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Plot to capture Adolf Hitler at Lympne aerodrome

In the spring of 1941, a top secret plot was being hatched that, if successful, would have changed the face of Europe.

It was a plan to kidnap Adolf Hitler at the aerodrome in Lympne in Kent.

Hitler was to be taken alive from the plane after a rapid descent over The Channel before being bundled into the back of a car and driven to London.

Evidence of the plan can be found in official RAF documents kept at the National Archives in Kew.

The story began in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, when a man named Kiroff walked into the British Military Attaché's office and claimed his brother-in-law, Hans Baur, Hitler's personal pilot, was planning to defect in Hitler's plane, with the Führer on board.

"The RAF had to plan for the eventuality of Hitler being brought to Britain," said historian Andy Saunders.

The date set for Baur and Hitler's arrival, 25 March 1941, came and went. The plane never arrived.

Baur spent the rest of the war as Hitler's pilot. So was it really ever likely to happen?

Lionel James Roberts was one of the men employed to bring extra weaponry to the airfield in preparation for Hitler's arrival.

He has since died, but his son recalls being told how secrecy surrounded his father's role in the operation....
Read entire article at BBC News