Hess – the most valuable PoW

The highest-ranking German prisoner ever held by the unit was Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess. Hess came to England on a solo flight and crash landed his plane in Scotland on 10th May 1941. Controversy surrounds why he came to England and whether it was with the knowledge of Hitler.

Hess wished to negotiate peace with Britain to end a war which he believed Britain could not win. Hess was moved to the Tower of London and held in isolation for four days until new premises at Mytchett Place near Aldershot could be fitted with bugging devices. It is thought that Hess may have been held at Latimer House for a short time and kept in isolation in the main house.

British Intelligence hoped to get lots of important information from Hess, but were disappointed. He gave nothing away and soon displayed signs of paranoia and other mental disturbances. His mental instability made him a very difficult prisoner to handle.

In the first few years after his capture, his conversations with his minders, the psychiatrists and intelligence officers were all recorded from a small M Room ran by Kendrick's staff. Hess was held in various locations for the rest of the war until he was transferred to Nuremberg in Germany in 1945 to be tried as a Nazi war criminal.