Trent Park

Trent Park House

Trent Park is a stately home north of London that was used as a prisoner-of-war camp for German and Italian generals and staff officers during World War II .

History of the site

The beginnings of Trent Park go back to the time of Henry IV . He had built a huge park-like area in Enfield as a hunting ground. A country house later built on the site came into the possession of the Sassoon family in 1908 .

Special bearings

German officers in Allied captivity, back row v. l. No. unknown, unknown, unknown, Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma , Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke , unknown; front row v. l. No. unknown, Ludwig Crüwell , Hans-Jürgen von Arnim , Paul Meixner , unknown; November 1943

After the death of Sir Philipp Sassoon, Trent Park was used by the British government, which set up a special camp for high-ranking prisoners of war here. The premises of the camp were bugged by the British secret service . Records of the bugged conversations between the various captured officers were an important source for British intelligence.

Officers were deliberately placed here, who one suspected that sooner or later they would begin to exchange their war experiences in conversations with one another in the relaxed atmosphere of this camp. Often high-ranking officers were deliberately brought together here, who the British Secret Service knew had different views on fundamental issues. The discussions that developed over time provided particularly rich material for intelligence analysis.

The 1942 camp initially only housed General of the Panzer Troop Ludwig Crüwell (from August 26, 1942 to June 16, 1944) and General of the Panzer Troop Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma (from November 20, 1942 to October 1945), both of whom were taken prisoner in North Africa were advised. While Thoma was critical of the Nazi regime, Crüwell considered Thomas' stance defeatist. This gave rise to disputes which provided plenty of material for the intelligence service evaluation.

German officers in Trent Park, back row v. l. No. Otto Elfeldt , Ferdinand Heim , Gerhard Bassenge ; front row v. l. No. Friedrich von Broich , Heinrich Eberbach , Georg Neuffer , Hans Reimann; November 1944

Since May 1943, more and more high-ranking officers - initially mainly officers who had been captured in Africa - came to this camp. Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim, who was captured in Tunis on May 12, 1943 and previously Commander in Chief of Army Group Africa , was brought to Trent Park on May 16, 1943 and stayed there until June 16, 1944. From August 1942 to October In 1945 a total of 84 German generals were held captive in Trent Park. The only SS officer in the camp was Kurt Meyer , SS Brigade Leader and Major General of the Waffen SS .

German officers in Trent Park, back row v. l. No. Dietrich von Choltitz , Gerhard Wilck , Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke, Kurt Eberding , Eberhard Wildermuth , front row v. l. No. Rüdiger von Heyking , Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben , Wilhelm Daser , November 1944

Among others, the following high-ranking officers were detained in Trent Park in addition to the above-mentioned:

General of the Panzer Troops Hans Cramer , previously in command of the German Africa Corps , also (like von Arnim) captured in Tunis on May 12, 1943 and in Trent Park from May 16, 1943 to February 22, 1944;
General der Flieger Johannes Fink , commanding general of the Luftwaffe in Greece until September 11, 1944 , then Führerreserve , taken prisoner of war in France on April 23, 1945 in Heggbach and in Trent Park from April 30, 1945;
General of the Infantry Dietrich von Choltitz, appointed Wehrmacht Commander in Paris on August 7, 1944 , taken prisoner on August 25, 1944, in Trent Park since August 29, 1944;
General of the Panzer Force Heinrich Eberbach, in charge of the 7th Army since August 22, 1944 , captured near Amiens on August 31, 1944 and in Trent Park since September 6, 1944;
General of the parachute troops Bernhard Ramcke, previously the fortress commander of Brest , after the surrender of the fortress Brest on September 19, 1944 in captivity, from September 27, 1944 in Trent Park;
Cavalry General Edwin Graf von Rothkirch and Trach , previously Commanding General LIII. Army Corps , captured on March 6, 1945 near Neunkirchen , from March 9, 1945 in Trent Park.

The Secret Listeners

The Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Center (CSDIC) trained the eavesdroppers, including German emigrants, because listening to the conversations required extensive knowledge of German. These mainly brought with them German Jews who had fled to England from the Nazis. These secret listeners , presumably a total of around 100 people, worked in Trent Park in the so-called "M-Room", which also housed the listening and recording devices, mostly from the USA. The last living Secret Listener (2017) is Fritz Lustig, born in Berlin in 1919 . He came to England in 1939 on one of the last Kindertransporte and was interned as an Enemy Alien soon after . After the British entry into the war, he volunteered for the British Army and, after a short pioneer training, switched to the CSDIC, which deployed him in Trent Park. Fritz Lustig is one of the active supporters of the “Save Trent Park Campaign”, which wants to set up a museum in Trent Park in memory of the “Secret Listeners”.

Comparable bearings

For the internment of German nuclear scientists, a comparable camp was set up in Farm Hall near Cambridge as part of Operation Epsilon , in which the scientists were also wiretapped.

