On January 2, 1998, as Melaouhi was leaving the hospital where he worked, someone driving an Opal deliberately cut him off, and then drove alongside him, forcing him onto oncoming traffic. His car crashed and he received severe injuries and ended up in the hospital for two weeks. It took him several months to recover. While in the hospital, following this “accident,” he remembered that, in 1989, after Hess’s murder, Dr. W. Hugh Thomas, had warned him to be careful of the British as they could not be trusted. 1104
Hess, despite the long years in prison, said this when the Allies delivered a life sentence for his “crime,” “To me was granted the privilege of working for many years of my life under the greatest son my country has brought forth in the thousand years of its history. Even if I were able, I should not want to erase this epoch from my past existence. I am happy to know that I have done my duty to my people—my duty as a German, as a National Socialist and as a true disciple of the Führer. I regret nothing. Were I to live my life again I should act once more, as I have acted now, even though I knew that at the end a funeral pyre was already flickering for my immolation: I care not what mere mortals may do. The time will come when I shall stand before the judgment seat of the Eternal. I shall answer unto Him and I know that He will judge me innocent.” 1105
The Duke of Kent, Royal Peacemaker
The NSDAP, even before 1933, wanted to make connections to RAF officers, the RAF Club and officials of the Air Ministry. Alfred Rosenberg created a report for Hitler about these activities in October 1935, which in part stated, “The attempts to find people in England who were eager to comprehend the German movement date back to 1929. Our English agent William de Ropp in Berlin then made possible my first journey to London in 1931. There it was possible to make a number of contacts which worked out well for Anglo-German understanding.” The report also indicated that the Duke of Kent was attempting to influence certain members of his family and others to evaluate what was going on in Germany. 1106
On November 29, 1934, in Westminster Abbey, the Duke of Kent married his second cousin, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark. Prince Phillip of Hesse, the intermediary between Hitler and Mussolini, was Princess Marina’s cousin. This was the last marriage between a British Royal and a member of a foreign royal house to date. In the 1930s, the Duke of Kent, interested in solving industrial and social problems in Britain, viewed the beneficial consequences, strengths and successes of German National Socialism. Hitler had alleviated unemployment, economic ruin and had halted communism. Others, including many Brits saw Hitler as a miracle worker, a great example for others to follow in their own countries.
Rosenberg’s report for Hitler in 1935 included, “At the end of the last year we were notified that the King of England had pronounced himself dissatisfied with the official press reports. The Duke of Kent’s visit to Munich had only worsened the English King’s opinion regarding official news reporting, and so one day we received the request from London to explain National Socialism down to the last detail to the Duke of Kent for the purpose of informing King George V. After careful consultation with me, de Ropp travelled to London where he unobtrusively had a three-hour conversation with the Duke of Kent, who then reported to King George V. It may be accepted that this meeting contributed very greatly in strengthening the pressure for a reconstruction of the Cabinet and mainly towards beginning the movement in the direction of Germany.” 1107
The failures of the League of Nations to maintain peace greatly saddened King George V in the last weeks of his life. He consulted Sir Robert Vansittart who was very discouraging about the possibilities of reaching an understanding with Germany. Vansittart wrote to Lord Ralph Wigram on November 7, 1935, saying that it would be unprofitable to “undertake any serious attempt for an agreement with Germany until our own national re-equipment is well under way.” Further, it was “essential that any such exploration should be undertaken in concert with the French.” He said that he was convinced that Germany would become “highly explosive” if she were given the opportunity to immorally “annex other people’s property in central or Eastern Europe.” 1108
Dr. Bertrand E. Dawson took care of George V who suffered a streptococcal infection in his chest which turned into a large abscess. On December 12, 1935, Dawson used a syringe to draw off a half quart of fluid from the abscess. Some of his medical colleagues were furious that Dawson did not consult a thoracic specialist, just one of the many times that other doctors opposed his treatment of the royal family. Dawson, in caring for King George in his final illness, announced that “the King’s life is moving peacefully towards its close.” Dawson wrote in his notebook that during the “death agony,” he administered three-quarters of a grain of morphine and one grain of cocaine into the King’s jugular vein. 1109
Reportedly, Dawson hastened King George V’s death, in order to announce it in the paper the next day. The London-based Jewish underground claimed that the King, distraught by the destruction of World War I, greatly objected to the idea of a potential war against his relatives, the royal families of Europe. Consequently, certain people wanted to eliminate King George which included a group of warmongers, led by Winston Churchill, who advocated another war against Germany. The King, who wanted peace, died on January 20, 1936.
