Operation Foxley: The British Plan to Kill Hitler

by Mark Seaman, Ian Kershaw (Preface by)

What if Adolf Hitler had been assassinated in the summer of 1944? The bomb plot of July 20th almost succeeded. But there was another plan by the British to kill the Fuhrer that has remained secret until now. This book reproduces the feasibility study produced by Section X (German) of the British Special Operations Executive. It includes a historical introduction which places the file in context & explains why it never happened. It also covers the various little Foxleys, which looked at killing other leading Nazis such as Goering, Bormann, & Goebbels. Includes color sketches of SS Guard uniforms, aerial photos of Hitlers retreat, & more.

Genres: History

166 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Eric Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short book consists mainly of a long and very secret memorandum, illustrated with maps and photographs, prepared by the British in 1944. The document lays out a series of options for killing the German dictator. The main options seem to have been a sniper attack on Hitler at his mountain retreat near Berchtesgaden, or an attack on his train. The report is full of incredible detail, collected mainly from captured Germans who served close to Hitler — including the fact that the Führer really enjoyed apple juice. There are also the occasional bloopers — the description of Eva Braun, for example, as the Führer’s “secretary”. As Ian Kershaw points out in his foreword, from the time the plan was drafted until the time Hitler last visited Berchtesgaden, there was only a two-week window of opportunity. After that, the Führer never returned, spending more and more of his time in Berlin until the final defeat of Germany in May 1945.