Operation Forest Quarter

**Operation Forest Quarter** was the code name for a joint British-German Resistance strategic covert operation in World War 2 that was tasked with capturing and abducting Adolf Hitler; in earlier years it was solely for his aggression and deviance from the European order, but as time passed and things progressed(and Nazi horrors became known), it was so he could face punishment for his crimes and not have the opportunity to commit suicide or be captured by the Red Army. A plan years in the making(before the war even started), and perhaps the most radical of any war plan in the era, Forest Quarter required surgical precision to succeed, as well as reliance on numerous other factors otherwise bereft of the guarantee of exactitude. The initial spark for what would later become Forest Quarter began in during a meeting between Hess and the Duke of Hamilton (who was in Germany to witness the Summer Olympics) and the subsequent establishment of a small yet reliable spy network between Britain and Berlin. At this point, an idea surfaced that suggested abducting the Führer during a period between strongholds, where he would be flown back to England and imprisoned. It radically changed over the years, as more came to light regarding things such as the Nazi's "Dark European adventures". Only a small handful of individuals ever knew of the operation and it's outcome, with the general consensus of course being that Hitler committed suicide in his Führerbunker in Berlin,

*"It was no harm whatsoever, to any person or party, to write the whole thing off as if Hitler had killed himself. He was going to do it, anyway, after all, and--we just had to know when. He wasn't the kind of person to do such a thing without making it known beforehand, you see. It wouldn't come as a surprise in the night. We knew that. Bormann knew it, and we needed it as a precursor to make sure the operation succeeded with zero alert or inspection, due to some sloppy timing, or execution. The tiny window was what was needed, like a sort of quick dash in the shadows. And, should the Russians have reached him first...should that have happened, he would've been torn to shreds and paraded through the streets of Moscow, or Stalingrad. Probably over a torturous length of time. Or, as it has been noted by some, he might've been kept alive, used as a bargaining tool to shape Germany, or whatever was left of it, to the beat of the Soviet drum. Suicide was the Führer's fate, had we not come along."* Sir Nathaniel Franklin Silverton, Lord of the Red Desk and the one responsible for planning Forest Quarter.

Forest Quarter, despite it's clear and direct objective, served as one of the first happenings of the Cold War; Hitler's capture alive stood also as a bulwark against what would be a major success -and bragging point- for Stalin and in turn a point of pride and euphoria that he could use to bolster his forces. Although it surely seems trivial now, it was a serious concern at the time.

The idea to bring Hitler to justice, in the minds of British leadership, started after his violation of the Munich Agreement. Agents of the Committee of Imperial Defense, on orders from Neville Chamberlain, got into contact with German General and double agent(and leader of one of the first plots to overthrow Hitler), Hans Oster(Karl Haushofer's man in the ranks), and established a crude network with which to find the perfect opportunity to have Hitler abducted. The outbreak of the war little over a year later created impossible obstructions(this is the reason for the creation of the Red Desk), therefore the idea was essentially put on the back burner. For a short time. The ascension of Winston Churchill led to it becoming a major priority. Oster could no longer be reached, but his son, Albrecht -through Johannes Popitz, was available and offered his assistance. He was tasked with making contact with Martin Bormann.

*"Hitler ruled Germany. But not the High Command, at least not their hearts. Sure he had the minds of the German youth square in his grip...the Hitlerjugend, and such, and he had the military, and the indoctrinated, fanatical twenty somethings roaming Eastern Europe, murdering millions of people, his death squads. And despite the solidarity and might I say terribly eschewed sense of rectitude of the loyalist camp of the Goebbels and the Görings, you know, there were just as many who wished to see National Socialism, at least it's initial incarnation, die out. And the man who created it. Especially the man who created it."* Nathaniel Silverton. *"Martin Bormann, despite being a perceived loyalist, came to play a crucial role in the operation as he was the gate between Hitler and the rest of the world. We didn't know at the time, for quite some time actually, that he was also a Soviet agent."*

By the dawn of 1941, there were several plots developing within the German Resistance to assassinate Hitler - something neither Churchill nor Silverton wanted - so Albrecht was used to help ensure that the capture of the Führer alive was the final outcome. Still, there were members of the German Resistance that played roles in Forest Quarter.

(Key players)

- Eva Braun (unwittingly)

- Hermann Fegelein

- Karl Haushofer

- Albrecht Haushofer

- Rudolf Hess

- Douglas Douglas-Hamilton

- Martin Bormann

Within the scant records of the Operation and it's outcome, there are a handful of notes indicating that Hitler -who had become prone to not speaking or even looking at his captors- had been dosed with micrograms of LSD in his water to make him "cooperative". If this is true, it would make him among the first people ever to ingest the relatively new drug.