Edward VIII, the eldest son of King George V, became King of the United Kingdom on January 20, 1936. Shortly into his reign, he proposed to Wallis Simpson, the American socialite, who was in the process of divorcing her second husband. Anthony Thomas Trevor-Stokes maintains, with information from credible eyewitnesses, that Churchill, fostering a conflict against Germany, provoked the abdication of Edward VIII, who, like his father, advocated peace and eschewed warfare, and certainly had his share of married lovers. It had nothing whatsoever to do with his upcoming marriage or Simpson’s marital status. 1110
The new Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin (1935-1937) dutifully contested this marital union, allegedly based on traditional and religious grounds, maintaining that the people would not accept a divorced woman as queen. The Church of England, which Edward now headed, opposed the remarriage of divorced people. On December 11, 1936, to avoid the political ramifications and due to the media-driven public pressure, Edward, who held German sympathies, abdicated the throne and later married Simpson. His younger brother Albert, who chose the name George VI, succeeded Edward, who was never crowned.
Sir Alexander Cadogan, who, in 1938, replaced Sir Robert Vansittart as Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, said, “It would be unwise to proclaim that we stand for the old boundaries of Poland. Such an attitude would render inevitable a conflict with Russia.” The real issue was that Britain had failed or refused to support Poland in its war with the Soviet Union (1919-1920) despite the inherent obligations of the Versailles Treaty. Britain also failed to respond when France occupied the Ruhr region of Germany in the 1920s and also failed to comply with its treaty obligations to respond to the Japanese when they invaded Nanking in 1937. In 1938, when Poland annexed part of Czechoslovakia or when Yugoslavia invaded that country in 1939, they turned a blind eye. Yet, when Germany justifiably took such actions, the British declared war. It could not have been because of Germany’s policies regarding the Jews because other countries had similar policies. 1111
Prime Minister Chamberlain became the convenient scapegoat for the failed peace of 1938. His cabinet, especially Sir Samuel Hoare, supported him and agreed with any and all efforts to seek peace. Hoare, an anti-war Quaker, was instrumental in the Hess flight. In 1917, Hoare, as a Secret Service agent in Moscow, had established connections to the Swedish aristocracy and had known the Royal Family in Russia where he was stationed during the Bolshevik Revolution. Later in 1917, in Italy, as Chief of Military Intelligence, he met Benito Mussolini, then a newspaper editor, who was battling Communism. Hoare joined Parliament in 1920 and later became Secretary of State for Air (1922-1929). Many people thought that he would ultimately become the Prime Ministe
r. 1112
In February 1937, the Duke of Kent and the Duke of Windsor met in Austria to discuss appeasement. Records in the Foreign Office indicate that the Duke of Kent had a friendly relationship with Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German Ambassador stationed in London. 1113 In 1937, Ribbentrop, in London, connected with numerous influential high-level people, including the Duke and Duchess of Kent. 1114 In February 1937, following that trip to Munich, the Duke of Kent visited with his brother, the Duke of Windsor in Austria, both of whom had pro-German views, just one week after Walter Monckton had visited Windsor. When war erupted, Churchill, doing whatever he could to keep the brothers apart, sent the Windsors to a remote area of the British Empire and installed the Duke of Kent as the governor of the Bahamas. 1115
In February 1939, King George VI was worried about Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria entering unlawfully into Palestine. Therefore, he directed his private secretary to write to Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax to persuade him to take measures to halt this illegal immigration. The Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII, was a scapegoat for others of the Royal Family. Reportedly, Queen Elizabeth (Queen Mother) endorsed appeasement and supported Neville Chamberlain and Lord Halifax and most of the Royal Family agreed with her. Up until 1942, the Royal Family had absolutely no confidence in Churchill or his ability to make peace with Germany. 1116
