HMS Heligoland POD 1945 :

HMS Heligoland - PODs at 1919 and 1945...
Whilst book-revising, wondered if anybody would be interested in an after-1900 POD. The two possibles are immediately after the Great War and the Second World War.

This post-1945 one would explore Heligoland's role as a British occupied territory up to at least 1952. If the population approved, Britain might make it another Gib-type Crown Colony. The impact on North Sea Oil sectors and exploitation would be...interesting...

A post-1919 one would predictably reduce certain key butterflies in my 1890 POD TL and book. A Versaille agreement that Britain would retain the Kaiser-built fortifications as a way of preventing U-boat deployments by Germany. Probably this would influence the 'tween-wars and WW2 events, but not as massively as an earlier POD.

Would you like a 'Son of Heligoland'?
 
I agree...

...Snag is, a lot more writing...:eek:

1945 will have disappointments as well as more successes and will have localised butterflies. We'll see how it goes and look at 1919 later.

The world will be the same as OTL but the POD starts before the actual Surrender - before the raid in which Heligoland suffered its worst damage.

...Start the attack...
 
1945 : The Heligoland Annexation :

Winston Spencer Churchill had never ignored the necessity of warfare, but as Hitler's forces retreated within Germany's borders, he was already considering the ways to reinforce a peace. Germany would surrender - that much was true - but a period of occupation of that unhappy land was as inevitable as the war. What Churchill was concerned about was the risk of a resurgant Germany threatening Britain again - and that meant blocking the U-boat menace that had nearly brought Britain to a 1941 Armistice. Heligoland had been fatally handed over to the Kaiser, had been an obstacle in the Great War and then again in the Second World War, but it had been British for 83 years and German for only 55. There were military proposals to bomb the island and also use up surplus ammunition, or to demolish it with ammunition scheduled for disposal, but Churchill had been advised that anything more than a sandbank might be fortified again. Thoughtfully, he looked at a chart and at reports of the weapons installed by Hitler, then came to a decision; Britain would have to annex the Island permanently as part of any war settlements. It was already feared that Stalin had annexed the Baltic States permanently and wanted to have parts of Arctic Finland and Pomeranian Germany as part of Russia, so Churchill needed Truman to concede that Heligoland's annexation by Britain was essential. As his first step, Churchill vetoed a thousand-bomber raid upon Heligoland, timed for April 18th 1945, as he thought it would be possible to have the island surrendered to Britain as a going concern.

Karl Donitz, in line to become Hitler's successor, was similarly troubled by the future of Germany; he was aware that Hitler meant to hold out in Berlin until the end, so his own appointment as Reichsprasident might be only a matter of time. He wanted, like others, to surrender Germany to the Western Allies. Unfortunately, his advisers warned him that Truman and Churchill would keep to agreements with Stalin, so Donitz already had actioned 'Operation Hannibal' in January 1945, to move westwards as many people as possible into areas controlled by the Western Allies. It is a historical fact that nearly 800,000 German citizens were moved westwards, an achievement that ranks as Donitz's greatest success. By the time word arrived on April 30th 1945 that Hitler was dead, the efficient Donitz had already set up a government at Flensburg on the Danish border, with his successor in the Kriegsmarine, Generaladmiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg, tasked with negotiating a surrender. On May 4th 1945 Friedeburg met Field-Marshal Bernard Montgomery at Timeloberg Hill on Luneberg Heath. There, Friedeburg had to surrender unconditionally all German forces:-

"...in Holland, in northwest Germany including the Frisian Islands and Heligoland and all other islands, in Schleswig-Holstein, and in Denmark… to include all naval ships in these areas..."

This phrase is the key to much of what happened subsequently, for it surrendered those forces to Britain, not to Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces Europe, then based at Reims in France. Montgomery had received sealed orders direct from Churchill that he was to send a senior Kriegsmarine Officer to Heligoland to arrange for a complete surrender of the entire island and its fortifications. Vice-Admiral Harold Tom Baillie-Grohmann, then semi-retired and aged 57, was to meet with that senior officer and take command of 'HMS Heligoland' with a unit of Royal Marines and some Royal Navy gunners. It was abundantly clear to Montgomery that Churchill meant to seize the whole setup as a working military base - and that he did not want any interference from any quarter. In his memoirs, Montgomery later admitted that he knew it would cause friction with General Eisenhower, but at the same time it was a guarantee that Heligoland was no threat to the British Sector of Occupied Germany. If the German garrison refused to surrender unconditionally, the RAF would blast the island's defences to rubble. There was an obvious choice of 'senior Kriegsmarine Officer', Generaladmiral Friedeburg being ordered by Donitz to carry out the duty in a phonecall that was monitored by the Intelligence services.

