Fifteen TalksBy Richard Anderson From Eva to Edwina
THIS IS A SAMPLETo order a copy of Fifteen Talks please visit:richardanderson.uk
From Evato Edwina By Richard Anderson
This book is dedicated to my children who have given me such joy and happiness.
ContentsCHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTIONCHAPTER 2 EVA BRAUNCHAPTER 3 THE DEATH OF THE PRINCE IMPERIALCHAPTER 4 KENSAL GREEN CEMETERYCHAPTER 5 CHRISTINE KEELERCHAPTER 6 HITLER’S INNER CIRCLECHAPTER 7 MY TIME IN NORTHERN IRELANDCHAPTER 8 MY TIME IN NORTHERN IRELAND Part 2CHAPTER 9 WALLIS SIMPSONCHAPTER 10 HITLER STREET THUG TO GENTLEMANCHAPTER 11 THE ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY SANDHURSTCHAPTER 12 RICHARD ANDERSONCHAPTER 13 HUMANITARIAN AID TO UKRAINECHAPTER 14 EDWINA MOUNTBATTENCHAPTER 15 WHAT’S NEXT?7152943576991135175189197245263287296
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTIONBack in 2017, I volunteered to represent my Rotary Club on the Polio Plus campaign in India. Rotary had set a goal of ridding the World of polio and I was very impressed with this and decided I wanted to help. I went with a fellow Rotarian, Jerry Wilson, and we had a week in the area surrounding Lucknow in Northern India administering the polio drops.It was a very busy week and on the flight back to the UK I decided I needed to do more. Such an ambitious aim of ridding the World of polio was such a fantastic goal I decided there and then that this was where I wanted to make my impression on the campaign.Delivering one of my many talksI had a long flight to think about how I could help and how I could raise money,and a number of things went through my mind. In my days in the army, I had done a number of fund-raising events but they were all ‘one off’ events and I wanted to do something over a longer period.I have always had an interest in unusual antiques and for some strange reason I often knew what they were and what they were used for. I loved to visit antique fairs and would often see items which nobody knew what they were. I sometimes had answers and from then on I would often be drawn to one side and shown an item and asked by the dealers if I knew what it was. It became a 7
regular occurrence so I thought I could devise an unusual quiz where I could go around clubs and societies and entertain people.As I had a number of these items I put together a quiz and tried it out on my own Club to start with. It went down a storm and a visiting Rotarian from another Reading Club, asked me if I would visit her club and do the same. I, of course, accepted and that was the start. I had to work out how much to charge and decided on £50 and I also asked the club if I could pass around a ‘tin’ for any donations of small change. There was usually about £20 in the ‘tin’ and this boosted my takings. I once did a masonic lunch and there was £120 in the tin!Once I started the bookings came rushing in and I restricted myself to two bookings a week. I would hand out cards to every person present at the talk and invariably two or three bookings would follow. On one occasion I went to a speakers meeting in Oxfordshire for WI clubs where potential speakers are invited to give a ten-minute talk on their subjects and by the time I got home I had ten emails looking to book me! It was all a bit overwhelming but as I was raising around £70 every time the amount started to build up.It so happened that my travel partner to India was also the Club treasurer and each month I would transfer the amount earned into our Rotary Club account. It was amazing but I had to draw the line at two meetings a week otherwise it would take my all my free time. I remember some clubs, particularly U3A, booking over 18 months in advance! I realised that I would need to start a proper booking system with reference numbers and also a resumé of who I was, what I was doing and the administration of the actual talk. My daughter helped me with all this, and the paperwork we had generated, would be attached to each booking.I had separate sheets for every talk, and they would be filed in monthly order. I also need all the clubs’ details and who I could contact in the event I was not well or had a change in circumstance. Some Clubs provided a meal and some absolutely nothing! It was also important to have not only the postcode but also some brief directions. The village halls and meeting places are not always obvious.I well remember when this went wrong, and a lady gave me her postcode which was her farm in the middle of nowhere but fortunately her husband was 8
in and gave me directions to the local village hall! I have also turned up to meetings that have been cancelled but nobody thought to tell the speaker or even two speakers booked for the same night!It soon became obvious that I needed a greater variety of talks as people were asking me to return for a future meeting. I had been thinking about it for a while and chose the ‘Death of the Prince Imperial.’ This is such a ‘dry’ title, but it is a subject I have researched over many years and was the obvious choice for my first talk. I had to do some persuasion to convince people that it was an interesting subject with a very ‘Royal’ twist’ and got many great comments about the talk. The most common was had I written a book about it? The answer up until now had always been no! However, it did make me think that I should and you are now reading the result of those early thoughts!The next talk came about accidently as I was a Trustee at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was asked to give a talk about this great military institution. As I had myself spent two years there, I thought I would tell people what it was like back in the early seventies. I think the funny military stories still go down well and seem to be timeless. Even I cannot remember where all my talks took place 9
