In The Odin Mission I refer to a Panzer Mk VI, which has prompted quite a response from keen-eyed observers of the Second World War, all pointing out the Mk VI Tiger tank did not come into service until 1942 and therefore could not have been in Norway in 1940.  However, there were earlier panzers desgnated Mk V and Mk VI - the Panzerkampfwagon Neubaufahrzeuge - or, to give it its more manageable abbreviation, the Pz.Kpfw NbFz.  ‘Neubaufahrzeuge’ means ‘new construction vehicle.’  It was a heavy tank made by Rheinmetall and Krupp with a 75mm gun, and in keeping with the panzer designation numbers, the Model A was designated the Pz V and the Model B the Pz VI.  The Bs, or Mk VI variants, were used the Norwegian campaign but they were very unweildy  and slow and were scrapped in 1941.  Because they never went into full production and because they were scrapped, when the Panther and Tiger heavy tanks came out in 1942, they were given the Mk V and VI numbers instead.  Anyway, attached is the original Mk VI, the NbFz Model B.  This photo was taken in Lillehammer in 1940 which is why I included it in the book.

Adolf Hitler’s birthdays had, since his coming to power in 1933, always been occasions for his sycophants to demonstrate their unswerving adulation, but this, his fiftieth, on April 20 1939, was to be a nauseating extravaganza that would surpass any previous such occasions.  Chief organizer and master of ceremonies was none other than Josef Goebbels, Hitler’s devoted spin doctor and evil propaganda genius. Read more…

GETTING TO THE PARTY

It was war time. The Germans may not have invaded, but the Blitz had rained hundreds of thousands of bombs on Britain’s cities, bringing destruction on a scale never before witnessed by a civilian population. There was rationing – of food, drink, petrol – of everything, it seemed. Abroad, Britain had suffered one disaster after another: Norway, Dunkirk, the loss of the Channel Islands, Crete, the debacle of Dakar. Her lifeline, the convoys from America, were suffering such losses that Hitler’s promise to slowly strangle Britain into submission looked sure to become a reality.  In short, things were not going well.  The future looked rather bleak. Read more…

The Victory That Should Never Have Happened
The German triumph in the west in 1940 truly was one of the most incredible victories ever in all history, yet has been shrouded in myth to such an extent that the outcome is now widely regarded to have been nothing less than expected.  In popular historiography, the ultra-modern, highly-trained and overwhelming German armed forces crushed all before them, employing the brilliant all-arms strategy of ‘Blitzkrieg’.  General Gamelin, commander in chief of the French forces, told Churchill that the reason for their defeat was, “Inferiority of numbers, inferiority of equipment, inferiority of method.”  In fact, only the last was true. Read more…

I have now posted up three more interviews with Luftwaffe pilots, all of which I did back in May.  Karl Spreitzer, a Stuka pilot in  St.G.2 and Knight’s Cross winner, who saw action in Norway, the Battle of Britain, Greece, Crete, Malta, North Africa and Russia and stacked up a stagging 600+ combat missions.  He was a delightful man, and his memories sharp and clear - but he was ill too.  I sensed he was dying from cancer, and I wonder whether he is still alive.  Johannes Naumann was also a Knight’s Cross winner but a fighter pilot with JG26, flyingunder Adolf Galland. He flew throughout the Battle for France and the Battle of Britain and later was involved in the ‘Channel Dash’ when he shot down and killed Swordfish pilot Euene Esmonde.  Finally, Julius Neumann was also a fighter pilot, but with JG27.  He was shot down over England in August 1940 and became a prisoner of war.  The photgraph of him taken at Victoria Station is one of the more famous to have been taken during this time.  Sadly, only Julius Neumann still has his logbook.  The other two had theirs ‘taken by the Americans’ at the end of the war.  Where they are now is anyone’s guess.