Echo of the Reich (46 page)

The flaming torch was then relayed along the 3,422 kilometers through Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia to the Olympic stadium in Berlin by specially selected runners—chosen as much for their Aryan appearance as for their abilities as athletes—each of whom carried the flame for a single kilometer before passing it on to the next man, culminating in the lighting of the first ever Olympic flame by Fritz Schilgen.

The Wenceslas Mine and
Die Glocke

The Wenceslas Mine is real, and all the available evidence suggests that it was the final home in Europe for the experimental object that became known as
Die Glocke
, the true purpose of that is still uncertain, though the idea that it was some kind of generator to produce radioactive material is as plausible as any other suggestion.

The description given in this novel of the circumstances of the creation of the Bell, of the science behind it, of the events leading up to the abandonment of the Wenceslas Mine, and of the subsequent fate of the device, are as accurate as it’s possible to be at this remove. It is also a fact that the development of
Die Glocke
—whatever its true purpose—was of the utmost importance to the Nazi regime. As far as my research has been able to show, this project was the
only
clandestine development operation ever to be allocated the priority classification
Kriegsentscheidend
, meaning “decisive for the outcome of the war.” This was the highest possible classification in the
entire Nazi system, which guaranteed that whatever supplies, equipment or personnel were required for it would be provided as quickly as possible.

One confirmation of this is that when, as the Russian forces drew ever closer to the German borders in April 1945, a request was made by the German high command in Berlin for the use of one of only two Junkers Ju-390 aircraft so far constructed to assist in the evacuation. One of these precious aircraft was under the control of General Hans Kammler, the man in charge of the operation in the Wenceslas Mine, and he refused to release the aircraft on the direct orders of Hitler, because the evacuation of
Die Glocke
had a higher priority. This is somewhat astonishing in military terms, that one single secret project could have acquired a greater importance than the evacuation of the entire German high command.

The three sightings reported in the book, of the aircraft being seen in Bodø and South America, are unconfirmed, but the choice of the Argentine as a destination for the device would seem to be plausible, again for the reasons outlined in this book.

But wherever it went, and whatever it was designed to do, the ultimate fate of
Die Glocke
remains as shrouded in mystery today as it was in 1945.

James Becker
spent more than twenty years in the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm. Throughout his career he has been involved in covert operations in many of the world’s hot spots, including Yemen, Russia, and Northern Ireland. He writes action-adventure novels under the name James Barrington and military history under the name Peter Smith in the UK.