"Hans, the British are afraid of us. If giving back Helgoland makes them feel safer, so be it. They may treat us more kindly than the Russians and French. You will serve the Fatherland by doing this."

The Schnellboote (E-boat) that left Bremerhaven for Heligoland on May 6th 1945 had been stripped of all armament and was crewed jointly by Kriegsmarine and Royal Navy personnel, both groups initially highly suspicious of one another. Rarely, if ever, had there been so much top brass on so minor a fleet unit; one German engineering officer broke the ice by wondering if the ship would be 'krank' ('top-heavy'), which had both groups laughing. Baillie-Grohmann - a spry 57 - grinned at Friedeburg and remarked that it was a most unlikely occurrence, but found the Generaladmiral was greatly depressed, held together only by discipline and his orders.

"You have family, Hans?" 'B-G' asked. "I have a wife and two sons."

"A wife, a son." Friedeburg admitted. "They live in Hesse. I haf - have not heard from them, some weeks." His was the fear of every family in every conquered country.

"I will ask the Admiralty to find them and make sure they can contact you." 'B-G' assured him, moved to that small kindness. "You and I must work together on the transfer of powers. I have asked Prime Minister Churchill to let me list your Kriegsmarine personnel on Heligoland as Royal Navy Auxiliaries. That's Royal Navy regulations and rates of pay. I regret it makes you a Kapitan under my command - for the moment."

Friedeburg digested this; it made him commander of the last vestige of the Kriegsmarine - or the first part of the postwar German navy, under whatever name might be chosen. With the growl of the diesels hiding their conversation, Friedeburg asked some searching questions and had some unexpected answers. The Royal Navy estimated that 600,000 mines had been laid off the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, so Admiral Harold Burrough had already requested that Kriegsmarine Mine Sweeping vessels be retained under their crews for clearance work. As this amounted to 300 vessels and 27,000 men, Burrough had tasked Baillie-Grohmann with Heligoland and another Vice-Admiral, Henry England, to be in charge of minesweeping operations. But there was still a need for German officers in charge of their men, so 'B-G' anticipated an early re-promotion of Friedeburg to Contreadmiral, or some similar Flag rank. Although a Party member and a dedicated nationalist, Friedeburg was no fanatical Nazi and had not taken part in any war crimes, so might be considered a 'trusty'. Donitz was in a more difficult position, but 'B-G' hoped that the undoubted professionalism of the U-boat force's commander would prevent him from the worst of a War Crimes Tribunal. Friedeburg confirmed that Hitler and Goebbels were dead by their own hands, a matter that had shocked him deeply, but it seemed as if he and his men had fallen upon their feet.

The approach of the Schnellboote to Heligoland had been the most dangerous part; the garrison had respected the wireless message sent by Donitz from Flensburg, but were ready to fire on the small ship flying the white flag. Diesel engines barely grumbling, the torpedo-boat slid inside the U-boat pens and was moored with calm professionalism by the Kriegsmarine sailors there. They were astonished by the presence of Grossadmiral Friedeburg but not entirely surprised by the British contingent, piping the officers ashore in best naval tradition, before the Kapitan zur See commanding Heligoland came to salute his superior - using the standard salute not used since the Reichsmarine of 1935. Baillie-Grohmann realised then that Donitz muxt have been busy on the wireless, for there were no signs of Nazi insignia on the uniform of the Kapitan or his sailors. That meant a surprising absence of cap badges and bare flagmasts, except for one Kriegsmarine flag and the pennant of the Second Schnellboote Flotilla, based at Heligoland. Only one U-boat was present in the pens but five early-model Schnellboote were tied up there, their crews fallen-in on the quayside.

"Does the Herr Generaladmiral require an inspection?" The Kapitan asked; Freideburg shook his head.

"Nein, Herr Vizeadmiral Baillie-Grohmann is the new Governor of Helgoland." The two Kriegsmarine officers glanced at one another, then at the less-impressively dressed 'B-G' in his Royal Navy dress uniform. "And our new Commandant. Part of the Kriegsmarine is retained as the Mine Sweeping Administration, of which one base will be here. The officers and men will be paraded and told." He paused. "At least it guarantees our pay as naval personnel."

"That will give the men reassurance." The Kapitan nodded. "But - what does this mean? A Governor? There has always been a Commandant here."

