A Night to Remember

A Night to Remember

In the crow’s nest, Fleet sees a large iceberg dead ahead and signals the bridge. He quickly reached above him and rang the bell three times. This was to signal that there was something out ahead. Fleet reached for the telephone and waited until it was picked up below. When it was answered he asked “Is there someone there?” “Yes” replied Officer Moody. “What do you see?” “Iceberg right ahead” Fleet answered. “Thank you” Moody replied as he hung up the phone. Sixth Officer Moody relays the message to Murdoch who instinctively orders “Hard-a-starboard” and telegraphs the engine room to stop all engines, followed by full astern. He also closes the watertight doors.

Titanic slowly begins to veer, but an underwater spar from the passing berg scraps and bumps along the starboard side for a 300-foot distance fully opening five forward compartments to the sea, as well as flooding the coal bunker servicing the No. 9 stokehold.

11:42 p.m. Aside from the men on the bridge and those closest to the impact, few realized that anything had happened. George Symons, just off duty as lookout, was lying in his bunk and thought that the anchor had dropped and the scraping sound he had heard was the chain running out of the ship. Henry Sleeper Harper, of the American publishing family, sat up in his bed and saw the iceberg pass his window, pieces of it crumbling as it went by. There were huge chunks of ice on the deck that people were kicking around as if it were a game.

Almost everyone in the first-class smoking room stood up from their seats when the jarring motion disturbed the room. Quartermaster George Rowe, located on the poop deck at the very stern of the ship, felt the jarring motion and, seeing the iceberg, walked to the rail to watch it pass.

11:55 p.m. The post office on “G” Deck forward is already flooding. After a quick inspection of the damage by Wilde, Boxhall and Andrews, Captain Smith knows the worst…that Titanic was sinking and the more than 2,200 people on board were in extreme peril.

Bruce Ismay, who had been asleep in his luxurious suite on B-deck, had also been awakened by the strange noise caused by the iceberg. Without bothering to change out of his nightclothes, he went to the bridge and asked Captain Smith what had happened. “We have struck ice,” Smith replied. “Do you think the ship is seriously damaged?” Ismay asked, hoping that things weren’t as bad as they might be. “I am afraid she is.”

Thomas Andrews, managing director of Harland & Wolff, arrived on the bridge a few minutes after Ismay departed. He told Captain Smith, in detail, of the full seriousness of the Titanic’s current situation. It was clear, based on reports received from throughout the ship, that the Titanic’s first six watertight compartments had been ruptured. The ship had never been designed to take this type of damage. The ship had been gashed opened to the sea.

Monday, April 15, 1912 shortly after midnight, Captain Smith ordered a radio call for assistance. Phillips taps out the regulation distress signal CQD…MGY…CQD…MGY… The 13,600 ton Cunard ship Carpathia recieved the message. Her Captain, Arthur Rostron, immediately turned his ship around and headed at full speed toward the Titanic’s radioed position.

The squash court, 32 feet above keel, is awash. The majority of the boilers have been shut down, and huge clouds of steam roar out of the relief pipes secured to the sides of the funnels. Smith orders that the lifeboats be uncovered and musters the crew and passengers.

12:15 a.m. Wallace Hartley and his band begin to play lively ragtime tunes in the 1st Class lounge on “A” Deck. They would continue to almost the end, and every member of the band would be lost.

12:25 a.m. Smith gives the order to start loading lifeboats with women and children. 2nd Officer Lightoller follows this order particularly to the letter.

The Murderers and their Accessories

The Murderers and their Accessories

W/Cdr Wilfred “Freddie” Bowes, F/Lt (later S/Ldr) Francis McKenna, F/Lt (later S/Ldr) “Dickie” Lyon, F/Lt Stephen Courtney, F/Lt Harold Harrison and W/O H J Williams, of the Royal Air Force Special Investigation Branch, painstakingly travelled Europe and gradually pieced together enough evidence to identify the culprits. Lt. Col. A P Scotland, an Army Intelligence expert, interrogated many suspects at the London Cage.

