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Old 31st October 2018, 21:48
Bruce Dennis Bruce Dennis is offline
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General der Nachrichtenführer MARTINI

"A. D. I. (K) Report No. 334/1945
THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION HAS BEEN OBTAINED FROM P/W AS THE
STATEMENTS HAVE NOT AS YET BEEN VERIFIED, NO MENTION OF
THEM SHOULD BE MADE IN INTELLIGENCE SUMMARIES OF COMMANDS OR LOWER FORMATIONS, NOR SHOULD THEY BE ACCEPTED UNTIL COMMENTED ON AIR MINISTRY INTELLIGENCE SUMMARIES OR SPECIAL
COMMUNICATIONS.

THE GAF SIGNALS ORGANISATION IN THE WAR.
1. This report results from the interrogation in England of
General der Nachrichtenführer MARTINI, the Director General of
G.A.F. signals from the time of the formation of the Luftwaffe
until the end of the war. A feature of this interrogation was
General MARTINI's rather surprising lack of detailed knowledge
of signals and radar equipment in use in the Luftwaffe, but
his knowledge on matters of broader policy of the signals
organisation was naturally considerable.
2. The gap in his detailed knowledge has to some extent been
filled by the chiefs of his subordinate formations, and it is
intended in due course to issue a further report dealing with
employment of radio and radar equipment. The present report
confines itself to the main events during the war as they
concerned the signals organisation, and shows that General
MARTINI himself was not free from the intrigues which beset
the whole of the General Staff.
3. The information has been divided into five parts, each of
which is, as far as possible, dealt with in historical
sequence; the parts are:-
1. Expansion of the G.A.F. Signals Organisation.
2. Navigational aids for G.A.F. bombers.
3. Defensive radar.
4. The success of Window.
5. Wireless intelligence and Signals developments.

I - EXPANSION OF G.A.F. SIGNALS ORGANISATION.
4. To meet the growing needs of the G.A.F., General MARTINI
developed the Signals Organisation from a small force with
about 300 active officers at the outset of the war, to an army
of about 350,000 of which 10,000 were officers and 100,000
women.
5. In the early autumn of 1940, GOERING, appreciating the
part played by G.A.F. signals, ordered the force to be
doubled. As Germany conquered fresh territories the Signals
Organisation had to be constantly expanded.
Early Campaigns.
6. General MARTINI was of the opinion that all the early
German campaigns were prepared with great speed. When the
German marched into Austria, he and General Feldmarschall von
REICHEMACH were at a radio conference in Cairo. Neither of
them had the slightest idea that Austria was to be invaded.
They were both informed at Cairo that German troops had
marched into Austria. Similarly, General MARTINI heard only at
the last minute that German troops were to invade
Czechoslovakia.
7. Some days before the Polish Campaign was opened, German
land-air exercises were being carried out on a large scale,
and the G.A.F., signals organisation was assuring interservice
communications, in particular between RICHTHOFEN's
Stukas and the Army. On the outbreak of war considerable
strain was put on G.A.F. Experimental Regiment KOETHEN at the
last minute, so as to ensure satisfactory communications for
the Stukas in Poland. The British declaration of war came as a
general surprise and created great uneasiness.
8. General MARTINI was emphatic in maintaining that he was
informed of the intention to invade Norway only six to eight
days in advance. He doubted whether HITLER had told more than
a very few people of his intentions beforehand and he asserted
that everybody appeared to be taken by surprise as
arrangements were kept "terribly secret".
9. As soon as General MARTINI was informed of the intended
campaign, he flew to his headquarters in Hamburg and selected
his best officers for organising communications. They worked
at high speed day and night for six days. The organisation
proved exceptionally difficult because all the details of the
plan had to be kept secret. It was decided that the Army Navy
and Luftwaffe would all work on the same frequency at the half
dozen points where landings were to be effected.
10. Every Ju.52 which the G.A.F. signals organisation could
lay its hands on was transformed into a signals aircraft, and
communications Trupps were also sent out on all the transport
ships. The success of the G.A.F. communications, the General
considered was largely due to the Ju.52 signals aircraft.
Invasion of Britain.
11. General MARTINI would not commit himself about the time
at which preparations were first made to invade England. Once
the Germans held the Channel ports a plan was evolved under
the cover-word "Seelöwe" by which barges were assembled in the
Channel Ports. The whole plan was so decentralised, however,
that the various departments knew only what directly concerned
them. For a long time General MARTINI had the impression that
the whole plan was a feint. He estimates that the General
Staff worked seriously on the invasion plan for two to three
months.
12. The plan comprised landings in two different places, but
he maintains that he was never told what these places were,
and he is not aware that any date was fixed for the invasion.
He is certain that if the date for the invasion was fixed and
the plan called off, then the High Command deliberately kept
up the fiction that it intended to invade England for months
after the whole thing had been shelved.
Russian Campaign.
13. Support was given to the above contention by the General
when he stated that he was informed at least six months ahead
of the High Command's plan to invade Russia. Since the Germans
wished to avoid fighting on two fronts, the plan to invade
England must have been postponed indefinitely at any rate
before 1941. When he was informed of the Russian invasion
plan, General MARTINI discussed his requirements at a
conference with HITLER.
14. This was one of the two or three occasions on which he
had personally to report to HITLER. He worked out a plan to
build six lines of communication advancing into Russia, each
manned by one signals regiment. This required a considerable
amount of material and transport. Generaloberst JESCHONNEK
appreciated that General MARTINI’s requirements were
justified, but the Army put up objections.
15. At the inter-service conference with HITLER which ensued,
General MARTINI stated his case. "How quickly will you be able
to construct your lines of communication?" HITLER asked him.
MARTINI replied "30 kilometres a day". HITLER interposed;
"That is far too little. Forty kilometres of railway will be
built per day!".
16. MARTINI said that by putting down one telegraph line
instead of two, he could assure the construction of more than
40 kilometres a day. HITLER then sanctioned all his
requirements, telling the other services not to under-estimate
the value of signals communications.
17. A unified method was adopted for signals construction in
the Russian advance; field cables were first laid, then
ordinary telegraph wires. Inter-service and fast communication
such as Met. reports were sent by wireless. The system of
G.A.F. Army Liaison officers used in Russia was modelled on
that worked out by the Germans in the Spanish war.
18. Telegraphic communications were as a rule reserved for
communications between O.K.L. and the Luftflotten, between the
Luftflotten and the Fliegerkorps, and between the Fliegerkorps
and Army Staff.
19. The German land lines were tapped by the Russians.
General MARTINI regretted that the Germans had never succeeded
in making a secure telephone scrambler. Ha said that towards
the end of the war a satisfactory apparatus was found in a
British or American aircraft. He had it tested and found it
good.
20. Land lines in Russia also suffered considerably from
partisan action. They were guarded every 30 to 50 kilometres
by posts of 8 to 12 men, but guard duties were particularly
difficult in forested country. When one line was cut,
communications were switched onto one of the other lines or
put over wireless links. Despite these difficulties, regular
communications were maintained throughout the campaign.

