Chapter 3 – At Berlin

Berlin, June 17th, 1940

When the plane touches ground a driver is already waiting to bring him to the Reichsluftfahrtministerium. Student is already waiting there.
“Ramcke, it is good to have you here at Berlin. I hope you had an interesting trip. Sorry for calling you back, but I need your support. Tomorrow morning we will meet Hitler. The branches will present their concepts for the campaign against England. Göring will suggest several options for the Luftwaffe: support of an invasion, strategic bombing and air war against the British oversea trade. I assume that airborne operations against harbors and airports will be one topic. The key issue here is how we can hold the line long enough and bond to that how can we get heavy arms to support the airborne troops? I know that you made a study to this issue and that you have some ideas, so I want you to join the meeting. Furthermore, I guess in the end Hitler will order to make a detailed operation plan for the invasion of England. It will be your job to care about the airborne part.”

Ramcke: “Invasion, strategic air war and war against sea trade; what do you think about these options?”
Student: “Why do you ask?”
Ramcke: “At Paris I met an old comrade from the navy. He was not confident about the invasion.”
Student: “Well, maybe it is not as easy as some people want it to be. There is a report called “Fall Blau” done by General Felmy in summer of 38. It says that the Luftwaffe does not have the ability to wrestle Britain down. German air raids can only be hecklings. Another analysis from last summer states that due to the British determination and the ability of its leaders to the British terror raids cannot break the moral of the British.”
Ramcke: “Does Göring now these reports?”
Student: “He ordered them! However, they are top secret. I doubt that Hitler has seen them. We should not rack the brains of somebody else. Let us focus on the airborne operations.”

Ramcke and Student talk for a while about the invasion of England and about the meeting at the next morning. In the evening Student says: “Before you can meet Hitler I have to introduce you to Göring.”
They cross the corridors of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium and enter the office of Göring. Student introduces to the Generalfeldmarschall. Göring welcomes Ramcke ebullient: „Herr Oberstleutnant, it is good to have you on board. The Fallschirmjäger are amazing. Their performance during the Western Campaign was outstanding. They are unique! Only we Germans can create an arm like that. All nations begrudge us. I am sure they will defeat the English and hold the fort until the army arrives, don’t you think so?”
“Well, Generalfeldmarschall, I do not think that it will be a walk in the park. We should not underrate the English. Cornered they will fight like lions. The invasion of England will cause a lot of trouble. Maybe it would be better to attack the English at the periphery, maybe at the Mediterranean Sea.”
Göring looks angry and turns to Student: “Do you really think that he can help us?”
Student: “No doubt, Generalfeldmarschall!”
Göring: “Then see about him! And make sure he will wear a proper uniform tomorrow.”
He turns around and the two officers leave his office. Ramcke spends the rest of the evening trying to get a proper uniform of the Luftwaffe.

Early next morning he comes to the conference at Hitler’s headquarter, wearing a proper uniform and all his decorations. Many high-ranking generals are there. Besides Göring and Student there are General Kesselring and General Sperrle of the Luftwaffe as well as half a dozen lower ranks. General von Brauchitsch and General Jodl lead the delegation of the Heer, Admiral Raeder leads the Reichsmarine. Ramcke sees Dönitz among the Navy officers.

