Operation Foxley was the name of the secret plan supported by Winston
Churchill to assassinate Hitler in 1944-45. More than 75 years after its
conception, the assassination plan remains shrouded in mystery. Eric
Lee's new book is the product of painstaking research and sheds more
light on this plan. Lee also asks what would have happened if Foxley had
been executed successfully.
Concocted in 1944 by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE),
Foxley's objective was to kill Hitler and any high-ranking Nazis or
members of the Fuhrer's entourage who might have been present at the
time.
Different methods of assassination had been considered by the SOE, but
were ultimately deemed too complicated. These methods included
derailment and destruction of the Hitler's personal train, the
Fuhrerzug, by explosives, and also clandestine means such as slipping
a tasteless poison into Hitler's drinking and cooking water. Some of the
ideas were considered quite bizarre, including one scheme to hypnotize
Rudolf Hess and return him to Germany to kill Nazi leaders. The
Americans and Soviets had their own plans to kill Hitler too, with some
equally strange ideas (including injecting female hormones into the
Fuhrer's vegetables).
Eventually, after intel gathered revealed that Hitler took a routine,
solitary walk every morning to the Teehaus on the Mooslahnerkopf Hill
from the Berghof residence, a plan was created to assassinate Hitler
using a sniper rifle fitted with a silencer.
A perfect investigation for readers who enjoy reading about modern
history, and the Second World War in particular. It is also tailored to
those with an interest in the "secret war", covering topics like the
SOE, and military intelligence.
