The Traitor (novel)
Encyclopedia
The Traitor is a World War II
spy novel written by Guy Walters
in 2002. It follows the story of Captain John Lockhart, an MI6 agent
who is captured by the Nazis in Crete
and forced join the Waffen SS with several British
Fascists in order to save the life of his Wife who is a prisoner. Parts of the story also follows the lives of one of the British traitors and of John's daughter Amy Lockhart, an Oxford
Historian
in an attempt to clear his father's name who after the war was branded a traitor.
to 1936 to the life a member of the British Union of Fascists
, an organization of British men following Sir Oswald Mosley inciting a pogrom
in a Jewish Ghetto in London
. There are many other flashbacks about this person leaving the reader to guess whether it is really John Lockhart or someone else in the SS.
The story of John Lockhart then opens in late 1943 off the coast of Crete
. John Lockhart, an MI6 agent
is about to infiltrate the island to join up with the Greek Resistance
and one of its leaders Manoli Petaris. His mission is to help them create havoc for the Nazi occupation in Crete
After reaching their hiding place, they plan an attack on an ammunition dump. The attack fails however and Lockhart and several other Andartes are captured and taken to a prison. There, the commandant
of the prison Lockhart is held, an oberst
named Dietrich interrogates him. Lockhart pretends to be a Greek and resists interrogation but fails and is discovered to be a spy. He later agrees to help the Nazis in exchange for news of his wife Anna who had been captured during the invasion of Holland.
Later it is discovered that Anna is alive in another concentration camp. Dietrich offers his life and the life of his wife in exchange for helping the Nazis infiltrate the Greek resistance. He reluctantly agrees and is dropped off somewhere near the original hiding place.
During this time there are flash backs to When Lockhart was an Oxford
student working as an archaeologist in Crete. It is here that he meets Anna and it goes about to tell of their courtship and his friendship with Manoli and some of his classmates there. Unfortunately Lockhart discovers much of Crete
has changed from the war. He comes across a village he remembered staying at in ruins, destroyed as retribution for killing an SS officer early on in the story.
Lockhart Returns to the Andartes hiding place where he explains to Manoli how he plans to allow suspected collaborators to be captured in exchange for keeping himself and his wife alive while satisfying Dietrich. Unfortunately the camp is raided by Nazis and everyone except Lockhart is killed. Manoli chastises Lockhart as a traitor before dying.
The book then goes to Berlin and follows the life of An SS Hauptsturmführer
named Carl Strasser, a veteran of the Russian Front who now holds a desk job and is given orders to form an SS brigade made up of British Soldiers called the British Free Corps
(BFC) to fight the Russians
in the east. Strasser also is involved with a prostitute who is working undercover as an SD
agent named Leni Steiner. We later learn that Leni is the daughter of a German woman and a Jewish Father who must work undercover for the SD in order to protect her family. Strasser reviews the soldiers that already joined The BFC, some of whom did so to escape punishment others because they were sympathetic to the Nazi cause, many of whom were BUF members before the war. One of them is Pugh, a BUF spokesmen with a port wine stain on his face who we soon learn is the character in the flashbacks from the BUF. Lockhart is to be the leader of this brigade.
Lockhart initially refuses to join but while imprisoned in Berlin
, he meets a Russian spy who was captured who learned about a plan by the Nazis to use sarin
nerve gas to win the war. He tries to give the name of its location but is taken away to be executed. All Lockhart knows is that the name starts with MITT. Fearing that the Nazis could deploy the gas and fearing for the life of his wife he agrees to join. He later finds out that Andrew Worstead, a former classmate of his From Oxford and the Crete digs is one of the members of the BFC. He claims that he was an officer who was demoted to private for impregnating his CO's daughter and was captured at Dunkirk. Lockhart has orders to recruit POWs to join the BFC.
Lockhart uses this opportunity to send a secret message to MI6 disguised as a POW letter to family members to warn the Allies of sarin and the BFC. He does this with the help of corporal Strafford who is forced to join as punishment for attacking Lockhart. The recruitment drive comes to a halt after he is stabbed by a prisoner in another camp, but because of his recruiting he is discovered and is denounced as a traitor. Because of this and unknown to everyone in the unit, his letter is ignored back home and sarin disregarded as a false rumour.
