Hess rolled his plane over and fell out 4:43 in the morning. As soon as he landed the pasture about a mile behind a Scottish farmhouse, three cars drove up and surrounded him. Hess casually took off his flying gloves as men from the cars approached with guns trained on him. The local men were dressed in their nightshirts and several only had on trousers and their undershirts. Hess, in complete contrast, had on his formal Deputy Minister uniform.
Hess could see the men were nervous. Their gaping mouths and shocked eyes indicated they had no idea what to do next.
“I am Alfred Horn, here to see the Duke of Hamilton.”
“Blimy…” One of the men shouted, “…’e speaks English!”
The men from the other cars began to talk wildly among themselves, but Hess could not make out a word with their thick Scottish accents. Their guns remained fixed on him. He sensed they recognized him, so decided to tell the truth.
“Gentlemen, you may relax, I am unarmed and quite alone.”
Hess was ignored. The men stood their ground with guns focused on him.
“D’ya call Aberdeen?” A redheaded man nearest to Hess shouted to one of the cars.
“Mary’s a-don’en… as we speak.” Came the reply from the car.
Hess was not used to being ignored – he again politely identified himself. “Sirs, I am Rudolf Hess, Deputy Minister of the German Reich. I am here on a diplomatic mission to see the Duke of Hamilton.” Several of the men seemed to pay attention to him this time.
“Who’d he say he was?”
“He said minister! Quiet, gentlemen! Quiet!” A middle-aged man coming forward shouted. Hess reasoned he was the authority of this group, or at least the one most respected.
“Well, asked him why he landed in Aberdeenshire.” A bearded man in back of the crowd yelled.
Hess looked directly at the bearded man. “I am Rudolf Hess. Deputy Minister of the German Reich. I am here on a diplomatic mission to see Duke of Hamilton. Please take me to see him.” Hess noticed the bearded man supported himself with a cane.
“I’m Andrew McGuire of Aberdeenshire. Mr. Hess, I afraid I must keep you here until…”
The roar of two Hawker Hurricanes buzzing by directly overhead no more than 20 meters above the ground interrupted McGuire’s words. Both planes slowly climbed, then veered off in opposite directions and began to circle the field in a wide, choreographed climbing spiral. All of the men on the ground watched the two planes perform their aerial ballet of covering and protecting the field. Hess turned to McGwire, who then finished his sentence.
“I have orders to keep you here until our Royal Air Force people arrive.”
The word ‘orders’ struck an understanding cord within Hess. “I understand, Mr. McGwire.” Hess said politely.
For almost half an hour the men stood around in an awkward silence. Hess had nothing to say to these seemingly dull farmers and they in turn didn’t want to speak to him – both out of fear to reveal anything about themselves, or to be seen as one who would talk with the enemy.
Most of the men in their nightclothes and underwear were simply trying to stay warm, while the others who pointed their guns at Hess wondered if their neighbors would think any less of them if they relaxed their guns. None of the Scots had any idea what to say to this obviously important German official who spoke the Queen’s English as if he had been educated at Oxford or Cambridge. Even with a slight German accent, the presence of Hess impacted the farmers as any Lord or one with Royal blood would. This was news in this county.
Finally, McGwire broke the nonverbal standoff with an act of kindness.
“Eh, would you be needing a cigarette?”
“Yes, thank-you, Mr. McGwire, that would be most kind.” Hess was not a heavy smoker and actually did not feel a need, but the act of smoking would be an acceptance of McGwire’s thoughtfulness and give him something to do until the RAF officials arrive from Aberdeen.
Before Hess finished the cigarette, five black sedans sped down the country road and on to the field. Three were filled with military police, while the other two appeared to have top brass from the nearest base. All of the RAF cars emptied at the same time, sergeants, lieutenants, captains, and commanders. It was only when the RAF people approached Hess that the farmers lowered their weapons. The ones in their nightclothes and underwear then nonchalantly worked their way back into their cars.
An RAF commander stood directly in front of Hess staring, trying to confirm if this was indeed the man whom he had seen on all of the Nazi weekly newsreels.
“I am Rudolf Hess. Deputy Minister of the German Reich. I am here on a diplomatic mission to see the Duke of Hamilton to discuss peace between the German Reich and the British Empire.”
“I am General Henry Hume Worthington. Welcome to Scotland. Would you come with me please?” The general then led Reich Minister Hess to his car where a sergeant held the car door open for both of them.
As the car drove off, Andrew McGwire and his neighbors drove off their cars and soon were back to their normal routine of tending their fields and cattle of Aberdeenshire. The RAF, or any other British agency, never gave the Aberdeenshire men any official commemoration or citation for fulfilling their duty in a most professional manner in one of history’s strangest apprehensions. The local Aberdeen paper did, however, hail the men as heroes and a correspondent from Radio Edinburgh later interviewed them. The men from Aberdeenshire also appeared in a parade in Glasgow a year later.
The Hurricanes, now joined by four Spitfires which were circling at an even higher altitude, remained overhead until one of the RAF captains, John Whirly, received orders to returned to base. By noon, no sign of Hess’s peace initiative were left on the turnip fields in Aberdeenshire.
Rudolf Hess was taken directly to military prison where he was interrogated for two months. His request to meet with the Duke of Hamilton and King George VI in order to sue for peace was declined by the British government. What Hess thought would be one of the greatest acts to preserve the Third Reich turned out to be Hitler’s biggest political embarrassment. Since astrology was the key factor in motivating Hess’s endeavor to fly to England to sue for peace, Hitler would punish this art. The next day the Nazi Führer order “Acktion Hess”, the arrest of every known astrologer in Germany, who were all then deported to concentration camps.
Karl Ernst Krafft would be one of these.
“We’re being used by Fesel.” Krafft blurted in disgust. “In the short time I’ve known him it’s apparent everyone is merely a footstool so Fesel can earn points for those above him.”
Ewa laughed in recognition this truth. “I have something to tell you.”
“I hope it is good news.”
Ewa took a step forward and put her arms around Karl Ernst. “It is if you want to hear how much I love you.”
“How much do you love me?”
“I love you, simply that.” Ewa put her head on his shoulder. “I just wanted to tell you.”
“Ewa… I’ve felt love since seeing you through that very window when I first entered this building.”
Ewa leaned back so she could see Karl Ernst’s face. “There is something I must tell you, it may be dangerous.”
Karl Ernst could see she had a worried look on her face, and thought this had something to do with Elaine. He was wrong.