Jackboot Britain: The Alternate History - Hitler's Victory & The Nazi UK! (46 page)

“Aye, but we all could. That’s the point. And my job’s safest.”

But Jack was firm.

“No.
You
. Besides, if your first shot rings true, abandon ship. If there’s enough people, the panic will be massive; drop and run with the crowd. You can stash your bike towards the back of the park, maybe up towards the tube stop on Bayswater Road… it’s still a long shot, but perhaps–”

But Jack’s words died on his tongue. As they continued up the Park Lane, reaching level with the Dorchester Hotel across the way, their attention on the surroundings for the next day had blinded them to the present danger of today. It came in the shape of two scowling, sauntering BUF members.

“Right, the four of you,” the larger of the two boomed. “I want your papers.”

~

Heydrich accepted the salutes of the two guards standing sentinel, exulting as he strode into the meeting.

Seven
Einsatzgruppe
commanders and a Wehrmacht liaison officer were in the process of settling themselves round the great oak table in the room’s centre, chatting informally, and the Reichsprotektor was immensely gratified to see them all rise to salute him. Alas, Himmler was not yet there.
Smart boy, Heini. Either that, or you are sulking
.

Heydrich took a seat at the head of the table, and several of the SS exchanged knowing glances.

“A shame the table is not round,” Heydrich boomed with as much authority as his nasal voice would allow. “We would be like King Arthur and the knights.”

The SS men chuckled politely, and looked around, having only just arrived themselves. The opulence of the room drew impressed murmurs from the assembled; many of whom themselves were hardly strangers to the trappings of ostentatious government in the centralised agencies, after Albert Speer’s influence in Berlin had started to make itself felt. An ornate chandelier hung low at what was just above head height for a person seated at the polished oak table that served as the room’s point of gravitas. At Adolf Eichmann’s discretion, ornate chairs had replaced the straight-backed wooden chairs that had seemed oddly out of place with the rest of the room; its thick, velvety carpet on which footsteps could hardly be heard; its thick beamed walls with their gleaming shine; its portraits, which had fittingly been replaced with that of the Führer in pride of place; smaller portraits were hung on the walls around; one of Göring, one of Himmler, and one of Heydrich. The latter picture was noticed by the assembled commanders, and their surprise had been briefly visible. Of those professionally closest to Heydrich, Müller, Lange and Eichmann smiled wryly at the portrait.

Presently, the Reichsführer-SS entered with Joachim Peiper, and the large, looming presence of an Austrian SS and Police leader of Poland, whom Heydrich had drafted to Britain. The group rose, and to a man, saluted the supreme chief of the
Schwarze Korps
.

“Heil, heil,” Himmler said sternly, pausing briefly to take in the seating arrangement and, barely hiding his distaste, chose the empty seat directly facing Heydrich. That man, however, quickly began the debate, seizing the initiative, to the surprise of those in the Reich Security Main Office whom had seen nothing but outwardly subordinate deference from Heydrich to Himmler in the years they had worked beneath them.

“Herr Gentlemen, thank you for coming to this gravely important meeting,” Heydrich began smoothly. “Please note that we have Field Marshal von Brauchitsch’s personal adjutant here in Major General
Siewer
, so the
Oberkommando des Heeres
and the Military Commander are kept fully abreast of administrative proceedings and official directives from the office of the Reichsprotektor of Great Britain, and Chief of the
Sicherheitspolizei
and
Sicherheitsdienst
.”

Heydrich’s chief deputies noted the relish in his voice, to varying levels of approval. Gestapo general Müller openly nodded his own, being a strong advocate of assertive leadership and of Heydrich’s qualities being better served as the Führer’s chief paladin; a view Heydrich himself shared.

The Reichsprotektor looked over to Himmler, smiling.

“Regarding SS affairs, the Reichsführer-SS has been assigned to Great Britain for the time being to oversee and accomplish various tasks on behalf of the Führer.”

He waited, expectantly, and Himmler found his voice. His customarily prim demeanour and rather superior manner had surfaced, overcoming the initial disorientation of his subordinate’s uncharacteristic approach. Himmler worded his introduction carefully, ill-at-ease with the concurrent power chains at work and the subtle intricacies of his SS subordinate. As such, he tried to take the lead.

