"perttime" asks me to show you some of my projects.
Unfortunately there are only two worth to talk about since I was back into kit-building.
This is the first one, finished and therefore just the story about and a few pics:
What if?
June, 20th, 1944 ...: Colonel Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg had at least time to put the second package of British explosives in his briefcase, and to place in the situation room of Adolf Hitler's eastprussian Headquarter Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair).
„Dolfy“ and others stuck as chopped meat at the residues of the building walls after it had made "Booom".
Major Remer, when he was in the Berlin residence of the „Reichspropagandaminister“ (the [3rd] Reich's Minister of Propaganda) for the purpose of his arrest, was asked by Minister Joseph Goebbels for permission for a telephone call with the Führer's headquarters. After the experience of a dead line Remer, a model of an instruction-is-instruction-soldier, arrested „dat Jüppchen“ (the little Joe).
Meanwhile, had the in the German-occupied Europe parallel occuring „Unternehmen Walküre“ (Operation Valkyrie) also success and that same night transmitted every German radio station, all official and unofficial soldiers and military stations, all local "Drahtfunkstationen" („wire radio stations“...forerunner of today's cable broadcasters) as well as the few still in operation television broadcasting stations, but only with with a photo from his time as mayor of Leipzig, an address by the now Executive Chancellor Dr. Carl Friedrich Goerdeler contents of this talk of the death of the Führer and the automatically associated dissolvement of soldiers of the Wehrmacht and SS from the personal oath to the Führer.
After this he appeals to all the soldiers of the German armed forces to fulfill to their former commitment without oath.
Subsequently Goerdeler asked in the name of the Reich all war opponents to the start of talks to end the hostilities.
In his speech, he admitted to know the demand for unconditional surrender and to understand the reason why, but he asked the Allies to think over a refrainment.
He also underlined the absolute will of his government, the Reich and its people for peace and asked for forgiveness for everything wrong done so far.
Pending a response to the Allied governments, he promised as a gesture of good will, with this speech, and subsequently by telephone, radio and in writing and sent couriers to land, to water and air to give order to all units in Heer, Luftwaffe and Marine should cease its current operations until midnight and then only should respond to attacks.
Moreover, all under and over water combat units of the Navy from the sea and German-occupied ports were ordered back into German ports.
Next, at the latest the overnext day emissairies of the Confederatio Helvetica (Swiss) would handed over to the governments or the representatives of the allied nations an official letter.
Goerdeler called in the speech directly Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President of the United States, Winston Spencer Churchill, the British Prime Minister, Joseph Stalin, the "Red Tsar" of the Soviet Union (this nickname he has not used; I've wrote it), Charles de Gaulle, as representative of the "Free France", and King Victor Emmanuel III. of Italy.
Moreover, the exiled governments of by the Nazis occupied and still by Germany held countries would receive identical letters.
The Allied High Command, he immediately asked to cancel the bombing of German cities.
What actually happened was the next day: the re-introduction of the Weimar Constitution of 1919 and the oath of civil servants and, as soon as possible, the soldiers planned on this.
All the Nazi organizations, unless they were important military, disbanded and banned and the remaining members also sworn in to the constitution.
By decree and without delay the military units of the Waffen-SS were organizationally affiliated to the Wehrmacht. And the political and ideological leftover of the SS-organization were banned.
To his surprise and that of his colleagues, it was not long before first positive response came from Washington.
The few remaining German spys in the UK initially provided little encouragement, but de Gaulle signaled at least no principled opposition.
From Moscow came... surprise: nothing!
Eight days later, the Swiss envoy together with a representative of the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) and the Swedish Ambassador at the Berlin Chancellery made reports.
What was discussed in the meantime, in Washington, London, Moscow, Rome and with General de Gaulle and his staff, we don't know until today in details, but the result was the following: The former german partner Italy and the enemies Great Britain, France and the United States agreed under the auspices of the United States for a ceasefire.
The Reich agreed in return to wthdraw from France, the Benelux countries and Italy immediately.
The U.S. insisted in the fact that the Wehrmacht have to leave the Balkans and the occupied scandinavian countries within a reasonable time.
Moreover, the concentration camps must be dissolved immediately to rehabilitate the inmates and to compensate along with the families of those already murdered.