"The British are resuming control of Heligoland as a Crown Colony." Friedeburg was careful to say it as Baillie-Grohmann had instructed him to. "They owned Helgoland between 1807 and 1890. They are annexing the Island and Hallem permanently."
 
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Post 4 is complete...

...The next stage will be the impact on the garrison and the residents - and on the Occupation of Germany.

Re-drafting it off-line - too tired from overtime to do it sensibly. It'll be my Christmas gift.
 
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From Annexation to Government :

HMS Heligoland had come into being from the moment the White Ensign was hoisted over the former German naval base, but its permanence would depend upon recognition of the annexation as a Crown Colony - and that was to be a diplomatic headache. The flagmast beside the Kommandantura - which had replaced the grandly-termed little 'Governor's Mansion' - was added to by a second one with the green, red and white flag of British Heligoland, with a Union Flag in its upper left canton like the White Ensign's. Not seen on Heligoland for 55 years, that flag actually meant a great deal to those thirty or so Helgolanders who recalled early childhood ubder the British Governors, both of bitterness and happiness. A second one was hoisted over the Konvershus in the Lower Town, a third over the Landrat offices in the Upper Town, evidence enough of the new regime - or the return of an older one.

The Royal Navy had had plenty of time to pre-plan ‘Operation Kuchlenz’, the transfer of German Kriegsmarine personnel out of Heligoland and their replacement by a Royal Navy and Royal Marine garrison. There was a lot more involved than just re-labelling equipment – the big fear was that a revanchist Nazi sympathiser might plant a bomb in a magazine or sabotage arms and equipment. Baillie-Grohmann could – and did – reassure the mainland garrison that they were to move to barracks ashore at Cuxhaven and might be called upon to advise on the takeover of equipment for a suitable fee. A few might even be taken on as Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel at suitable wages, as the Mine Clearance fleet would need logistical support.

When four Royal Navy frigates, two Landing Ships Tank (LST) and a quartet of Motor Gun Boats (MGB) arrived in the harbour, the Helgolanders and the Kriegsmarine garrison knew that the new Governor had forces to command. The unsmiling Royal Marine Commando unit went ashore to key points with their rifles at the ready, but the Germans were paraded on the Boperlun parade ground and there was no resistance. A few home-made Helgoland and Union flags hung limply in the rain outside houses in the Upper and Lower Towns, but the locals waited in cynical patience to see what would happen. Most of the Kriegsmarine garrison were gone within two days, British voices and royal Navy uniforms replacing them. The Marines’ band marched to ‘Life on the Ocean Wave’ to the bandstand, to give a concert of popular music to the locals, to their amusement; the Kriegsmarine bandsmen were better musicians.

Helgolanders had tended to be a hard-bitten, stolid race, stubborn about hanging onto their laws and customs (Beliebungen) under their council or Vorsteherrschaft of Quartermen. The Prussians had insisted upon a Landrat (District Office) lead by a bureaucrat and imposed codified laws that ignored many local freedoms and were soon thoroughly hated. August Kuchlenz and others had wanted Britain to take Heligoland back in 1919 and his name had been appropriate for the 1945 operation. Unfortunately, enquiries on Heligoland had revealed that Kuchlenz had been removed to a German concentration camp in the 1930s, so the well-meaning honour of the title roused only sadness and some bitterness. He and Erich Friedrichs had only been allowed home after signing a promise not to spek of their experiences. Friedrichs and six others had been murdered by the Gestapo after trying to organise a coup in April 1945, to surrender the Island to the Allies, so there was deep regret about the delay in the surrender.

Baillie-Grohmann’s first attempt to engage the goodwill of the Helgolanders came at a public meeting called three days later at the Kurhaus, the community hall; the locals were invited to the meeting to discuss the future of 'The Lunn' under British administration. This highly-informal government had characterised Heligoland under the earlier British administration, so the fascinated locals came to their Konvershus to meet their new Governor and his curiously-multinational staff. Some Helgolander-born German military personnel were given leave to attend - mostly local flak gunners and logistics staff - so the audience in the Kurhaus had a scatter of military uniforms.

