05354a, After the Battle, After the Battle

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//-->5 4HELIGOLAND9770306154097No. 154£4.25Number 154NUMBER 154© CopyrightAfter the Battle2011Editor: Karel MargryEditor-in-Chief: Winston G. RamseyPublished byBattle of Britain International Ltd.,The Mews, Hobbs Cross House,Hobbs Cross, Old Harlow,Essex CM17 0NN, EnglandTelephone: 01279 41 8833Fax: 01279 41 9386E-mail: hq@afterthebattle.comWebsite:www.afterthebattle.comPrinted in Great Britain byWarners Group Publications PLC,Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH.After the Battleis published on the 15thof February, May, August and November.LONDON STOCKIST for theAfter the Battlerange:Motorbooks, 13/15 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4ANTelephone: 020 7836 5376. Fax: 020 7497 2539United Kingdom Newsagent Distribution:Warners Group Publications PLC,Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PHAustralian Subscriptions and Back Issues:Renniks Publications Pty LimitedUnit 3, 37-39 Green Street, Banksmeadow NSW 2019Telephone: 61 2 9695 7055. Fax: 61 2 9695 7355E-mail: info@renniks.com. 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E-mail: si@sipublicaties.nlHELIGOLANDCUXHAVENBREMERHAVENWILHELMSHAVENHeligoland (or Helgoland as the Germanscall it) is an archipelago of two tinyislands in the North Sea. Located 46 kilo-metres off the German coastline in theGerman Bight, it comprises the Haupt-insel (main island) — a high sandstoneplateau with a harbour area at its baseand encompassing just one square kilo-metre — and Düne (dune), a flat andsandy island less than half a kilometre tothe east. Permanently inhabited sincepre-historic times, from the 13th centurypossession of the archipelago alternatedbetween the Kingdom of Denmark, theDuchy of Schleswig and the Hanseaticport of Hamburg until it finally becameDanish in 1714. It remained so until 1807when it was captured by the Royal Navyduring the Napoleonic Wars, as a resultof which it was formally ceded to Britainin 1814. By tradition a fishing station, in1826 Heligoland became a seaside spaand it soon turned into a popular touristresort for the German upper class, receiv-ing thousands of visitors each year.CONTENTSHELIGOLANDThe First World WarThe Second World WarThe Oberland InstallationsThe Unterland InstallationsAir WarPost-WarOperation ‘Big Bang’Little BangThe AftermathGERMANYThe Allied Capture of FrankfurtPERSONALITYJames Arness: 1923-20112312131523282933343552In July 1890, Britain gave up Heligoland to Imperial Germany, exchanging it for theisland of Zanzibar on the eastern coast of Africa as part of a treaty that regulated severalother territorial interests of the two nations in Africa. The ceremony of handing over theisland to Germany took place in front of the Governor’s House on August 10 of that year.Kaiser Wilhelm II, who had arrived aboard the cruiserIrene,announced in his speechthat Heligoland would become ‘a sea fortress, a guardian for German fishermen, a basefor my warships, a bulwark protecting the German sea against any enemy’.Front Cover:Heligoland looking north-westin 2011. Image © National Air and SpaceAdministration. (Google)Back Cover:Hitler and a party ofKriegsmarine commanders and high Naziparty officials descending the stairwaybetween the Oberland and Unterland villageson Heligoland during his inspection visit tothe fortress island on April 4, 1939 . . . thenand now.Acknowledgements:For their help with theHeligoland story the Editor would like to thankClaude Fröhle and Hans-Jürgen Kühn, authorsofHochseefestung Helgoland. Eine militär-geschichtliche Entdeckungsreise,MauriceLaarman and Hans Houterman. For assistancewith the Frankfurt story, he thanks Peter Hen-drikx, Katrin Kokot and Ronny Loewy.Photo Credits:BA — Bundesarchiv; BAMA— Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv; IfS Frankfurt— Institut für Stadtgeschichte Frankfurt;IWM — Imperial War Museum, London;NIOD—NederlandsInstituutvoorOorlogsdocumentatie, Amsterdam USNA —US National Archives.The Governor’s House stood at the southern end of the Oberland village on the edgeof the Falm cliff. Under German times it continued to serve as the island’s headquar-ters, becoming the Kommandantur of its garrison. Destroyed in the 1945 bombing, itsplace is