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No.4449

£1.50

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Savoia-Marchetti

SM91 With three 20mm MG the wings, you would 151 cannons in its nose and two mo re in n’t have wanted to get Italian heavy fighter in the sights of thi /fighter bomber. It s Air Force and first was built for the Ita flew in early 1943 when it took its two lian crew along a 385mp -man h, never got the chance a reasonable speed for such an air cra in anger because the to use its guns or drop its 3500lb bom ft. It into German hands. Italian surrender saw both prototype bload s fall

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STORY STEPHEN WALSH ART VILA

ERMANY, 1932. SIMON KATZ WAS A STUDENT OF GMATHEMATICS AT THE BERLIN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY. ONE BRIGHT MORNING, HE WAS ENJOYING

COVER NICHOLAS FORDER

THE WALK TO THE COLLEGE WHEN THE CALM OF THE DAY WAS RUDELY INTERRUPTED BY THE APPEARANCE OF A SWAGGERING MOB OF NAZI BROWNSHIRTS.

OUT OF THE WAY! COMING THROUGH!

OH!

HEY! BE CAREFUL THERE!

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4 THE THUGS ROUNDED ON SIMON, EAGER TO MAKE EVEN MORE TROUBLE. BUT SIMON WASN’T FRIGHTENED OF THEM. WHAT’S THIS? SOME SWOT LOOKING TO END UP IN HOSPITAL?

ANYTHING TO OBLIGE, SCHOOLBOY!

JUST YOU TRY IT!

SIMON WASN’T GOING TO BACK DOWN. BUT HE WAS HEAVILY OUTNUMBERED. THINGS LOOKED BAD BUT THEN HELP ARRIVED IN THE SHAPE OF A PASSING POLICEMAN. WHAT’S ALL THIS? BREAK IT UP!

WALK ON, COPPER. THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.

OR YOURS, BOY!

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5 THE BROWNSHIRTS RETREATED, STILL SHOUTING ABUSE. JUST YOU WAIT! OUR DAY IS COMING. AND SOON!

AREN’T YOU GOING TO ARREST THEM?

LET ’EM GO. AND TAKE A TIP FROM ME. I ADMIRE YOUR PLUCK IN STANDING UP TO ’EM BUT THE NAZIS ARE GETTING MORE POWERFUL EVERY DAY. NEXT TIME YOU BUTT HEADS WITH THEM THEY MIGHT NOT LISTEN TO THE LIKES OF ME.

THE NAZIS HAD NOT YET COME TO POWER IN GERMANY, AND SIMON COULDN’T BELIEVE THAT THEY EVER WOULD. AT THE UNIVERSITY, HIS TUTOR, PROFESSOR HUGO LAMBERTZ, HAD A MORE REALISTIC VIEW. WE SOMETIMES FAIL TO NOTICE WHAT TRANSPIRES IN THE WORLD BEYOND THE WALLS OF THE COLLEGE, SIMON. BUT WE CAN NO LONGER IGNORE THE FACT THAT THE NAZIS WILL SOON CONTROL GERMANY.

I CAN’T ACCEPT THAT. THOSE THUGS DON’T REPRESENT THE GERMANY I BELIEVE IN.

BUT SURE ENOUGH, ADOLF HITLER’S NAZI PARTY SWEPT TO POWER AND IMMEDIATELY STARTED RE-MAKING GERMANY IN ITS OWN, CRUEL IMAGE. THINGS CONTINUED MUCH AS BEFORE AT THE UNIVERSITY THEN, ONE DAY IN LATE 1933, PROFESSOR LAMBERTZ HAD SOME UNWELCOME VISITORS. WE REQUIRE THE NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF ALL STUDENTS AND FACULTY STAFF IN ORDER THAT UNDESIRABLE ELEMENTS CAN BE ROOTED OUT.

YOU WILL BE EAGER TO CO-OPERATE, OF COURSE.

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6 THE PROFESSOR FOBBED OFF THE NAZIS, SAYING THAT HE WOULD NEED TIME TO COMPILE SUCH A LIST. BUT THEY WEREN’T TO BE DETERRED. AS HE LEFT THE COLLEGE THAT EVENING HE HAD SOME MORE UNINVITED GUESTS. GOING SOMEWHERE, HERR PROFESSOR?

LAMBERTZ. THAT’S A JEWISH NAME, ISN’T IT?

MINUTES LATER, SIMON’S STUDIES WERE INTERRUPTED BY THE SOUND OF DOORS BEING KICKED OPEN AND STUDENTS SHOUTING AS THEY WERE DRAGGED OUT INTO THE UNIVERSITY COURTYARD BY THE NOW NAZI-CONTROLLED POLICE DEPARTMENT.

