The Scourge of the Swastika

by Lord Russell of Liverpool

  Before giving themselves up the Norfolks had destroyed all their weapons and when searched had only a few scanty personal possessions. These and their equipment were removed from them.

  After a considerable interval had elapsed they were marched back along the road and, all unsuspecting, into a small field near a farmhouse. It was here that the massacre was to take place.

  Inside the field two machine-guns, belonging to No. 4 Company of the Totenkopf Battalion had been mounted and the Company Commander, Fritz Knochlein was standing with a group of officers and NCOs on the roadway by the entrance to the field. On his order the prisoners were marched into the field with their hands behind their heads.

  An order to fire was then given by Knochlein and repeated by the Feldwebel1 in command of the section of machineguns.

  Both machine-guns opened fire simultaneously traversing from right to left along the British column which by then was marching right across the line of fire.

  The prisoners were mown down, some of them falling into a small depression in the ground and this apparently saved the lives of the only two survivors, Privates Pooley and O’Callaghan, though both were wounded. When the guns ceased fire the German troops, fixing bayonets, jumped amongst the fallen bodies and finished off all those who showed any signs of life. Officers and NCOs also fired their revolvers and rifles.

  The owner of the farm, who had evacuated it during the fighting, returned the following day and found over two hundred empty cartridge cases on the site where the machineguns had been mounted.

  The two survivors lay still until nightfall when they crawled out from under the heap of bodies. They lay hidden in a burnt-out farm building for three days where they were found by a French woman who succoured them so far as she was able, despite the great risk to herself, and brought them food from time to time. Collected eventually by a French ambulance they were taken to the hospital at Bailleul where they came once again under German control and were later taken to Germany as prisoners of war.

  Private Pooley, owing to the seriousness of his wounds, was repatriated to England in 1943, in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Prisoners-of-War Convention, and when on his return he first told his story to the British military authorities no one would believe him.

  Knochlein’s company did not even bother to bury the corpses and spent the night in drunken celebration within a stone’s throw of the scene of the crime.

  The bodies, which were later buried, were exhumed by the French authorities in 1942 and removed to Paradis churchyard. On exhumation, about fifty bodies were identified; the remainder are buried in unknown graves. It was also established, when the bodies were examined, that a number of the prisoners who had been shot down had already been slightly wounded in the battle, for many still bore traces of bandages on hands, arms, and legs.

  At the time of the massacre1 the Totenkopf Division, to which Knochlein’s unit belonged, was in the XVIth Army Corps commanded by a Wehrmacht general. The incident was reported by someone to Corps Headquarters and the Divisional Commander was ordered to make a report. His explanation being unsatisfactory, a questionnaire had been sent to him and an immediate reply demanded.

  When the Totenkopf Division left the Corps Area no reply to the questionnaire had been received. A full report was thereupon made by the Corps Commander to higher authority but no further action was ever taken although this document was eventually forwarded to Berlin.

  That nothing was done was doubtless due to the personal intervention of no less a person than the Head of the Waffen-SS himself, Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, for it was surely more than a coincidence that the Totenkopf Division whilst in billets in Bailleul was, on the 29th May, visited by him.

  But the shooting of the Norfolks at Paradis was not the only occasion when Allied prisoners of war were killed unarmed after surrender.

  One hundred and twenty-nine American prisoners of war were murdered in a field at Beignes in Belgium on 17th December 1944 during von Rundstedt’s forlorn hope, the Ardennes offensive.

  During the offensive a column of American vehicles was moving along a road near St Vith when it came under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire. The column was forced to halt and the soldiers in the vehicles crouched in the ditch at the side of the road to take cover from the bombardment.

  After the shelling had continued for a quarter of an hour, two German tanks and a few armoured cars appeared from the direction of Weismes, and after reaching the crossroads turned south in the direction of St Vith. The ditch in which the American soldiers were taking cover then came under enfilade fire from the German tanks and armoured cars and after suffering very heavy casualties the survivors dropped their weapons and came out of the ditch, with hands raised above their heads, to surrender. They were then marched back along the road as far as the crossing, being relieved of their personal belongings en route, and collected in a field just off the St Vith road.

  An account of the shameful massacre which then took place is contained in an official American report on the incident, extracts from which appear below.

  Other German soldiers in tanks and armoured cars halted at the crossroads and searched some of the captured Americans and took valuables from them … at about this same time a German light tank attempted to manoeuvre itself into position on the road so that its cannon could be directed at the group of prisoners in the field … some of these tanks stopped when they came opposite the field in which the unarmed American prisoners were standing in a group with their hands raised or clasped behind their heads. A German soldier, either an officer or a non-commissioned officer in one of these vehicles stood up, drew his revolver, took deliberate aim and fired into the group. One of the Americans fell. This was repeated a second time and another American soldier fell to the ground.