The next subject that I studied in minute detail was the life of Wallis Simpson. She was a very naughty lady, and this started me on a series of ‘naughty ladies’ and they seemed to be very popular. To date the talk I have given, more than any other is Wallis Simpson. People are endlessly inquisitive about her life, and I do start by saying that I will shock you in this presentation. Many say that they have heard it all before but then come up to me after the lecture and tell me how shocked they were! She still has the ability to shock people by her conduct.During my time in the military, I had to study Adolf Hitler for a presentation,and this started a lifelong interest in the man and his life. It is not so much the campaigns but his lifestyle and private life as well as his final days in the bunker. I always explain that he was probably the evillest person to have lived in recent history. I therefore do not praise him in any way but want to try and understand him. To some degree I have satisfied myself that I have an understanding of what made him who he was.The study of Adolf Hitler would not be complete without understand his mistress, later his wife, and this led to my second most popular lecture on Eva Braun. Again, she qualified under my ‘naughty ladies’ banner and the research into her life was fascinating. Eva BraunWhile on the subject, I had always wanted to understand why a street thug like Hitler, was able to change into a very popular German leader. He was ambitious and brutal in his early days but once he had seized power, he seemed to be able to change the German peoples opinion of himself and he then became very popular. It was an amazing transformation. Who was behind it and how did they do it? I think I found some answers. See what you think!10
In my research to continue my theme of ‘naughty ladies’, it became obvious that I would have to do a lecture on Edwina Mountbatten! She and her husband lived a hedonistic lifestyle, and I just had to investigate it and produce the lecture. They were quite incredible in their abandonment of a normal lifestyle and the more I researched the more shocked I was. It must also be said that they both achieved extraordinary feats in their lifetime.They were and still are the most fascinating couple to research and I so enjoy giving the lecture. For a number of years, I was a guide at Kensal Green Cemetery, and I specialised in the catacombs. I also did ‘above ground’ but always preferred ‘below ground’ and with my great friend, Tony Mears, we did a regular tour almost every month. I loved to study the characters who are interned there and the more I researched, the more I was drawn into it. I would, before we started a tour, unlock the catacombs under the Anglican Chapel and just do a walk around to make sure I had my route worked out. It is quite complicated with different corridors and bays, so I marked out my route with slips of white paper. It meant that when I was conducting a tour, I did not get lost! I did take the opportunity to take some photographs to just help remind me where a certain coffin was, and I have used some of these to illustrate my lecture and the chapter in this book. My latest talk is on the Profumo Affair and Christine Keeler. She definitely meets the criteria of being one of the most famous ‘naughty ladies’! I made great progress initially but once she was in court the story began to fall flat. I then found evidence of MI5 involvement and that she might have beenworking for them. This brought the whole story back to life. Christine Keeler Wallis Simpson 11
When I lecture, I have been asked many times if I am nervous about speaking, without notes, in public. My answer is always the same in that I tell people I am excited about it! I think my early days in the school debating society and then the army taught me how to present and then it was only a matter of confidence. I say “only a matter of confidence” as I believe this is the key to success but there has been a lot of hard work behind the scenes to reach this stage. When I was at school, a prefect gave me a punishment of talking about the inside of a ping pong ball for three minutes without hesitation. The punishment for not succeeding was truly horrible so I stood in front of four prefects and rattled on for three minutes! What a learning curve that was!On another occasion, I was summoned to the headmaster’s study and accused of a crime I had not committed. He told me I was to receive six of the best (six strikes on my backside with a cane) I told him that I had not committed the crime, but he beat me anyway. Normally you would exit his study as fast as you could, stopping to thank him before rubbing your backside which stung like hell. However, I chose not to leave or thank him but proceeded to lecture him on carrying out a punishment that was incorrect. He beat me again for my insolence and again I refused to leave, still pointing out that he was wrong and if he had checked he would have found that I was elsewhere at the time of the crime. He was so angry that the deputy headmaster came in and told me to leave and he would come and speak with me shortly.So, what did that do for my confidence? It taught me that I should always stand up for myself, no matter what the consequences and that I should hold my ground and tell my side of the story. I grew up 5 years in those moments.Finally, and most importantly, these chapters are about my research and my observations. It may be that others will interpret things differently and they are quite entitled to do so. I am not biased in any of my research and have entered each subject with an open mind. When I research a subject by reading books and delving into the internet, I do so with an open mind. It is only after weeks and months that I start to formulate the story and it is only then that I start to prepare my lectures. Wallis Simpson took me two years before I started preparing the lecture and about the same for Eva Braun. I apologise to anyone that is offended by my views on history, but we are all entitled to have them.12
