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Devizes Plot

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Le Marchant Barracks

The Devizes plot was a plan for approximately 7000 German prisoners of war held at Le Marchant Barracks to escape and attack London. Conspirators planned the breakout for a date close to Christmas 1944, in the belief that Le Marchant would have less guards due to Christmas festivities. The plot was foiled after german-speaking American soldiers visited Le Marchant and overheard a prisoner talking about the "arms store" of the camp. The conspirators were subsequently sent to Cultybraggan Camp in Comrie where they murdered Feldwebel Wolfgang Rosterg, who they wrongly believed had been an informant of their plans to the British authorities. Six prisoners were convicted of Rosterg's murder, of which five were hung at Pentonville Prison in the last such mass-execution of Britain.

Background

Britain had seen its PoWs attempt to escape numerous times; the vast majority of these ended in failure. 97 Italian PoWs had escaped from a camp in Ayr close to the time of the Devizes plot, but were recaptured.[1]

Plot

The leadership behind the Devizes plot is disputed among sources. Many attribute leadership to Warrant Officer Erich Pallme-Koenig. This version was used by The Guardian and the Gazette and Herald in their descriptions of the plot.[1][2] However a 1996 account of the plot by Roderick De Normann disagrees, naming the prisoners Obergefreiter Wunderlich and Korporal Hermann Storch as the main conspirators.[3] Normann was only able to find official documents containing Koenig upon his involvement in the lynching of Feldwebel Wolfgang Rosterg at Cultybraggan camp.[4]

The remains of RAF Yatesbury

A group of prisoners was sent to survey the surrounding area for usable airfields that could be seized after the escape. They successfully cut through the perimeter fence with homemade wire cutters. Upon return to the camp two days later, the group claimed to have been lost in the local countryside due to a the removal of roadsigns.[5]

The escape was planned for a date close to Christmas 1944.[1][2] The conspirators believed that there would be less guards in the camp, and the remaining guards would be distracted due to the festivities.[1] It was estimated that 7,000 PoWs could escape from Le Marchant, who would proceed to seize RAF Yatesbury and gain access to equipment such as aircraft and armoured vehicles.[2] The prisoners would then liberate more PoWs held at Lodge Moor in Sheffield (PoW camp 17).

The ultimate goal of the plot was to attack London, thereby stalling the Allied advance on Germany.[2]

Discovery and British response

The British first became aware of the plot through an American attachment to Le Marchant, part of XVIII Airborne Corps.[6][7]

The specific details the initial discovery of the Devizes plot is also disputed. One account states the Americans Frank Brandstetter and Joseph Hoelz overheard a prisoner say "The arms store was the key." They reported this to the chief interpreter of the camp, who ordered the re-interrogation of the prisoners in the scouting group.[7] Covert listening devices placed around the camp were re-activated, which gave away details of the plot to the camp's commanders.[2] Another account detailed by De Normann claims that Korporal Storch revealed the plot upon interrogation by another American officer, Lieutenant Vogeli, after being accused of instigating a separate escape attempt on 19 November.[8] Brandstetter and Hoelz were subsequently involved in further investigations. The bronze star medal was awarded to Brandstetter and Hoelz for their work in uncovering the plot.[9]

British authorities responded by increasing troop presence around Le Marchant. B company of the 8th paratrooper battalion were briefed on the known details of the plot and sent to the camp.[10] Colonel Alexander Scotland of MI19 sent two interrogators to Devizes to assist in further inquiries.[8]

Aftermath

Nissen huts at Cultybraggan Camp

Suspected ringleaders of the Devizes plot were arrested on 14 December. 32 were sent to the London Cage on coaches for interrogation, escorted by members of 6 platoon from the 8th paratrooper battalion.[11] Interrogations of the prisoners took place from 16 to 20 December. Scotland identified 7 as ringleaders of the plot, with the other 25 having little or no knowledge.[9]

27 of the interrogated prisoners were subsequently transferred to Cultybraggan Camp,[12] one of two maximum-security PoW camps in Britain at the time.[13] Among the people sent to Cultybraggan was Feldwebel Wolfgang Rosterg, who worked as an interpreter at Le Marchant.[1] Rosterg was a prisoner with known anti-Nazi views who had deserted in France, who openly spoke out against the Nazi Party,[1][14] and it is likely that he was moved to Cultybraggan in error because he had been found to have no knowledge of the plot upon interrogation.[15]

Lynching of Wolfgang Rosterg

Prisoners involved in the Devizes plot incorrectly believed Rosterg had informed the British of their plans and he had been sent to Cultybraggan to continue spying on them.[1] Their suspicions were further raised after he asked for a copy of "die Wochenpost", a PoW newspaper which was produced by the foreign office and widely regarded by other prisoners as British propaganda.[15] Rosterg's was made to face a kangaroo court in hut 4 of compound B. His documents were seized and distributed amongst bystanders as evidence of treason.[16] He beaten to death by prisoners after failing to respond questioning, some armed with with iron bars, and his body was hung in a toilet block.[17][18]

