Nazi escape plan revealed to fly leaders to Greenland

Published on Sunday 28 December 2003 00:00

A GERMAN navigator has described for the first time a daring plan by the Nazis to evacuate their surviving leaders by flying boat to Greenland at the end of the Second World War.

The plan, which was scuppered by the German surrender, would have involved Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler and other senior figures taking off from north Germany to continue their struggles from abroad.

Adolf Hitler himself was determined not to leave Berlin, where he eventually committed suicide.

The Greenland operation has been revealed by Captain Ernst Koenig, 93, who had previously been determined to keep the story secret until after his death. He was persuaded to speak earlier this month by friends in Britain.

The last-ditch mission described by Koenig also involved an attempt to pick up a copy of the Fhrer’s will from Berlin, but this had to be abandoned because of heavy Russian fire.

Koenig said he had just finished preparing two giant BV-222 sea planes for the escape flight when the Allies launched an air raid.

"The two BV-222s were completely destroyed as they sat on the water," said Koenig. But the plan was not abandoned, he added.

"We had another in the workshop and that too was made ready. It required a lot of work but it was done and once again stores arrived for loading on board."

Terry Charman, a historian at the Imperial War Museum in London, said he believed Koenig’s story was credible and was backed up by incidental details revealed by other Germans.

"I believe Hitler’s architect, Albert Speer, also made mention of an escape attempt to Greenland which was abandoned," said Charman. He added that Colonel Werner Baumbach’s KG200, a secret special operation section of the Luftwaffe, was known to use BB-222s and may also have been involved.

Koenig gave his account of the operation from his home in his sheltered housing complex in the north German port of Travemunde, from where the flight was to have begun.

Koenig, who became Travemunde’s harbour master after the war, spent his early years as a navigational expert. During the war he worked at the secret sea plane research centre in the town.

"Previously I had been in the merchant marine and studied for my navigational qualifications," said Koenig. "That is why I began working at Travemunde. It was a centre of excellence. We tested all the latest flying boats and equipment."

Koenig was drafted in to improve the Luftwaffe’s navigational techniques, which were primitive at the beginning of the war. The centre was connected to the rocket research complex at Peenemunde, further east along the coast.

Among the aircraft tested at the base was the BB-222, one of the biggest flying boats ever built. The plane, built by Blohm und Voss, had a 140-foot wing span, was 36 feet high and could carry 92 fully equipped troops at a speed of 240mph.

It had a crew of 16 and was defended by an array of machine guns. The plane could stay aloft for up to 28 hours, making it ideal for long-distance flights.