"British Heligoland is being re-established as a Crown Colony." The Governor addressed them, bare-headed although in dress uniform. "That means a return to the old laws the Beliebungen - cast aside by Kaiser Wilhelm and never re-established. Any changes will b e subject to discussion between your representatives and myself as the Colonial Governor. What it means in the main, is that, except for military personnel, only Helgolanders by blood or marriage can live on the Lunn. You will want to elect some kind of civil council – a Burgomeister or Mayor, councillors of some kind, a civic treasurer and a civic secretary or clerk." He saw that this had their attention and approval, from the nods and smiles. "And I apologise in advance for the British Government failing to recognise your wishes after the Great War. I gather that Herr August Kuchlenz represented your case in a petition to the League of Nations, to Britain and to Denmark. Is he still on the Lunn?"

"Ja, I am here" An elderly man came to his feet. "But the Nazis killed my friends." He glared at Admiral Friedeburg, who was sitting in conspicuous unease near the new Governor.

"That rather confirms a suspicion Military Intelligence passed on to me. We know of some evacuations in 1942, but deportations were unusual." Baillie-Grohmann made a note. "The Landrat or Council may wish me to investigate other cases notified to them. I will do so, for the King's subjects on Heligoland must be protected and preserved."

"What is the position - ah, status? Ja, status - of the Wehrmacht and Kriegsmarine units on Helgoland?" Kuchlenz had become island spokesman in a minute.

"Most are being returned to Germany for demobilisation, some will be retained for logistical support and maintenance." That was one aspect that Baillie-Grohmann was prepared for. "Preference will be given to Helgolander-origin servicemen. The Royal Navy Marine and Gunnery Section garrison will will work up the existing guns and HMS Heligoland Naval Base is to be an operational Royal Navy shore establishment. A second Gibraltar, if you like."

"And when will the last German military personnel leave Helgoland?" That came from one of the Friedrichs family; the Governor stifled a sigh.

"It is suggested that Heligoland becomes the Minesweeping base for Division Two of the German Mine Sweeping Administration. It will take maybe seven years to remove the mines that are such a hazard to navigation in the North Sea and the Baltic." The Helgolanders were not satisfied and there was a hurried consultation before their spokesman replied.

"Too long. Six months. The German Mine Sweeping Administration can go to Cuxhaven."

"I will communicate your feelings to the Admiralty and to the Colonial Office." Baillie-Grohmann made another note. "This is an operational matter - the base needs a function. The economy of Heligoland needs a sound basis. Do you have any ideas?"

Only a handful did - Heligoland had a pre-war reputation as a spa with fine beaches and clean air, as a fishing port and as a merchant and pleasure haven. The heart of the problem was that – as at Gibraltar – the Royal Navy would be the major civil employer and an extensive market. Baillie-Grohmann let them talk themselves to a standstill; he had the solution and he waited until they fell silent.

“Restoration of the fishing-port is practical, but there will be few tourists until Denmark and Germany have recovered a little from the war.” Baillie-Grohmann pointed out. “I was going to suggest a fish-cannery, but for the present, we may as well make use of the Minesweepers and other Allied operations.”
Reluctantly, the Helgolanders agreed to his proposals; it would take years to undo the damage war had done to the travel and spa industry, the idea of a cannery was a good one and the naval base would need workers. Von Friedeburg noted that the Governor had talked the locals round to acceptance of Germans as customers rather than as a threat – an ingenious solution to the problem. But the former Generaladmiral realised fast enough that the Helgolanders had no desire to be shuttlecocks of diplomacy; one of the Helgolanders asked a serious question.

“Heligoland is in a very strategic position. What will the French, the Yanks and the Russians, say?”

“Possibly – ‘About time, too!’” Baillie-Grohmann quipped. “But I gather Prime Minister Winston Churchill is determined to keep Heligoland British.”
 
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The Potsdam Conference :

When Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee attended the conference at Potsdam some nine weeks after the annexation of Heligoland, both men were aware that they would face many problems, with Heligoland the least of their problems. Charles de Gaulle of France could be safely ignored, for he and liberated France had little influence over matters in Germany and none over Heligoland. Josef Stalin had his own, far more substantial annexations, ones that included the Koenigsburg sector of Prussia, to become Kaliningrad, a Russian port on the Baltic. He had taken over Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, had taken Finland’s Arctic port of Murmansk, most of Eastern Europe and was trying through proxies to take over Greece, Yugoslavia, France and Italy. Truman in the USA deplored all this, but most of Japan’s Pacific territories were now under US control and Britain’s modest seizure of Heligoland was with the agreement (or at least, passive acceptance) of the White House.