“Gentlemen… This is an important discussion, so let us not waste time. The briefing is as follows, as per Führer directive no.2 for England, as expressed in his mandate to me which you will find in the folder that SS-
Obergruppenführer
Heydrich has prepared; this will not be further recorded in print. You each have copies of Information G.B and Special Wanted List G.B. compiled extremely well I must say by SD foreign intelligence chief Herr Major Schellenberg – excellent work for which we can thank the Major here.”

Schellenberg bowed to him, ingratiatingly.

“Thank you, Reichsführer.”

Several of the officers banged the table in approval.

“The Herr
Obergruppen
führer,” Himmler resumed, nodding at Heydrich – rather pointedly, Schellenberg thought – “has spoken to you at length regarding security operations; beyond which, we can pass on to the army the responsibility of winning public opinion, maintaining a well-oiled social machine.”

He gestured with false courtesy to Major-General Siewer.

“The Führer’s will at that the army and its commander von Brauchitsch are to run civil and social matters with a firm but fair hand, in order to peacefully incorporate the British Empire and our Saxon blood brothers into the Greater Reich and establish a Germanic order in Europe and the world. But in order to do that, antisocial elements and enemies must first be dealt with, and this book…” the Special Arrest Lists handbook was raised aloft, “is our handbook, our manual to cut away the cancers afflicting England and the British society.”

Good God
, thought Heydrich.
Enough. Within five years, you are a dead man
.
You and your awful wife, and your Jewish cousin alike
.

Himmler concluded his brief introduction.

“Obergruppenführer Heydrich and the SD have been preparing for this over the course of several months, and from the reports sent to me for the Führer’s eyes you have all performed well thus far in suppressing hostility. As I am myself not aware of the extent of our intelligence, I will hereby pass on to our Reich Security chief, Herr Heydrich.”

Heydrich filled his cup from the water jug, taking his time before reassuming the leading role.

“Gentlemen, first and foremost thank you to Gruppenführer Müller and Sturmbannführer Eichmann of the Gestapo main office, for coming from Berlin to the heart of the largest Empire on Earth… for now.”

The group thumped the table to a man. Müller nodded unsmilingly. Eichmann cursorily reacted to the General’s mention, before returning to the sheaf of notes he was scanning intently.

“And the Brigadeführer here, the SS and Police leader from Lublin, with a special task reserved for him here in Britain, thank you Odilo.”

The fleshy, brutal features of the Austrian that Heydrich gestured towards broke into a smile that looked like it pained him.

Heydrich resumed. “I will say, with respect to Major General Siewer, cooperation between the army and
my office
in all civil matters is paramount so as to not disturb the peaceful integration of Great Britain into the Greater German Reich; I will further and assist with all army policy, excepting cases where we feel their decisions and mandate, when not
personally
directed by the Führer are clearly
counter-productive
, and of course, when it is a matter of security, concerning action towards undesirables or enemies of the Reich.”

Siewer assented, looking as though it was the last thing he felt like doing. Heydrich loftily accepted his concurrence, but pressed home the point, to send a message to his subordinates present… and to Himmler.

“Herr Major General, as adjutant and liaison to Army commander von Brauchitsch, might I just ask for confirmation that Army High Command accepts wholly the wishes of the Führer, Herr Göring and the Party as to our close cooperation, and with regards to
my
express authority over security matters and prosecution of National Socialist policy in Great Britain?”

All eyes turned to the Wehrmacht man, whose tone was rather flat in response.

“Field Marshal von Brauchitsch is perfectly aware from where policy emanates.”

“Excellent,” Heydrich said, without further ado. “And to the rest of you, commanders of
Einsatzgruppen Britain
; Dr Six, and the
Einsatzgruppe England
leaders, welcome.”

Seven nods. Heydrich had briefed Commander Six, with Müller and Nebe, and each of the other leaders personally in Berlin at the end of May, even prior to the surrender of France and the attack on this isle. They were intently waiting to find out what this particular meeting would entail; up to now, their roles and remits were perfectly clear.

