The Valkyrie Option

by Markus Reichardt

  If GOODWOOD failed to crack the German hold on Caen the Commonwealth troops in the eastern sector of the Normandy bridgehead would remain bottled up and would have to await the outcome of Operation COBRA, the American break-out offensive planned for the western side of the bridgehead later that week. But there was another reason for Monty's inner nervousness. He had always argued that part of Allied strategy should be to 'grind up' the Germans formations in a slugging match so as to leave them eventually unable to block the break-out offensive when it came. However, it had turned out that this war of attrition was working against the British as much as it was against the Germans. Just a week earlier Monty had written to Sir Alan Brooke, British Chief of General Staff and his principal protector; "The British forces in Normandy have in fact reached their peak and within the confines of the bridgehead can get no stronger. It will in fact get weaker as the manpower situation begins to hit us. The casualties have affected the fighting efficiency of divisions; the original men were very well trained; reinforcements are not so well trained. This fact is becoming more and more apparent and will have repercussions on what we do. " On the basis of this argument Brooke had convinced as sceptical Churchill and an even more sceptical Allied Supreme Commander, General Eisenhower, of the need for another push on the Caen front.

  Brooke, like Montgomery also had another more strategic reason for supporting GOODWOOD. While the Americans had reached nowhere near the limit of their manpower reserves, Britain had. Both men had kept a close eye on Commonwealth casualties, and while they remained lower than those of the US Army, the first month of fighting in Normandy had resulted in more than 22 000 casualties. Now two weeks later, that figure was up to 34 500. Add to that more than 11 000 sick who had to be evacuated back to England [11] Americans losses were nearly double that but Britain fighting a war for more than 4 years could no longer feed replacements into the line as liberally as the Americans. In the second week of July the British Army's Adjutant-General quietly had begun breaking up battalions to fill the ranks of others in the line. Now he was considering disbanding an entire division to get his replacements. More worryingly, British war production had been falling in all areas since 1943 with more and more coming from Commonwealth factories and of course the Americans via the Lend-Lease programme.[12] No, GOODWOOD was likely to be the last British major offensive with war-winning potential. If Britain hoped to remain a world power after the war she needed success on the battlefield and a quick end to the blood-letting. Should GOODWOOD fail Britain would no longer enjoy parity with the Americans in ground-force strength and eventually end up dwarfed by her ally, leaving the initiative in the conduct of the war to the Americans. Montgomery bristled at that thought.

  His thoughts were interrupted by an aide who announced a visitor. Monty eyed the airborne officer, who with minimal introduction rolled out a map and two large black-and white aerial photographs showing a major chateau on a riverbank - La Roche Guyon.

  “This Sir, is Field Marshal Rommel's headquarters.” Montgomery kept his eyes on the photos willing the man to continue. Secret-squirrel stuff, these paratroopers took themselves entirely too serious. Their use offered great flexibility but as the D-Day landings had shown they had very real strategic limitations.

  The chateau, to which the officer pointed, was a typical site for a German General to choose: located on the banks of the River Seine, it backed on to a steep cliff making it a hard target for bombers, while a labyrinth of caves and tunnels burrowed out of the cliff appeared to house the communications facilities.

  “Our agents, supported by the French resistance have been watching the site for more than two weeks now, Sir. And with your permission I would like to outline an operation designed… “. He looked around and seeing no-one else within earshot leaned forward conspiratorially - 'I trust we are unlikely to be overheard'. Montgomery gave the man a pained stare. ‘What'd you expect, TAC HQ crawling with Nazi spies wearing identification badges so that officers of the realm know when to be circumspect? Really man, get on with it!’

  Seemingly impervious to the sarcasm, the paratrooper launched into his presentation, bombshell first. Sir, what I propose to do is take a battalion of the First Airborne, seize the site and capture Field Marshall Rommel and as much of his staff as we can lay our hands on.’ He let the statement hang in the air. Then, sensing no opposition, he continued. 'This site is not as impregnable as it looks. While an assault from the river has clear limitations, our observation has shown that the perimeter is manned by only two under-strength infantry companies and the spare men of the signalling units of Army Group HQ, less than 350 men all in all. We know for sure that one of those companies is made of recuperating veterans. There are two barbed-wire perimeters and two gates through which all traffic including the Field Marshall's must pass. The perimeter itself is not heavily defended - from a source inside and aerial photography we have identified less than a dozen machine gun nests...’

  'Spare me the details, Colonel. What do you have in mind?'

  'Against this I submit to you that it would be possible to land a force of 300 paratroops by night drop, both inside and outside the perimeter, overpower the defenders and capture the HQ staff. ' For a moment it sounded interesting, the possibility of reading his opponents mail was tempting, but there was a catch. 'And how do you propose to evacuate the men after you have seized the materials you are after?'

  'The drop would take place around four am when everyone is asleep. By the time our objective has been secured and all the prisoners taken, two squadrons of Typhoon fighter bombers would provide cover for the retreat. They would also provide cover for a second detachment to secure a nearby landing strip. Rommel himself uses this strip and it is lightly guarded for when the occasion demands. Only a small AA detachment that also seems comprised of recuperating veterans. There are no German motorized or tank units in the area. '

  'You mean none that you have been able to identify.'