The Court President at the resulting trials was Maj-General H L Longden; the Judge Advocate was Mr C L Stirling, with a panel of six senior military officers – three Army Colonels, two RAF Wing Commanders and an RAF Air Commodore. Ten German lawyers – one a woman, Dr Anna Oehlert – formed the defence team. The Court pronounced its verdict on September 3rd 1947, and in early February 1948, thirteen of the perpetrators were hanged at Hamelin Gaol, Hamburg.

A short while after this, a second trial took place for three more of the accused.

(W/Cdr Bowes and S/Ldr McKenna were later both awarded the OBE for their work in bringing the culprits to justice. Lt Col Scotland also received the OBE for this, and other, duties.)

German Luftwaffe

General Grosch was the Luftwaffe officer directly responsible for the security and welfare of prisoners of war. He and his deputy, Colonel Waelde, were Interrogated by Lt.Col. Scotland at the London Cage. A German civilian, Peter Mohr, who worked in the Kriminalpolizei and who was outraged at the murders, provided key information to the interrogators.

Breslau Gestapo

Standartenfuhrer Seetzen was involved with the Breslau Sicherheitsdienst, and arrested in Hamburg on September 28th 1945, after identification by former colleagues. He bit on a cyanide capsule whilst being taken for interrogation, and died within minutes.

Obersturmbannfuhrer Max Wielen, Breslau Gestapo Chief, was sentenced to life imprisonment on 3-Sep-47 but only served a few years before being released.

Gestapo Chief Dr Wilhelm Scharpwinkel was masquerading as a Lt Hagamann in the No 6 Hospital at Breslau when Frau Gerda Zembrodt, corroborated by Klaus Lonsky, saw Russian officers remove him at gunpoint. During the enquiry into the murders, the Russians refused to co-operate with the Allied investigation, although after much prodding they allowed Scharpwinkel to make a statement, in Moscow, during August and September 1946. Soon afterwards, Scharpwinkel disappeared and although reported dead by the Russians on 17-Oct-47, was believed to have found a high position in the Soviet administration.

He and his associate Lux murdered Cross, Casey, Wiley, Leigh, Pohe and Hake. The next day Lux executed Humphries, McGill, Swain, Hall, Langford, Evans, Valenta, Kolanowski, Stewart and Birkland. The day after that, he executed Kiewnarski, Pawluk, Wernham and Skanzikas. On April 6th, Lux murdered Grisman, J E Williams, Milford, Street and McGarr. Long followed soon after. Lux is also believed to have killed Tobolski and Krol, who vanished in the same area as the others. Lux, with at least twenty-seven murders on his soul, died in the fighting around Breslau at the end of the war. Gunn, killed at Breslau, is likely to have been another of their victims.

Krimilalkommissar Dr Gunther Absalon investigated the escape and poked around at Sagan for some weeks. He chaired the German enquiry into the Escape and collected evidence. It is not clear what happened to him or whether or not he was involved in the murder conspiracy. Absalon, seen alive and well in Breslau in May 1946, was reported to me as (a) being hanged and (b) having died in a Russian prison in May 1948.

Soon after 1948 the investigators caught up with Erwin Wieczorek had been involved with the killing of Cross, Casey, Leigh, Wiley, Poole and Hake. He was sentenced to death but later the sentence was quashed.

Richard Haensel was acquitted on 6-Nov-48; Dankert and Kreuzer disappeared. Kiske, Knappe, Kuhnel, Pattke and Lang were killed in the Breslau fighting. Lauffer committed suicide. Prosse died in 1944 after an unsuccessful stomach operation. Hampel was not tried, and Schroeder was a material witness.

Brno/Zlin Gestapo

Brno Gestapo Chief Hugo Romer, believed to have given instructions for the murders of Kirby-Green and Kidder, disappeared. Kriminalrat Hans Ziegler, Gestapo Chief of Moravia, arranged the killing of S/L Tim Kirby-Green and F/O Kidder, which was done by Erich Zacharias (arrested in Fallersleben, also after having been given away by his deserted wife) and Adolf Knippelberg (arrested in Czechoslovakia), with drivers Friedrich Kiowsky (arrested in Prague by the Czechs) and Schwartzer. Knippelberg, Hauptsturmfuhrer Franz Schauschutz (arrested in Austria) and Zacharias were recognised from a painted mural in a dubious wartime Gestapo night club. The Czechs executed Schwarzer and Kiowski in 1947. Ziegler committed suicide in the London Cage (Cockfosters) on 3-Feb-48. Zacharias, described by Lt. Col. Scotland as “without doubt the most uncivilised, brutal, and morally indecent character in the entire story” was hanged at Hamelin on 27-Feb-48. Knippelberg was captured by the Russians; released in 1945, he disappeared.

