night owl. Meeting in the morning frequently resulted in Winston choosing to sleep in, sending a confidential secretary to stand-in for him. The Army Commander-in-Chief, Auchinleck, found that much more got done without Winston’s bombastic speeches and tendency to ramble. As long as decisions stayed within the policy guidelines the Viceroy was evolving, the routine day-to-day coordination of governing a subcontinent in the midst of four small wars worked better at this sort of principal officers meeting. So it was the Army, the Muslim League, a representative for the Princes, someone from the Chamber of Commerce, and the people who stood in for what was now openly called the four pillars: the Indian military, th
e police, the civil service, and the railway workers. The pillars rotated who would attend each meeting. Auchinleck was not privy to how they arranged that the four always just happened to be two Hindus, a Moslem, and a Sikh. The whole point in Winston’s system was getting the pillars, without whom India could not be ruled, used to seeing themselves as separate classes outside the narrow confines of caste, language, and religion. All four pillars had all three religions, and it was best that the collective representation of each was seen to include all three.
Today’s agenda was focused on the Central Reserve Police Force. It had been two battalions of Crown Representative Police when Auchinleck had arrived. The name was changed, and emergency expansion begun, to contest Congress’s ‘Quit India’ campaign. Ten more battalions had been stood up, initially staffed by military and police retirees plus their younger kin. The twin Congress rebellions, Bose’s and Gandhi’s, required more and more key infrastructure guarded so as to free up army and trained police for the real fighting. Untrained young men, with experienced sergeants, could guard while they learned the rest of their jobs. On the table were demands for forty more such battalions. There was no way to stretch resources that far. So this meeting was designed to seek field expedients. “Who wishes to speak first?” Auchinleck preferred collegial-style meetings.
“We can offer six more battalions of our National Guards.” The Muslim League had been forming paramilitaries in the largely Muslim provinces, east as well as west. There were severe drawbacks on using these in areas with too many Hindus. So far the League had not flexed its muscles to push against this. “We can also offer more Mujahideen for the Afghan war.”