  'The paratrooper was hurt, 'General Montgomery, I assure you that we have done our homework.'

  'And yet would you be able to guarantee that first I am not agreeing to a suicide mission for an entire battalion of 'Sky Rats' and secondly that you will come back with a living Field Marshal? The cost of this mission failing are enormous.' Monty was in a bad mood and the paratrooper was entirely too smug.

  'There are no guarantees, sir. If we are unable to spirit the Field Marshal out of the site, he would have to be eliminated. '

  'Swell old chap, now we are talking assassination.'

  'Sir the value to our cause of having the principal German commander and much of his staff abruptly removed from the scene, would be incalculable. The confusion in the enemies' ranks would be enormous. If this were timed to coincide with an offensive.'

  'Montgomery suddenly softened.' Yes, yes indeed it would. Is there a way we could do this without tearing up half the countryside?'

  It was time for the regular morning briefing by the various intelligence, logistics and staff officers that populated his camp. Of lately their news had been anything but good. Rommel's removal could indeed make a difference. He was a living legend to his troops, the commander who would never let his men down. If taken alive there was more than a mere tactical advantage to be gained. Even before Monty had assumed command in North Africa, British commandoes had tried to capture or kill the Desert Fox.

  'Very well Colonel, continue your reconnaissance and your preparations. If today's attack goes well I doubt we would need your mission. Nevertheless, report to me when you have completed a plan and reduced the risk to our men. I must confess I find the prospect of assassination distasteful, therefore you will proceed on the basis of taking and retrieving prisoners and wounded. The risks in this are still rather high. However I accept that one must consider all options. Let me know something more substantial within a week.’

  Evening , July 19th, 1944

  Prinz Albrecht Strasse SD-HQ

  Berlin

  ‘The
release of tension which the Normandy landings brought to people’s morale has now dissipated as the Wehrmacht’s moves to throw the Anglo-American allies back into the sea are taking longer than hoped for. Equally people hoped, perhaps too simplistically, that the impact of the Vengeance weapons upon enemy morale and actions would be faster. The need to be patient and await the Führers countermoves has now begun to sink in. Party members are generally successful in convincing people that for the time they must place their trust in the Führer and his plans while resisting the terror bombing as best they can.’

  Walter Schellenberg tossed the SD-Interior brief onto the cluttered desk. Of medium height and clean-shaven, the outwardly shy head of SS-Foreign Intelligence was officially tasked with espionage outside of the Reich’s borders, but as effectively the number 3 or 4 in the SS hierarchy – depending upon Himmler’s moods - he made it his business to key an eye on everything he thought important or interesting and the morale of the German people was certainly important.

  ‘The Führer’s plans.’ He snickered silently, his square youthful features immobile. Many in the SS found his high-pitched voice effeminate, though the duelling scar on his chin told of a different person. The Führer always had a plan but would reality oblige? So far at least the people still thought so. He lit another cigarette.

  The reports of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) and the Gestapo whose thousands of full-time and part-time informers reported much of what the German people said in trust and in private, came onto his desk a few days after Himmler’s 2IC, Kaltenbrunner and Gestapo Chief Müller saw them. However, unlike his counterparts, Schellenberg treasured the honest undiluted truth of the reports. Much as the heads of the mighty SS apparatus believed in the power of their system, they were honest enough to admit the need for a regular, unedited insight into their subjects feelings.

  Well at least the people still believed. After nearly five years of war they still believed. Schellenberg envied them because he did not. One of the very few educated men at the top of the SS hierarchy, Walter Schellenberg had been a late convert to the cause and had relied more on his organisational skills than his ability to recite Nazi doctrine, to rise through the ranks. He had had his misgivings about the timing of the war in 1939. The Reich had not been as well prepared as it could have been and Hitler had hesitated to long before converting to a full-scale war economy. Attacking Russia before subduing England had worried him. But it was in early 1942 when the failure to subdue Russia through another quick Blitzkrieg and the entry of the USA into the war had sunk in, that Walter Schellenberg’s cold rational reasoning had deduced that in the long run Germany would loose. It was simply a matter of resources. Accepting that and being able to do something about it, even as SS General in charge of foreign espionage, were two things. He had put out feelers to the fellow spymasters. Admiral Canaris, head of Military intelligence, he knew, disapproved of Hitler and was most likely working hand in glove with the old generals who talked ineffectually about their dislike for the Führer. Schellenberg had an inkling that they had tried to do something about it at least twice, but had never gotten any details.

  By mid-1942 he had begun to ‘do something about it’, broaching the topic very gently to Himmler. Kaltenbrunner and Mueller, he had decided from the start, could not be trusted in this matter. Himmler had listened and even sometimes nodded but he did nothing. 1943 and 1944 had come and with it further reverses.