Hitler enters the room. Ramcke has never been so close to the dictator before. He notices that Hitler is rather small; his appearance is not very impressive. However, this changes as he starts to talk:
”Good morning, Gentlemen. We meet here to discuss our military options. Before we start let me recall what happened in the past months and years. When I took the leadership of the Reich, Germany was in a miserable state. It was put down and mugged by the Entente, the economy was weak and the social groups were at odds with each others. Our military was weak and we were tied up by the Treaty of Versailles. Now look what happened during my regency. Today we are one people; each and every individual subordinates the collective goal. All criminal and subversive elements have been taken off. Coalesced by the ideals of the Nationalsozialsmus Germany has released a force that is huge, a force no other nation can compete with.
We torn the Treaty of Versailles to tatters, we rearmed, we unified all German territory to one realm, and we gained the domination in central Europe.
What did our enemies do? France, our eternal enemy, snarled, but it did not dare to bite. Too cowardly to fight French abetted the Poles. So we were forced to compel a solution of the Polish problem by military means. The French seduced the English to make war with us, a war I had never aspired, I had always tried to avoid. However, they still did not dare to attack us. They still hid behind their fortress lines.
Now our operations against France are in the last phase. The English are driven away, the French resistance is broken and our troops are chasing the retreating enemy. It won’t take long until France will surrender; then France will have to carry the consequences of its behavior. The Treaty of Versailles and the dishonor of 1918 will be wiped off. Germany will to take the position it is entitled to.
Gentlemen, we have seen outstanding victories, unique in military history. Take the credit for defeating France, the country with the strongest army of the world, within weeks!
Now that the victory over France is near and inevitable we have to talk about the political and military consequences. England is still standing but it has lost all its allies and all hopes to win the war. It is assumed that the English will now accept our position on the mainland. If they want peace I will meet them halfway.
Although in all probability we can end the war without further military operations we have to be prepared at all events. Therefore I ask you, the leader of the military branches, to present me your ideas about a campaign against England.”

Ramcke is impressed by Hitler’s speech. It was not only the words; it was the way he spoke.
Jodl opens the presentations. He describes the strength of the British army, at the most 35 divisions with only half of them prepared. For the army the Channel is nothing but a big anti-tank trench, Jodl says. The army will cross it and defeat the English. The Reichsmarine has to make sure that the assault divisions can cross the Channel speedy and uninterrupted and that the supply will flow afterwards. The Luftwaffe has to make sure that there will be no English attacks during the first two days of the invasion. The British army will be defeated within two weeks.

After General Jodl, Admiral Raeder explains the view of the Navy. He says that the Navy will gather as many ships as possible to ferry the army. This will take some time. To protect the transports against the Royal Navy the Reichsmarine will build mine belts at each side of the Channel. However, the transfer of the troops and the supply can only be guaranteed if the Luftwaffe will control the skies over the Channel and the landing zones. The RAF has to be defeated before the invasion and the Royal Navy ships and facilities have to be bombed.

An alternative to the invasion of the isles is the sea blockade. To bring England to its knees the production of submarines has to be increased significantly. At least 300 submarines are required. They will cut off the English supply together with the surface ships and the bombers of the Luftwaffe and enforce the capitulation of England.

Then Göring begins his presentation. He highlights the successful operations of the Luftwaffe during the campaigns against Poland, Norway and the western countries. He presents that the Luftwaffe has different options to bring England to its knees. First of all there is the invasion. The Luftwaffe can defeat the Royal Air Force. That is something it already did during the Western Campaign and it can do it again. The Luftwaffe can also protect the fleet against the Royal Navy and the Fallschirmjäger can support the army by taking important positions in advance. The second option is a strategic air war against the English industry and sea trade. The German bombers guarded by the outstanding long-range Zerstörer Me 110 can break the backbone of the English industry and the English military. The third option is psychological warfare. The German bombers can make terror raids against the English towns. Shock and awe will undermine the moral of the population and force the English government to end this useless war. Göring himself recommends the terror strategy. The raids against Warsaw and Rotterdam showed the disastrous effect of this kind of operations. Another advantage is that the Luftwaffe can defeat England all alone with minimum casualties.