Under Strasser and Lockhart BFC is slowly taking shape. Lockhart sees letters from his wife that are typed but does not believe they are real. He tries to make a deal with Strasser to see his wife but agrees only if the BFC meets training requirements for the Russian front. A deal he says he can break or change at any time. Meanwhile Lockhart presses Andrew Worstead about his joining the BFC and about whether or not Anna's letters are real or if she is dead or alive. Worstead claims that he joined the BFC to infiltrate and destroy the unit in order to become a hero back home. He also says that he suspects Pugh is collaborating with Strasser to forge the letters from Anna and keep an eye on the unit.
Lockhart meets up with members of the SS and other Nazi party officials to try and learn the truth about sarin. He learns that the gas might be a project in the Ahnenerbe
a German think tank that deals with race theory. With the help of Strafford (who had been a burglar before the war) Lockhart infiltrates an office in the Ahnenerbe and discovers a file of the A4
project.
Later at a bar in Berlin
he meets Pugh with Leni Steiner. Pugh reveals that he is no longer a fascist but is a Russian spy with Leni. He tells him that the story of Worstead being demoted and voluntarily joining is not true. In reality Worstead was a homosexual who's orientation was discovered in POW camp. He was shunned and later forced to join the BFC or be sent to a concentration camp. Worstead's orientation was later discovered by Pugh who blackmailed him. Worstead it turns out is the real spy for Strasser and that he was the one writing the letters from Anna. Lockhart confronts him and Worstead confirms most what Pugh had said but claims the letters were written by a British Nazi who is the son of the organist at John and Anna's wedding and that Anna was dead. He later kills himself. Lockhart is accused of murdering him and is arrested.
Strasser initially refuses to release Lockhart saying that it was nearly impossible. But When dating Leni at a hotel, he is forced at gunpoint to release Lockhart. Leni reveals herself as a spy for the SD and tells him he must obey Lockhart and give him what he wants or she will inform the SD that Strasser is a traitor and have him beheaded
. To make things worse, Lockhart claims that he knows that Anna is dead (which is not really true) which means Strasser has no way of blackmailing him.
Meanwhile, The Allied Forces
have invaded Europe
in the D-Day
operation and Lockhart fears that Germany
will be desperate to use the nerve gas. The BFC is also demoralised by Germany's losses. Leni and Pugh grudgingly agree to help Lockhart destroy the factory where the gas is kept but they have doubts it can be done. Leni takes part by luring one of the Ahnenerbe's officials into her apartment to interrogate him. Lockhart forces him to reveal information about A4 which is in fact a rocket program. Gas was to be loaded on the V2 rockets
and launched at London
in order to force the Allies to surrender
. Before the location is given out however he dies of a heart-attack. To make things worse, the SD has been following him and bursts into the apartment to arrest Lockhart and Leni. Lockhart however manages to disarm and kill them. An air raid follows destroying the apartment and evidence of Leni's involvement. This gives them time to plan the attack on the factory.
With the help of Russian Intelligence (GRU
), Leni changes her identity and the two hide out in another apartment. There they are contacted by the Russians with information on the factory's location which is in Mittelbau and ordered to destroy it. The plans are held by another agent. Lockhart learns more about the location of Mittelbau and is shocked to learn that the adjoining camp used for slave labour in building the rockets is the same camp that his wife Anna is held in and that she is still alive.
They collect the plans and then Lockhart forces Strasser to provide weaponry for the mission. By this time The BFC is completely demoralised and according to Pugh many want to return to POW camp. Lockhart uses this opportunity to convince them to join him in his mission which they all agree. Even Strasser who fears losing the war agrees to join. Lockhart goes to a POW camp to meet a former classmate about getting information about how to destroy the gas. He informs them to use a small drum or still
to do so.
The BFC with Strasser and Leni then go to Mittelbau underground factory to destroy the gas. With the help of Strasser they manage to get weapons, equipment and forged documents and get as far as the gate where they run into trouble. After the gate opens for a passing truck, they decide to Attack the guards and manage to drive into the factory where the gas is kept. They barely manage to seal the gas inside the still and blow it up with dynamite but not without taking heavy loses. John Lockhart and Leni try to make their escape when John sees Anna in the compound. He runs to her but is killed. Leni is the only one who escapes.
