The fighting nations of the Second World war had myriad ways of extracting information
from captured enemy officers. The creativity of these methods was matched only by their
barbarity. But a select group of Brits had a different take — choosing to treat captured
German officers to the finest luxuries the British high life had to offer. It worked
beyond all their wildest hopes. This is the extravagant story of Trent Park and one of
the most successful intelligence-gathering operations of the entire Second World War.
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The Trent Park estate was typically English, in that it was initially a Royal hunting ground,
with ownership passing through the hands of many eccentric landed gentlemen before finally
reaching Sir Philip Sassoon. Sir Phil was the archetypical English country gent, and
had the house remodelled to fit the fashions of the roaring 20s. Its gardens were beautifully
manicured, and a huge staff was on hand to serve England’s great and good anything
they desired. Gentlemen of renown clamoured for invitations to Trent Park for a spot of
golf or afternoon tea. Reportedly, it had an atmosphere “... of another world – the
white-coated footmen serving endless courses of rich but delicious food, the Duke of York
coming in from golf... Winston Churchill arguing over the teacups with [Irish playwright and
activist] George Bernard Shaw …”
In 1939, Sir Phil got a viral infection, but instead of resting, “hurtled about in unnecessary
gaieties until his body was beyond recovery.” He died later that year, and the government
requisitioned the illustrious Trent Park estate for the war effort. It ended up in the hands
of Mi-19 — the British intelligence branch responsible for POW interrogations.
As the Battle of Britain reached a crescendo in August 1940, Mi-19 were inundated with
Luftwaffe POWs. Every day, more German planes crashed into the English countryside, and
more enemy airmen were seized. It didn’t take long for the Brits to notice the German
pilots — just like pilots everywhere — couldn’t stop talking about flying. Immediately seeing
the potential, Mi-19 had Trent Park bugged with hidden microphones. They then transferred
the Luftwaffe pilots from their overcrowded cells into the luxurious mansion. The officers
had hit the jackpot, while the enlisted men got sent to prison camps across the Atlantic.
Initially, there were six German-speaking Mi-19 officers eavesdropping on the pilots’
conversations 24/7. Whenever the POWs spoke, the British listeners would start a gramophone
recording from their nearby secret base the “M-Room.” Only recordings which related
to military or political matters were kept, and all personal conversations which didn’t
have intelligence value were erased.
This won’t surprise anyone who knows a pilot, but when all those Luftwaffe flyboys were
thrown in together, they wouldn’t shut up. After some pleasantries, the pilots *immediately*
got to discussing the relative strengths and weaknesses of their respective aircraft. They
talked about engine performance, maintenance requirements, armaments, and just about everything
else concerning their planes. M-Room probably would have been laughing to themselves if
they hadn’t been run off their feet trying to translate it all.
As soon as this intel was passed on to the Air Ministry, Mi-19 got a massive budget increase.
M-Room was expanded with scores of exiled Germans and Austrians recruited for their
language skills. The spooks also worked out the best ways of getting their prisoners to
talk.
POWs who were more willing to start conversations about military or political matters were designated
“stool pigeons” — a weird British word meaning decoy. Stool pigeons were kept in
Trent Park while other, more cagey prisoners were swiftly sent to other camps. Additionally,
Mi-19 started throwing in wildcards to get the conversation rolling. These wildcards
were officers of equal rank but from different services. U-boat officers were a popular choice,
as the pilots were keen to hear their stories from the Battle of the Atlantic. With no knowledge
of submarine warfare, the pilots asked a lot of varied questions — questions Mi-19 were
very keen to hear the answers to.
As the listeners in M-Room were providing the British planners with a steady stream
of high-value intelligence, Mi-19 decided to up the ante. All the officers below the
rank of colonel, aside from a few stool pigeons, were transferred away from the estate. In
their place, the Brits put generals.
After a brief period of questioning, usually lasting a few days, the highest-ranked German
officers were sent to Trent Park. The proud generals rarely gave up anything useful during
questioning, but that wasn’t the point. The point was **to make them think the Brits
had tried interrogation, failed, and moved on. None of them ever surmised that Trent
Park was bugged, nor that they were being constantly spied on.
And why would they? Before the generals arrived, Trent Park had been converted into a POW paradise.
Staff had been hired to cook and clean, and the gardens had been manicured to a tee. Mi-19
even provided the generals with a friend of equal status. His name was Lord Aberfedly,
and he had graciously offered his country estate to house only the highest-ranked German
officers. He was their welfare officer and made sure the generals had everything they
needed for a comfortable stay. As he spoke German, he made an excellent conversation
partner, and had a *great interest* in experimental weapons.