today taken by the Haus Fernsicht guest-house at No. 301 Am Falm.2ATBIWM Q36-407-1Located in a perfect position to protect the sea-lanes to the majorports of Hamburg, Bremen, Cuxhaven and Wilhelmshaven,Heligoland was the ideal choice for a chief naval strongpoint, arole that it would serve in both the First and the Second WorldWar. Immediately after acquiring the island in 1890, GermanyThe island of Heligoland lies in the NorthSea some 45 kilometres from Wangeroog,the nearest Frisian island, and 65 kilometresfrom Cuxhaven at the mouth of the Elbe.Just 1.2 kilometres long and half a kilometrewide, it has steep red cliffs, 55 metres high,at the highest point. The high ground con-sisted of a grass-covered triangular plateauknown as the Oberland. A small town cov-ered both the Oberland and the Unterland,which was the lower part of the island at thesouthern end, the top and bottom of thetown being connected by both a stairwayand lift. Adjoining the Unterland was a con-siderable area of reclaimed land known asthe North-East District and the HarbourDistrict.Heligoland’s sister island, located a quar-ter-mile due east, is called Düne. It was onceattached to the main island but a storm in1721 swept away the land in between. Düneitself is a low island made up of sand andshingle, its main feature being the aero-drome.Heligoland has had a chequered past. Itis thought to have been inhabited since pre-historic times and in 697 was the home ofRadbod, the last Frisian king. By 1231 itwas in the possession of King Valdemar IIof Denmark. Ownership then fluctuatedbetween Denmark and the Duchy ofSchleswig until 1807 when the British tookit from the Danes during the NapoleonicWars. It stayed in British hands from 1807until 1890 and was home for a while toRear-Admiral Sir John Hindmarsh, a vet-eran of the Battle of Trafalgar, who servedas the island’s Lieutenant-Governorbetween 1840 and 1856. In 1890 Britainrelinquished ownership when the islandwas ceded to Germany in exchange forZanzibar (even though Zanzibar was tech-nically ‘independent’ at the time negotia-tions took place).began the construction of a major Kriegshaven (Naval Harbour)at the island’s southern end and building large coastal batteriesand other fortifications on the Oberland plateau. Soon propagan-dists began to refer to Heligoland as the ‘Gibraltar of the North’.This aerial photograph was taken in 1921.HELIGOLANDTHE FIRST WORLD WARFortification of Heligoland by the Ger-mans began almost as soon as they took pos-session. The whole dockyard had a networkof railways laid down, the tracks connectingthe pier to an inclined tunnel running fromthe Unterland to the Oberland. This tunnelthrough the cliffs was constructed by theGermans between 1891 and 1893 and con-tained up and down train lines of a metregauge. A third rail between the other twowas used to transport more weighty items asthis could, if necessary, be spread over threetracks with three ‘trains’ running parallel. Asa safety measure, the trucks were fitted withtoothed racks and pawls. About a third ofthe way up there was a sliding armoureddoor with loopholes. The railway lines con-verged at the top and then diverged to servevarious parts of the Oberland.The Südhafen (South Harbour) was builton reclaimed land between 1900 and 1916.The armament on Heligoland comprisedfour 21cm guns, two at either end of theisland (dated 1892 and 1893), positioned inbrick and concrete emplacements. Two ofthese guns were later moved in front of itsneighbour to the north and south respec-tively to make room for four new turrets.Each was equipped with two 30.5cm guns:‘Anna’ and ‘Bertha’ in the south and‘Caesar’ and ‘Dora’ in the north. These gunswere of 1911 manufacture though their rein-By Chris Ranstedforced-concrete emplacements were notcompleted until 1913. In addition, eight 28cmhowitzers (dated 1892 and 1893) were posi-tioned in brick and concrete works to fill thegap between the 30.5 guns. Four 8.8cm gunswere also emplaced at Batterie Falm abovethe southern cliffs.Around 1913-14, additional anti-aircraftand harbour batteries were put in placetogether with the guns mounted on the westmole of the reclaimed land and a range-finder station. Later in the war, 15cm gunswere mounted at Falm in the south andPetersenhorn in the north.Now bristling with