“That tiny island should be blown up and disposed of.” That comment from General Eisenhower was to lead to a snort from the more perceptive President Truman..
“The Germans would re-fortify it if there was even a reef there... No – better to keep it as a British-controlled fortress. The British held it before – and they are furious with themselves for handing it over to the Kaiser. The First and Second Wars would have been different in naval character, if the Kaiser and Hitler had been blocked by a British Heligoland.”

“The Channel Islands were heavily fortified by Hitler – do we allow Britain to keep up those defences?”

“De Gaulle wants the defences removed as a threat to Cherbourg.” Eisenhower heard Truman’s calm, schoolmasterly voice. “Heligoland is a cheap deterrent to a future German navy causing problems. Stalin will be angry, but it’s also a deterrent to him – if ever he seizes Germany.”

There was a brief, deadly silence; both Eisenhower and Truman recognised Stalin was not to be trusted, although the foolish Franklin Delano Roosevelt had failed to believe the worldly-wise Churchill at Yalta.

“It’s agreed that we’re pulling back from the Harz Mountains, to give Stalin all of Eastern Germany? You can say goodbye to Poland – and Czechoslovakia.” Eisenhower thought of what Patton would say and winced.

“I may reconsider the matter.” The response was grim. “Russia has seized the Baltic States and wants a third of Austria as well as of Germany. If Poland does not get a democratic government, Stalin will be our enemy.” Which was remarkable language for the quiet-spoken President. “But I think he is so in any case.”

And so it proved. Stalin used the takeover of tiny Heligoland and the extensive seizures of the Japanese possessions by the USA to excuse his own massive seizures of European territory. He would use his puppet ‘liberation governments’ and their secret police to destroy democracy in as many states as he could, installing ‘Soviet Socialist Republics’ in their place. The shrewd Truman and Churchill knew very well that these would neither be ‘soviet’ nor ‘socialist’ and (through vote rigging) certainly not republics. All would have Russian Red Army forces occupying them in as Imperial a gesture as the Roman Legions – and with as little sympathy for local aspirations.
Truman incensed Stalin by refusing to hand over the portion of the proposed Russian Sector occupied by Britain and US forces, until Stalin should remove his forces from the three Baltic States. So it was that the Ceasefire Line in Germany became the boundary between East and Western Europe and the Russians refused to allow the Western Allies into Berlin. This did not occur in Austria, where other arguments ruled, but it was a serious blow to Western Allied credibility. The handfuls of British and American troops that had reached Berlin were forced out at gunpoint by NKVD units and sent back to the Ceasefire Line. The maintenance of a series of sectors of Berlin in the heart of the Soviet Zone was later conceded by Eisenhower and Attlee to have been in the realms of fantasy.
 
...Now for the social and technical effects...

I can see Stalin not caring at all about whether the British Imperialists choose to annex a German island in the North Sea.

What I just don't see is how this manifests into laying the foundations for World War Three.

If anything there will be people talking in the United Nations and being horrified at the British adding a crown colony when many Americans shared Roosevelts view that the British empire should be destroyed. Also remember that Anglo-American relations had been getting worse in 1945.

I don't see an inexperienced new President like Truman suddenly lecturing Eisenhower on strategy.

Politically, using the word Crown Colony would be disastrous. Maybe a politically correct term such as Special Administrative Zone. Then if criticized just say that the local population need time to reflect on their future status blah, blah..

But I think its too late now. Your baby has already been born.
 
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Don't under-rate Truman...

...Too many people do. Roosevelt left a mess that Truman had to sort out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman has a section on his actions as President that is interesting. I may have slightly 'jumped the gun' with Stalin, but not by very much.

It's worth remembering that Britain could point to the attempts of the Helgolanders in the 1920s to become either British, Danish or a League of Nations Protectorate similar to the Free City of Danzig. Britain was the 1807-1890 governor of Heligoland - for 83 years as against the 55 years of German control. This isn't like the India situation - it's more like Gibraltar.

Glad you decided to post here.
 
1945 - 1948 : A Haven at Heligoland :

The effect of British control of Heligoland - with the open approval of the population - took time to be accepted by the anti-imperialist lobby in Washington and by some socialists in Britain. It took Aneurin Bevan, that forthright Labour MP and Minister, to settle the matter in a visit to Heligoland in September 1945 on behalf of Attlee. He met the fascinated Helgolanders at the Konvershus and found that they wanted to remain British and be recognised as British citizens. But they did not want emigration to Britain - they wanted, like Gibraltarians, to stay in their home territory and to live under their own laws. Bevan went away saying that the Islanders were a natural 'soviet' and that it would be wrong to deny them what they wanted. General Eisenhower had a feeling that the Helgolanders were the most free-market people he had encountered, for they wanted freedom to trade in Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. Eisenhower scratched his head, but admitted that Heligoland was a useful safety-valve.