II – NAVIGATIONAL AIDS FOR BOMBERS.
Development of Bombing Beams.
21. At the beginning of the war the G.A.F. tended to neglect
its defensive organisation and concentrated on the offensive,
General MARTINI was not responsible for navigation as such,
but for high frequency radio as an aid to navigation. In 1933
he had calculated that with the navigational aids at his
disposal, mainly D/F and compass, he could obtain an accuracy
of only about 50 kilometres at is distance of 500 kilometres.
22. At the end of 1933, Dr. PLENDL, who had been introduced
to him by the Technisches Amt, told him that if the funds were
placed at his disposal he could in some years' time produce, a
navigational aid with an accuracy of 500 metres at a distance
of 500 kilometres, Feldmarschall MILCH placed the means at his
disposal. After several years PLENDL completed his apparatus,
and experiments were conducted on the X-System by Versuchs
Regiment KOETHEN with the bomber Gruppe which later became
K.G. 100.
23. The first operations of the war with mobile X-Stations
were on two bombing missions against a munitions factory in
Poland. The factory vas foolishly bombed at the same time by
ordinary bombers, so that the experts were unable to determine
whether or not the X-System was a success.
24. The campaign was over so quickly that no other
operational trials with X-beams on Poland could be made.
Knickebein Beams.
25. After the Polish campaign, Knickebein and X Stations were
constructed opposite the German-French frontier in preparation
for the Western offensive. Kampfgruppe 100 was by that time
thoroughly trained in the beam procedure, and many highly
specialised Signals officers had been incorporated in the
Gruppe as navigators.
26. The Norwegian campaign then took place, and Kampfgruppe
100 was thrown into it as an ordinary bomber unit. Most of the
crews were killed, and the Gruppe was wasted. The specialists
were scarcely required for the French campaign, but the Gruppe
had to be re-formed completely with lesser trained crews for
the attack on England.
27. The Knickebein system was used at the outset of the
attack on England. The apparatus on the Channel coast had been
hurriedly set up, however, and there were neither sufficient
technicians nor material to make conclusive tests. Dr. MODEL,
a former Reichspost official who died during the war, was
taken over by the wireless department of the signals
organisation and was chiefly responsible for developing
Knickebein in collaboration with the Technisches Amt and
Telefunken.
28. The crews using Knickebein soon reported that the beam
was being diverted, and that British fighters were being
vectored on to it. Several weeks were required to prove that
the beam was really being diverted. After some weeks,
experienced signals officers were sent out with the bombers
and reported that countermeasures had in effect been taken by
the British.

"X" and Benito Bomber Beams.
29. Dr. PLENDL invented both the "X" and "Y" (Benito)
systems. The "X" beams were developed under the signals
organisation at Köthen by Dr. KÜNHOLD with K.G.100 and General
- then Oberst - ASCHENBRENNER, an old and experienced pilot.
The Benito system, on the other hand, was perfected by Dr.
PLENDL at the Technisches Amt under Feldmarschall MILCH, and
General MARTINI had nothing to do with it.
30. It was intended to train a whole Geschwader to navigate
on the "X" system. After Kampfgruppe 100, acting as
pathfinders for large bomber forces, had been attacking towns
in Great Britain on the "X" system for a short time, however,
Dr. PLENDL wanted to try out Benito in practice, which he
regarded as the better system.
31. At that time Oberst ASCHENBRENNER's younger brother, who
was the Kommandeur of Kampfgruppe 100, was ordered to take
over III/K.G.26 which had been intended to fly also on "X".
Dr. KÜNHOLD always considered the "X" system better than the
Benito, and was annoyed with Dr. PLENDL for introducing and
pushing the Benito system.
32. P/W from III/K.G.26 stated in 1940 that the Benito system
was introduced prematurely because of the countermeasures
which the British had been taking against the "X" beam.
General MARTINI, however, maintains that the causes for the
early introduction of Benito were more complex. He said that
he had been responsible for putting into practice the use of
beams as navigational aids for bombers, and that he had
considerable difficulty in overcoming the objections of the
pilots and their commanders.
33. The pilots maintained that they could obtain better
results by finding the targets themselves, and those who were
obliged to follow the pathfinders felt that they were being
relegated to subsidiary tasks. They reported that K.G.100 had
bombed in the wrong place, and that they had found the right
target by themselves. Despite the good results obtained with
"X", anger against the system remained unabated.
34. The aim of operating two whole Geschwader on beams
against England was not achieved because of initial distrust
and British countermeasures and later because the bombers were
earmarked for the Russian campaign. The Benito system suffered
chiefly from British interference of the R/T.
35. General MARTINI himself realised from the outset that the
beams could be interfered with from Britain, and favoured the
introduction of several systems to make countermeasures more
difficult.
36. Thus, in the light of later experience, the Benito system
was introduced prematurely. The General points out that this
was only the beginning of the high frequency war, and they
lacked experience about the best measures for forestalling
countermeasures.
37. When KG.100 was achieving its successes, GOERING enquired
as to who was responsible for the "X" system. On hearing from
MARTINI during a long talk on navigational aids that PLENDL
had invented it, he said: "Then I shall promote him to
Staatsrat!" (State Councillor). GOERING could not understand
how the system had been jammed. MARTINI spent two hours trying
to explain the procedure of jamming and countermeasures.
GOERING asked a number of questions, but was afterwards
clearly none the wiser. He grew very angry, and accused
MARTINI of fiddling about with patchwork measures.
38. In reading the above statement it must be emphasised that
General MARTINI was sometimes confused in his memory between
the "X" and "Y" systems.

Mobile "X" Stations in Russia.
39. Kampfgruppe 100 later flew in Russia with mobile "X"
stations, which were set up with great speed.

Cyklop System.
40. Towards the end of 1943, the Knickebein system was
developed on a new basis with mobile stations under the cover
name CYKLOP. This system was used extensively by Fliegerkorps
IV, in Russia and was to have been set up on the Channel coast
for attacks on England, but the General was not sure whether
it was actually used.
41. Cyklop had a range of 300 to 350 kilometres as against
the 450 kilometres of Knickebein. It was developed by Dr.
KÜNHOLD at Köthen.

