The Separation (50 page)

Both men continued to sit side by side, staring straight ahead. A Red Cross man went over to the table and turned the two versions of the treaty round, opening them at the witness page. One by one the rest of us moved forward, standing briefly in front of the two statesmen to lean over the bound copies and attest to the signing. I wrote my name at the end of the list, added my signature and wrote in the date: May 12, 1941. I was trembling as I did so, almost overcome with the emotion brought on by the immense importance of the occasion.

As the last witness signature was added, Dr Burckhardt indicated to the two statesmen that the ceremony was completed. Both stood. Hess was at least six inches taller than Churchill. He turned to Churchill, clicked his heels together at attention, extended his hand, and said,’[Prime Minister Churchill, it is the greatest of honours to sign such an historical treaty with you. Let us pray that we are living in the first moment in a new destiny for our great European nations!]’

Churchill said nothing and kept his hand resolutely tucked into the flap of his waistcoat. I happened to be standing a short distance away from him. Realizing that he spoke no German -or was affecting not to -I said, ‘Sir, would you wish me to interpret for you?’

‘If you would be so kind,’ Churchill replied, not looking away from Hess. I translated what Hess had said.

Churchill replied at once.

‘Herr Hess,’ he said, ‘let us pray instead that our accord has more substance to it than the one you have made with Russia.’

‘[What is it you say?]’

‘He claims not to understand, sir,’ I said to Churchill. ‘Should I interpret for him too?’

‘I happen to know that the Deputy Führer speaks English perfectly well’

‘The Third Reich is seeking peace in good faith,’ Hess said, contriving to look genuinely surprised and confused.

‘I know your game, Herr Deputy Führer. In a few weeks, when you have shifted your aggression to the east, everyone in the world will also know what you are up to.’

‘There is no need for that!’ Hess shouted, in English.

‘There is a need for an end to the war between us and that is what we have each obtained. What you decide to do next is a matter for you. I may add that after this hour, should one stick or stone of yours fall anywhere upon Britain, or upon our Commonwealth, or upon any of our allies liberated by the armistice, we will turn back on you with a simple fury that will never be surpassed.’ Churchill turned on his heel with a sprightly movement and spoke in an entirely different manner to Dr Burckhardt. ‘Thank you for what you have done, sir. I’m sure I can speak for the Duke when I say how much we are looking forward to dinner with you.’

They moved towards the exit, leaving Hess behind them. The peace was sealed, but not with a handshake.

xxvii

Dinner was served in the banqueting hall of the mansion, with everyone who was involved in the negotiations seated along the sides of one immense table that ran the entire length of the room. By contrast with the relaxed mood of the two previous days, Churchill’s arrival appeared to have split the conference into its three constituent groups. He had succeeded in creating a frosty, almost hostile atmosphere between the two main groups when until his arrival all delegates had mixed convivially with everyone else. He and the Duke of Kent, together with the ambassadors, the chiefs of staff and the secretaries from the Foreign Office, sat at one end. Hess and his similarly sized retinue were at the other. The representatives from the neutral states, the auxiliary negotiators and the document team occupied the middle ground.

Churchill was sitting on the opposite side of the table to me, about fifteen seats away. In spite of everything I still felt about his warlike nature I was dazzled by his presence. Although I had been closely involved with the preparations for the treaty, I suppose that I had never really believed Churchill would bring himself to sign it. Yet here we were with the process complete. Even as we were dining, the teams of constitutional lawyers from Germany and Britain were elsewhere in the building, engrossing the text, making it ready for release to the public record. Churchill appeared to be deep in conversation with the Duke, but I could not help noticing that from time to time he gave me a direct and unblinking stare, which I found disconcerting.

Hess and his group left without warning in the middle of the meal. During the first two courses he and his officials were deep in conversation, conducted with much intensity. They did not wait to finish their venison course. Without a word to anyone else at the table they suddenly rose to their feet, scraping back their chairs. They strode quickly to the exit.