The German Mine Sweeping Administration had set up a communications and logistical centre at HMS Heligoland, co-ordinating mine-sweeping operations and mine escort convoys. The Royal Navy and US Navy found this very convenient, for mine disposal was very dangerous work and highly unpopular; the GMSA was staffed by former Kriegsmarine personnel, currently wearing their old uniforms minus double-eagles and swastikas, but the sailors were proud of their professionalism and highly disciplined. They swept and marked channels through the minefields, day upon day, month on month, in all weathers, with equipment that had to be repaired at Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven and Kiel, or even at Heligoland. Barracks erected upon the submarine pens at Heligoland became the transit-camp for GMSA men between operations, in a similar fashion to accommodation hulks and barracks at the other GMSA ports; however, only Helgolanders and British service personnel were allowed out into the Lower and Upper Towns, which were off-limits to mainland Germans. Non-fraternisation had become a way in which many Helgolanders showed that they were British, not German, but at the same time the Islanders were re-discovering their own independence, protected by their laws from unwanted assimilation.

Heligoland's flag of green, red and white horizontal panels, had been differenced with the Union Flag in its upper left corner, for HMS Heligoland; the Governor's flag was a Union Flag with a shield of the Heligoland panels at its centre and a crown above the shield. The Heligoland Flag became important in Germany when it was recognised as being exempt from the rules that prevented German merchant ships from flying anything but the swallowtailed C-Pennant assigned by the Allied Control Council. Ships flying the Heligoland Flag and the British Red Ensign were regarded as under British authority, so there were immediate moves to register a sizeable portion of Germany's surviving merchant marine at Heligoland. The Landrat discussed the matter with Governor Baillie-Grohmann, who consulted the Admiralty and recommended acceptance as being a useful source of revenue; it was the start of a totally-unexpected business that was to have long-term benefits to Heligoland, as significant as the flags of convenience of Panama and Greece, but with more rigorous Board of Trade rules. The advantage for German businesses was that, as long as they passed a Customs inspection, they could export and import cargoes and earn revenue, as well as keep[ing seamen employed and their families fed.

Even as early as the winter of 1945, the costs of feeding the three Western Allied Zones in Germany was a problem, many people getting little more than 700 calories per day, a disgrace that could only be remedied by shipping in American and Canadian grain. To do so in German-flagged freighters would be unpopular, but ships registered in Heligoland gave Eisenhower, Truman and Attlee, a way to get around the war-hatred of the Western Allies citizens. Germany had to feed itself or starve and pay for its food imports by exporting anything it could - and at the same time had to pay crippling war reparations to countries such as France and Russia. It was a superhuman task and meant working as hard as Germany had done during the war Hitler had driven them into. At the same time, to the disgust of British occupation forces, Eisenhower's deputy General Lucius Clay in the American Zone followed a policy of deliberately preventing food relief and limiting the efforts of the International Red Cross and the Vatican. The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Vatican promptly chartered Heligoland-registered ships to import food into Germany through the British-controlled ports of Emden and Hamburg, Montgomery also making wharfs at Cuxhaven available. General Clay's control of Bremerhaven and Bremen was circumvented, which he complained about to Truman, who was already facing angry Senators and Congressmen. Attlee roundly refused to halt the imports, strongly supported by his bulldog predecessor Winston Churchill.

"We fought a war against murderous cruelty - are we to fall to the same level as the Nazis?" Churchill demanded, in a stormy debate. "The Danes, Dutch, Norwegians and Italians, are all prepared to sell - even donate - food, to stop mass starvation in Germany. I demand, Mr. Speaker, that we look at our consciences and save lives!" He glared round the House of Commons. "But I also demand that the ringleaders of Hitler's Nazi thugs be brought to justice, even if it takes half a century to track them down!" That got him a roar of applause from both sides of the House of Commons, including his political rivals Attlee and Bevan.