You’re not going to believe this, but Aberfeldy wasn’t actually a Lord who made sure Germany’s
top brass had enough shaving cream; he was, in fact, a British spy. The Germans didn’t
know though. They never put two and two together, and took Lord Aberfedly at face-value for
the duration of their stay at Trent Park.
As the listeners in M-Room were providing the British planners with a steady stream
of high-value intelligence, Mi-19 decided to up the ante. All the officers below the
rank of colonel, aside from a few stool pigeons, were transferred away from the estate. In
their place, the Brits put generals.
After a brief period of questioning, usually lasting a few days, the highest-ranked German
officers were sent to Trent Park. The proud generals rarely gave up anything useful during
questioning, but that wasn’t the point. The point was **to make them think the Brits
had tried interrogation, failed, and moved on. None of them ever surmised that Trent
Park was bugged, nor that they were being constantly spied on.
And why would they? Before the generals arrived, Trent Park had been converted into a POW paradise.
Staff had been hired to cook and clean, and the gardens had been manicured to a tee. Mi-19
even provided the generals with a friend of equal status. His name was Lord Aberfedly,
and he had graciously offered his country estate to house only the highest-ranked German
officers. He was their welfare officer and made sure the generals had everything they
needed for a comfortable stay. As he spoke German, he made an excellent conversation
partner, and had a *great interest* in experimental weapons.
You’re not going to believe this, but Aberfeldy wasn’t actually a Lord who made sure Germany’s
top brass had enough shaving cream; he was, in fact, a British spy. The Germans didn’t
know though. They never put two and two together, and took Lord Aberfedly at face-value for
the duration of their stay at Trent Park.
There was no shortage of leisure activities on offer either. The estate had swimming pools,
a painting room, a library of German books looted from the embassy in London, and lovely
grounds. British intelligence officers offered English language classes and, on occasion,
films were screened. Though there were no escape attempts, the estate was guarded by
smartly-marching British soldiers who saluted the POW officers. Only one complaint about
Trent Park was ever recorded, from General Hans Cramer: “Unfortunately, there is no
tennis court.”
All this luxury wasn’t cheap, and when Winston Churchill found out the generals had been
taken out to lunch at the lavish Simpson's-in-the-Strand restaurant, he was fuming. He ordered “the
pampering of the generals” to be stopped immediately. But pampering the generals was
providing Mi-19 with so much useful information that they kept going; they just forgot to
tell Churchill about it.
If Churchill had known the critical nature of the intelligence the generals were unknowingly
providing, he would have been more than happy to book them a table at his favourite restaurant.
On one occasion, General Der Panzertruppe Crüwell of the Afrika Korps and Oberleutnant
Zur See Röhmer of U-boat *353* discussed U-boat battle tactics at length. Oberleutnant
Röhmer was eager to explain to General Crüwell how a wolfpack operated, how they attempted
to get past Allied countermeasures, and how best to make an attack run. The Admiralty
found this information extremely useful.
A real stool pigeon, General Crüwell could be relied on to get the juiciest conversations
flowing. He was so good at directing the conversation towards secret military matters that he almost
put Lord Aberfeldy out of a job. The best intelligence he gave up was in March, 1943.
In a conversation with General Der Panzertruppe Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma, the two men let
vital information about Germany’s secret V-2 rocket program slip. From the transcript
of their conversation:
“[VON THOMA] This rocket business … I saw it once; there is a special testing site.
They've got these huge things. They said they would go up 15 km into the stratosphere…
And how do you aim?
You can only aim at an area - at some central point, you're bound to hit somewhere… its
horrible. But the Major there was full of hope, he said: ‘Wait until next year and
the fun will start’. It was all very secret.”
Later in the evening, Von Thoma even divulged the location of the rocket-building facility:
Peenemünde.
Bomber command was speed-dialed, and the facility was blown to pieces by 596 British heavy bombers
as part of Operation Hydra. The Brits lost 40 planes, but it was worth it. V-2 rocket
manufacturing and launch facilities wouldn’t be close to operational for months, and, critically,
wouldn’t be ready to go by D-Day.
The generals didn’t just give up vital intelligence about Germany’s most top-secret weapons
program. They also admitted to knowing about atrocities committed by Wehrmacht forces on
the Eastern front. For some of the officers, this would prove to be their undoing. Some
were even convicted at the Nuremberg trials by their loose talk at Trent Park.
Loose lips might not sink ships, but they will get your top-secret rocket facility destroyed
by 600-odd heavy bombers.
That was the comical story of Trent Park estate and the German officers who made it their
home, all while giving the British critical intel. But what do YOU think? Do YOU think
Mi-19 went overboard keeping the generals happy? Why do YOU think they never got suspicious
of such good treatment? What do YOU think the typical foot-slogging soldier would have
thought of the program? Let us know
in the comments!