  At about the same time, from two of the vehicles on the road, machine-gun fire was opened on the group of American prisoners in the field. All or most of them dropped to the ground and stayed there whilst the firing continued for two or three minutes. Most of the soldiers in the field were hit by this fire. The German vehicles then moved off towards the south and were followed by more which also came from the direction of Weismes. As they came opposite the field in which the American soldiers were lying, they also fired with small arms from the moving vehicles at the prostrate bodies in the field … some German soldiers, evidently from the party who were on guard at the crossroads, then walked to the group of wounded American soldiers who were still lying in the field … and shot with pistol or rifle, or clubbed with a rifle butt or another heavy object any American who still showed any sign of life.

  In some instances the victims were shot at point-blank range, for when the corpses were later removed it was found that many had been shot between the eyes, in the temple, or the back of the head.

  The massacres of Paradis and St Vith were both inexcusable contraventions of the laws and usages of war in relation to prisoners.

  During 1941 and 1942 a number of successful raids on shipping and installations in Norway were made by British Commandos, resulting in effective damage to the German war effort. Perturbed by these operations, Hitler decided that they should be discouraged and to that end on 18th October 1942 issued an order regarding the treatment of certain categories of prisoners of war. This is generally known as the Commando Order.1

  Its provisions were as follows:

  Paragraph I.

  For some time our enemies have been using in their warfare, methods which are outside the International Geneva Convention. Especially brutal and treacherous is the behaviour of the so-called Commandos who, as is established, are partially recruited from freed criminals in enemy countries. Their captured orders divulge that they are directed not only to shackle prisoners but also to kill defenceless prisoners on the spot, the moment they believe that the latter represent a burden in further pursuance of their purpose or can otherwise be a hindrance. Finally, orders have been found in which the killing of prisoners had b
een demanded on principle.

  Paragraph II

  For this reason it has already been announced in an addendum to the Armed Forces Report of 7th October 1942 that in future Germany in the face of these sabotage troops of the British and their accomplices will resort to the same procedure, i.e., that they will be ruthlessly mowed down by the German troops in combat wherever they may appear.

  Paragraph III.

  I therefore order that from now on all opponents brought to battle by German troops in so-called commando operations in Europe or Africa, even when it is outwardly a matter of soldiers in uniform or demolition parties with or without weapons, are to be exterminated to the last man in battle or while in flight. In these cases it is immaterial whether they are landed for their operations by ship or aeroplane or descend by parachute. Even should these individuals, on their being discovered, make as if to surrender, all quarter is to be denied on principle. A detailed report is to be sent to the OKW1 on each separate case, for publication in the Wehrmacht communique.

  Paragraph IV.

  If individual members of such commandos working as agents, saboteurs, etc., fall into the hands of the Wehrmacht by other means, such as through the police in any of the countries occupied by us, they are to be handed over to the SD immediately. It is strictly forbidden to hold them in military custody or in a prisoner of war camp, even as a temporary measure.

  Paragraph V.

  This order does not apply to the treatment of any enemy soldiers who in the course of normal hostilities (large-scale offensive actions, landing operations, and airborne operations) are captured in open battle or give themselves up. Nor does it apply to enemy soldiers falling into our hands after battles at sea or trying to save their lives by parachute after an air battle.

  Paragraph VI.

  In the case of non-compliance with this order, I shall bring to trial before a court-martial any commander or other officer who has either failed to carry out his duty in instructing the troops about this order or who has acted contrary to it.

  Signed: Adolf Hitler.

  The Kommandobefehl was in complete violation of the laws and customs of war as then applicable to all the belligerents concerned, and Hitler appears to have entertained some misgivings about the welcome it might receive from those to whom it was addressed2 for on the same day that it was issued he sent out a covering letter explaining why he had felt it necessary to issue an order so repugnant to the rules of warfare in relation to prisoners of war.

  He stated that, as in no previous war, there had developed a new tactical method of disrupting lines-of-communication, intimidating those sections of the population who were working for Germany and destroying industrial plant and installations in occupied territory used by the Germans for their war economy.

  In the East these methods took the form of partisan warfare which was already costing the Germans dearly in manpower, transport and materials. England and America were pursuing a similar kind of warfare though under another name and were using air transport to drop troops, food and equipment and landing sabotage parties from submarines or rubber dinghies.

  The effects of this activity, Hitler explained, were extremely grave. The destruction of a single electric power station, for example, could cost the aircraft industry many thousand tons of aluminium, thereby preventing the building of numerous aircraft. This type of warfare, Hitler maintained, was without danger to the enemy. For since he landed his sabotage troops in uniform, and in addition provided civilian clothing, they could appear, as required, either as soldiers or civilians.

  The letter continued:

  If the German war effort is not to suffer the most severe damage as a result of such action, it must be made clear to the enemy that every sabotage party will be exterminated without exception to the last man … it must not be permitted in any circumstances for demolition, sabotage or terrorist groups simply to surrender and be taken prisoner in order to receive treatment in accordance with the provisions of the ‘Geneva Convention for the Treatment of Prisoners-of-War’…. I therefore expect not only the Commanders-in-Chief, and the armies they command, but the individual commanding officers, not only to grasp the necessity for such action but to apply them-selves with all energy to carrying out this order … should it prove advisable to spare one or two men in the first instance for inter rogation reasons, they are to be shot immediately afterwards.

