Franco is “slow in mind and movement” and Serrano Súñer is “quick as a dagger in both words and actions”.
An archetypal English gentleman in his methods, his representation and his sartorial elegance, and with a style that saw him always dressed in perfectly-fitting tailored suits, Samuel Gurney Hoare (1880-1959) was an outstanding politician and exemplary diplomat. He was a shining example of how someone with homely looks could use the way they dressed to make themselves an icon of their time, such as Fred Astaire and Adolphe Menjou. Between 1931 and 1938, this emphatic MP of the Conservative party held the positions of Minister of Education, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary. With his strong conservative leanings and beliefs, he held a very accommodating attitude towards the totalitarian regimes of Italy and Germany. So, when the Italian army invaded Ethiopia, his silent response meant that he was removed from his position as Foreign Secretary, a situation which was repeated in the Home Office as a direct result of his consent and resulting support of the Munich Agreement.
During the spring of 1940, Samuel Hoare was chosen by Her Majesty’s British Government to take on the role of heading their Embassy in Madrid, as Great Britain and her allies felt the situation in Spain was of pivotal importance. Hoare was not simply a gifted diplomat, but he was also an indisputable and positive politician, one of the heroes of the British Conservative Party and, in some aspects, a rival to Churchill. He had spent 30 years in the House of Commons and many times had been the Secretary of State for Air, First Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary of State for India, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Lord Privy Seal in the War Cabinet and, in reference to his diplomatic activity, he was in charge of a special mission in Russia during the build up to the Revolution.
For these reasons, Churchill chose to elect Hoare as the Ambassador to Madrid during these critical times for Great Britain, when France was defeated and Spain was replacing its neutrality with uprising and deciding to send its Blue Division to fight on the Russian Front. Hoare labored tirelessly so that Spain, where he was keeping up healthy relations, did not turn against his country. His outstanding work earned him the highest awards, as well as the honorary title of Order of the British Empire.
However, without a doubt, the most memorable of this British hero’s actions, was that of organizing the exchange of German and British prisoners in the port of Barcelona.
On the 26th October, 1943, under the auspices of the Spanish Red Cross, the German boat “Aquileia” was moored in Barcelona’s harbor. In its hold were 1083 British and Commonwealth prisoners, 410 were sick and injured and of those, 50 in a serious state. The first to disembark were the Australian prisoners from the Ambulance Division, after them the Scottish, English, South Africans, Australians, and Kiwis, most of them captured on the North African Front.
At the same time, the carrier “Cuba” sailing under the British flag began to offload 1061 German prisoners, virtually all of which were from the Afrika Korps. In the harbor, overseeing the operations were Sir Samuel Hoare and his German counterpart, Doctor Dieckhoff. Both were accompanied by their respective entourages and their wives and the German also had the company of a group from the National Socialist Party of Barcelona and pupils from the German schools in the city. The wife of the German ambassador gave the German prisoners a bag with handkerchiefs, wine, oil and dried fruit whilst the British prisoners received cigarettes, alcohol and biscuits from their fellow countrymen in Barcelona. Also witness to the exchange, were the Spanish General Moscardó, Delegate to the International Red Cross, Doctor Arbenz, and various Spanish officials of the period.
After doing a roll-call, the newly-saved prisoners were taken to their respective ships, with shouts of joy, songs and crusade hymns. As a form of restraint, it was organized so that the prisoners did not see each other in the harbor. Everything had been vigorously rehearsed so as to avoid a potentially fatal meeting.
The second trading of prisoners took place on Spanish soil in February of 1944 in Irún, when 36 injured and mutilated British and American were handed over. Later, on the 17th May, 1944, the second part of the trade was completed this time again in Barcelona. The Germans handed over 1021 prisoners in exchange for 833, amongst which was Division General Hans Kramer.
Written by Jesús Castro
Translated by Rachael Harrison
Sponsored by www.costaluzlawyers.es
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