So in the early days I decided to set myself a target to raise for the Polio Plus campaign. My Rotary Club are in full support and have made donations to my fund raising. None of this would be possible without the Bill Gates Foundation who double match fund anything that I raise. With this help I managed in November 2023 to finally reached my target of raising £100,000. My wife, Angie, came along to the talk where I crossed the line and together we shared a bottle of champagne to mark the occasion and totally confuse my audience!It has been a ‘blast’ and I think I can say I have enjoyed every minute of it. Now to write the book which I hope you enjoy.The images in this book may be sourced from various archives and may be subject to copyright restrictions. While efforts have been made to identify and secure necessary permissions, some images may have been obtained from sources where copyright status is unclear. The publisher does not claim ownership of the copyright to any images, unless otherwise stated. Users are cautioned that they may need to obtain additional permissions from the copyright holder for any further use of these images beyond the scope of this book. Furthermore, some images may depict individuals in public settings and do not imply endorsement or association with the individuals or any organizations. The publisher is not responsible for any claims arising from the use of these images beyond the intended purpose of this book. 13
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CHAPTER 2 EVA BRAUNWe should of course call Eva Braun, Eva Hitler, but history has continued to call her by her maiden name so I will do the same. She was a woman who probably played a greater part in history than we will ever really know. She was the one person that could speak with Adolf Hitler on a personal level and even criticise him. So how did a humble girl from Munich become the wife of the most evilman in modern history?She was born on 6th February 1912 in Munich, Germany. Her parents were Fritz and Fanny Braun, and he was a lecturer at the local university. He is often portrayed as a Nazi, but he was far from ever being involved with that movement. In fact, he disagreed with most of their beliefs but in the 1930s it was not healthy to show any dissent. Eva enrolled him in the party with a very early party number after the original owner of that number died. The Brauns had three daughters, Ilsa, Eva and the youngest Gretl. They were a happy family, but Fritz was strict, and the girls had little freedom outside of theirhouse. Ilsa, Gretl and Eva A young EvaIn 1919, when Eva was 7 years old she was sent to a Convent in Beringiesen which she did not enjoy. As always the nuns were very strict, and Eva was not academically gifted. She was good at sport and always kept herself fit but there was little opportunity to play sport at the convent. She was often in trouble and longed for the day when she could leave and be free.Her first job was working for a well know photographer who operated in Munich called Heinrich Hoffmann. He had a double fronted shop not far from 15
the family home and as Eva was interested in photography, it seemed the perfect job for her. Hoffmann was a great friend of a certain up and coming politician by the name of Adolf Hitler. They would often talk in his lounge at the back of the store well into the night. Eva heard about these meetings and wondered who this infamous man was.She got her chance when one morning she was up a ladder in the shop, getting some photographic material down from a high shelf. She heard the bell ring when the door was opened but was high up the ladder and needed to concentrate on the job in hand. When she had secured the items she looked around to see a gentleman in the store who was paying close attention to her legs which were probably showing more than usual at floor level. She climbed down quickly and asked the man with the penetrating blue eyes, if she could be of any assistance. He said he was there for a meeting with Herr Hoffmann. He said his name was Herr Wolf and not Herr Hitler whom she had hoped it might be. He did seem quite dashing and very good looking. Eva meets Adolf Hitler and grows up very quicklyThat night Hoffmann and Hitler had their usual late-night drinks and Hitler asked Hoffmann if the young lady from the store could join them? Hoffmann cleared it with Herr Braun and that night Eva met Adolf Hitler, alias Herr Wolf!It was not love at first sight, but Hitler loved Eva’s Bavarian looks and also that she was not an academic. She was a natural German girl with a full figure and a pleasant manner; all that he was looking for in a female partner. He had many female admirers, but most were high society ladies who were his benefactors. What he wanted was somebody who would not challenge him but was 100% German. Eva ticked all the boxes.16
Hitler had an apartment in Munich, and he had to sort out some family problems. His niece, Geli, was a bit of a tearaway and she was difficult to handle. Hitler decided she would move into his apartment, and he would provide some strict guidance.Unfortunately, Geli had an affair with Hitler’s chauffer, and he was dismissed. Geli was heartbroken but got involved with a social group in the town and was invited to attend a ball. She asked Hitler, who flatly refused to allow her to attend. She stormed off and locked herself in her room. Hitler had a couple living in the apartment who were his domestic staff. They heard the argument but thought it was one of many between the pair. There were many rumours at the time that there might have been some sort of relationship between Hitler and Geli but there was no hard evidence.Geli and Hitler in a private moment A young GeliThat same night Hitler had to return to Berlin. He always preferred to travel at night with his chauffer. It was a long journey and at some stage they would stop for a break and some supper. On this occasion the landlord of the guesthouse had a message for Hitler that he needed to phone his apartment immediately. When he did, he found out that Geli had shot herself in her room and was dead.17
For morefrom Richard, please visit:richardanderson.uk
THIS IS A SAMPLETo order a copy of Fifteen Talks please visit:richardanderson.uk
Richard Anderson DL is well known in the Thames Valley as a speaker for all occasions and has spoken at one occasion with 600 people and also another with 8 ladies! He had raised an enormous sum for the Rotary charity ‘Polio Plus’ with his presentations. The most common question after a presentation is: “Have you written a book?” Well, I have now!