Hitler Demands a Demonstration of the "X" Beam.
42. About the summer of 1942, when General MARTINI was at his
headquarters in South Russia, he was suddenly ordered to fly
over to Hitler’s general headquarters near Kalinovka some 12
miles away. HITLER had heard that the Krupps works had been
hit in an attack at night throw ten-tenths cloud by R.A.F.
bombers flying with navigational aids. He could not believe
it, and said that there must have been a gap in the clouds;
GOERING was troubled, and General JESCHONNEK - his Chief of
Staff, who also had no faith in high frequency aids, was also
sceptical. So HITLER ordered them to call in MARTINI.
43. Asked by HITLER whether such accurate bombing was
possible on beams, MARTINI said it was. GOERING, who saw
trouble ahead for himself, interposed saying: "Yes, my Führer,
but we also have such systems."
44. HITLER asked MARTINI how the "X" system worked. In an
attempt to simplify the explanation, MARTINI spoke about
impulses and echoes. HITLER asked for more and more details,
calculating for himself everything that MARTINI explained. The
General thus found himself thoroughly involved and confused.
45. "Now I want to know", HITLER said with some impatience,
"if you were to attack Munich main railway station from
Leipzig on your system, whether you could hit it?" MARTINI,
taking good care not to commit himself too deeply, said; "I
should estimate that Munich is about 400 kilometres from
Leipzig. If that is correct, and if the station is 1,000
metres long by 300 wide, then I believe that some of the bombs
would hit the target."
46. HITLER replied: "I hope this is correct. I don't trust
high frequency. I went on a flight in South Germany, and ended
up in North Germany by mistake with your high frequency." He
reflected for a moment and said: "I order a demonstration to
be carried out with the "X" System in Germany, just as if it
were an operation, to show me whether these things really can
be done.
47. This was the last that MARTINI heard on the subject from
HITLER himself, but a long time afterwards he was rebuked by
GOERING for taking so long to prepare the demonstration;
preparations actually took about nine months.
48. At the time the "X" apparatus was undergoing trials for
improvements, and the aircrew who had used airborne apparatus
had to be replaced in the aircraft, the "X" stations set up in
the neighbourhood of Vienna, and new pilots trained. General
MARTINI did not know all details of the trials, since they
were put into the hands of Dr. PLENDL and the Air Officer for
Bombers who was also Inspector for Navigation.
49. The actual bombing demonstration flight was from Austria
to an unpopulated spot near Grafenwöhr in the neighbourhood of
Bayreuth, and was a success, but it cost enormous effort.

Disappointment over Erika.
50. Explaining why "Erika" stations had been built on the
Channel coast but had not been used, General MARTINI said that
the system proved far more difficult to perfect than had been
supposed.
51. Moreover it necessitated a large airborne apparatus, and
a very large ground installation, and this took years and
years. In the final stages an inaccuracy was observed which
had been previously overlooked.
52. There was besides the continual danger that it could be
easily jammed. "I worried a great deal over it", the General
said.
53. Professor von HANDEL, whose great passion it was, had
claimed that it would be more accurate than the "X" system. He
worked at it as feverishly as PLENDL worked on his "X" system.
54. The two men fell out and MARTINI went to great pains to
get them to work together, and finally succeeded. He hoped
that they would combine the "X" and "Erika systems, but this
never happened.

Sonne Beacons in Spain.
55. Talking of other air navigation systems, General MARTINI
said that besides using Sonne beacons themselves in Spain, the
Germans made over some Sonne apparatus to the Spaniards.

III - DEFENSIVE RADAR.
First Information on British Radar.
56. Discussing British and German ground radar, General
MARTINI said he was aware before the beginning of the war that
great radar stations had been put up on the coast of England,
and that they had very long range. It was known that the
impulses were 25, 50 and 1000, and that height measurements
could be obtained. It was not known whether the radar could
really determine the number of aircraft approaching.
57. Just before the war the Graf Zeppelin flew along the
coast of England during an experimental flight. The main
object of that flight was to test ultra-short wave receivers.
Incidentally it was thought that British radar stations might
be D/F'd. General MARTINI said he did not know exactly what
experiments were made during the flight, but he had heard that
the high frequency receivers were not satisfactory, and
results were uncertain.

First German Radar.
58. In General MARTINI’s opinion, the two men chiefly
responsible for the invention of radar in Germany were Dr.
RUNGE, of Telefunken, who worked on a 50 to 60 centimetre
wavelength, and Dr. SCHULTES, of GEMA, who worked chiefly with
80 centimetre and 2.4 metre waves.
59. Radar apparatus was first developed in Germany by the
Naval Experimental Institut and GEMA in 1936 or earlier.
General MARTINI was shown a Freya by the Navy, and saw that it
could achieve results over the sea. He hoped that the G.A.F.
would be successful with it over land and foresaw that it
could have a great feature in aircraft reporting, blind
landing and other spheres.
60. Just before the invasion of Czechoslovakia he had a Freya
placed in the Sudeten mountains. "I hoped", he said "that with
our Freya in the mountains we would be able to pick up
aircraft taking off in Czechoslovakia, but we failed to obtain
any results".
61. At about the same time the firm of Telefunken began
trials with Würzburg apparatus. They claimed that it could
pick up aircraft, but their demonstration failed.
62. The General said that he had ordered about 200 Freyas and
800 Würzburgs for the G.A.F. before the war, but he had
obtained only a small number by the time hostilities had
begun. A very few Freyas were set up on the North Sea coast
and these worked satisfactorily, being instrumental in causing
heavy R.A.F. losses over Heligoland in the bombing attacks in
1939.
63. Freyas were not used during the Norwegian campaign, but
were set up after the Luftwaffe had established itself on the
Norwegian coast. The signals organisation was obliged to hand
over all the Würzburgs intended for the aircraft reporting
system to the Flak arm, because the radar apparatus brought
out by Lorenz which was used for Flak aiming had proved a
failure.

Fighter Control.
64. From the reports of his Signals Intelligence Service, the
General concluded that the R.A.F. aircraft reporting system
and radar were used principally to aid the ground control of
fighters. For a long time the Luftwaffe was unable to organise
ground control of day fighters, because of the opposition of
most of the pilots, who insisted on free-lance fighting.
65. The change was introduced very slowly and was influenced
by the discovery by the German Signals Intelligence Service
that the R.A.F. was using Pip-Squeak. The Pip-Squeak aircraft
apparatus was later captured. The procedure seemed a good idea
to the German pilots, who wanted a Pip-Squeak of their own,
and began to realise the advantages of fighter control.
66. Actually, German industry had for a long time been
working on a similar apparatus, but failed to bring out a
satisfactory one. Later the Pip-Squeak apparatus was copied by
the Germans, but it was never used operationally.
67. The organisation of radar for fighter defence suffered
both before and during the war from inter-departmental
difficulties and intrigue.
68. The main reason why radar was not developed earlier for
ground control of fighters, General MARTINI said, was that
until the summer of 1941 the Luftwaffe concentrated on
offensive tactics to the neglect of fighter defence. The
decision to subordinate aircraft reporting and radar to
fighter ground control was reached at a stormy conference in
Russia in the early stages of the campaign. MOELDERS and
GALLAND insisted that the only way to improve fighter
interception and cut down losses was to introduce satisfactory
ground control.