At the door, Hess turned back, stamped his feet together and raised his right arm in the Nazi salute. The room fell silent. Hess held the pose for a moment.

‘Heil Hitler!’
he shouted and marched out of the room.

Churchill said into the silence, ‘Good Lord.’

He turned back to the Duke and continued his affable conversation as before. The mood in the room lightened noticeably.

Now that our negotiations were complete I was starting to think anxiously about returning home. I could not see what more work I would be called upon to do for the Red Cross, but the inescapable fact was that I could not return to England on my own. I tried to find out from some of the people I was sitting close to what the arrangements for flying home were going to be, but everyone else was in the dark too. At the end of the dinner, Winston Churchill rose to his feet and made a brief speech. For me, it was a moment of high anticipation, the thought of being present when he might have something to say of historic significance. As soon as he began speaking, though, it was clear that he saw this as no opportunity for high oratory. In plain language he merely congratulated us on our work and said that despite the apparent bad faith of the Nazi leadership he believed the treaty would hold and that the peace would be genuine and lasting. He also explained that he was obliged to return to London as soon as possible. After his few words he sat down to warm applause. Somehow, imperceptibly, he had turned the meeting round: it was no longer an international forum for peace, but was now a Churchill occasion. Not long after, we began to collect our personal property together as cars arrived to take us back to our hotel in Stockholm. When I passed through the main conference room for the last time, I saw Winston Churchill there. He broke off his conversation and came across to me, his cigar smoke trailing behind him. He was cradling a brandy balloon, with a generous quantity of the liquor swilling around inside.

‘I remember you from our meeting at Admiralty House last week,’ he said, without preamble. ‘Your name is J. L. Sawyer, is it not?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Let me ask you a question, Mr Sawyer. Your name had already come up before I met you. There was some confusion about you which I think Dr Burckhardt might finally have resolved for me, but I should like to hear it from you too. He tells me you have a brother or a close relative with the same name as you.’

‘I have a brother, Mr Churchill. We are twins, identical twins.’ I briefly explained about the similarity of our initials.

‘I see. Your brother is the one serving in the air force, I take it?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘And he is the married one of you?’

‘No, sir. I believe he is still single.’

‘But then you are married. To a German?’

‘My wife is a naturalized British citizen, Mr Churchill.’ I added quickly, ‘She came to England before the war began and we were married five years ago.’

Churchill nodded with some sympathy. ‘I understand your concerns perhaps. There is no need for you to worry any longer about your wife’s position. But let me say that I have been amused by the confusion your name was creating, because something of the sort once happened to me. When I was younger I discovered that there was another Winston Churchill loose in the world, this one an American. A novelist he was and rather a good one too. We were both writing books and before anyone realized what was happening we innocently caused a muddle. Ever since I have used the S for Spencer as a middle initial, but only on my books.’

He seemed to be in an expansive, talkative mood and in spite of his warning at dinner that he had to hurry back to London he did not appear to be in any great haste to leave me. Because of that, I raised the subject that was on my mind.

‘Sir, do you suppose the Germans really intend to observe the peace?’

‘I do, Mr Sawyer. As you know, most of the impetus for peace came first from their side. Hess clearly intended that he and I should fall into each other’s arms like long-lost brothers. That is not my way in any event. Although I will parley with Nazis I do not expect to have to hug them afterwards.’

‘He seemed furiously angry as he left.’

‘Indeed he did. But if it is any consolation to you, I can tell you that the peace has already broken out. Because you have been here in Sweden, you will not know that on Saturday night London suffered the worst air raid of the war. Terrible damage was done and many people died. Since then, though, not a single German plane has crossed the Channel. We too launched massive air raids against Germany on the same night, but they were the last we will be flying. U-boat activity in the Atlantic has entirely ceased. The desert war has halted. Our navy is still on patrol, the air force is flying constantly and the army remains vigilant everywhere, but there hasn’t been a single hostile incident from either side since Sunday afternoon. Because we have not yet had the opportunity to announce our armistice, the war will continue in theory for the time being, but in every practical way there has been a cease-fire for more than twenty-four hours.’

