In the earlier post on the subject of 'Nommes De Guerre', we looked at the German/ Jewish men who were part of the 21st Pathfinder unit, Parachute Brigade. However, as I dug deeper into the unit it became apparent that these men were actually part of 10 Commando. Within the broader group there were 10 troops representing different countries, and 3 Troop, more commonly known as 'X' Troop were German/Austrian refugees and ex internees. These men were then attached to various other units in the British Army. Here's a description of X troop from a reliable source at the Jewish Virtual Museum:
There were French, Dutch, Belgian and other “National” Troops (totaling at its largest
about 1000 men altogether), and then the Jewish Troop. Even now many of 3 Troop,(X Troop) cannot
speak for a variety of reasons, of the nature of their exploits, and others have of
course died. But X Troop were, even by the standards of No 10 Commando, a particularly
extraordinary bunch having, as well as the normal skills of all commandos, in explosives,
parachuting and so on, extremely high intelligence and education, and were indeed by far
the most highly trained group in the British Army, especially in fieldcraft, camouflage,
compass marching, street fighting, housebreaking and lockpicking
(“One Day in York” Michael Arton, Hazelwood Press, 1989).
Many were attached to the SSRF (Small Scale Raiding Force, part of SOE),
SBS and SIS and most files on this aspect of the war remain closed.'
Followers of this blog may recall the name of Colonel Mawhood who was instrumental in setting up the Australian Coast Watchers organisation and Z Special Forces. Colonel Mawhood was in at the beginning of the establishment of the Commando units.
THE MEN OF X TROOP
Later in this post, I will provide a link to a website and spreadsheet that contains both the real names and names assumed by each of the 130 men who served. But for the moment, let's continue with the description of the men and the work they undertook:
The men had to take English “Nommes de Guerre” and new identities, false personal histories, regiments, next of kin, and so on (most chose to keep the same initials, though) to at least have a chance of not being found out if captured by the Nazis, as being Jews. The casualty officer at the War Office (Dawkins, a senior Civil Servant) was one of very few who knew their real and assumed identities and kept parallel lists of the names of 3 Troop:
They wore the No. 10 Commando shoulder title (or sometimes the No. of the Commando to which they were attached) and the Combined Operations arm flash. On their green berets, they could not wear the Pioneer Corps badge as this would have betrayed their origins, so they wore the badges of the Queen’s Own Royal West Kents, East Kents (Buffs), Royal Sussex, Hampshire Regiments or the General Service badge (letter to author from Ian Dear 28.10.94).
Many of these men were active in the SOE and numerous small-scale raids were carried out by them. Even after September 1945 when X troop was disbanded along with 10 Commando, the men continued their top-secret work which included seeking out right-wing extremist groups that still existed even after the cessation of hostilities.
AN INCREDIBLE FIND
Of particular interest is the work of these men in searching for and capturing documents belonging to the higher echelons of the Third Reich. One document was recovered from a senior confidant of the leadership of the Reich, it appears he was close to no less a person than Goering. The man was caught by the X troop men and searched. In the shoulder padding of the jacket he was wearing, a very special document was recovered, it was a copy of the last will and testament of Adolf Hitler.Let that sink in for a while and consider it in the context of the Somerton Man case. Some of the men of X Troop were one-time internees in Australia. And now, here we have them involved in the capture of the most secret of all documents at the time. Some of these men would have known, if not personally known, Tibor Kaldor. The man who was found poisoned in the Victoria Hotel in Hindley Street Adelaide just 2 weeks after the discovery of the body of the Somerton Man on that beach near Glenelg.
It was a German refugee by the name of Herman Rothman who undertook the translation of the document. Amongst other things, it led to the discovery of vast sums of money and artworks that Hitler had organised to be stolen from the rightful owners and then later either buried in the mountains of Austria or sunk into one of the many lakes in that country.
Via this document, tons of gold was tracked from various collections and central banks of the conquered countries, they were able to see how Hitler had used these stolen valuables to purchase the vast arsenals of weaponry he had at his disposal. From what I have read, some 2.5 tonnes of gold was collected from the concentration camps either from the precious belongings of families or, horrendously, from gold fillings torn from the teeth of his victims.
Whilst much of the gold and art treasures were recovered, many more pieces remain unaccounted for and the search for them continues to this day. It is said, and not without some foundation in truth, that there is a vast vault under the streets of Berne in Switzerland that is filled with valuables taken by Hitler and then secretly transported via Portugal to Switzerland. Apparently, the Swiss bankers didn't mind getting their hands directly on to the treasure they just didn't want to be found out in the event of the Allies winning the war.
We are not talking about small beer, the value of goods still missing is in the hundreds of millions of dollars if not billions.
You can read much more about X Troop here...
If you were to consider another option, another reason for the body of the man on the beach, the untold millions of dollars worth of artworks and gold described in this post would not be a bad place to start.
Tibor Kaldor would've been too old to be considered for military service in 1942, at least this sort of military service anyways.
ReplyDeleteHowever there's information coming to hand from some genealogical researchers that are of the opinion that the bloke that we know as Tibor Kaldor is an imposter. There was a real Tibor Kaldor born in Hungary in 1904, but instead of escaping to England in 1934, he was deported to a concentration camp and later died.
Whoever the Tibor Kaldor that died in Adeĺaide is, he ain't who he said he was if true.