Rations on Heligoland were at British levels, rather than British Zone level, which was a major advantage and made even the most Anglophobe Helgolanders regard the Royal Navy as their friends and press the Governor for an unexpected aspect - the inclusion of Heligoland in the British Isles. It was pointed out in the British Press that Heligoland was in a similar position to the Channel Islands in having a loyal population that had been badly treated, whilst being treated by Hitler as a strategic fortress. Poor August Kuchlenz's memory was raised to the level of greatness of the Dame of Sark, whilst the Guernsey and Jersey refugees in Britain looked into the Helgolanders' position and found a lot in common. The Kaiser and Hitler had equally regarded the rights of Helgolanders as dispensable and substituted authoritarian government for their earlier freedoms; it was proposed that postwar constitutional adjustments for the Channel Islands be extended to Heligoland, whose ancient customary law had some interesting features. The Helgolanders, informed of this, promptly held a demonstration outside the Konvershus, demanding to be recognised as British citizens and as a part of the United Kingdom; Baillie-Grohmann told them that he would inform the Colonial Office and suggested that they lobby parliament to gain support for a change over the next few years.

There had been two evacuations of Heligoland, a complete one during the Great War and a partial one in 1942; the consequences had been that some Helgolanders had settled in Germany and actually had birth rights of residence in Heligoland. That had its repercussions, as the emigrants wanted to return to take advantage of the rations and opportunities available to their relatives on the Lunn - a matter that was to give Baillie-Grohmann no small problems. Initially, the Colonial Office and the Control Commission restricted the definition of a Helgolander to one resident on the Lunn or the Hallem in 1942, but this split students and schoolchildren in Germany from their families. By 1946, this rule was relaxed to allow all proven births to born Helgolanders permission to claim Helgolander citizenship, but this had further complications; German residents on Heligoland from the 1890-1945 settlement period had been excluded, but now petitioned to be give citizenship. The Helgoland Council reiterated their rules that only Helgolanders by birth and relationship had the right of residence on the Lunn, extending it only as far as Germans resident on the Lunn in 1890, so there was a definite restriction imposed by the Helgolanders themselves. That still left a group of 'German Helgolanders' in the British Zone, who wanted to claim dual British and German citizenship - and the rations and rights associated with this; Baillie-Grohmann met their representatives at Cuxhaven, to inform them that the British Government had to support the 'Beliebungen' rules and to tell the malcontents that they had German citizenship. However, as an act of goodwill, Baillie-Grohmann arranged for the verified 'German Helgolanders' to receive numbered letters identifying them, in case of future debates.
 
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1945-1948 : Paperclip, Backfire, Vampires and Radar :

Britain did not have as organised a scheme for seizing German technology as the United States had done with Operation Paperclip, but it did have the Special Projectile Operations Group (SPOG), set up to evaluate the V-2 rocket's performance. The US Operation Paperclip seized parts and production equipment from the Mittelwerke underground factory at Nordhausen, whilst the SPOG attempted to search for parts, equipment and personnel, throughout most of Northern Germany and parts of the Netherlands. At the outset, the USA reneged on a deal that would have divided the 100 rockets from Nordhausen, so Britain had had to make its own plans. It is a matter of history that the three Backfire launches at Altenwalde near Cuxhaven took place, but with America reluctantly allowed to observe; the third launch allowed Sergei Koralev to watch as part of a Soviet team.

Heligoland's part had been marginal, with radar equipment from Britain and Germany used to track and plot the fall of the first and third missiles fired hundreds of kilometers across the North Sea. This was almost the first manifestation of the technical research that was to make Heligoland a vital British military and scientific base. The radar installations at the north end of the Lunn near Pederson's Horn tested and developed concepts that were to create Britain's 1950s radar systems. Of immediate value was that the radar systems could be coupled to an air-control system that controlled access to North German and Danish airspace by aircraft, both civil and military. RAF Heligoland (R) was to be the ancestor of the 1950s Rotol defence network.

Another British achievement had been to quietly move examples of Germany's most advanced U-boats - Types XXI and XXIII - to the pens at HMS Heligoland. In a counter to the Paperclip rip-off, Britain managed to get control of the hydrogen peroxide technology of Professor Hellmuth Walter, used in the Me-163 rocket fighter and the submarines. Although there were many stability problems, hydrogen peroxide was a major focus of British research for rockets and air independent propulsion systems for attack submarines. The development of the Armstrong Siddeley Beta and Delta rocket engines in 1946 and 1947 had startling results - the supersonic Miles M-52 prototype was flown with a rocket engine in place of the jet engine intended for it, incidentally trumping the ace of the Bell X-1 by breaking the speed of sound over Boscombe Down on the 12th November 1946. A shoestring project, it was to be followed by the development of a mixed rocket and jet fighter, overcoming one of the weaknesses of the Me-163 in its lack of power on returning to base, but this only achieved success in the 1950s.

