London: World War Two underground Blitz shelter explored

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The UK and Germany were bitter enemies during World War 2, battling in Europe from 1939 to 1945. Iconic wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill made his feelings about the Nazi rulers in Germany perfectly clear as the Allied forces aimed to stop their fascist ideology from seizing control. In a speech from June 1940, Mr Churchill said: “Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. “If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free, and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands; but if we fail then the whole world, including the United States, and all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age, made more sinister, and perhaps more prolonged, by the lights of a perverted science.

“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire lasts for a thousand years men will still say, ‘this was their finest hour’.”

While the German leaders weren’t too fond of their British counterparts either, new research has shown that the Nazis did look to imitate one aspect of British society.

Durham professor Dr Helen Roche, author of The Third Reich’s Elite Schools, has found evidence that suggests Nazi Germany looked to emulate public schools in Britain such as Harrow and Eton.

SS commander August Heißmeyer was inspired by the hierarchy in Britain’s public schools, and wanted to adopt the model for the “National Political Institutes of Education (NPEA)” he oversaw in the Third Reich

When Nazi officials visited the UK, they were impressed with the “character-training” and the “Fuhrer-like” control of headmasters.

Dr Roche explained: “Their training in character-building and heavy emphasis on physical education, above all, their ability to train generations of imperial administrators and leaders, were all seen as potential paradigms for training the future leaders of the Third Reich.”

These exchange trips between Nazi Germany and the UK happened between 1935 and 1938.

Schools that took part in the exchange also included Westminster, St Paul’s, Tonbridge School, Dauntsey’s School in Wiltshire, and Bingley School in Yorkshire.

Dr Roche’s research found that Nazi officials also liked the role of prefects within schools, as this chimed with the Hitler Youth principle of “youth must be led by youth”.

In a document unearthed by Dr Roche, Heißmeyer praised the public schools for having “actually managed to educate a consistent type”.

He added: “Even as famous, prominent leaders in public life, these men confess their pride in their Anstalt (institution), [and] appear whenever possible at the annual reunions.”

George Olive, Dauntsey School’s headmaster at the time, reciprocated the praise for Germany’s “National Political Institutes of Education (NPEA)” – which was led by Heißmeyer.

He said: “I found the headmasters of [the NPEA] to be men of wide vision and great practical ability.”

The British, Dr Roche said, were impressed by the “preternatural physical development” of German pupils who managed to match the British on the football field.

Dr Roche did find, however, that the Nazis were critical of some aspects of British public schools.

Nazi officials noted their “aristocratic exclusivity” – NPEA schools aimed to to educate “boys from any background, be they the sons of labourers, farmers, or the lowliest officials”.

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The research also found that British public schoolboys were disturbed by their German counterparts.

They were particularly unnerved by their devotion for the Fatherland, which they praised in “song and recitation” and “salut[ing] the flag with ‘Heil Hitler’ […] very smart with heels clicking etc”.

British pupils were critical of the Germans taking their singing “so seriously and patriotically” without the “fun and rioting” they were used to.

Dr Roche has written that both sides hoped building friendly relations between their elite youngsters would help both nations in future.

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