Back in 1986, Amy is showing her mother the letter. Thanks to new openness in the USSR from perestroika
, new information including Leni's testimony is released from the Russians. Captain John Lockhart's name is cleared and he is awarded a medal along with the other members of the BFC. Leni unfortunately was betrayed and taken to a concentration camp where she was executed. Anna then shows Amy the pine-cones John gave her before being shot in Mittelbau.
and who wanted to join the Germans. Some were persuaded however through punishment. There were no officers who joined and those captured received light punishment ranging from life sentences to small fines. The British Union of Fascists
was outlawed and its leader Oswald Mosley and most of its followers were detained. The A4
project was a real project concerning V2 rockets which were launched at London. Sarin gas however, was already invented a decade earlier. Adolf Hitler
is said to had never intended to use it on the Allies. Some say this had to do with his personal experience with gas warfare during World War I
while others contend that it is possible he would have had no qualms over using the gas.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
spy novel written by Guy Walters
Guy Walters
Guy Walters is a British author and journalist.-Life and career:Guy Walters was born in Kensington, London. A descendant of Richard Harris Barham and Edward Augustus Bond, he was educated at Cheam School, Eton College, Westfield College, University of London , and is studying for a PhD in history...
in 2002. It follows the story of Captain John Lockhart, an MI6 agent
Secret Agent
Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...
who is captured by the Nazis in Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
and forced join the Waffen SS with several British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
Fascists in order to save the life of his Wife who is a prisoner. Parts of the story also follows the lives of one of the British traitors and of John's daughter Amy Lockhart, an Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
Historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
in an attempt to clear his father's name who after the war was branded a traitor.
Plot summary
The story opens in 1986 when Amy Lockhart opens a letter from the British government about her father. Then there is a flashbackFlashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
to 1936 to the life a member of the British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
, an organization of British men following Sir Oswald Mosley inciting a pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
in a Jewish Ghetto in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. There are many other flashbacks about this person leaving the reader to guess whether it is really John Lockhart or someone else in the SS.
The story of John Lockhart then opens in late 1943 off the coast of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
. John Lockhart, an MI6 agent
Secret Agent
Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...
is about to infiltrate the island to join up with the Greek Resistance
Greek Resistance
The Greek Resistance is the blanket term for a number of armed and unarmed groups from across the political spectrum that resisted the Axis Occupation of Greece in the period 1941–1944, during World War II.-Origins:...
and one of its leaders Manoli Petaris. His mission is to help them create havoc for the Nazi occupation in Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
After reaching their hiding place, they plan an attack on an ammunition dump. The attack fails however and Lockhart and several other Andartes are captured and taken to a prison. There, the commandant
Commandant
Commandant is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy. This usage is common in anglophone nations...
of the prison Lockhart is held, an oberst
Oberst
Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...
named Dietrich interrogates him. Lockhart pretends to be a Greek and resists interrogation but fails and is discovered to be a spy. He later agrees to help the Nazis in exchange for news of his wife Anna who had been captured during the invasion of Holland.
Later it is discovered that Anna is alive in another concentration camp. Dietrich offers his life and the life of his wife in exchange for helping the Nazis infiltrate the Greek resistance. He reluctantly agrees and is dropped off somewhere near the original hiding place.
During this time there are flash backs to When Lockhart was an Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
student working as an archaeologist in Crete. It is here that he meets Anna and it goes about to tell of their courtship and his friendship with Manoli and some of his classmates there. Unfortunately Lockhart discovers much of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
has changed from the war. He comes across a village he remembered staying at in ruins, destroyed as retribution for killing an SS officer early on in the story.
Lockhart Returns to the Andartes hiding place where he explains to Manoli how he plans to allow suspected collaborators to be captured in exchange for keeping himself and his wife alive while satisfying Dietrich. Unfortunately the camp is raided by Nazis and everyone except Lockhart is killed. Manoli chastises Lockhart as a traitor before dying.
