14 Dec 1935 - Weimar

[Diarist]

We had a quiet evening yesterday although there was a brief encounter with Reinhard Heydrich. I knew that he and Wilhelm had served together in the Kriegsmarine but I didn't know they are neighbours. I was introduced to SS-Gruppenführer Heydrich, (Major-General).
"I see you have been promoted. May I presume it was for solving the SA problem?"
"That contributed. You've been promoted too. A minister in the Ministry of Defence. May I presume it was for your involvement in the Italian conflict?"
"That contributed but there were other reasons."
"What can you tell me about Hans Döhle?"
"I only met him once. I warned him that he's been meeting the wrong people, Arab terrorists, and he needs to get out of country."
"He's missing."
"Then he's either on his way to Berlin or he is dead."
"How do you know all this, Bob?"
"Wilhelm, we have intelligence people in the Middle East, better than yours, and one of my first questions was whether Germany is involved in the unrest in Palestine."
"And you believed everything they told you?" Heydrich asked.
"Why should they lie? Döhle didn't deny it either."
"Could you make inquiries?"
"I could when I'm back in London, Wilhelm but I can't promise anything."
Heydrich asked how long I intend staying in Germany. "Weather permitting I shall be flying home Sunday afternoon."
"Then I wish you a pleasant weekend." He said his farewells then departed.
"He knew I was here, didn't he?"
"Probably."
"You two aren't the best of friends, are you?"
"Let's say we are rivals."
"I'll gladly feed his people disinformation in order to make him look silly." Canaris smiled.
This morning we left for Weimar just after daybreak in two cars. The ladies were in one car while Wilhelm, von Manstein and I in the other. Maybe it is the time of year but Germany doesn't look as green as England. It's more grey-green. We arrived at the Erfurter Hof just before 10 o'clock. Rooms had been reserved for us and a Major Hans Francke introduced himself. He is assigned to the Headquarters of 2nd Panzer Division. Since it was Saturday the ladies decided to go shopping while we gentlemen were invited to lunch with Heinz Guderian. I decided to wear my service uniform like our German guests did when visiting military installations in England. I'm curious how much I'll be shown.

[Diarist]

I was introduced to many officers and the first surprise was to meet Oberst Rudolf Veiel again. He commands the 2nd Schützen (Rifle) Brigade in the division. The second is that the division will be created in Würzburg in Wehrkreis XIII, not Weimar. The 1st Panzer Division is in Weimar and I was introduced to its commander Generalleutnant Maximilian von Weichs. He previously commanded the 3rd Kavallerie Division which is being converted to the Panzer Division. I had to explain that I'm not in the Panzertruppe but my Section in the MoD is helping to design armoured units and how to utilize them.
"Heinz has told me that you are a Fallschirmjäger with two combat jumps in Africa and I was wondering why Panzer officers do that."
"I'm glad that misunderstanding has been cleared up, General. To be exact I am Fallschirmjäger trained but don't belong to a Fallschirmjäger unit."
"I understand. May I ask if you are making more progress with Panzer in England than we are here in Germany."
"I don't know but it can be very frustrating at times. We know what we want but the designs are still on the drawing board and are often held up through a lack of funds. Then there was the conflict between the infantry advocates and the mobile warfare theorists. However, that battle has been decided and we are now creating separate armoured formations like you are."
"I know the feeling, Major. How many divisions are you creating?" (Now it's time for disinformation.)
"We are not creating divisions. We take an infantry brigade, motorize it then add armour, tank-destroyers, self-propelled artillery, etc. It is either a small division or a heavy brigade. The answer to your question is five super-brigades."
"Oberst von Manstein has suggested Sturmartillerie, turretless tanks with an infantry gun. Do you have those too."
"Yes. We call them Infantry Support Vehicles. We gave about thirty to the 1st Infantry Division to form a Sturmartillerie Battalion and they organized it as a regular Artillerie-Regiment not like a Panzer-Battalion."
"Old habits die hard. When do you expect to receive new tanks?"
"We already have received some but they were terrible designs so we sent them back. Try again!"
"That bad?"
"Yes, but we always tell them what we don't like so they know what to avoid with the next design. We now have a couple of good designs being constructed for trials. Designing a modern tank isn't easy; too many comprimises have to be made. A very important criteria for me is reliability. I don't like a tank that breaks down every 10 km."
"Heinz, come here. Major Carter says that the reliability of a tank is very important. Have you two already discussed this?"
"We did talk about it in England last month. Panzer need to be able travel long distances in order to be successful at an operational level. They need a lot of fuel too."
"That's why railheads are important. The most efficient way of transporting fuel is by rail. That's true for all supplies."
"I couldn't agree more."
"It's very early days though and in a couple of years from now I can imagine that we shall see things completely different," I concluded. "General, will you be joining us for dinner at the Erfurter Hof this evening? I've heard that the restaurant is excellent."
"I'm looking forward to it."