The British claim to the Falkland Islands dated back to 1690. However, due to the isolated position of the islands, they had only exercised continuous sovereignty from 1833 onwards. In the meantime, Argentina had been taken some sort of nominal control for a few short years just before 1833, and called them the Malvinas. Because of this, Argentina had, since 1833, half-heartedly most of the time, and in the face of most impartial and informed opinion, maintained that the islands belonged to them.
The fact that the islands had little value was ignored.
Germany’s firm position was that they acknowledged no Argentinian claim to the Falkland Islands. However, if possible, they would like to help eliminate the minor irritant of Argentina’s dispute over ownership.
Some subtle diplomacy was needed. The President of Argentina was the real decision maker in that country. Sieckenius should try to engineer a private meeting with him. Tell him that, in principle, all was agreed with the arms deal. The only problem was Germany’s concern that such arms could be used against their ally and friend, Great Britain, in some sort of ill-conceived invasion of the Falkland Islands. Because of this, Germany was hesitant to approve the deal.
A way out of any impasse, of course, would be for Argentina to renounce any claim to the worthless group of Islands.
Sieckenius did not consider himself to be a diplomat. He gave the matter much thought before planning his strategy. ‘His scripted act’, as he called it. He was able to secure an appointment to see the President — alone — for the following day.
When he had digested what Sieckenius had told him, President Peron had laughed out loud. “My dear General, I assure you that I am well aware that the Malvinas, or whatever you want to call them, are worthless. I also know that Great Britain would never, under any circumstances, allow any part of their empire to be taken from them by force. And the islanders on those miserable islands will always be staunchly British.
Strictly between ourselves, I can tell you that that it is only Argentinian pride that causes us to maintain a claim. Also,” he lowered his voice and leaned towards the General, “previous governments have found it useful to deflect public outrage over internal problems by raising the issue of a foreign country occupying sacred Argentinian territory.” This was said with a cynical smile.
The soldier and the politician now got down to haggling.
General von Mannstein re-read, with some amusement, Sieckenius’ report on the Argentinian arms deal.
The man had pulled off a major arms coup, and at the same time erased an on-going source of irritation to the British. ‘Well done, Rudolf. Very well done indeed,’ he said to himself.
In return for a small reduction in price on some of the arms being ordered, a promise of speedier delivery, and the immediate sale to them of one of Germany’s existing light cruisers at a knock down price for cash, Argentina would announce that in view of the current settled state of world affairs and the good relations that existed between Argentina and Great Britain, they renounced for all time, any claim they may previously have had over the British territory known as the Falkland Islands.
Forewarned by von Altendorf, the British Prime Minister had prepared a gracious reply. The Argentinian claim to the Falklands had never been taken seriously by Britain. Churchill considered it inconceivable that a second rate country such as Argentina would deliberately attack British territory.
However such a thing wasn’t impossible. Who knows? A future nationalistic government with a failing economy and under great internal pressure from their populace, could succumb to the temptation of diverting attention away from themselves by sending soldiers to recapture supposedly long lost territory!
Once again Winston Churchill marvelled at the ingenuity and sincerity of the Germans. The genuine friendship that they had shown to Britain in recent years was unprecedented in history, with the possible exception of the solidarity shown between Britain and the dominion colonies of the Empire during the Great War.
Twenty metres beneath the surface of the Baltic Sea, fifteen kilometres off the north German coast, the submarine U-92 released the tow. The monstrosity it had hauled out to sea from Peenemunde was, in effect, nothing more than a giant steel water tank with a buoyancy control system similar to that of a submarine. This now lay three hundred metres behind them, maintaining neutral buoyancy at twenty metres through its own pressure activated system.
Nestling inside it was an A4 rocket.
Also three hundred metres away, but safely on the surface in a destroyer, was Professor von Braun and his team. They were here to test an underwater launch of their fearsome rocket.
The countdown had already begun. Almost everybody who was on the destroyer had been allowed a break from their duties to watch this historic event.
Finally the designated technician saw the second hand of the clock touch the appointed time. He pressed the red button.
On the surface they could neither see nor hear anything for a second or two. On board U-92 all clearly hear the loud menacing rumble of the rocket motor as it fired into life. Then out of the cold and dark Baltic waters the rocket burst to the surface, continually accelerating as it thrust itself upward into the sky. It was quickly lost to view even though many on the ship vainly strained to keep it in sight.
Watching through U-92’s periscope, Captain Gunther Schenk was awed by what he had witnessed. This was ushering in a new and sinister dimension to warfare. For reasons he couldn’t have easily explained, he found himself somewhat uneasy about this development.
Von Braun and his scientists relaxed. All had gone according to plan. The launch had, in fact, ended up being no different to the land based launches they had witnessed many times. The concept of an unseen submarine launching a deadly surprise attack had now been proved. Where it would lead, von Braun did not know. He was dedicated to his research and his ultimate dream of space travel.
Later, a recovery vessel salvaged the launch tank. It had sunk to the sea bed because a huge hole had been burned through its floor. This had been expected and was a problem that the naval designers and builders of a future missile submarine would have to solve.
Sieckenius had been invited to attend a meeting of the Governing Council. Each council member had warmly shaken his hand when he appeared. His magnificent achievement of finalising arms orders from Argentina, Bangladesh, Serbia and South Africa could not be overstated. It represented a major boost for German industry. And he had only been in the job for less than six months!
When the Council had heard of his success in Argentina, it had prompted a debate on the need for awards to German citizens, and perhaps other nationalities also, for outstanding service, whether to the state or some other specified activity. The previous, Nazi approved, system had been allowed to lapse after the European War. This would now be re-introduced, but in a revised and more appropriate format. They also looked at the British honours system and found some inspiration from the Order of the British Empire, awarded to deserving British citizens from all walks of life for exceptional achievement.
A new order eventually was decided on, the German Order of Merit. This would be the country’s highest civil honour. It could also be awarded to military personnel, but not as a battle honour, only for other exceptional services or achievements. As in the case of the British example, it was to be an order into which a person is admitted as a member, rather than simply being a medal.