armaments, the totalstrength of the garrison during the FirstWorld War was around 4,000 under the com-mand of Vizeadmiral Hermann Jacobson.The Kaiser was so proud of Heligoland thatby 1914 he had visited the island more than20 times.As a fortress island, it was ideally situatedto protect the passage into and out of theRiver Elbe, the Weser and the Jade, andallowed a safe passage under its guns to theGerman fleet passing in or out through theminefields. It also afforded shelter tominelayers, ‘sweepers and submarines. OnAugust 28, 1914, the Battle of HeligolandBight took place in the seas nearby but,3INNENHAFEN(U-BOOTS-HAFEN)AUSSENHAFEN(TORPEDO-BOOTS-HAFEN)Above:View of the naval harbour shortly after its completion.The Innenhafen (Inner Harbour) was meant for U-boats and theAussenhafen (Outer Harbour) for torpedo boats.Below:Thepicture was taken from a part of the Oberland that was whollytaken out by the huge demolition of the island carried out bythe British in April 1947. Our comparison was taken from thesurviving knoll on which today stands the climate survey sta-tion of Hamburg University.Left:The harbour’s West Mole as it looked at the end of the FirstWorld War.Right:As part of the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919,the Germans were obliged to destroy all the fortifications, mili-tary installations and the harbour on Heligoland — at their ownexpense and under the supervision of a special Inter-AlliedCommission. The dismantling and demolitions lasted fromFebruary 1920 to July 1922. As part of neutralising the harbour,4most of the West Mole was blown up, the victors allowing theGermans to retain a stretch of just 350 metres. When Nazi Ger-many began reinstating the harbour in 1935 they also repairedand extended the moles. Begun in 1937, the new West Molewas built on the inner side of the old one. Not affected by the1947 demolitions, the new mole and the jumble of concreteblocks that made up the old one today remain side by side.ATBATBIWM Q36-407-23BAKEMFlakKdrSt.MGMKRevK.Schw.SKBallonabwehrkanoneEntfernungsmesserFlugabwehrkanoneKommandeurstandMaschinengewehrMaschinenkanoneRevolverkanoneScheinwerferSchnelladekanone=========Anti-balloon gunRange-finderAnti-aircraft gunCommand postMachine gunMachine canonQuick-firing canonSearchlightQuick-loading canonAbove:Map of the Heligoland fortifica-tions as they were during the First WorldWar, showing all gun batteries, batterycommand posts, machine-gun andsearchlight positions, undergroundinstallations, seaplane facilities andother military works constructedbetween 1890 and 1918. (This mapcomes fromHochseefestung Heligoland,the two-volume standard work on thefortress island by German historiansClaude Fröhle and Hans-Jürgen Kühn,first published in 1998-99.)Right:Allthrough the 1914-18 war, Heligolandserved as a main submarine base of theKaiserliche Marine, a first flotilla of tenU-Boats sailing from there in August1914 in the first submarine war patrol inhistory. The initial campaign of attackingBritish warships soon led to unrestrictedsubmarine warfare. These U-Boats liemoored in the Innenhafen in 1917, seenfrom the Nordostmole (North-East Mole)and looking across to the U-Boot-Kaie.Completed in April 1913, the Innenhafencould accommodate 26 U-boats.despite all these fortifications, locals said thatonly two rounds were actually fired in actionduring the war against a British ship out tothe north-west.A report on the Heligoland defences issuedby Britain’s War Office in 1921 described theamount of money that must have been spenton this fortress island as ‘colossal’. Followingthe defeat of Germany, and authorised byArticle 115 of the Versailles Peace Treaty,the British demolished the installations andcut up the guns, measures that it was hopedwould put a stop to any future military threatfrom the island. However, by the beginningof the Second World War, Heligoland hadonce again been built up into a formidablefortress by the Third Reich, only this time ona far greater scale than anything that hadbeen envisaged earlier.Right:It was renamed the Osthafen (EastHarbour) in the Second World War, hencethe Nordostmole became the Ostmole.5ATBFRÖHLE-KÜHN VERLAGSGESELLSCHAFT [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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