The most unexpected success for the base at HMS Heligoland came after the deployment of Sunderland flying boats for air-sea rescue and in late 1946 with the arrival for flight-tests of the Saunders-Roe SR A-1, the flying boat jet fighter. Highly streamlined and very fast for its day, the SR A-1 was perfect for operations from sheltered anchorages, but suffered from problems when it tried to take off on the waters of the stormy North Sea; the intake of the jet engine was just too low-set. That lead to Saunders-Roe looking at an amended design, the SR A-2, which used the high-mounted position pioneered by the Heinkel He-162 Spatz (Sparrow). Amongst other advantages, it removed the air duct that had narrowed the pilot's cockpit and improved access for engine replacement or servicing, but the nacelle's drag and the uncertainty of application lead to the project being terminated. However, the RAF decided to use the short runways at RAF Heligoland on Dune Island (Hallem) to work up the 'navalised' version of the De Havilland Vampire, leading to highly-unusual deployment of a steam catapult and arrestor gear on the island in 1947. This experiment was to remain in place for decades - the RAF had discovered how to put front-line jet fighters onto Heligoland, as well as onto aircraft carriers. For the RAF, Heligoland - RAF Hallem - had become an important 'concrete carrier' that could dominate the southern North Sea far more effectively than Hitler's Krupp naval guns had done. It also guaranteed the future of the Heligoland economy - at least, until tourism arrived.

A lattice array tower was built near Pederson's Horn for the huge triangular radar 'bedstead' that the RAF tested on Heligoland; one of the giant 'Mammut' multi-Freya arrays, it was the very first phased array radar and was named 'Hoarding' in official reports. With a range of 300 kilometers up to a height of over 8,000 metres, this giant array had given the RAF the ability to plot any aircraft from the Jutland coast across to Emden, but it could be confused by radar 'chaff' and the RAF had to consider a frequency-hopping system to avoid easy jamming. A couple of steerable 'Wurzburg-Riese Gigant' radar dishes were used to provide a steerable 'pencil-beam' system to track aircraft at very long range. This remarkable device proved able to track aircraft precisely enough to use as a prototype missile-guidance radar, although its early use was to control manned aircraft interceptions of simulated Russian bomber attacks.
 
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corditeman

Just back from hols and another TL to subscribe to!:p;)

Interesting but I'm surprised that you get the butterfly of Truman standing up to Stalin over the inner German border. Think that Stalin may have shot himself in the foot here as while possession of Berlin is politically important I suspect that western Germany will have markedly more secure borders as a result. Also it will put the Americans backs up with him earlier. Presuming that the parts of Bohemia liberated by the allies will be passed over to the Soviets.:( Could this also mean that Britain doesn't hand over the cossacks and possibly doesn't pass on jet engine designs?

With the bit about Clay trying to prevent food reaching Germany was that as OTL? Thought that the Americans were restricted to the south/centre of western Germany and Britain had all the north and coastline?

Anyway, looking interesting.

Steve
 
Stevep, thanks for the comments!

Stalin and Truman were bound to clash - I just made it a little earlier. The US Generals were not happy about handing the lands over to the Soviets, so maybe Heligoland tips the balance? Anyway, that puts Nordhausen in the US Zone.

OTL, the US Navy retained dual-use of Bremen and Bremerhaven for a long time. This was a strategic matter.

Sergei Korolev did indeed witness the third launch at Cuxhaven.

Clay was a late convert to the need to feed the Germans or hand Germany to Communism - his initial actions were not benevolent. Britain was better. I'm not sure about the French. The US Army broke the Geneva Conventions for several years post-war. Not good.

The Cossacks, I'm not sure - then there are the Croatians and the Ukrainians as well. As for the jet engines...! Stafford Cripps's idiot assistant Harold Wilson (our worst postwar PM) was responsible for that piece of lunacy.

And I'm sorry about the Bell X-1, but it was a rocket-powered rip-off of the British supersonic Miles M-52 design.
 
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Clay was a late convert to the need to feed the Germans or hand Germany to Communism - his initial actions were not benevolent. Britain was better. I'm not sure about the French. The US Army broke the Geneva Conventions for several years post-war. Not good.

I had several uncles who spent some time in various POW camps. When they were all finally repatriated they spent some time comparing their respective experiences and determined that the French POW camps were the worst, even worse than the Russian ones. Just anecdotal but based on first hand experience.
 
There was a documentary last year that suggested that Britain paid very special attention to the destruction of facilities on Heligoland in the OTL - is there any truth to that suggestion and if so why?
 
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