Wilhelm Nolle was arrested 10-Jun-48 but was not tried; Otto Koslowsky was executed by the Czechs in 1947.

Danzig Gestapo

Danzig Gestapo Chief Dr Venediger ordered many of the killings and received 2 years on 17-Dec-57. The deaths of Henri Picard, Tim Walenn, Edward Brettell and Romas Marcinkus were believed to have been at the hands of Hauptmann Reinholt Bruchardt, who was traced in 1948 and sentenced to death but later commuted to life imprisonment (in Germany, this meant 21 years). Max Kilpe, Harry Witt and Herbert Wenzler were not prosecuted; Walter Sasse, Walter Voelz and Julius Hug disappeared.

Karlsruhe Gestapo

Oberregierungsrat Josef Gmeiner, who with Kriminalsekretar Otto Preiss shot Cochran, aided by his driver Heinrich Boschert. The latter was arrested in Karlsruhe, the French handed over Gmeiner, and all three were sentenced to death, although Boschert’s sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Gmeiner, Preiss and Walter Herberg were hanged at Hamelin on 27-Feb-48.

Otto Gannicher committed suicide 26-Apr-46; Magnus Wochner given 10 years.

Kiel Gestapo

Chief Friedrich Schmidt and his deputy Sturmbannfuhrer Johannes Post were being eagerly sought by the RAF SIB. Post, living with his mistress Marianne Heydt, was arrested at Minden under a false name after being given away by the wife he had deserted. Arrogant to the last, he admitted the murder of Catenach, Christiansen, Espelid and Fugelsgang, under the orders and assistance of Danzig Gestapo Chief Dr Venediger, and aided by Hans Kaehler and his associate at Danzig. Post, Oskar Schmidt, Walter Jacobs and Kaehler were hanged at Hamelin on 27-Feb-48; Friedrich Schmidt escaped prosecution until May 1968 when he was sentenced to 2 years in prison. Drivers Arthur Denkman and Wilhelm Struve were each given 10 years on 3-Sep-47.

Franz Schmidt committed suicide 27-Oct-46

Munich Gestapo

Gestapo agents Johan Schneider, Emil Weil and Eduard Geith shot Gouws and Stevens; all were hanged at Hamelin on 27-Feb-48. Charges against Oswald Schafer were dismissed on 11-Dec-68; Martin Schermer committed suicide on 25-Mar-45.

Reichenburg Gestapo

Gestapo Chief Bernhard Baatz, Robert Weyland and Robert Weissman of Bruex arranged the killing of W Williams, Bull, Kierath and Mondschein. Baatz disappeared after being released by the Russians; Weyland stayed living in the Russian Zone. The French later captured Weissman, but his fate is unknown.

Saarbrucken Gestapo

Oberleutnant Dr Leopold Spann (killed 25-Apr-45 in an air raid on Linz), Gestapo Chief at Saarbrucken, Kriminalsekretar Emil Schulz (found to be custody at Saarbrucken under a false identity) and driver Walter Breithaupt (arrested in Frankfurt) were responsible for the deaths of Roger Bushell and Bernard Scheidhauer. Schulz was hanged at Hamelin 27-Feb-48, Breithaupt given life on 3-Sep-47.

Strasburg Gestapo

The portly Alfred Schimmel, a former solicitor, and another unidentified Gestapo man took Hayter from Strasburg jail on April 6th 1944, and killed him near Breslau. Schimmel was hanged at Hamelin, 27-Feb-48,

Max Dissner committed suicide 11-May-45; Heinrich Hilker acquitted and died 11-Apr-48; Erich Isslhorst executed for other crimes.

