[WW] Admiral Kanaris and the Brandenburgers

["Frank Frey (SOK)" <ffreyiii@luna.cas.usf.edu>]

Arne, 

One of the enigmas of WWII, to me, has been Admiral Kanaris the head of
the Abwehr. The commonly held theory seems to be that he was an
incompetent who was outschemed by the likes of Heydrich, Himmler, and
Mueller. Another school of thought holds that he hated the Nazis and did
what he could to sabotage the war effort. Perhaps he was a little of
both. In one book I read about Operation Torch, there was a plan to kidnap
Kanaris by a British commando unit operating out of Gibraltar. When London
got word of the plan, it was cancelled on orders "from the highest
authority". The reason being given was that Kanaris was "more useful where
he is".  Hmmmmm...! 

Perhaps, in the universe of WW, Admiral Wilhelm Kanaris is a Son of
Solomon who is doing his best to thwart the Nazis and their plans. 

As for the Brandenburgers, it has been suggested that they were Kanaris'
attempt to build his own private army to keep up with Himmler and
Goering. Anyway you want to look at them, they were a tough bunch. I am
particularly familiar with Special Unit 288/Panzergrenadier Regiment
Afrika of Afrika Korps fame. I found an interesting and informative
website at www.eliteforcesofthethirdreich.com 
It includes information on SS-Fallschirmjager Bn 500 who are going to be
the main baddies that my players face. 

Frank Frey

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"The only difference between myself and a madman is that I am not mad!"
  Salvador Dali
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