Research, Industry and Intrigue.
69. General MARTINI had a constant struggle to obtain the
technical improvements necessary for carrying on the high
frequency war. Except for a period of less than a year, during
which he was given special responsibilities by GOERING,
General MARTINI had no authority to make demands either from
the scientists or from the industrialists.
70. Until 1937 he and his subordinates had been allowed to
keep in close contact with the wireless industry, and to state
their requirements, but merely for information. After that
time Feldmarschall MILCH strictly forbade these contacts, and
ordered that requests and enquiries should be made by the
signals organisation through the Technisches Amt, of which he
was head. Feldmarschall MILCH knew just as little about high
frequency matters as GOERING.
71. MILCH issued his veto during a scandal in 1937 over the
sale of the FUGe.7 to Switzerland, in connection with which a
number of prominent scientists at Telefunken were arrested.
P/W had the feeling that the scandal was worked up to prevent
free collaboration between industry and the services, and to
place the big firms under the supervision of the Technisches
Amt.
72. Relations between MARTINI and MILCH were strained for
years, even if the two men were outwardly polite to each
other. MILCH was a great opponent of the General Staff, and
particularly of the Tactical Führungsstab. He attempted to
have the whole signals organisation placed under his command,
but MARTINI resisted this strongly.
73. Thwarted in his empire-building, MILCH carried on an
underground war against the signals organisation. On one
occasion, in the presence of MARTINI, he said to GOERING: "It
is a great crime that this signals organisation has been set
up!" MILCH tried to prevent Luftwaffe officers from working
in the Technisches Amt, and made liaison with MARTINI
extremely difficult. For a time MARTINI had a representative
at the Technisches Amt but he requested to be posted back to
the signals organisation, saying that it had room only for
engineers and not for officers.
74. MARTINI had engineers in his Experimental Regiment, the
L.N. Versuchsregiment at Koethen, working together with the
officers, but the engineers in the Technisches Amt refused to
co-operate with them. When the Versuchsregiment brought out
something new and stated its requirements, the Technisches Amt
engineers said that their work was all wrong.
75. Even during the time that UDET was head of the
Technisches Amt, MILCH in P/W’s opinion, really held the reins
because of his position as GOERING's representative.
76. Feldmarschall MILCH made a point of co-operating with the
signals organisation from the summer of 1941 for about nine
months, during which MARTINI had GOERING's backing. Because of
MILCH's opposition, MARTINI was still given no authority over
the scientists or the industrialists, but he was given special
powers to hold conferences with them, and with representatives
of the Technisches Amt.
77. He had GOERING's authority to discuss his requirements in
the utmost detail. When agreement had been reached on which
developments could be carried out by the industry, the General
had to make written requests to the Technisches Amt to put
through the required orders. Thanks to GOERING's backing,
MARTINI was able to force the Technisches Amt to place these
orders.

Role of the Versuchsregiment.
78. The Versuchsregiment had the task of conducting
experiments with signals apparatus, and stating the technical
or tactical requirements of the Luftwaffe with regard to it.
Their reports went to the Technisches Amt. When the apparatus
was delivered to the signals organisations the
Versuchsregiment carried out operational tests with it and
often made improvements.
79. The Versuchsregiment Koethen acted as a fillip to the
wireless industry, sometimes producing new apparatus which the
industrialists were unable to manufacture.
80. For example, the height measuring attachments on the Freya
were built and produced by Koethen. Whenever work of this
nature was handed over to Koethen, MARTINI had to obtain the
sanction of the Technisches Amt. Despite the rivalry with the
Versuchsregiment, this sanction would be given. Feldmarschall
MILCH once or twice indicated that Koethen should be directly
subordinated to him, but never pursued the matter.
81. General MARTINI described Dr. KÜNHOLD, the Technical
Chief of the Versuchsregiment, as exceptionally able and at
the same time very modest scientist. He was responsible for
all the technical work done at Koethen. Oberst LÖWE,
Kommandeur of the Regiment, was responsible for administration
and discipline. He was also a good technician. He had formerly
been a Captain in the Signals section of the Landes Polizei
and had been taken into the Luftwaffe signals organisation in
1934.
82. The work of the Versuchsregiment at Koethen embraced all
branches of the signals organisation; its work on radar was in
practice restricted to ground apparatus.
83. The experimental station at Werneuchen restricted its
research to radar and concentrated on airborne apparatus.
Whereas Koethen, under the signals organisation, trained the
experimental detachments which were incorporated in the
signals regiments, Werneuchen was restricted to engineers and
was subordinated to the Technisches Amt.
84. Oberstleutnant HENTZ, at the end of the war head of
General MARTINI's Radar Section, the VI Abteilung, was
formerly Kommandeur of Werneuchen responsible for its growth.
85. Co-operation between Werneuchen and the signals
organisation was always better than that of the Technisches
Ant itself with the signals organisation.
Industry's need of Technicians.
86. At the end of 1941, it became obvious that the wireless
industry did not have a sufficient number of technicians to
carry out the requirements of the signals organisation.
87. Realising the danger of defeat in the high frequency war,
MARTINI offered the industry up to 15,000 technicians from his
Signals Regiment. He started by having 7000 to 8000 men
transferred to industry, and then persuaded GOERING to
transfer back to the industry and research organisations about
15,000 technicians from both the Army and Luftwaffe.
88. While the transfers were being carried out, the manpower
crisis occurred on the Russian front and the process was
reversed. Thus the best experienced technicians were being
sent from industry to the Russian front, while less capable
men were coming home and required at least a year to be
trained.

