East Kilbride PROBUS Club 1/11/2017 Rudolph Hess/Alfred Horn. The mystery surrounding his flight to Britain.

Recently the East Kilbride PROBUS Club were treated to some local history which in fact reverberated around Europe, perhaps the world, when Alfred Horn of Germany landed 'up the road' to try and broker an early peace of the Second World War as far as Britain was concerned. Relaying this almost stranger than fiction event was Mr. Ian Valentine, a retired headmaster who now lives in Strathaven.

Ian began by outlining the three main protagonists. First there was Rudolph Hess, who when he landed called himself Alfred Horn, and was born in Alexandra in Egypt in 1894, returned to in 1914 where he joined the army and was wounded twice on the Italian front of the First World War. He trained as a pilot but the armistice came and so nothing happened. He went to Munich University and was entranced with Professor Karl Haushofer whose ideas started him down the road of Nazism NSDAP (National Social German Workers Party) and which was reinforced when he met Hitler in 1920 and thought that , “He was a wonderful man.” Later, with Hitler in 1923, he was involved with The , after which, he visited Hitler in prison with Prof Haushofer - both of whom influenced Hitler's book (My Struggle). By 1933 he was Deputy Fuhrer.

The second principal in this was George, Duke of Kent (Trained in the navy but by 1940 was an Air Commodore) and who was fourth of five brothers and Heir Apparent. He was a likeable person but a bi-sexual libertine and was into morphine and heroin. However in 1942 he was ultimately fatally involved in a mysterious plane crash from neutral Portugal to Scotland (allegedly) although probably to Sweden. The third character was Douglas, Duke of Hamilton who was a member of the Nordic League in 1935 and met Albrecht Haushofer (son of Prof. Haushofer at the 1936 Olympics). By 1939 he was very right wing, and curiously, Hess's plane crash landed only 12 miles from his then home at Dungavel House.

So here we are on a dry 10th May night in 1941with the drone of a low flying plane and the 76th night of the London Blitz. Having run out of fuel the pilot, Rudolph Hess, parachuted to land in a field of Floors farm near Eaglesham, Renfrewshire. He was met by a figure rushing across the field in the shape of farmhand David McLean who was told by Hess that he was one Alfred Horn and was expected - by the Duke of Hamilton! Back to the farm for a cup of tea - would you believe (Scottish hospitality at its best). Then all hell let loose. The local home guard came for him and then the local police became involved and finally soldiers from Maryhill Barracks in Glasgow arrived and took him away to Buchanan Castle where he was questioned by a Polish officer and two “other “ men. Finally he was taken down to the Tower of London. After the famous 1945/49 Nuremburg Trials at the end of the war he ended up in Berlin's Spandau Jail to the bitter end. Without real site of parole, he allegedly went outside to a small out-house where, he climbed on a chair, then on a table and hung himself. However consider, that with chronic arthritis and aged 93, he could hardly get out of bed. This seems very dubious!

There were some three or four theories as to why and who he had come to see. It could have been the Duke of Hamilton, King George, Duke of Kent, Lloyd George or even Churchill. The latter still wanted the war to carry on and try to get the Americans in where as the others were looking at brokering a peace which would have shortened the war immediately but one of the conditions for a non-German invasion was for the Nazis to commandeer our factory outputs. Churchill said no; they would fight on. It is all still shrouded in mystery, myth and wartime propaganda. As an ex-school teacher Mr. Valentine ended by leaving his audience with three questions. Who were the good guys? Was there a deal? Was it treason? A Winston Churchill's quotation, made in a radio broadcast in October 1939 about Russia perhaps sums it up. " It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”

The vote of thanks was given by John Walker who said, “That it had been an informative, educational, and enjoyable talk with some lighter risible moments. He concluded by saying, “That the whole presentation had been well informed and well laid out.”

Ken Lawton