In April 1945, with Axis defeat looming, Britain sent General Sir Andrew Thorne to Trent Park with a dramatic proposal: Would captured German generals broadcast a surrender appeal to end the war and save lives? Their response was astonishing: (🧵)

The subsequent reactions over the dinner table were recorded by the secret listeners. Eberbach told Elfeldt that the focus should be on trying to persuade the Allies to stop using the term ‘unconditional surrender’ which was bad propaganda for soldiers who had been defending the Reich for six years. A final written decision from the generals was given to Lord Aberfeldy within days of General Thorne’s meeting, and a copy circulated at a meeting of the Joint Intelligence Committee in London on 11 April 1945. It said: 'An appeal from German generals in captivity for the cessation of resistance even with the sole object of preventing further senseless destruction of the basis of German existence would – even in the present war situation – constitute an action which would not be understood by the troops in the field or by the German people.' (continued)

Second, they argued that the military men with the real power (Field Marshals von Rundstedt, Kluge and Kesselring) had not been captured. Third, they feared that, with the end of the war, German soldiers could be held as prisoners for years, with some even being deported to Russia. Seeing how brutally the Russians treated POWs, they argued that German soldiers would rather die in battle than face the prospect of being a POW in Russian hands. The following evening at dinner, von Thoma made an announcement to the other generals about the meeting. His speech was recorded via the bugging devices hidden in the dining room. A hushed room turned its attention to von Thoma’s speech, which was recorded word for word in the M Room: 'The Camp Commandant approached me requesting that General Eberbach, General Bassenge, Colonel Wildermuth and myself attend a conference on post-war questions with an English general, an emissary from General Eisenhower ... The conference took place yesterday afternoon. They were asked to say whether they would be prepared to draw up and sign a proclamation to the Wehrmacht to lay down its arms. The proclamation would be broadcast by means of the radio and leaflets. They turned it down with one accord. I am in complete agreement with their point of view...' (continued)