Countering of Allied Countermeasures.
89. The very nature of the high frequency war with
countermeasures, measures to overcome countermeasures and
constant changes in the apparatus, led to demands from the
wireless industry which it could not meet. Thus the
Versuchsregiment was frequently called upon by MARTINI to make
the alterations itself.
90. For instance, when Freyas were manufactured with only one
wavelength, MARTINI told the industrialists that it would be
useless without a wave band. The industrialists replied that
such a change would be colossal work which would require a
very long time. "At any rate", MARTINI interposed, "bring out
the next series of Freyas with two wavelengths, the one after
with three, and gradually get a reasonable frequency band".
The industrialists made objections, saying that the work was
too fiddling.
91. MARTINI then ordered the Versuchsregiment to make the
required modifications in the Freyas. Thus, despite British
jamming from high-powered transmitters, the Versuchsregiment
modified a sufficient number of Freyas for some to operate
without being jammed.
92. Gradually all the Freyas were modified at Koethen under
the covername "Voll-Wismar" and the wireless industry finally
produced Freyas with an adequate frequency band.
93. Similar difficulties were experienced with FuG.16. The
signals organisation asked the Technisches Amt for the
apparatus to be constructed with 100 two-way channels, but
through a misunderstanding it was produced with 100 one-way
channels.
94. In the ensuing discussions, the industrialists considered
that they would not be able to produce the apparatus with the
required frequency band for about two years.

FuG.25 and 25A.
95. The failure to organise the mass production of the German
I.F.F., the FuG.25A, at an early date was attributed by the
General to the weakness of his position in relation to the
Technisches Amt. He was first shown the apparatus, which had
been constructed by Dr. SCHULTHES, in September or October
1939. He was delighted with it and requested the production of
two or three thousand.
96. These unfortunately were not produced, the General said,
because too many people had a say in the matter. "Shortly
afterwards a high official at the Technisches Amt told me
quite by chance that 30,000 FuG.25 were already in production.
That was terrible; it was my greatest worry. But
Reichsmarschall GOERING said to me "It is the easiest problem
of all and you haven't even solved that for me!"
Switching on of I.F.F.
97. The General had heard the explanation from British bomber
pilots that they kept their I.F.F. switched on to dowse
searchlights, but he did not believe it.
98. He thought that there must have been some important
reason this procedure which allowed the Germans to pick up the
approach of R.A.F. bombers. He asked whether it was maintained
with the object of eventually being of use to night fighter
escort aircraft. He pointed out that it was of exceedingly
great value to the Germans.

The Panorama Apparatus.
99. About September 1942, somebody, whose name MARTINI never
discovered, told GOERING that the signals organisation had
neglected to develop the Panorama search apparatus. GOERING in
a fit of temper told MARTINI that he had sabotaged the
Panorama apparatus and MARTINI retorted sharply. That same day
GOERING appointed Oberst KNEEMEYER as his Wireless and
Navigation Officer, and put an end to MARTINI’s special
functions in high frequency developments.
100. MARTINI continued to hold conferences with the
scientists and industrialists on behalf of the Chief of the
General Staff, but without GOERING’s authority he laboured
under great difficulties.
101. The production of a German Panorama apparatus was
delayed largely because at the beginning of the war tests were
unsuccessful, and afterwards the wireless industry neglected
it to try and satisfy other demands regarded as more urgent.
The first Panorama, which was put up to the West of Berlin,
could not be made to work and its development was shelved.
102. At the beginning of 1943, General MARTINI insisted that
he should be shown what the apparatus was worth. He was told
that the apparatus, which worked on one of the Freya
frequencies, had not yet been perfected. He sent two members
of his staff to try and overcome the technical difficulties
and three months later he was asked to inspect the apparatus
as it was at last working. He spent two hours looking at it,
but the demonstration failed.
103. A second prototype, which worked on decimetre waves, was
burnt out just after being completed.
Centimetre Wave Research.
104. The failure to develop radar on centimetre waves was
due, General MARTINI said, partly to Feldmarschall MILCH’s
lack of understanding of the problem, and partly because the
wireless industry could not cope. He himself had demanded in
1937 that research should be carried out on centimetre waves.
105. Staatsrat ESAU made experiments with ultra-short waves
at first with a milliwatt, which he later increased to a watt.
The scientist said that it was not his business, but that of
the industrialists to continue the work with higher power. The
industry, however, had too many other orders on hand, and
Feldmarschall MILCH, who could have put the research in the
hands of the Technische Amt, did not realise the implications
of the high frequency war.
106. In the summer of 1942, GOERING suddenly decided to
replace Dr. ESAU by Dr. PLENDL, whom he promoted to the rank
of Oberst Ingenieur, saying: "I appoint you chief of all high
frequency research in Germany". Dr. ESAU complained to General
MARTINI of being cold shouldered, but the General had not even
been informed of GOERING's decision beforehand.
107. General MARTINI made about 60 closely inter-connected
requests for research on high frequency matters to Dr. PLENDL.
He said that PLENDL's work as Chief of high frequency
investigations was somewhat disappointing, and criticised him
for spending too much time on organising, to the neglect of
research. He did not put the same energy into this work as he
had done in the development of the "X" and "Y" systems.
However, the General did not agree with those critics who
accused Dr. PLENDL of combatting the protagonists of the Egon
system.
108. In 1944 GOERING became dissatisfied with PLENDL, and
reinstated ESAU in his place. The old collaboration between
ESAU and MARTINI was then resumed.

The Egon System.
109. Dr. SCHULTHES, who first worked with GEMA for the Navy
and later with Siemens, had reported early on that the Egon
system promised great possibilities. At one of the General's
conferences in 1941, he said that exact location up to 350
kilometres could be attained with Egon, but could not give a
date for the perfection of the system. Nevertheless those
scientists who were opposed to Dr. PLENDL advocated the
immediate scrapping of the Benito fighter control system and
the introduction of Egon.
110. MARTINI intervened, stating: "The problem is not so
simple. We have built up the whole organisation for the Benito
system which has definite advantages; it can be used not only
for bombers but for fighters with very good results. We must
develop Egon with all possible speed, but before it is ready
to be used operationally it would be madness to do away with
Benito. We must have both systems operating at the same time".
111. In General MARTINI's view, time has justified his point
of view. The Benito system had proved itself thoroughly
efficient for fighter control, and in the later stages of the
war those controllers who used both systems were glad to check
up one on the other. With the small fighter force to which the
Luftwaffe was reduced, a small error in ground control was
fatal.