All German war criminals must be handed over to those currently in foundation „United Nations“, represented by the Allied high command, and all discriminatory laws of the Nazis to be invalidated.
The German government declared that the concentration camps were already in disarray and agreed without limitation.
Only Moscow and thus Stalin balked.
Stalin announced to want to destroy Germany in an emergency also single-handed and to have the resources to do so!
No one doubted that.
And everyone knew that Stalin would not stop on the eastern banks of the river Rhine!
Therefore asked the Reich's Government Great Britain and the United States, to stop the supply convoys to the Soviet Union.
Chruchill, who feared and hated his former ally Stalin at least as much as his now dead enemy Hitler because he knew his mind exactly, gladly agreed and persuaded Rooseveld to agree to the request of the german Government.
They say he had told the President that he no longer wanted to give Stalin even a thread for sewing a uniform button!
As then days later intelligence reports confirmed a rumor to Roosevelt on the line of Churchill: furiously on the development in Germany and the flirtation of his allies with the Germans, and the inability of his intelligence service, to see all this ahead and it's consequences, Stalin had cited his intelligence chief Lavrentiy Beriya in his office in the Kremlin. Stalin made Beriya by words "so small with hat", until he suddenly shot him by own hand.
That finally convinced Rooseveld, who always said, his (Stalin) character was not as worse, as Churchill ever claimed
That same evening all convoys to the Soviet Union, according to their position in the Atlantic, are called back to the U.S., or diverted to Britain.
The next day, the United States and Britain changed position to the side of the former enemy.
The parliaments in Washington and London, and even the population of both countries made this swing within a few days, for the war against the Nazis was everywhere considered necessary but the war against Germany was less popular in both countries (though, because of the short time, a masterful performance of the British and American propaganda machine).
Only de Gaulle delayed with respect to the trauma of the defeat of his nation in 1940, but granted British and American troops unhindered passage to Germany and to the Wehrmacht free withdrawal, and if necessary, also escort to act together in Germany and who to turn east.
Files of the Reichsmarine (the Reich's Navy) and the allied headquarters tell by the way an event of this period, which hab been quickly come toan tragic accident:
One of the German U-boats, that was on his routine walk back to its home port and due to a malfunction of its radio system knew nothing of the events in the homeland, met in the Atlantic north-west of Scotland in the fractured darkness an Allied convoy.
The U-boat commander was about to order the attack, something unimaginable happened for him: Almost as a collusion suddenly all ships enlightend, both the freighter, and the escort ships. Lights like in peacetime, almost even in fleet visits or parades. Moments later, they changed their course towards the British Isles.
According to the notation of the commander in the war diary of the submarine he was literally the command stick in his throat and he further reports that shortly after the signal lamps of all vessels, the words "There is peace!" (Es ist Frieden!) morsed in German in all directions. Then the commander decided to pull in the periscope and emerge. Almost immediately, one of the destroyer escort had left the formation, hoisted the white flag and without accelerating in an aggressive manner, set course for the submarine. Finally, he went alongside.
About the further progress is reported that the British commander of the destroyer had invited the German „Kaleun“ (Kapitänleutnant = Lieutenant Commander) on a visit to his ship and after he had heard of the dead radio system, have allowed him to use their own radio system.
Thus the Kaleun learned about what happens at home in the meantime.
Another story is documented in the regimental diaries of both an American and a German tank unit:
With the cessation of hostilities, there stood near Caumont in Normandy (France) a U.S. and a German heavy SS-Panzer-regiment face to face. The American unit had throughout Sherman tanks in stock, while the German unit was equipped because of the losses of the first invasion weeks with Panthers, Tigers and Kingtigers mixed. Some of the German tanks and cars and trucks were formerly abandoned and and now back-to-the-road vehicles. Also two Shermans and a British Cromwell tanks were yielded.
In the following days of mutual relaxation, as in many parts of the western front, the previous opponents visited each other, so to speak and practice their own anticipatory peace.
And the longer this situation lasted, the more familiar and carefree they are to another.
But one morning before dawn, the soldiers of the American unit were awakened by a frightening noise, underpinned with clear and very loud human roars.
And when they came sleepily from their tents, they saw their camp surrounded by the entire heavy (meanwhile now ex-) SS-Panzer-regiment, with the powerful spotlights lit up the whole area.