The book then goes to Berlin and follows the life of An SS Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
named Carl Strasser, a veteran of the Russian Front who now holds a desk job and is given orders to form an SS brigade made up of British Soldiers called the British Free Corps
British Free Corps
During World War II, the British Free Corps was a unit of the consisting of British and Dominion prisoners of war who had been recruited by the Nazis. The unit was originally known as The Legion of St...
(BFC) to fight the Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
in the east. Strasser also is involved with a prostitute who is working undercover as an SD
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
agent named Leni Steiner. We later learn that Leni is the daughter of a German woman and a Jewish Father who must work undercover for the SD in order to protect her family. Strasser reviews the soldiers that already joined The BFC, some of whom did so to escape punishment others because they were sympathetic to the Nazi cause, many of whom were BUF members before the war. One of them is Pugh, a BUF spokesmen with a port wine stain on his face who we soon learn is the character in the flashbacks from the BUF. Lockhart is to be the leader of this brigade.
Lockhart initially refuses to join but while imprisoned in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, he meets a Russian spy who was captured who learned about a plan by the Nazis to use sarin
Sarin
Sarin, or GB, is an organophosphorus compound with the formula [2CHO]CH3PF. It is a colorless, odorless liquid, which is used as a chemical weapon. It has been classified as a weapon of mass destruction in UN Resolution 687...
nerve gas to win the war. He tries to give the name of its location but is taken away to be executed. All Lockhart knows is that the name starts with MITT. Fearing that the Nazis could deploy the gas and fearing for the life of his wife he agrees to join. He later finds out that Andrew Worstead, a former classmate of his From Oxford and the Crete digs is one of the members of the BFC. He claims that he was an officer who was demoted to private for impregnating his CO's daughter and was captured at Dunkirk. Lockhart has orders to recruit POWs to join the BFC.
Lockhart uses this opportunity to send a secret message to MI6 disguised as a POW letter to family members to warn the Allies of sarin and the BFC. He does this with the help of corporal Strafford who is forced to join as punishment for attacking Lockhart. The recruitment drive comes to a halt after he is stabbed by a prisoner in another camp, but because of his recruiting he is discovered and is denounced as a traitor. Because of this and unknown to everyone in the unit, his letter is ignored back home and sarin disregarded as a false rumour.
Under Strasser and Lockhart BFC is slowly taking shape. Lockhart sees letters from his wife that are typed but does not believe they are real. He tries to make a deal with Strasser to see his wife but agrees only if the BFC meets training requirements for the Russian front. A deal he says he can break or change at any time. Meanwhile Lockhart presses Andrew Worstead about his joining the BFC and about whether or not Anna's letters are real or if she is dead or alive. Worstead claims that he joined the BFC to infiltrate and destroy the unit in order to become a hero back home. He also says that he suspects Pugh is collaborating with Strasser to forge the letters from Anna and keep an eye on the unit.
Lockhart meets up with members of the SS and other Nazi party officials to try and learn the truth about sarin. He learns that the gas might be a project in the Ahnenerbe
Ahnenerbe
The Ahnenerbe was a Nazi German think tank that promoted itself as a "study society for Intellectual Ancient History." Founded on July 1, 1935, by Heinrich Himmler, Herman Wirth, and Richard Walther Darré, the Ahnenerbe's goal was to research the anthropological and cultural history of the Aryan...
a German think tank that deals with race theory. With the help of Strafford (who had been a burglar before the war) Lockhart infiltrates an office in the Ahnenerbe and discovers a file of the A4
A4
A4, A04, A.IV, A.4 or A-4 may refer to:* A4 paper, a paper size prevalent in many countries , defined in the ISO 216 international standard...
project.
Later at a bar in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
he meets Pugh with Leni Steiner. Pugh reveals that he is no longer a fascist but is a Russian spy with Leni. He tells him that the story of Worstead being demoted and voluntarily joining is not true. In reality Worstead was a homosexual who's orientation was discovered in POW camp. He was shunned and later forced to join the BFC or be sent to a concentration camp. Worstead's orientation was later discovered by Pugh who blackmailed him. Worstead it turns out is the real spy for Strasser and that he was the one writing the letters from Anna. Lockhart confronts him and Worstead confirms most what Pugh had said but claims the letters were written by a British Nazi who is the son of the organist at John and Anna's wedding and that Anna was dead. He later kills himself. Lockhart is accused of murdering him and is arrested.