  At least he had been able to establish a link to the OSS chief in Switzerland Allen Dulles and sounded him out on the terms - they were always the same and they were what he expected. Without the removal of Hitler no allied nation would even contemplate talking ceasefire let alone peace with the Reich. Again he had raised the matter with Himmler but the Reichsfuehrer SS, while accepting some of his argument – wanted nothing to do with this. “ Our honour is loyalty – loyalty to the death – without loyalty we are nothing.” Himmler’s phrases had been just that - phrases. Schellenberg had retreated and continued talking to Canaris (until he took over his agency) and Dulles. His problem was that he had no way of even imagining how the critical factor – the removal of Hitler would be achieved – even theoretically. Germans made bad revolutionaries. They would continue believing in their Führer till the bitter end. Head resting on folded hands SS-General Walter Schellenberg no longer believed but he did not want to be there for the bitter end. For an SS General, even a pragmatic one, that was a dilemma.

  * * *

  'The assassination must be attempted at all costs. Even if it should not succeed, an attempt to seize power in Berlin must be undertaken. What matters now is no longer the practical purpose of the coup, but to prove to the world and for the records of history that the men of the resistance movement dared to take the decisive step. Compared to this objective, nothing else is of consequence.'

  Brigadier Henning von Treskow

  Chief of Staff Army Group Centre,

  Russian Front 1942

  Evening, July 19th, 1944

  Suburb of Stieglitz

  Berlin

  The moon was a pale disc among the clouds over night-time Berlin. With windows darkened by blackout the city seemed almost lifeless, dark shells looming in the night. Before the war and before Hitler, Berlin had once been the heart of learning and culture in Europe; a dazzling city of light and life. Now it seemed to hide in the shadows, licking its wounds from the interminable rain of death and destruction that Allies bombs brought so regularly now to the capital of Adolf Hitler's Greater German Reich.

  The staff car with its lights covered in black-out straps that reduced its beams to faint slits passed slowly through the residential suburb of Stieglitz. It was nearly 7:30 pm and there were few people about. Against the faint light of the moon, the silhouette of a lone pointed church tower rose into the night.

  'Please stop and wait here. I need a few moments to think' the tall officer in the backseat told the driver.

  He stepped out of the car and slowly scanned his surroundings before casting his eye upwards to where a small, but solid cross sat on the tip of the church tower. Slowly he removed his officer’s cap and the moon shone pale on his aristocratic face. Straight, pitch-black hair amplified the towering height of his six foot athletic frame. The war had left its mark on him. The right uniform sleeve flapped empty and useless on his side as he strode towards the church entrance. His handsome, classic features were starkly amplified a strong chin and dark eyebrows, the latter partly covered by a black eye patch that covered an empty eye-socket. The uniform hid even more scars.

  The remaining three fingers of his gloved right hand closed around the handle of the heavy wooden church door and he stepped into a dimly lit antechamber. There were only a few faithful; solitary figures lost in their own pleas with God. With determined steps he passed through the arches into the main hall. Two rows from the altar he knelt on the cold stone floor, face upright.

  'Lord, my God. Please hear my prayer' whispered Colonel Claus Schenk Count von Stauffenberg. 'Lord, you know my mission, you know its purpose....

  Most people found Stauffenberg's appearance arresting, the classical image of the warrior through all time. Born into an ancient and distinguished aristocratic family, the passion of his youth had been horses, outdoor sports, literature and music at which he excelled. It had thus come as a surprise to most of his friends when he had chosen a military career. As a child he had overcome many illnesses, which had helped him develop an iron will and determination. And while he continued his literary interests he put it to good use. After several years in a famous cavalry regiment, he had been selected for the General Staff and had served with distinction in mechanized units in Poland, France and Russia.

  In 1943 he had joined 10th Panzer Division in North Africa. Under Rommel's command he fought at Kasserine Pass before in April that year British fighters caught his staff car in the open and shot it and him to pieces. In the field doctors were forced to amputate he right hand below the elbow and the lower fingers
of his left hand. He also lost an eye and spent the next six months in a variety of field hospitals while surgeons extracted a seemingly endless number of metal fragments from his body. With his body healing and time to think, Stauffenberg took in the extent of Germany's military situation in the wake of the disasters in North Africa and Stalingrad; and Hitler's role in it. Ambivalent towards Hitler's regime even before the war, he had emerged from the hospitals convinced of the need to remove Hitler by force if necessary. By late 1943 he had become a full member of the Resistance’s inner circle which he found in total disarray.

  Within the German military there had been individuals who from day one had opposed Hitler. The Commander of the armed forces, Colonel General von Hammerstein had plotted an overthrow of the regime as early as 1934. Chief of Staff Colonel-General Beck had taken over as the driving force of opposition but had scored a major own goal when he resigned in protest over Hitler’s expansionist policy in the late 1930s. By 1943 his health had reduced his role to that of a highly respected bystander. During 1942 and 1943 a number of attempts, organized mainly by younger army officers, had failed and left the Widerstand demoralized. By then the centre of the conspiracy had shifted into the Abwehr, German military intelligence under Admiral Canaris until the Gestapo had closed in, in early 1944. At the same time the Kreisau Circle, a group of intellectuals centred around the von Molkte family and loosely connected to the military opposition had also been broken up. This left Stauffenberg’s group to carry on.