Conviction of murderers

Rosterg's body was discovered by authorities at the camp's 8:30 AM roll call. Medical staff at the camp believed they saw vital signs and attempted resuscitation, but were ultimately unsuccessful.[19] An autopsy of Rosterg's body determined he had died to strangulation.[20]

Pentonville Prison

Twelve prisoners were initially indicted over the murder of Rosterg, but charges were dropped against four of them because of insufficient evidence. On 2 July 1945, the remaining eight were tried in a military court at the London Cage. All defendants pled not guilty.[21] The prisoners argued that Rosterg deserved to be killed for being a traitor to Germany, with the defending officer referencing a similar case where British PoWs held at Breslau had killed an officer they believed had betrayed escape plans to the German authorities. No action had been taken against the British PoWs involved in the Breslau lynching.[1] The judge preceding over the case accepted that Rosterg would have been seen as deserving of contempt from the Germans' point of view. Two prisoners were acquitted, one was sentenced to life imprisonment and the remaining five were sentenced to death.[1] The executions of prisoners Pallme-Koenig, Karl Zühlsdorff, Joachim Goltz, Josef Mertens and Heinz Brüling were carried out at 9 AM, 6 October 1945 by Albert Pierrepoint in Pentonville prison. This was the largest mass-execution in the United Kingdom since 1883, when the perpetrators of the Phoenix Park murders were hung,[22] and the last mass-execution in Britain.[1]

In literature

An American forces' newspaper covered the awarding of the Bronze Star to Brandstetter and Hoelz.[23] The Devizes plot was first publicly described in "The London Cage" by Alexander Scotland.[24] Scotland's account of the plot allegedly differed from what had been written by his staff at the time.[24] The death of Rosterg formed part of the plot of "Black Camp 21", a 2018 novel by Bill Jones. Jones was inspired to write the book because he had slept in a Nissen hut at Cultybraggan as a child.[25]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j McKie, David (2004-12-23). "A grisly Christmas tale". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  2. ^ a b c d e Cowen, Lewis (10 July 2008). "Grisly tale of revenge". The Gazette and Herald. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  3. ^ De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. pp. 84–85, 88–89. ISBN 9780750917261.
  4. ^ De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. p. 121. ISBN 9780750917261.
  5. ^ Campbell, Valerie (2017). Camp 21 Comrie. Whittles Publishing. p. 81. ISBN 9781849952279.
  6. ^ De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. pp. 84, 98. ISBN 9780750917261.
  7. ^ a b Campbell, Valerie (2017). Camp 21 Comrie. Whittles Publishing. p. 82. ISBN 9781849952279.
  8. ^ a b De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. p. 85. ISBN 9780750917261.
  9. ^ a b De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. p. 98. ISBN 9780750917261.
  10. ^ De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. pp. 90, 94. ISBN 9780750917261.
  11. ^ De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. pp. 94–96. ISBN 9780750917261.
  12. ^ De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. p. 117. ISBN 9780750917261.
  13. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Comrie, Cultybraggan Former Cadet Camp, Huts 19 and 20 (Guard's Block) and 44, 45, 46 (Category A Listed Building LB50471)". Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  14. ^ De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. p. 118. ISBN 9780750917261.
  15. ^ a b De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. pp. 118–119. ISBN 9780750917261.
  16. ^ Campbell, Valerie (2017). Camp 21 Comrie. Whittles Publishing. p. 85. ISBN 9781849952279.
  17. ^ Campbell, Valerie (2016). Camp 21 Comrie. Whittles Publishing. pp. 85–86. ISBN 9781849952279.
  18. ^ De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. pp. 123–129. ISBN 9780750917261.
  19. ^ De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. pp. 129–130. ISBN 9780750917261.
  20. ^ Campbell, Valerie (2016). Camp 21 Comrie. Whittle Publishing. p. 87. ISBN 9781849952279.
  21. ^ De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 9780750917261.
  22. ^ De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. pp. 158–159. ISBN 9780750917261.
  23. ^ De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. p. 104. ISBN 9780750917261.
  24. ^ a b De Normann, Roderick (1996). For Führer and Fatherland: SS Murder and Mayhem in Wartime Britain. Sutton Publishing. pp. ix. ISBN 9780750917261.
  25. ^ Bryce, Tracey (22 October 2018). "Writer unravels mystery of Nazi's death behind the wire in little known Scottish prisoner of war camp". The Sunday Post. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
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