Martin Bormann, Adolf Hitler's right-hand man, lived in a quiet English village for 11 years after being smuggled out of the Fuehrer's bunker by British commandos, according to a new book.
Christopher Creighton, a former television and film director, claims he was part of the crack unit that whisked Bormann out of Berlin only hours before Allied forces captured the German capital in May 1945.His book, "Op.JB (Operation James Bond)," says Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and Britain's King George VI all approved of the operation - the purpose of which was to help the Allies recover an immense fortune appropriated by the Nazis and salted away in Swiss bank accounts.
"It was a question of morality. The Nazis had stolen a vast sum and Churchill wanted it to be returned to its rightful owners," Creighton, who claims Bormann's fate is the "last great secret of World War II," told Reuters in an interview. "Op.JB" was published at the beginning of September.
According to Creighton, who acted on Broadway with Noel Coward and in London with Sir Laurence Olivier, Bormann alone had access to the gold, gems and cash, a haul so vast that the side of a mountain had to be hollowed out to hold it.
Creighton claims that after the capture of Bormann, Hitler's private secretary, 95 percent of the plundered treasure was restored to its former owners.
Bormann, who was indicted in his absence by the Nuremberg tribunal after World War II for crimes against humanity, was smuggled into Britain, debriefed by British naval intelligence and from 1945 until 1956 lived in southern England, he said.
"Martin Bormann lived in Hampshire, near Dummer where Fergie (Sarah Ferguson) grew up," Creighton, whose credits include American TV series "Maverick" and Britain's "The Saint," added.
Fergie, as the Duchess of York is popularly called, grew up in the sleepy Hampshire village, before her marriage to Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth's second son. The marriage ended in divorce in March.
Bormann was a trusted and loyal aide, responsible for Hitler's finances. Hitler once called him "my loyal Party comrade" and Bormann was a witness at the German dictator's wedding to Eva Braun.
Creighton claims Ian Fleming, creator of the suave British secret agent James Bond, was also part of the commando team and that while in England Bormann was used extensively by both British and U.S. intelligence agencies to help them track down wanted Nazi war criminals.
In the 1960's, Creighton worked with British actor Roger Moore, who would later play Fleming's character James Bond. Moore and Creighton were classmates after the war at London's prestigious acting school, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
The British Ministry of Defense was unable to comment on Creighton's story. "Anyone who might have known anything around that time is either dead or retired," a MOD spokesman said.
He claims that Bormann was flown to Argentina in 1956 but soon moved to Paraguay where he died in 1959. According to Creighton, Bormann was buried in a local cemetary, but some time later, in a deal concluded by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the Paraguayan government and German intelligence, his remains were exhumed and taken back to Berlin.