Up to 250 German scientists and technology experts who had been brought to England from Germany in 1945 and 1946 were interned at the Beltane School in London . The warehouse had up to 44 employees and was relocated to Hampstead, London in 1947 .

Other known people (selection)

Major General Gerhard Bassenge: from May 16, 1943 to October 1945 in Trent Park
Lieutenant General Friedrich von Broich: from June 1, 1943 to October 1945 in Trent Park
Colonel Rudolf Gustav Buhse : captured in Tunisia, from June 16, 1943
Major i. G. Hasso Viebig
Lieutenant General Gotthard Frantz : captured in Tunisia, from May 22, 1943 to August 21, 1943 in Trent Park
Major General Alfred Gutknecht : September 5 to October 25, 1944 in Trent Park
Rear Admiral Walter Hennecke : in Trent Park from July 1, 1944
Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte : from February 23, 1945
Major General Heinrich-Hermann von Hülsen : Captured in Tunisia, May 26, 1943 to May 25, 1944 in Trent Park
Major General Heinrich Kreipe : Kidnapping in Crete, May 25 to August 23, 1944 in Trent Park
Major General Kurt Freiherr von Liebenstein : Captured in Tunisia, May 12, 1943 to September 23, 1944 in Trent Park
Rear Admiral Paul Meixner: Captured in Tunisia, from June 16, 1943 in Trent Park
Lieutenant General Georg Neuffer: from May 16, 1943 to October 1945 in Trent Park
General of the Infantry Ralph von Oriola : at Trent Park from April 27, 1945
Lieutenant General Karl Spang : from August 12, 1944 to September 23, 1944 in Trent Park
Lieutenant General Theodor von Sponeck : captured in Tunisia, June 1, 1943 to September 23, 1944 in Trent Park

literature

Sönke Neitzel : bugged - German generals in British captivity 1942–1945. Propylaea, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-549-07261-9 . List paperback 2007, ISBN 978-3-548-60760-3 .
Sönke Neitzel: German Generals in British Captivity 1942–1945. Quarterly books for contemporary history , 52nd volume (2004), p. 289ff. ( as PDF ).

Web links

HR2: bugged. German generals in British captivity. A feature by Uwe Wetsphal, broadcast on March 12, 2017 , accessed on March 13, 2017
Helen Fry: The M Room: Secret Listeners who Bugged the Nazis in WW2 From the page numerous other links about the "Secret Listeners" can be called up.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Tobias Seidl: Führer personalities: interpretations and interpretations of German Wehrmacht generals in British captivity . Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, 2012, ISBN 978-3-657-77382-4 , p. 28 ( google.de [accessed on May 8, 2020]).
↑ The "M" stood for microphone = microphone. See also: Helen Fry: The M Room: Secret Listeners who Bugged the Nazis in WW2
↑ The Nazi prisoners bugged by Germans, BBC News, 18 January 2013
↑ Save Trent Park Campaign The page contains several links on the current situation, as Trent Park may be converted into luxury apartments. The BBC reported on this conflict in April 2016 under the title 'Last chance' for museum of secret listeners , with Trent Park being praised as “As important as Bletchley Park ”. The current plans of the investors can be viewed on the Trent Park Home page . They also contain plans for a combined museum and café on approx. 980 m², but the focus of this museum is not specified.
^ German prisoners helped UK firms with their expertise
↑ ^a ^b Helen Fry: The Walls Have Ears: The Greatest Intelligence Operation of World War II . Yale University Press, 2019, ISBN 978-0-300-23860-0 , pp. 131 ( google.de [accessed on May 8, 2020]).

51.66 -0.13444444444444Coordinates: 51 ° 39 ′ 36 " N , 0 ° 8 ′ 4" W.

[:1-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Tobias Seidl: Führer personalities: interpretations and interpretations of German Wehrmacht generals in British captivity . Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, 2012, ISBN 978-3-657-77382-4 , p. 28 ( google.de [accessed on May 8, 2020]).

[2] The "M" stood for microphone = microphone. See also: Helen Fry: The M Room: Secret Listeners who Bugged the Nazis in WW2

[3] The Nazi prisoners bugged by Germans, BBC News, 18 January 2013

[4] Save Trent Park Campaign The page contains several links on the current situation, as Trent Park may be converted into luxury apartments. The BBC reported on this conflict in April 2016 under the title 'Last chance' for museum of secret listeners , with Trent Park being praised as “As important as Bletchley Park ”. The current plans of the investors can be viewed on the Trent Park Home page . They also contain plans for a combined museum and café on approx. 980 m², but the focus of this museum is not specified.

[5] German prisoners helped UK firms with their expertise

[:0-6] Helen Fry: The Walls Have Ears: The Greatest Intelligence Operation of World War II . Yale University Press, 2019, ISBN 978-0-300-23860-0 , pp. 131 ( google.de [accessed on May 8, 2020]).