Strasser initially refuses to release Lockhart saying that it was nearly impossible. But When dating Leni at a hotel, he is forced at gunpoint to release Lockhart. Leni reveals herself as a spy for the SD and tells him he must obey Lockhart and give him what he wants or she will inform the SD that Strasser is a traitor and have him beheaded
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
. To make things worse, Lockhart claims that he knows that Anna is dead (which is not really true) which means Strasser has no way of blackmailing him.
Meanwhile, The Allied Forces
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
have invaded Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in the D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
operation and Lockhart fears that Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
will be desperate to use the nerve gas. The BFC is also demoralised by Germany's losses. Leni and Pugh grudgingly agree to help Lockhart destroy the factory where the gas is kept but they have doubts it can be done. Leni takes part by luring one of the Ahnenerbe's officials into her apartment to interrogate him. Lockhart forces him to reveal information about A4 which is in fact a rocket program. Gas was to be loaded on the V2 rockets
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
and launched at London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in order to force the Allies to surrender
Surrender (military)
Surrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and eventually become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. A white flag is a common symbol of surrender, as is the gesture of raising one's hands empty and open above one's head.When the...
. Before the location is given out however he dies of a heart-attack. To make things worse, the SD has been following him and bursts into the apartment to arrest Lockhart and Leni. Lockhart however manages to disarm and kill them. An air raid follows destroying the apartment and evidence of Leni's involvement. This gives them time to plan the attack on the factory.
With the help of Russian Intelligence (GRU
GRU
GRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...
), Leni changes her identity and the two hide out in another apartment. There they are contacted by the Russians with information on the factory's location which is in Mittelbau and ordered to destroy it. The plans are held by another agent. Lockhart learns more about the location of Mittelbau and is shocked to learn that the adjoining camp used for slave labour in building the rockets is the same camp that his wife Anna is held in and that she is still alive.
They collect the plans and then Lockhart forces Strasser to provide weaponry for the mission. By this time The BFC is completely demoralised and according to Pugh many want to return to POW camp. Lockhart uses this opportunity to convince them to join him in his mission which they all agree. Even Strasser who fears losing the war agrees to join. Lockhart goes to a POW camp to meet a former classmate about getting information about how to destroy the gas. He informs them to use a small drum or still
Still
A still is a permanent apparatus used to distill miscible or immiscible liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor...
to do so.
The BFC with Strasser and Leni then go to Mittelbau underground factory to destroy the gas. With the help of Strasser they manage to get weapons, equipment and forged documents and get as far as the gate where they run into trouble. After the gate opens for a passing truck, they decide to Attack the guards and manage to drive into the factory where the gas is kept. They barely manage to seal the gas inside the still and blow it up with dynamite but not without taking heavy loses. John Lockhart and Leni try to make their escape when John sees Anna in the compound. He runs to her but is killed. Leni is the only one who escapes.
Back in 1986, Amy is showing her mother the letter. Thanks to new openness in the USSR from perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
, new information including Leni's testimony is released from the Russians. Captain John Lockhart's name is cleared and he is awarded a medal along with the other members of the BFC. Leni unfortunately was betrayed and taken to a concentration camp where she was executed. Anna then shows Amy the pine-cones John gave her before being shot in Mittelbau.
Reality and fiction
The British Free Corps consisted of actual members of the British military who were sympathetic to fascismFascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
and who wanted to join the Germans. Some were persuaded however through punishment. There were no officers who joined and those captured received light punishment ranging from life sentences to small fines. The British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
was outlawed and its leader Oswald Mosley and most of its followers were detained. The A4
A4
A4, A04, A.IV, A.4 or A-4 may refer to:* A4 paper, a paper size prevalent in many countries , defined in the ISO 216 international standard...
project was a real project concerning V2 rockets which were launched at London. Sarin gas however, was already invented a decade earlier. Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
is said to had never intended to use it on the Allies. Some say this had to do with his personal experience with gas warfare during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
while others contend that it is possible he would have had no qualms over using the gas.