The Escape Committee

The Escape Committee

Some of the finest escape artists in the Allied Air Forces arrived at Luft III. Squadron Leader (S/L) Roger J Bushell, CO of No 92 (Spitfire) Squadron had been shot down in May 1940, during the Battle of France. On a previous escape he had been hiding in Prague and was caught in the aftermath of the Heydrich assassination. The family hiding him were all executed by the Gestapo and Jack Zaphouk, his Czech co-escaper, was purged to Colditz Castle. Bushell developed a cold unyielding hatred for the enemy but failed, however, to distinguish between the Gestapo and the far better type represented by the Camp Kommandant.

Although the first SBO (Senior British Officer) was Group Captain Harry “Wings” Day (57 Sqdn, shot down 13-Oct-39, Blenheim I, L1138), he was succeeded by the arrival in June 1942 of a more senior officer, G/C Herbert M Massey, a rugged veteran WW1 pilot, and in October 1942 Wings Day was sent to Offizierlager (Oflag, or Officer Camp) XXIB. Bushell masterminded the Luft III Escape Organization, together with an executive committee of Flying Officer (F/O) Wally Floody (J5481), Peter ‘Hornblower’ Fanshawe RN and Flight Lieutenant (F/L) George Harsh (102 Sqdn, shot down 5/6-Oct-42, Halifax II W7824).

(Ranks Page)

Bushell collected the most skilled forgers, tailors, tunnel engineers and surveillance experts and announced his intention to put 250 men outside the wire. This would cause a tremendous problem and cause the enemy to divert men and resources to round up the escapers. His idea was not so much to return escapers to the UK but mainly to cause a giant internal problem for the German administration. He went about this task with a typical determinedness, despite having been officially warned that his next escape and recapture would result in him being shot.

Key Personnel

Tunnel engineering was in the expert hands of Floody, a Canadian Spitfire pilot and prewar mining engineer. The original ‘Tunnel King’, he masterminded the construction of all three tunnels, aided by F/Lt R. G. “Crump” Ker-Ramsey (Fighter Interception Unit, shot down on a night patrol 13/14-Sep-40, Blenheim IVF Z5721), Henry “Johnny” Marshall, Fanshawe, and a host of others. The dapper Rhodesian Johnny Travis and his team of manufacturers made escape kit such as compasses from fragments of broken Bakelite gramophone records, melted and shaped and incorporating a tiny needle made from slivers of magnetised razor blades. Stamped on the underside was ‘Made in Stalag Luft 3 – Patent Pending’.

F/L Des Plunkett (218 Sqdn, shot down 20/21-6-42, Stirling I, W7530 HA:Q) and his team assumed responsibility for map making. Real ID papers and passes were obtained by bribery or theft from the guards and copied by F/L ‘Tim’ Walenn and his forgers. These two departments were known as “Dean and Dawson” after a well-known firm of travel agents. Service uniforms were carefully recut by Tommy Guest and his men, who also produced workmens’ clothes and other ‘civilian’ attire. These were often hidden in spaces created by ace carpenter Pilot Officer (P/O) “Digger” Macintosh (12 Sqdn, shot down 12-May-40, Battle I, L5439 PH:N).

A surprising number of guards proved co-operative in supplying railway timetables, maps, and the bewildering number of official papers required for escapers. One tiny mistake in forgery, or one missing document would immediately betray the holder, a problem complicated by the fact that the official stamps and appearance of the various papers were changed regularly by the Germans. It was necessary to obtain details of the lie of the land directly outside the camp, and especially ascertain the location of the nearest railway station. Bribery by cigarettes or chocolate usually worked. In one case, a less than intelligent guard provided key information for which he was paid in chocolate. The prisoner asked him to sign a receipt, explaining that it was necessary to account for the chocolate. The guard obliged, and was soon blackmailed into bringing in a camera and film, Bushell being quite ruthless in exploiting such opportunities.

Forged papers included Dienstausweise (permission to be on Wehrmacht property), Urlaubscheine (military leave pass), Ruckkehrscheine (for foreign workers returning home), Kennkarte (general identity card), Sichtvermark (visa), Ausweise and Vorlaufweise (pass and temporary pass). Many of these required weeks of work to reproduce.

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