Capture of the British "Gee" Apparatus.
112. GOERING, who was in the habit of cursing the signals
organisation, was particularly vehement when he heard that a
British bomber had been captured with a fine apparatus on
board which was an improvement on anything brought out in
Germany. This was the "Gee" apparatus which the Germans named
Hyperbel.
113. General MARTINI said that he learned a long time
afterwards that the firm of Telefunken had actually worked out
a similar system to "Gee" on long waves in 1939. Telefunken
which had given the apparatus the cover name "Ingolstadt", had
proposed developing it, but the Technisches Amt had turned it
down because of an order previously issued forbidding work on
any developments which could not be completed by the end of
1940.
114. The "Gee" apparatus was handed over to Koethen for
examination and copies. The reason why Gee" was not jammed
earlier, the General thought, was because of the German lack
of ultra-short wave transmitters. It required a good nine
months to construct apparatus, once the prototype had been
completed. For a time, he said, the Germans considered that
they were successful in jamming both "Gee" and "Oboe", but
when these systems were used by the Allies with many
wavelengths, the only answer was to build up a great system of
jamming throughout Germany. This system was never completed.
Jamming – The Feldberg Project.
115. The General recalled an attempt in 1945 to jam Allied
airborne radar which ended in disaster. The first new highpowered
German ground jamming plant, which was manufactured
with great difficulty because of Allied bombing attacks, was
finally all assembled inside a tower on the Feldberg with the
object of jamming all wavelengths from the one place.
116. The work was carried out by the Reichspost "just as it
were peacetime" without a thought to passible consequences of
bombing. No sooner had all the apparatus been completed than
the tower was destroyed by a fighter bomber attack. The case
was brought before a court-martial.

H2S Countermeasures.
117. The Germans were not successful in their ground
countermeasures against H2S, because they were unable to get
such apparatus as they had captured intact to work properly.
The apparatus was technically in order, but despite repeated
trials the navigators were unable to achieve results with it.
Results were finally with a F.W.200 which was fitted with both
the H2S and the "Berlin". When flying over the Mark
Brandenburg in the spring of 1944, the aircraft crashed for
some unknown reason.

"Berlin" for Night Fighting.
118. It would have taken a long time, the General said,
before "Berlin" could have been put into operational use for
bombing on the same lines as H2S for which it was originally
constructed. As the Germans were not carrying out bombing
raids it was no longer important. It was therefor proposed to
adapt the "Berlin" for night fighting, and as such it would
have been used operationally within a comparatively short
while.
119. The Germans had great difficulty towards the end of the
war in constructing airborne apparatus such as "Berlin" small
enough to fit into their aircraft. They had scarcely any fourengined
aircraft, and the Ju.88 was not roomy enough. In the
final stages the wireless industry had to concentrate on
apparatus sufficiently small to fit into the Me.262.

Me.262 Radar.
120. No Me.262 had flown operationally with radar, but a few
successful trial flights had been carried out, using Neptun
apparatus which was small to go into the aircraft without
being unwieldy.
121. The type used was the forward-looking Neptun. The test
aircraft crashed and the observer was killed, but the pilot
reported that good blips had been obtained.

Me.163.
122. No attempt had been made to operate the Me.163 with
ground control.

Kammhuber’s Night Fighter Belt.
123. Speaking of the development of German night fighter
defences, General MARTINI said that General KAMMHUBER did not
at first appreciate the value of radar. Before the latter had
taken over the night fighter defences, he had distinguished
himself as a good blind flying pilot, but he had no technical
knowledge of radar. For that reason he organised the wellknown
searchlight belt defending the western approaches to the
Reich.
124. About two and a half months after KAMMHUBER had begun to
work on the night fighter belt, MARTINI sent him six reporting
companies which were then equipped with Würzburgs, because
MARTINI considered that this would be the best way of
organising night fighter defences.
125. The reason why the night fighter defence sectors were
worked out in a perfect pattern was that KAMMHUBER, being a
keen organiser, considered that he would benefit by their
being all exactly alike.
126. Asked why KAMMHUBER did not organise his night fighter
belt to rely on Würzburgs from the outset, General MARTINI
said that he himself had not been consulted when the work
began. GOERING had ordered KAMMHUBER to organise night
fighting, without referring him to MARTINI. KAMMHUBER did not
even know what to do with the aircraft reporting companies
which MARTINI sent him; however, he studied the whole question
of high frequency with much vigour, and soon reorganised the
night fighter defences to depend on ground radar.
127. The reason why so many radars were put up on the
Kammhuber belt was that the Germans at that time were using
the old Würzburgs which could obtain satisfactory results only
up to a radius of 35 kilometres. When the Würzburg Riesen were
introduced, General KAMMHUBER kept the other Würzburgs for a
time so as to maintain the pattern of his organisation
throughout the night fighter belt.
128. KAMMHUBER preferred the Seeburg Tisch method of plotting
to the Freya-AN system, because he said that the former method
of control could be understood by all but the latter could be
managed successfully only by special gifted officers. MARTINI
was disappointed because he considered that there were enough
capable young officers in his organisation to have worked with
the Freya-AN.

The Removal of Kammhuber.
129. The General said that he did not know exactly why
KAMMHUBER was removed to Luftflotte 5. In his own words, taken
from shorthand notes during interrogation: "It was a sudden
decision of the Reichsmarschall and I imagine that he must
have reached it after one of the officers had told him
something or other. It happened during a big conference at
Deelen during which the Reichsmarschall attacked me sharply
because he was determined not to understand why I wanted to
maintain the visual and oral aircraft reporting system as well
as the radar organisation. I explained that it was important
to know what types of aircraft were approaching when there
were low-flying attacks. He would have nothing of it and was
in a very bad temper.
130. "The next day he took General KAMMHUBER aside, and then
came back saying that he was to be A.O.C.-in-C. of the
Luftflotte in Norway. Possibly the reason for this was that
the night fighters were not gaining so many victories.
Outwardly the new post meant a great promotion, for he was a
young officer, and as A.O.C.-in-C. he attained the rank of a
General-Feldmarschall.
131. "I did not ask him what he personally thought about it.
Perhaps he had expected to control all the fighter forces in
Germany, and to have become an A.O.C.-in-C. like that.
132. "The change took place at the time of the appointment of
a new General Staff. I was to have been thrown out also. They
wanted to divide up my work, and I had made it a hard and fast
rule that my organisation must not be split up, whatever
happened. I had to insist on this several times, and each time
said that if the organisation were split up, I should ask for
another post. Finally on that occasion too, it was decided
that I should.....
133. The Reichsmarschall did not understand the principles of
night fighting, but discussed them a great deal with General
KAMMHUBER just as he did with me. When I held a different
opinion, I told him so quite openly. For a long time he
listened to me, and then one day he refused to listen to me at
all. It was roughly the same with General KAMMHUBER. He too
used to state his opinion openly".

IV - SUCCESS OF WINDOW.
Not a Surprise.
134. The dropping of Window by Bomber Command over Hamburg in
the summer of 1943 did not come as a complete surprise to the
German signals organisation. For about a year engineers at the
Technisches Amt had studied the question. The scientists had a
suspicion of the danger to German defensive radar but said
nothing because they did not wish to bring them-selves into
disrepute.
135. Six months before the Hamburg raid their experiments had
proved conclusively what a menace the metal strips
represented. The information was passed to MARTINI, who handed
GOERING a two-page report on the subject, pointing out what a
terrible danger they might be. GOERING was so upset that he
ordered MARTINI to destroy the document at once, and take the
utmost precautions to prevent the enemy from learning of the
discovery.
136. "It was thus extremely difficult", the General said, "to
work out countermeasures because we dared not experiment with
the little beasts for fear of their being discovered. Had the
wind blown when we dropped the metal strips, people would have
picked then up, talked about them, and the secret would have
been betrayed".
137. When the Hamburg raid came there was great excitement
because the signals organisation had not discovered any
countermeasures. GOERING blamed MARTINI again, saying: "The
British have now gone and used the metal strips, so they have
surely got countermeasures against them and you haven't!"