In early 1939, the Duke of Kent visited his cousin Prince Philip of Hesse trying to prevent the impending battle. In July 1939, with the full support of the King, Chamberlain and Lord Halifax, the Duke offered to personally negotiate with Hitler. Anthony Blunt, who would later function as the Queen’s art expert, and part of Philby’s spy apparatus, which sent him to the home of Prince Philip to obtain letters written to him by the Duke of Windsor and the Duke of Kent. 1117
Prince Philipp, a Storm troopers (SA) General, arrested by the Allies in 1945, had informally conducted conversations with Hitler and Windsor (then Edward VIII) and Prince George, the Duke of Kent. Sir Louis Greig, a close confident of the Duke of Kent, had attended the meetings that the Duke had with Baron de Ropp in 1935. Grieg, had been greatly trusted by King George V, attended the meeting of June 9, 1939, along with the Duke of Kent, the Duke of Hamilton, and General Walther von Reichenau. Grieg, after the war started, was informally assigned to the Cabinet War Rooms, with full clearance, as King George V’s representative. In 1941, Grieg would become Sir Archibald Sinclair’s personal secretary in charge of working with foreign heads of state, especially with General Władysław Sikorski. Certain individuals in the government were concerned about the Duke of Kent, with his many Polish friends, another reason for his attempts to establish peace. 1118
In early 1939, The Duke of Kent participated in secret talks with Prince Philipp of Hesse as they both sought to avoid war. In July 1939, the Duke, in speaking with King George VI, who readily appeared to favor the idea, as suggested by the Duke, of negotiating directly with Adolf Hitler. Thereafter, the King talked to Chamberlain and Lord Halifax about the proposal. When World War II erupted, the Duke relocated his family to Scotland, near Rosyth, in Fife. He then returned to active duty as a Rear Admiral with the Intelligence Division of the Admiralty. In April 1940, he would leave the Intelligence community and transfer into the Royal Air Force as an officer in the RAF Training Command. 1119
On September 30, 1939, in Paris, Polish officials set up a new Polish government-in-exile with General Sikorski as the Prime Minister. In June 1940, when France capitulated to Germany, Sikorski was in London talking with Churchill. Within a short time, Sikorski moved the exiled government to Scotland for the duration of the war. Most Polish people, including Sikorski, disliked the Germans but they absolutely detested the Soviets. The Polish people, those in exile in London, participated in the Hess incident, and were amenable to a peace settlement with Germany and favored her war against Soviet Russia. Sir William Seeds, the British Ambassador in Moscow, sent a letter to officials in London, saying “The Soviet invasion is not without advantage to us in the long run.” 1120
The Duke of Kent and his family often visited his wife’s sister in Munich. After each visit, he had dinner with the King, probably to inform him of activities in Germany. Because of his rhetorical skills, the Duke frequently represented the Royal Family, as he did when he visited Lisbon in 1940, to meet with the Portuguese leader, Antonio Salazar. He also met with Rudolf Hess, Rosenberg and regularly had dinner with von Ribbentrop. Baron de Ropp functioned as Ribbentrop’s liaison officer with the Royal Family, especially the Duke. In 1956, Rosenberg’s published diaries disclosed the nature of the relationship between the British royalty and Hitler. In one entry dated January 21, 1935, Rosenberg wrote, “A few days ago, Baron de Ropp came here again… His Majesty the King of England had expressed great astonishment to his political adviser that England’s information about the true situation in the Saar… had been very poor.” This was due to the failure of the press. Until de Ropp arrived in London, he did not realize that the King’s adviser was the Duke of Kent. 1121
In 1940, when the Duke of Kent visited Antonio Salazar, Prime Minister of Portugal (1932-1968), his brother, the former King Edward VIII, then in Madrid, intended to visit with his brother during his stay in Lisbon. Interestingly, certain British officials attempted to thwart that meeting by deterring the former king from going to Portugal until his brother left the country. On May 10, 1941, Rudolf Hess flew to Scotland to meet with the Duke of Hamilton who Hess anticipated would take him to King George VI. The authors of Double Standards: The Rudolf Hess Cover-up state that the Duke of Kent was at the Duke of Hamilton’s home when Hess arrived. Officials seized and censored the Duke of Kent’s papers which prevented the confirmation of this story. Other sources verify that he was at RAF Sumburgh in the Shetlands on May 9 and at Balmoral in Scotland on May 11. On May 12, he was at RAF Wick at Caithness which indicates that he was in that area when Hess arrived. 1122
