To Catch a King (24 page)
Authors: Jack Higgins
“But Reichsführer, they will also know now, that if Goering fails in his task, if they can hold until the seventeenth of September, Operation Sea Lion will be aborted and the Führer will turn his attention East.”
Himmler said, “Are you seriously suggesting that the mightiest air force the world has ever seen, a force that has taken total control of the skies of Europe, can be held back by a handful of Spitfire pilots with virtually no combat experience?”
“Yes, Reichsführer, put that way, I suppose it does sound rather absurd.”
“You're tired, General. You've been through a great deal. I suggest you go home now. Take a week off, and when you return you'll see things in perspective again.”
“Thank you, Reichsführer.”
Schellenberg went out, closing the door softly behind him, and walked through the anteroom.
He said softly, “Am I really the only sane man in a world gone mad?”
EPILOGUE
H
annah Winter returned to America a month later on the same boat as Connie Jones and the boys. Joe Jackson stayed in Lisbon until October, but news of the Battle of Britain proved too much for him and he sold the club, took passage to England on a Portuguese boat, and joined the RAF.
By April, 1942, he was a squadron leader with a D.S.O. and two D.F.Cs to his name. On the fifth of April, he was reported missing, believed killed, having been last seen pursuing two ME-109's across the Channel. Perhaps, for once, he had failed to watch the sun.
Hannah worked with the USO for some time and finally returned to England at the beginning of 1944 to tour American Air Force bases. During the spring of that year, the Luftwaffe renewed its night attacks against London in what became known as the Little Blitz, and Hannah Winter, along with forty-two other people, was killed instantly when a club on Curzon Street, at which she was appearing, received a direct hit.
Heydrich was assassinated in Prague in June, 1942, by a team of Czech agents specially recruited for the job. By way of reprisal, the Nazis destroyed the village of Lidice and murdered the entire adult population.
Himmler, captured by British Forces after the war, took poison when his identity was discovered.
Walter Schellenberg became Head of the Combined Secret Services in 1944, playing out the farce to the end, surviving all of them. In 1945, he was imprisoned at Landsberg and testified at various war crimes trials before being tried himself on the charge of having been a member of an illegal organization, the SS.
He was sentenced to six years and perhaps because, for an officer with his background, there had been a surprising number of witnesses who had spoken in his favor at his trial, he was released after only two years' imprisonment, in 1951. He died of cancer at the age of forty-two and is buried in the public cemetery at Turin.
The Duke of Windsor, posted as far away from the war as possible, first as Governor of the Bahamas, then of Bermuda, had already made his contribution: probably one of the most important of the entire war.
At the height of the Battle of Britain on September 15, 1940, Winston Churchill visited Air Vice Marshall Keith Park at Number 2 Group's operation room at Uxbridge.
With the strongest concentration of planes the Luftwaffe had ever sent over, the RAF were stretched to breaking point. The Prime Minister asked what reserves there were to bring in.
“None, sir,” Park told him. “Everything's up there.”
“Hold on,” the Prime Minister told him. “Two more days, that's all and it will be over.”
Park looked at him in amazement. “But how can you be sure, Prime Minister? Is this information from a trustworthy source?”
Winston Churchill smiled. “I have it on the most impeccable authority,” he said.
Jack Higgins is the pseudonym of Harry Patterson (b. 1929), the
New York Times
bestselling author of more than seventy thrillers, including
The Eagle Has Landed
and
The Wolf at the Door
. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide.
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Patterson grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. As a child, Patterson was a voracious reader and later credited his passion for reading with fueling his creative drive to be an author. His upbringing in Belfast also exposed him to the political and religious violence that characterized the city at the time. At seven years old, Patterson was caught in gunfire while riding a tram, and later was in a Belfast movie theater when it was bombed. Though he escaped from both attacks unharmed, the turmoil in Northern Ireland would later become a significant influence in his books, many of which prominently feature the Irish Republican Army. After attending grammar school and college in Leeds, England, Patterson joined the British Army and served two years in the Household Cavalry, from 1947 to 1949, stationed along the East German border. He was considered an expert sharpshooter.
Following his military service, Patterson earned a degree in sociology from the London School of Economics, which led to teaching jobs at two English colleges. In 1959, while teaching at James Graham College, Patterson began writing novels, including some under the alias James Graham. As his popularity grew, Patterson left teaching to write full time. With the 1975 publication of the international blockbuster
The Eagle Has Landed
, which was later made into a movie of the same name starring Michael Caine, Patterson became a regular fixture on bestseller lists. His books draw heavily from history and include prominent figures—such as John Dillinger—and often center around significant events from such conflicts as World War II, the Korean War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Patterson lives in Jersey, in the Channel Islands.
Patterson as an infant with his mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. He moved to Northern Ireland with his family as a child, staying there until he was twelve years old.
Patterson with his parents. He left school at age fifteen, finding his place instead in the British military.
A candid photo of Patterson during his military years. While enlisted in the army, he was known for his higher-than-average military IQ. Many of Patterson’s books would later incorporate elements of the military experience.
Patterson’s first payment as an author, a check for £67. Though he wanted to frame the check rather than cash it, he was persuaded otherwise by his wife. The bank returned the check after payment, writing that, “It will make a prettier picture, bearing the rubber stampings.”
Patterson in La Capannina, his favorite restaurant in Jersey, where he often went to write. His passion for writing started at a young age, and he spent much time in libraries as a child.
Patterson visiting a rehearsal for
Walking Wounded
, a play he wrote that was performed by local actors in Jersey.
Patterson with his children.
Patterson in a graveyard in Jersey. Patterson has often looked to graveyards for inspiration and ideas for his books.