Window Countermeasures.
138. A few days after the Hamburg raid, two scientists
independently worked out countermeasures to Window and the
result was the Würzlaus attachment to the Würzburg and the
Freyalaus attachment to the Freya. When considerable
quantities of Window were dropped, the Würzlaus was swamped,
however, but the Freyalaus still gave results. Finally a
combination of the two, the "K-Laus", was tried out but was
found difficult to handle.
139. The General admitted that no really satisfactory answer
to Window had been found, and doubted whether there could be
one if the strips were dropped in sufficient quantities and
places. The Flak batteries never succeeded in using their own
radar instruments when the Allied air force used sufficient
Window or Chaff, but the aircraft reporting system was at
least able to provide them with rough data on height end
direction.
140. With Koethen Grau apparatus they managed for some months
to get a rough picture despite Window. German night fighters
were on the whole not too much affected by Window and at first
it frequently even gave them a rough idea of where to find the
bomber stream. Their task was then complicated by the
countermeasures of 100 Group, R.A.F. Bomber Command, which
General MARTINI described as outstandingly good.
141. Explaining the lines on which the Germans developed
their radar defences, General MARTINI said that in order to
obtain as early a warning as possible. They built bigger and
bigger apparatus, as the range of the Allied bombers
increased. The Germans thus gradually increased their warning
range from 100 kilometres with the Freya to 300 kilometres
with the Wassermann, the Mammut and the Elefant. The danger of
jamming and bombing was fully realised but the Germans were
glad to have the latter types of apparatus when the British
introduced Window and airborne jamming,
142. Elefant proved particularly useful as it was not jammed
for a long time. Results with Klein-Heidelberg were also good
General MARTINI believed that the apparatus had been invented
by Oberpostrat SCHOLZ, who had the chief merit for jamming
British radar when the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau passed
through the Channel. The General attributed the success of
this operation to the fact that it was started with very
slight jamming which was gradually and almost imperceptibly
increased until it became effective.

Wilde Sau Night-Fighting.
143. The fact that the Germans began to develop Wilde Sau
free-lance night fighting at the very time that the R.A.F.
introduced Window was largely fortuitous. Oberst HERRMANN was
mainly responsible. He said that the night fighter had to take
risks in German Flak areas and shoot down bombers caught by
the searchlights or in the glow of the blazing target. He said
he was quite prepared to do free-lance night fighting of this
nature himself, and did so.
144. GOERING, seeing that far fewer bombers were being shot
down because of Window, encouraged the younger night fighters
to go up over the targets and fight.

V - SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE AND SIGNALS DEVELOPMENTS.
SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE.
Work of the Intercept Service.
145. The German Signals Intelligence Service (Luft
Aufklärungs Dienst) was under the operational command of
Oberstleutnant FRIEDRICH, who was subordinate to MARTINI
through Oberst MORGENSTERN; the officer responsible for
discipline and administration of the service was Generalmajor
KLEMME. Coverage of Allied signals was determined by the
Intelligence of the Luftflotten in which the signals units
operated.
146. GOERING himself was interested in the service and
occasionally gave personal orders for some particular activity
to be covered.
l47. Results from the German Signals Intelligence had,
according to General MARTINI, given high satisfaction to
everyone until the last phase of the war, when the service, no
longer able to cope with the enormous number of Allied raids
or to keep track of the continually changing basings of Allied
aircraft, also came in for its share of GOERING's displeasure.
148. Up to this point it had never failed to provide, from
the Battle of Britain onwards, a current and exact Order of
Battle of the British and later of U.S.A.A.F. formations,
including subordinations, the number of squadrons operating in
each sector, and their dispositions and strength.
149. Valuable information on Allied fighters was given by the
interpreters, who were sent up with reconnaissance crews
operating from Norwegian and Mediterranean bases. They were
briefed beforehand in the locations of Allied fighter units in
the operational area, and the frequencies on which the latter
were likely to work. The low number of suitable men available,
however, had confined their employment to reconnaissance
aircraft. The General thought they would have continued to be
valuable as long as air to air and ground communication
remained insecure.
150. The Germans were able to recognise Allied preparations
for taking off, not so much through the pilots' talk as by
observation of small details in point to point traffic. The
slightest carelessness in procedure between two ground
stations, for instance, might suffice to reveal which networks
were active. Then, even though the traffic itself remained
unbroken, time and time again it became possible to draw
definite conclusions concerning the operations involved by the
comparison of traffics occurring in similar form.
151. The General admitted that sometimes the German intercept
service was tricked by British spoof traffic.
152. The very high standard of R/T discipline shown by
British pilots was held up by General MARTINI as a model for
German pilots, who, as a result of the example began to show
marked improvement in the later stages. He considered American
pilots to be about the equal of the German pilots in this
respect.

Employment of Signal Aircraft.
153. General MARTINI thought that experiments with Signals
Ju.52’s had begun in the Spanish war, but in any case
exercises with them shortly afterwards had proved their worth,
and they were used with success in considerable numbers in the
Polish Campaign.
154. Later on, with fighter units being constantly switched
from one area to another out of range of their home stations,
the signals Ju.52's were used to pass information from
Aircraft Reporting Station and ground radar to airborne
fighter formations.
155. As the scale of Allied attacks increased, it became
impossible to protect these signals aircraft on the airfields.
Their signals equipment was therefor made portable, taken out
on arrival at the airfield at which it was desired to operate,
and set up some distance away.
156. Allied bombing was thus responsible for the abolishing
of the signals aircraft, which was used in the later stages of
the war as a transport aircraft.

Liaison with German Navy.
158. All intercepted signals that concerned shipping were
passed immediately to the German Navy, who controlled the
costal observation posts. In general, liaison with the German
Navy in signals matters was very close indeed, key personnel
of both services and the Army often working together on the
same problems.

