"Andy Simmons" wrote in message
m...
No, he really had nothing to offer, the Americans had Dornberger,
Von Braun etc. while Heisenberg and co were safely under wraps
at Farm Hall were it became apparent they were knew less than
the western allies had in 1942.

Was it not Kammler, however, who handed the rocket scientists over to
the Americans.

No. At the end of January 1945 the scientists were still based at Peenemunde
but with the Russians getting close Kammler ordered the evacuation of the
base.



on the 3rd April 1945 Kammler ordered the scientists to be taken
from Peenemunde to a base in the Bavarian alps because US tanks
were suposedly reportedly this you may recall was at the
time expected to be the last redoubt until Hitler changed
his mind and decided to stay in Berlin

General Dornberger quickly moved his headquarters to the village
of Bad Sachsa; Dr. Kurt Debus, director of the test stands, took
his team to Cuxhaven on the North Sea; and during February the
entire organization moved with its documents and equipment to
the cotton-mill town of Bleicherode, twelve miles from Nordhausen.

The report of American tanks in the vicinty prompetd Kammler
to order that they be moved under armed guard to the
Bavarian redoubt. Von Braun joined Dornberger at Oberjoch near
the Adolf Hitler Pass where they kicked their heels for the next month
until the area was overun by the US 44th division.

Far from surrendering them to the Americans at Nordhausen the
Kammler had them shipped to Bavaria where it was believed the
Nazis were planning to make their last stand.

I know Kammler was not physically present but it was
him who disobeyed Himmler's orders to "give each scientist a rifle and
send them to the Eastern front". From the book 'The Rocket Team' it
was Kammler who ferried the scientists to safety aboard his private
train, which the scientists had nicknamed the 'Vengenace Express'.

Nope they were shipped under SS guard to Oberjoch where they
remained until captured by the US 44th Infantry division on 3rd May
By then nobody had seen Kammler for a month and it was reported that
he had been shot by his aide on April 7th.

Note that they were initially held there in a guarded barbed wire enclosure
until Von Braun persuaded the guards that they were vulnerable
to allied bombing and should be moved into the town of
Oberammergau

Note that Kammler ordered Von Braun and Dornberger to hide or destroy
all technical documents that would of use to the Americans, if he
had truly done a deal he would surely have taken charge of them.

Kammler also told Speer in April 1945 that he was going to make a deal
with the Americans, in which he would trade the rockets and other
developments for his freedom.

I rather doubt that for the simple reason that Speer was rather
busy trying to save the remnants of German industry and
infrastructure while Kammler was at Nordhausen until April 3
when it was evacuated , he was never seen again after April 7th.
In any even Kammler and Speer were scarcely on good terms.

Another book by Jean Michel 'DORA' ( a
survivor of the camp) claims that Kammler was secretly dealing with
the French Resistance towards the end of the war. Was it not Kammler
who also left the Harz mountain missile complex in fully functioning
order for the American handover, once again disobeying orders to
destroy the factories and their contents?

They scarcely had time to get before the Americans arrived
let alone destroy anything and far from handing over Von Braun
& co Kammler shipped them off to Bavaria

One could argue that the
"Americans only had Dornberger, Von Braun and the rockets etc" only
because Kammler made it so. I disagree with you when you say that
Kammler had nothing to offer.


This would seem to contradict the written testimony of Speer,
Dornberger, Von braun etc

A number of years ago when I was researching this subject I exchanged
several letters with one of Kammler's sons. He told me that the
Americans had made numerous attempts to contact his father. This is
certainly not something that you will read about in any conventional
history books today.


Probably because there is no evidence that it ever happened.

Its remotely possible that he got out through and became a
farmer in Argentina but doubtful IMHO

IMHO? I have heard this story from several sources, recently a German
lawyer has claimed that General Kammler actually survived the war and
lived in Czechoslovakia as part of a joint deal with the US and
Russia.


And I've heard stories that Elvis is alive and well and working in
a chip shop in Barnsley, that doesnt make it true.


I think if Kammler's war diary could be found it would answer alot of
interesting questions.

Assuming he kept one.

According to historian Prof Gerald Flemming (whom I have spoken to
several times regarding this issue) Flemming was told in the 1970s by
Czech authorities that General Kammler surrendered his war diary to
American soldiers on the road to Pilsen during the evacuation of
Prague in May 1945. When Flemming requested access to the diary,
however, he was refused and the authorities quickly changed their
story regarding the whereabouts of the Kammler's war diary.
Intriguing!


So thats at least 3 contradictory anecdotes you've heard, rumors are
like that I'm afraid.

Keith