The tubes of all German weapons from the guns of the officers, on the rifles of the teams and the machine guns of the mobile „Flak“ (Anti-aircraft machine-canons) up to the canons of all battle tanks of the (ex-) SS regment were pointed to the Americans.
The GIs sees themselves already march into German captivity, because resistance was futile, in face of this weapons power.
Then broke away from the German phalanx several vehicles: A sound truck, two trucks with trailers, each covered with canopy and four Kübelwagen (VW-Jeeps), each with a steaming field kitchen.
Tese vehicles took place in the middle of the still like pillars of salt standing GIs almost like a barricade from the American pioneer days in the middle of the camp.
Then something happened something extremely more confusing to the Americans: All Germans, human and machines turned their arms to the sky, all vehicles gave full throttle at ithe same moment and then they let all their weapons fire in the sky!
The infantry weapons bangs only, but from the machine guns and -canons, the smaller canons flares shot into the sky!
From the tubes of the tanks came red, blue and white signal- and battlefield illumination grenades!
"Confusion" was the word for the GIs of the moment and in the thunder of the cannons sounds from the loudspeakers suddenly the American National Anthem!
After a few seconds of music the americans heard a voice with a distinctly German accent yelling "We all wish you a happy Independence Day."
Just in this moment the covers of the trucks and trailers flew up, a swarm of Germans jumped off of a trailer and ran to the field kitchens. And from megaphones of the truck and the still occupied trailers heard the Americans: "You want some beer? Come here! "
In this very moment the U.S. soldiers understood why Red, Blue and White was shot in the sky: These were the colors of the Stars and Stripes!
The closing words of the American report is translated: "Such a surprise for the 4th July was none of us had experienced ".
And the diary of the (ex-) SS Panzerregiment was (according to the old SS-style) flippant. "We have never had experienced guys with much scare in the pants , but then we all had a lot of fun"
But enough of the anecdotes!
At the same time in East Asia Japan sees deprived of his quasi-single, but certainly strongest ally.
The Tenno Hirohito, one hundred and twenty-fourth of a continuous divine column, a very thoughtful and intelligent man, who has never liked Hitler, saw in the moment the destruction and defeat of his country.
Remembering his legal name "Showa Tenno" (way of peace) he assembled loyal vassals and arrested Tojo Hideki, the de facto military dictator of Japan and asks for armistice to each of its enemies. Even in view of the fact that Showa Tenno finally fulfilled his name, I want this trip to the other side of the world, which I have done only for completeness, then quit and turn back to our region.
Making the long words short, British and American soldiers of all arms, as well as other nations soldiers fought alongside the Wehrmacht against the Soviet Union.
One result of this second phase of the Second World War was the establishment of mixed national units, particularly in the air force.
British, Canadians, Americans and others had already given examples in the navies.
And so it was also establishing a mixed American-German „Schlachtfliegerverband“ (Ground attac unit), who was equipped with the new Junkers Ju 387 "Falke" (Hawk).
The Ju 387 was powered by a Junkers Jumo 004-B Jet engine and was a development of the older dive bomber Ju 87 "Stuka". Because of the already before the turn of the war existing shortage of materials, Junkers made a virtue of necessity and used overproduced cells and redesigned and modified into sweepback wings of the Stukas for the development of the 387, because the old Ju 87 by its design was a very stable and robust aircraft with high structural integrity and had in the "G" version already proven their suitability as cannon carrier.
The executives at the U.S. Air Force could not withstand to the Luftwaffe leadership to do a small kind of joke. So they sent as the first pilot of the new mixed unit Lieutenant Gideon Blum, a son of German emigrants of jewish faith.
Lt. Blum, however, had already acquired as a fighter pilot merits: first as a pilot of the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) in the Pacific theater, where he had shot down two Japanese planes and later on after his transfer to the Air Force and to Europe, where he three German aircrafts had been killed, but he had received mainly in the fight against ground targets.
On the tail of his Ju 387 he was able to brush on later that he had paint a number of dashes of victories against the Soviet air forces and against Soviet tanks.
This old "Stuka", built in my youth, was the base for my project:
After de-asssembling:
And this was the result:
On a "concrete" ground:
And just for fun in black and white:
If there is anyone interested in the illustrated story of the building, just say and I will add some pics.
Max