Heydrich gazed around the room, taking in the tapestries and portraits, the pleasing aesthetics and general ambience, before turning his attention to the Kripo chief of Germany.

“And Gruppenführer Nebe, good to see you. You are missed in Berlin.”

Nebe replied with equal courtesy, “And you, Obergruppenführer, and you. Welcome to England.”

Eichmann and Schellenberg watched him for a sign of weakness, but Nebe, a police commissioner even before the Nazi takeover of power, was far too slippery to show his hand. A perfect façade of a smile played over his face, beneath the enormous nose that could have been a death sentence for one of lower prestige in Nazi Germany.
However, perhaps his star was on the wane. Heydrich, chief of the Reich Security Office to which Kripo was part of – department V – had appointed Nebe commander of
Einsatzgruppe Manchester
; an obvious snub, with the subordinately ranked SS-Brigadeführer Franz Six of the SD in overall operational command in Britain, and head of the more prestigious London
gruppe
.

With Nebe in the north of England, Bernhard Wehner was deputising as Acting Chief of Kripo, RSHA Dept. V, and Friedrich Wilhelm Lüdtke was the Acting Commissioner of Kripo Berlin.

On top of his Action Group leadership Nebe was left with a transparent sop;
Deputy-Commander of SiPo and SD in Britain of the Reichsprotektor
and
Police Leader in the Northern Zone
– a meaningless title, threefold, and deliberately so; it was Dr Six who officially commanded the
Einsatzgruppen GB
, the absent Oberführer Schöngarth had been drafted from Poland as Heydrich’s
SD Chief of the Northern Zone
, and Nebe was an SS-Lieutenant General and Kripo police chief already who outranked both. There were no SS men superior in either rank, position or executive police power than Nebe in the entire country, save for the Blond Beast himself.

Heydrich smiled to himself, as Nebe smoothly parried his taunt.
You are a cool one, Arthur. Always were. Even now your hands are dirty and your pride is hurt
.

The Reichsprotektor continued, playing his trump card, speaking with greater speed and force. His tone made abundantly clear that he was not to be interrupted.

“In addition to the mandate the Führer gave the Reichsführer-SS as a broad scope as to the implementation and direction of his aims here in Great Britain and territories, I, in my role as the
Minister Responsible for the Reich Central Agency For Jewish Emigration
, have been given an authorisation from Reichsmarschall Göring in the form of this document which you will see in your folders; if you will open the file…”

Eichmann noticeably smirked, as did Müller. Schellenberg glanced at Himmler, his suspicions that the Reichsführer was unaware of such a document confirmed by the steely glint in Himmler’s eyes, which were locked on Heydrich resolutely.

Heydrich retrieved his own copy of the file. “I hereby charge
you
, Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, SS-Reich Security Chief, Head of the SiPo and SD, and so on,
and so on
, and in your concurrent capacity as Minister Responsible for Jewish Emigration et cetera, et cetera, with
all necessary executive authority
to find, dispel and remove all acting and potentially dangerous or unsuitable elements within Germany, Great Britain and territories; the necessary police organisations of your office being the determining agency, reporting…”

Heydrich barely suppressed a grin at this point; the laughter in his voice was unmistakeable.

“…
Directly
to myself and to the Führer on such matters with no impedance from, and with the full cooperation
of
,
all other military and executive branches of the Reich
… henceforth assuming responsibility for all matters of ‘internal political security’ within the National Socialist Empire, not merely for matters of ‘police security’ and with regards to the total subjugation of hostile elements, seizing and combating organisations and elements working against Germany, and working towards a Final Solution to the Jewish Question, and so on, and so on… signed Hermann Göring,
Reichsmarschall
of the Greater German Reich, Prime Minister of Prussia, President of the Reichstag and so on,
and so on
, to Chief of Security Police and SD, Heydrich, Reichsprotektor, President of INTERPOL, et cetera, et
cetera
…”

He looked up, briefly, unable to resist seeing the effect it had on the men present, they being some of the most powerful men in Europe. The sight overjoyed him.

~

Neither Jack, Alan, William nor Mary moved. The two fascists exchanged an oddly joyful look that exhibited the pretence of exasperation, and they began to flex their newfound social weight.