  The writer of that letter need have had no apprehensions that his order would not be obeyed. It was almost universally carried out to the letter, and in many theatres of war British commandos and members of the Special Air Service Regiment, all of whom were entitled to be treated on capture as prisoners of war, were illegally executed in pursuance of it.1

  At the date of its issue the Commander-in-Chief of the German forces in Norway was General von Falkenhorst and in due course he received copy No. 4 together with Hitler’s explanatory letter.

  Not only did General von Falkenhorst pass on both these documents to his subordinate commanders but a few months later he found it necessary to remind them of its provisions. Accordingly he issued a second order marked ‘Top Secret’ and addressed to ‘Officers Only’ on the subject of ‘Treatment of Prisoners of War’. In it he referred to the Führerbefehl2 of 18th October 1942 and wrote:

  I am under the impression that the wording of the above order, which had to be destroyed, is no longer clearly in mind and I therefore again bring to particular notice paragraph 3. Failure to comply with the order is subject to severe punishment. [Paragraph 3 was then quoted.]3 If a man is saved for interrogation he must not survive his comrades for more than 24 hours.

  Naturally all civilians, Norwegian police, and unwanted members of the Wehrmacht must at all costs be kept away. PW movements are to be avoided. The strictest secrecy is the express duty of all commanders concerned…. If, in exceptional cases, saboteurs are brought to bay in the presence of Norwegians or with their assistance (e.g., guides, police), they are not to be shot on the spot but are to be taken prisoner and handed over to the SD as soon as possible.

  Thus did von Falkenhorst not only repeat the Führerbefehl himself; he added to it.1

  In September 1942 a raid was made by two officers and ten other ranks on the town of Glamford in Norway. It was known to the Chief Military Planner at Combined Operations Headquarters2 as ‘Musketoon’. Its object was the destruction of a hydro-electric power station. On completion of their mission the party were to make their way to Sweden whence, it was expected, they would be repatriated.

  The party left England in a Free French submarine on nth September, landed in Norway four days later, and on 20th September attacked the power station causing considerable damage. All ranks were in uniform.

  On their journey into Sweden after the successful completion of the raid, the party were attacked and all but four captured by a German patrol. One member of the party was wounded and later died of his wounds; the remainder, including the two officers, were taken to Gestapo Headquarters in Oslo and thence to Germany.

  What happened to them then was not precisely known for some time, although information was received that the officers had been sent to Offlag IV(A), known amongst the British prisoners of war as the ‘naughty boys’ camp’, from which they disappeared after a stay of one day. The parents of one of these officers, who made inquiries through the Red Cross, were told through information given by the Commandant of Offiag IV(A) that their son had escaped. This was untrue and the reason for this story being given was only learnt subsequently. The officer had been recognized in the camp by other prisoners and it was not therefore possible for the Germans to say that he had been shot in battle. It is now known from a captured German document that both these officers were shot by the SD ‘for taking part in a sabotage operation’.

  A similar fate befell the members of an operation called ‘Freshman’ which left for Norway in November 1942 in two gliders to attack a hydro-electric power station at Vemork in Southern Norway. The raiding party
consisted of two officers and twenty-seven other ranks all in uniform. None of these men ever returned to this country and a German communiqué issued at the time stated that ‘the sabotage troops were engaged and annihilated’. They had not, however, been annihilated in battle. Owing to bad weather the two gliders became separated and one came down near Egersund. About eleven of the occupants survived the crash and these were captured by the Wehrmacht, taken to a camp, and afterwards shot. The second glider crashed near Stavanger, and although a number of men survived these were all captured and eventually shot, after an argument between the Wehrmacht and the Gestapo, as saboteurs.

  Another Commando raid in the spring of 1943 was launched against shipping in Norwegian harbours and coastal waters. Known as ‘Operation Checkmate’ the force consisted of one officer and six other ranks, all in uniform. The whole party were captured three or four weeks after they left British shores and taken to a prison at Grini. Where these men spent the next two years has never been discovered, but in 1945 five of them were shot in Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp and one at Belsen, only a few weeks before the German capitulation. The fate of the seventh is unknown as he has never been heard of since his capture.

  Not all these raids on the Norwegian coast were made by British troops. In 1943 a raid was made by a party of Norwegian naval ratings and a British telegraphist. All wore uniform, naval hats, and khaki battledress. The Norwegians had their red anchor sewn on the left sleeve and the telegraphist wore a Royal Navy flash. What happened to these men has been told in a statement made by a former Obersturmführer of the SIPO, Hans Blomberg, who was later tried as a war criminal and sentenced to death for being concerned in their murder.