WHAT’S GOING ON? THEY CAN’T JUST COME IN HERE LIKE THIS…

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7 HEADSTRONG AS EVER, SIMON TRIED TO SINGLE-HANDEDLY FIGHT OFF THE ATTACKERS. GET OFF THEM! GET OUT OF HERE!

BACK OFF, KID. YOU WANT TO BE NEXT, IS THAT IT?

THEN HE SAW A FAMILIAR FACE. BUT THE POLICEMAN WHO HAD SAVED HIM FROM THE BROWNSHIRTS THE PREVIOUS YEAR WAS NOT IN A POSITION TO BE SO HELPFUL ANY MORE. WE CAN’T JUST LET THEM STORM IN HERE AND…AND…

LOOK, SON. THERE’S NOTHING YOU OR I CAN DO. THESE LADS ARE IN CHARGE NOW AND WE’D BEST JUST GO ALONG WITH THAT. BESIDES, YOU’RE SAFE AS LONG AS YOU’RE NOT JEWISH.

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8 IN HIS ANGER, SIMON ALMOST REVEALED THAT HE WAS, IN FACT, JEWISH. BUT HE WAS ALSO PROUDLY GERMAN. HIS FATHER HAD SERVED IN THE ARMY DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND DIED IN THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME. HIS MOTHER PASSED AWAY SOON AFTER THAT, IN THE ‘FLU EPIDEMIC OF 1919.

IS THERE ANY HOPE FOR US IF DECENT MEN LIKE THAT COPPER ARE GOING ALONG WITH THE NAZIS? HEY, WHO’S THAT?

THE STRANGER AT THE DOOR INTRODUCED HIMSELF AS DOCTOR KLAUS BENNEDIK, THE NEW CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY.

BENNEDIK ASSURED HIM THAT NEW IDENTITY PAPERS COULD BE ISSUED REMOVING THE SMALL FACT OF HIS JEWISHNESS FROM THE RECORDS. SIMON WAS ONE OF THE LEADING YOUNG MATHEMATICIANS IN EUROPE, SPECIALISING IN CRYPTOLOGY AND CYPHERS. THE GERMAN MILITARY WAS GOING TO NEED SUCH MEN. YOUR WORK WITH CODES IS EXEMPLARY. THERE WILL BE A WAR SOON AND MEN LIKE YOU CAN REALLY MAKE A CONTRIBUTION TO THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF THE GERMAN REICH IN SUCH A CONFLICT.

TIMES ARE HARSH, KATZ. BUT A SMART MAN CAN THRIVE, CAN EVEN SECURE ADVANCEMENT IF HE PLAYS THE GAME. THE MILITARY HAVE ASKED ME TO MAKE A LIST OF USEFUL MEMBERS OF THE FACULTY. I SHOULD LIKE YOU DO YOU TO BE ON THAT REALISE THAT LIST. I’M JEWISH..?

AND IF I SAY NO?

THE NEW CHANCELLOR LAUGHED. HE THOUGHT SIMON WAS JOKING.

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9 THE YOUNG MATHEMATICIAN BROODED ON HIS CHOICES AS HE LOOKED OUT OF THE WINDOW OVER THE CITY STREETS THAT EVENING. THE COST OF GOING AGAINST THE NAZIS WAS BROUGHT HOME TO HIM AS HE SAW A PRIEST WHO HAD CRITICISED HITLER IN HIS SERMONS BEING DRAGGED FROM HIS CHURCH.

WHAT CAN ONE PERSON DO?

AS IF CONTROLLED BY AN OUTSIDE FORCE, SIMON FOUND HIMSELF GOING STRAIGHT TO THE TRAIN STATION AND BUYING A TICKET FOR A TOWN NEAR THE FRENCH BORDER. I DON’T HAVE A TRAVEL PERMIT. WHAT IF SOMEONE ASKS TO SEE MY PAPERS?

ALL HE KNEW WAS THAT IF HE HAD BEEN JUDGED AS USEFUL TO THE NAZI WAR MACHINE, THEN HE WAS GOING TO DENY THEM HIS EXPERTISE.

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CALENDAR 2012

featuring iconic images

£6 each (£9 overseas)

2 for £10 (£13 overseas)

Order online or call now 0800 318846 (freephone from UK landlines, lines open 8am - 9pm, 7 days) overseas please call +44 1382 575580 Commando®© DC Thomson & Co Ltd 2011

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S

imon Katz was a young German and a fervent anti-Nazi.

A brilliant mathematician, he escaped Germany by the skin of his teeth and went to work as a code-breaker for the British.

Not long after, Sergeant Barney Taft also made an escape — from the bullet-strafed beaches of Dunkirk.

Though they were on the same side, when circumstances threw the pair together, they clashed bitterly. But could they manage to work together against a ruthless enemy? They would have to if they were to survive.

Recall: R49-07-DEC-11

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