Black Camelot

by Duncan Kyle

Germany 1945 – the dying days of Hitler’s Third Reich – and a Waffen-SS commando captain, betrayed by his own side, goes on the run with a list of western traitors and Nazi sympathisers unknowingly acting as a pawn in a last-ditch plot to drive a wedge between the invading Allied nations. To prevent a split with the Russians, British Intelligence must destroy the original list hidden in Wewelsburg Castle in north Germany, the headquarters of Himmler’s SS and modelled on King Arthur’s ‘Camelot’.
Who better to lead a suicidal attack on an SS castle than a rogue SS commando?

Genres: Fiction, Adventure

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

A pseudonym used by John Franklin Broxholme.

Reviews

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant biter-bites-biter WW2 espio classic. Follett and Higgins cannot equal it. Character, plot, and climax (a true slingshot ending) as all unpredictable and superbly crafted.

[Trevor Pearson · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1945 Germany, World War 2 is drawing to an end as Allied Powers are closing in on the last remains of the Third Reich. The reality has one Nazi faction searching for the exits while another looks to reinforce the stronghold trying their best to avoid a collapse of an empire. Some people inside the regime believe that replacing an emotionally unstable and crumbling Hitler would help diplomatic efforts while the majority prefer to go down with the ship. On the Western Forces front there's a more coordinated effort to fight for a final strategy with the good guys looking to overtake fear over a continent and put an end to a bloodthirsty regime and a return to civility. What little remains of the once powerful Third Reich is still a force all on its own as they are the most devoted to the Nazi methodology and the Fuhrer's most corrupt officials who can buy and sell anything or anyone. The last ditch effort to change the course of the war, and ultimately their own fate is to fracture the Western alliance, and to drive a stake in the relationships between the American, British and Russian governments through a propaganda campaign and espionage efforts. What they have going for them is a paranoid leader presiding over one nation in Josef Stalin, who doesn't need much convincing as to the ulterior motives of his supposed allies. The Nazi's know just the right way to feed his paranoia and stoke his inner rage, just don't shoot the messenger.

"He had no idea what was in it for him on that cold Stockholm day. Had he known, or even guessed, that he was about to become involved in events that were to give him first a dream of wealth, and then, in bewildering succession, a series of experiences that were to terrify him, to put him more than once in danger of his life, and ultimately make him seek to vanish forever, he would have driven the little Opel as fast as he could in the direction of Lapland."

Franz Rasch is an officer for the Waffen-SS wing of the Nazi organization and an experienced trained killer who has worked in combat as well as personal security for the government's most important people. A highly-decorated commando, Rasch holds Oak Leaves on The Knight's Cross and The Iron Cross; some of the highest regarded medals a fighter can obtain and a level that few have reached within the Third Reich. Rasch has fought many battles, poured blood, lost family members and most tragically his wife in an air raid which has forced him to experience the highs and lows of war. Rasch had gone through all this pain for the greater good of the nation and has earned all the accolades he achieved for his hard work, sacrifices and dedication. Rasch doesn't want to be aligned with the SS and his character soiled by their reputation, he is Waffen SS, a fighting combatant of war, not a willing member of a criminal enterprise. Over time Rasch has begun to lose his focus and has started to have internal conversation with respect to his current station in life. After his wife was killed his love for Der Führer started to wane and withdrawing from the war became a possibility; but he knew it was going to take more than a request for discharge from one of the most notorious evil empires to be granted a clean release.

"Lying there, after Skorzeny's departure, staring at the ceiling's flaking paint, Franz Rasch made a decision of sorts. He would withdraw from the war. Any chance that was offered to him, he would take. Any chance at all. Not that chances were likely to be offered, but that wasn't the point. That he should have thought in that way when the future so clearly held no new opportunities for men like him was, in a strange way, prophetic."

The German government seem to love list's, and they have some very important ones stored somewhere tucked away under lock and key in a Castle with a King Arthur's theme. These lists identify collaborators, financiers and other supporters from nations that are presumed to be their primary adversaries, or at least residents of adversarial countries, but like any good politician or accountant it's very easy to make numbers dance and convey a message that you are wanting to send to a given recipient. These history-altering documents with compromising details are given to Rasch with great confidence to take to Stockholm, Sweden on what appears to be an important mission, but the Reich have other plans in mind. The SS's chief of espionage/counter espionage believe that the best way to infiltrate the opposition is through treachery; and they can achieve this by manufacturing a traitor but by keeping him oblivious to the goings on. It seemed that the stars were aligning as Rasch wanted to start a new life and find his displaced horse while the Reich needed a soldier to act as their pawn on the proverbial chessboard.