Mr Churchill swirled his brandy one more time and tipped the balloon against his lips.

‘Then why did Hess act the way he did?’ I said.

‘I do not know. Maybe because I refused to shake his bloodstained hand.’ Churchill made a chortling sound. ‘I suspect darker deeds will soon be afoot, and his departure in that fashion was a little play-acting for our benefit. Most people are afraid of the Nazis, but I find them tiresome, as everyone else will too, once their threat to our safety has passed. This reminds me, though. Now that we have entered the post-war period you’ll have to find a new job. I have one I can offer you. We are going to need an organizer with special skills to act on behalf of British interests in Berlin. It would be an administrative job, concerned with moving all those people to Madagascar. It’ll be a huge responsibility, but Dr Burckhardt says that no less a man than you should be the one.’

I heard what he said with an extraordinary sense of déjà vu.

‘I really don’t know, sir,’ I said, the arguments against such a move fresh in my mind. ‘I would like to have time to think about it. There’s my wife, and the upheaval-’

‘The government can take care of problems like that. You would be attached to the Foreign Office, working from the British Embassy, but it would not be a diplomatic appointment. You’d be responsible directly to the prime minister’s office.’

‘To you, sir?’ I said.

‘To the office I presently hold. As you should remember, I shall not be holding the office much beyond the end of this week.’ I felt myself starting to blush at my gaffe. Mr Churchill paid no heed. ‘Of course you may have time to think about it. We won’t need to make the appointment until next month and work will not have to start until August.’

Churchill stuck his cigar into his mouth and walked away from me.

23

Extract from Prime Ministerial broadcast, BBC Home Service, 6p.m., Tuesday May 13, 1941.

Full version in Hansard, May 13, 1941.

Mr Winston Churchill:

‘This afternoon at two o’clock I had the honour and privilege of informing Parliament that the war between Britain and Germany is at an end. I have just returned from Stockholm where I have signed a full armistice with the German government. There can be no greater or better news than word of peace. Everything for which we fought over the last year and a half has been achieved, in spite of terrible difficulties. Our country has endured the greatest onslaught of arms it has ever known. We have seen our cities burned, our cathedrals gutted, our homes shattered. We have lived of necessity in darkness, in fear, under the drone of enemy planes.

‘For the last twelve months, after the fall of our allies in Europe, we in Great Britain, together with our friends from the Empire who came to our aid, have stood alone against the scourge of Hitlerism. We have not shrunk from the duty that history thrust upon us. It fell to us, to our generation of ordinary men and women, to resist the Nazis with unbending resolve. We did it because we had to. We did it without question, we did it bravely and with unrelenting vigour. We did it with thoughts of freedom, and hope, and a wish for a better world. We did it because there was no one else to do it.

‘Herr Hitler and his legions have marched across Europe. They were a terrible enemy: harsh, ruthless, mightily armed and seemingly devoid of human feelings. But we finally stopped Hitler at the Channel coast of France. Last summer, thinking it was only a pause in his great progress, he went to France to see for himself. He stood on the Pas de Calais and looked across the narrow waters towards our white cliffs, so near and yet so far. He reached out for them, intending to take them. It was then that he found his match at last. The indomitable spirit of the English, the Welsh, the Scottish, rose up without question or pause for thought, prepared to lose everything, determined to lose nothing, ready for sacrifice, eager for victory. In truth, we had little more at first than a fist to shake at Hitler. The courage of the British race was never better shown, never admired more widely. Our finest hour followed, our most splendid year, our saving grace. Our tiny island, battered though it has become, bombarded though it was, and besieged as it has been, remained free. It is free now. And it will remain for ever free.

‘Hitler’s war has been fought in vain. He has not prevailed. We have not yielded to his threats, dodged his bombs or run away from his shells. We are still here, as united as ever in our resistance to him. Our reward is that an honourable peace has been achieved.