High Grade Cyphers.
159. The General did not think that Allied high grad Cyphers
had ever been broken, although since he was only concerned
with what came cut he could not speak with certainty. Allied
Cyphers in general were very secure.
160. Prior to the North African Campaign the Germans
themselves introduced the "Sägefisch" for communication over
great distances in the event of cable being rendered
unserviceable.
161. "Sägefisch" comprised a short-wave transmitter operating
in conjunction with an automatic cyphering Machine; it was
efficient only over distances of 250 miles or more. Messages
were typed into the machine in clear, automatically encyphered
and then transmitted. At the other end they were automatically
received, decyphered and typed out by the machine also in
clear, the entire operation taking only a few minutes.
162. Continual watch had been kept by the Germans on their
Sägefisch traffic, and whenever possibilities of the Allies
breaking down the cypher were observed, countermeasures were
immediately taken to render it more secure.

Defensive Measures.
163. Towards the end of the war, with the overwhelming
superiority of the Allied air forces, special efforts were
made to obtain the maximum efficiency from the German
Intercept Service, which was accordingly brought into much
closer co-operation with the Aircraft Reporting Service,
employing visual and radar means for aircraft detection.
164. Radar stations and intercept stations finally worked
together, both at Divisional and Sector Battle H.Q.'s. By
comparison of the intelligence produced by both services, it
was possible to obtain a more accurate picture of the air
situation. In this connection, the General said that Allied
bomber formations could be D/F's to within 1° of accuracy.
165. To ensure that German signals traffic could not help an
eventual enemy to D/F German airfields, General MARTINI laid
it down from the outset that transmitters must not be situated
in their vicinity. Throughout Germany, therefore, the wireless
transmitters were built at least 10 kilometres away from the
airfields. One transmitter station was usually built to serve
several airfields. To maintain land communications during
bombing attacks the decimetre wave point-to-point system,
Richtverbindung, for telephonic and/or telegraphic
communications was extensively developed.
166. In Italy, Allied bombing frequently made it impossible
for the Germans to move along the roads, and telegraphic
communications were wrecked. The Luftwaffe, however, was able
to help the Army out with its Richtverbindungen.

Point-to-Point Communication.
167. The General said that a number of conversations on
Richtverbindungen were held which should not have taken place,
since this method of communications was not secure.
168. Another difficulty with the Richtverbindung system was
that it could be seriously jammed. He believed that the
jamming which actually took place was by chance, and that it
came from airborne transmitters intended to jam the German
ground radars. He even considered organising a raid warning
system on the basis of this jamming.

Spoof before D-Day.
169. Before D-Day the Germans were tricked by a spoof
operation which gave them the impression that a big force was
making for Fécamp.
170. Although many aircraft reporting radars along the coast
had been put out of action by Allied bombing, the General
claimed that there were still sufficient left to maintain the
service. (He said that he was not responsible for the Naval
Radar Service). •
171. During the last few days before the invasion, the radar
operators were often misled to report that something was
coming when nothing was there at all. This was partly due to
the atmosphere, and the radar operators were accordingly
warned to caution when reporting.
172. As a considerable number of jamming transmitters on the
French coast had been destroyed by Allied attacks, the Germans
had to achieve results with mobile ones which were to jam
ground-to-air R/T. They were never used, having possibly been
destroyed on the way to the coast or on their arrival.

SIGNALS DEVELOPMENT.
Allied Bombing.
173. The signals organisation suffered most through the
Allied bombing of wireless valve factories; on the other hand
the General did not think that decisive results could have
been achieved, had the Allies made a concerted campaign
exclusively against the valve industry.
174. The Germans started dispersing stocks after Telefunken
and Lorenz had been severely damaged. A marked shortage of
valves resulted, but according to the General the situation
was never critical. The General admitted, however, that during
the Mediterranean campaign, for a time fighter aircraft were
delivered to Sicily without wireless apparatus.
Low Quality of Radar Operators.
175. It was mentioned to General MARTINI that earlier in the
war, when the Würzburg was captured on the French coast at
Bruneval, the prisoners who were taken with the apparatus were
found to have remarkably little technical knowledge.
176. The General ascribed this to the crisis in manpower
among wireless technicians, which forced him to use unskilled
men and later women as radar assistants.
177. Wireless technicians had to be trained within the
signals organisation, because before the war there were no
radio amateurs as in Britain and the United States. The
activities of all amateurs had been suppressed in Germany "at
the time of the Communist danger".

Failure of HS.293.
176. Lack of success with the Hs.293 radio-controlled glider
bomb was attributed by the General largely to two factors.
Firstly, the Technisches Amt, which was responsible for its
development and production, kept the weapon entirely for
itself. Only when it was realised that there were not enough
frequencies on the radio control of the bomb to make it immune
from jamming, did the Technisches Amt feel obliged to bring
the signals organisation into the picture. General MARTINI
insisted on a number of alterations, but the Hs.293 was
brought out before the radio control had been perfected to
make it free from jamming.
179. Secondly, the Germans had not sufficient numbers of
suitable aircraft from which the bomb could be operated. The
Do.217 with which it was mainly employed was, moreover,
extremely limited in range.
180. The high vulnerability of the Hs.293 to jamming was
accepted by the Germans, who decided that it had best be used
in a heavy surprise attack in an area where immediate
observation by the Allies would be difficult. Norway was
considered to offer best chances of success, and it was
therefore a very unpleasant surprise to the General to learn
that the bomb had been used in the Mediterranean theatre
shortly afterwards.
181. Nevertheless, to render Allied countermeasures as
difficult as possible and in order to camouflage tuning, radio
stations were set up whenever the bombs were being used, and
aircraft were employed with the bombers to transmit on other
wavelengths while the bombs were being armed.
182. In spite of these precautions the General thought that
the Allies might have succeeded in jamming the bomb, owing to
the extreme simplicity of the wireless control.
183. Radio-controlled bombs had been conceived solely as an
anti-shipping weapon, the HS.293 against large transport, the
FX against battleships and armoured vessels of all sorts. They
were afterwards relegated to uses for which they were never
intended - against bridges and other land targets.

Collaboration with Japan.
184. The extent to which the Germans gave their secrets to
the Japanese was not known by the General. He said that early
in 1945 HITLER ordered that all German technical secrets of
short and medium term value should be given to the Japanese.
185. He said that no members of the signals organisation had
left for Japan apart from those who were presumably in the Uboat
which was intercepted by the U.S. Navy in the Atlantic.
186. From a visit to Germany paid by a delegation of Japanese
officers. General MARTINI gained the impression that they were
behind-hand in radar. A Japanese told him that they had
apparatus with centimetre waves, but he could not remember the
details. He regarded the Jagi aerial as very good, but did not
know whether or not the Technisches Amt had received it from
Japan. He was sure that the Japanese had received at least
documents and photographs of German ground radar.

A.D.I.(K)&
U.S. Air Interrogation. S.D. Felkin
21st June 1945. Group Captain"
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