After this presentation a discussion begins about the amount of support the Navy and the Luftwaffe had to guarantee for a successful invasion. Hitler listens to all that without saying a word. Then he stops the discussion:
“Gentlemen, I thank you for the debate. It is clear that the German army is able for any kind of operation against England and the English leaders must be crazy if they decide to continue the war. You painted a clear picture of the military side of the conflict. Now my part is to add some points of view from the political perspective. If we invade England, there are some things we have to consider. First of all, the English government could escape to Canada and continue to fight from there. This will bring the US into war, which is something we all do not want. Another scenario is that we occupy the islands and that the English social system collapses. This would not only be a huge loss for the western civilization. It would also lead to the breakup of the Empire. However, we won’t be able to take the heritage; other countries would have the benefit, the US, Russia and Japan.
My intention is to defeat Britain, not to destroy it. Therefore we have to find a way to compel the British to peace without defeating them completely. The invasion of Britain is not our first choice. Furthermore, there would be high casualties on both sides and in the end the winner would be Bolshevism.
The alternatives are terror raids against the English towns and a blockade of the islands. I know the English and I know their moral, to put it bluntly their stubbornness and I tell you that they will not give in when you bomb their houses. Forget that!
From all I heard today I have made up my mind. The army and navy will pretend to prepare an invasion against England. We must keep the pressure high, but we will not invade the islands as long as there are other options. The navy will intensify the operations against the English sea trade. This will include submarines, raiders and battle ships. The air force will start with massive air strikes. The targets will be: the sea trade, especially in the Channel and at the Western Approaches, the harbors especially at the Liverpool area, as well as military installations of the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. Raids against the English population are strictly interdicted. The Luftwaffe will do these operations in co-operation with the navy. These measures will surely increase the pressure on the English government. In the next days I will shift the focus of the industrial production from the army to the air force and navy. Several army divisions will be disbanded to increase our production capacity.
Additionally we have to find another indirect way to attack the British to demonstrate them our strength. Mussolini will soon release the Italian operations at the Mediterranean Sea. I want you to analyze how we can support him. I am talking about short but hard military strikes. We do not have any major navy unit there, so the focus will be on air support and airborne operations. The Luftwaffe will have the leadership in the preparation of these operations. I expect possible scenarios as soon as possible.”
These words end the meeting.
The delegations leave the room. Göring does not look satisfied. On the way through the corridors he says to Kesselring: “We have to start the preparation at once. We will meet at 4 o’clock in my office. Bring along Sperrle and Stumpff!”
Then he turns to Student: “Alright, Student! Now your smart right hand can proof his theory. I order you to make this study about the Mediterranean Sea area!”
When they leave the building Student takes Ramcke aside: “Ramcke, I want you to go home, pack your bags and be in my office within an hour!”
50 minutes later Ramcke is back in the Reichsluftfahrtministerium. He is ready for departure. Student gives him his instructions:
“Ramcke, you heard Hitler’s idea. We have to find out where and how German troops can support the Italians in the Mediterranean Sea. The goal has to be to cut off this ocean for the British completely and to do them as much damage as possible. I want you to do this analysis. Identify the targets; try to get information about the defense, make a proposal of the required forces and a rough operational plan; a priority list or a roadmap for the operations would be good. To be honest, the Luftwaffe will not be able to support you much. There is little information. We have never thought that the Mediterranean Sea could be our next battle field. Therefore you have to gather all information. Identify the targets, find out the strength of the defense, and rate the strength of the forces we would need! Do not care about the political boundaries! Just make a military analysis, Hitler will decide then. I need your report in four weeks. So hurry!
Maybe one additional remark; it will be wise to operate unnoticed. It’s obvious that the British shall not notice your activities. Additionally we have to be careful about the Italians. Hitler agreed that they will lead all operation to the south of the Alps. They are thin-skinned sometimes”
Then Student hands him some documents. Ramcke looks at them: There is his transfer order to the 7. Fliegerdivision of the Luftwaffe, a passport; a list of contact persons; fourth document is ordering all authorities to support Ramcke. Ramcke is surprised when he looks at the signature.
Ramcke: “When did Hitler sign this?”
Student smiles: “The Luftwaffe is used to act rapidly. I always have some of these documents, just in case of emergency. You have a plane available, too. It is waiting at Tempelhof. Keep me updated! Leutnant Schulz will be your assistant. He will put up a team while you are away. Now I wish you good luck for your mission.”
Ramcke salutes, then they shake hands. When Ramcke leaves the room Student call after him: “Welcome at the Luftwaffe!”
After he had left the building Ramcke wonders where to turn to first. He has to get a lot of information and make a good proposal in a very short time. He looks at the list he had received from Student. Where should he go first?

The Foreign Office
The Abwehr, the military intelligence agency
Spain
Italy
The Balkans
Greece
Turkey
Or somewhere else?