The Duke of Hamilton recorded numerous meetings with the Duke of Kent in his diary in the early months of 1941. Elizabeth Byrd, a secretary, worked for Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton, the Duke’s brother. She maintains that Douglas-Hamilton told her, in order to protect the reputation of other members of the Royal Family, that the Duke accepted the “flak for the whole Hess affair in order to protect others even higher up the social scale.” 1123
In July 1941, the Duke of Kent was assigned as an air commodore in the Welfare Section on the RAF Inspector General’s staff. One of his tasks was making morale-lifting visits to RAF bases. When Edward VIII abdicated, he really wanted his youngest brother, Prince George, the Duke of Kent, who was more suited, to take the throne rather than Albert who many in the Establishment viewed as very weak and indecisive. On the other hand, the Duke of Kent was personable, and had a wonderful family which included a male heir. The Duke became the King’s unofficial intelligence officer, a job that he was well suited for due to his experience with the Royal Navy. He had also functioned in that capacity for his father, King George V and for his older brother, Edward VIII. During Edward’s abdication, he acted as his political adviser, along with Walter Monckton, someone who knew an incredible amount of information about the Hess incident. 1124
On August 25, 1942, Prince George, the Duke of Kent left Invergordon, allegedly on a morale-building expedition to the RAF personnel stationed in Iceland, with a highly distinctive crew, including Flight Lieutenant Frank Goyen who had flown many politicians. Thomas Lawton Mosley, a navigation specialist, was the co-pilot and a former instructor at the School of Navigation. The Duke of Kent was just one of fifteen people aboard the Sunderland flying boat, aircraft, that left Invergordon, situated on the east coast of Scotland at 1:10 pm. Among others accompanying the Duke, was his private secretary, John Lowther, Michael Strutt, another assistant, and John Hales, his valet. The craft was to only fly over the water and avoid crossing any land. They planned to follow the coastline to Duncansby Head, and then change course to northwe
st and fly over the Pentland Firth towards Iceland. 1125
On that day, the Duke of Kent and others perished when their aircraft crashed in Scotland. Officials claim that the records of his death have disappeared from the archives. John Simkin, a researcher, believes that Winston Churchill ordered British Intelligence operatives to sabotage the aircraft in order to assassinate Prince George as “part of a cover-up operation.” 1126 Reportedly, Germany and Britain secretly agreed to an alliance which the Duke of Kent was going to sign in Sweden, presumably on behalf of his brother, King Albert.
The S-25 Sunderland Mk III, at a height of around 650 feet, crashed into Eagle’s Rock in the afternoon but there is confusion about the exact time. The flying boat was off course when it crashed and exploded, due to the 2,500 gallons of fuel in the wings. Although four experienced navigators were aboard the flying boat, it managed to be off course by fifteen degrees, on a perfectly clear day. The pilot certainly would have known that he was flying over land instead of over water. Interestingly, he then descended to 650 feet as he flew over high land, a challenging feat as the S-25 Sunderland Mk III was decidedly sluggish when ascending, especially when it carried a lot of weight, as was the case with the Duke of Kent’s flight. 1127
Some local residents, including Dr. John Kennedy, heard the crash and arrived at the scene about ninety minutes after hearing the explosion. Two police officers, Will Bethune and James Sutherland discovered fifteen bodies, including that of the Duke of Kent. In 1985, Bethune, in a radio interview, told how he found the Duke’s body, which had an attaché case handcuffed to his wrist. During the impact, the case had ruptured, dispersing its contents all over the hillside.
The next morning, following the crash, the newspapers reported the deaths of everyone on board the Sunderland. Officials sent telegrams to the family members of the crew. Fortunately, later that day, they announced that Andrew Jack, the tail-gunner, had survived the crash as the tail section broke off when the flying boat exploded and landed in a peat bog on the other side of a hill. Jack, with minor injuries, instead of checking the wreckage for the other passengers, or waiting for help to arrive, fled the scene, ignoring standard procedures, remaining with the wreck. Jack found an isolated cottage, owned by Elsie Sutherland who telephoned Dr. Kennedy.
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