"Rasch's scalp prickled with distrust. There was too much here, too much that appealed to him. It was all being presented to him as a sudden inspiration, but these were clever men and the scheme could have been - probably had been calculated to appeal to a man who wanted what was being offered: a man who wanted money, wanted action, wanted to fight his own way into his own future."

Once Rasch steps foot in Stockholm the world seems to be conspiring against him, his plans had gone to pot fast and he had no idea why. Rasch quickly realizes that he has no place to turn and given his immense size finding a hiding spot would be equally as cumbersome. Like some divine intervention Rasch is immediately contacted by an enterprising member of the media that looks like he could be of assistance. Joseph Conway is a journalist who loves conspiracies and also has a habit of creating stories. In his job in the media he has hit a lull while looking for his big break which is not a good combination when you're trying to remedy a fledgling career. What makes matters worse is that greed is a character flaw he can't help but oblige, and the little crumbs he gets, he wants more and more, to the point where he forgets his humble beginnings and his aspirations lead to delusions of grandeur. Money and power most certainly can corrupt individuals but it also reveals the true character of a person which makes any interaction between Rasch and Conway very interesting. Conway's order is to utilize his wiles to get ahead of a potential story and weed out a traitor as collateral damage in order for Germany to get back on path for world domination while strengthening their argument in the process. Game. Set. Match Heinrich Himmler, or so he thought; Franz Rasch ain't no ordinary soldier, he's a bloody madman when the situations arise.

"Somehow, as he sat, a change took place and the confusions that had ravaged his mind seemed all at once to fall away, to be replaced with a sudden, driving certainty of purpose. For weeks the future had seemed to be merely a blur of warring needs. He had ached for revenge, yet had wanted, too, to spend his life on a small country estate as was his birth right, and allowed himself to think that in Spain it might be achieved. Now he saw clearly how unthinkable it would be to drift away, to seek peace in vineyards. He had wanted to cut free from the years and forget them; now he knew it was impossible - the years were part of him. To escape into the future without revenge would be no escape at all."

Black Camelot by Duncan Kyle is a story of war, betrayal, freedom and vengeance. Most thrillers today focus on the twists and turns while this book had more focus on the adventure aspect and not so much on the pace. I am guessing that humour was not the author's intent but I thought that there was a good amount of subtleties, and it came across like a buddy/buddy comedy at times with two people from different countries, different physical stature, psychological construct, preferential strategies, but find similarities in their passion for horses. When the tension ratcheted up it was amusing to see how different people behave when faced with interrogation and these two characters go about their business very differently but probably not unexpectedly. Rasch knows that he has all the leverage and is aware that he holds all the cards, it is a learned trait that takes practice to be able to employ properly and Conway's scared, whiny and disloyal temperament demonstrates his inexperience. I really enjoyed my time reading this book and I would recommend it.

[Corinna Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gripping, but flawed.

One niggle was that Rasch was really the only character to root for--and he was smart and brave, and one certainly felt sorry for him, the way he'd been set up, so it was hard not to feel for him--but you were never given quite enough information to feel completely sure that he deserved one's support. He was, after all SS, although admittedly Waffen SS, as he liked to point out, and a pretty ruthless killer (thinking of the unlucky guard when he's first detained, but to be fair he no doubt simply viewed that man as an enemy combatant: trying to be friends not enemies was certainly one thing his captors never tried, which seemed a bit of an oversight, to me).

Another niggle was the bizarre, 'and suddenly he has a broken collar bone' moment at the end. Totally unclear how it happened. Presumably it was supposed to be a ricochet of some kind, since no blast was described, but without any blood? Seemed very poorly written to me, and at a crucial moment.

The ridiculous demise of Rasch was what really spoiled the book for me, though. We were told over and over how physically strong he is and how well trained. He would have known how to use his legs as a brake when sliding down a rope, and in a life or death situation he could have done so virtually one-handed, even if he'd probably have burned the palm of his hand off doing it: a small price to pay for your life, and he was definitely tough enough to endure it. It was either a contrivance in order to kill off the protagonist (I always had a nasty feeling he wouldn't be allowed to live, not that he hadn't already chosen death himself by deciding on revenge) or simple ignorance on the part of the author, who had perhaps never had to slide down a rope or been taught how to do it. It's just possible, I suppose, that leg-braking techniques have been developed since WWII and the author, although writing in 1978, wanted to avoid anachronisms, but I find that extremely hard to believe. A shame because it badly spoiled the end of an otherwise gripping, though far from perfect, read.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in 1945 Europe during the last days of the war, shortly after the assassination attempt on Hitler, the story follows the acts of a disillusioned Waffen SS Haufsturmfuher (Captain), Rasch and an Irish free lance reporter, Conway. Rasch had been ordered by his Reich superior officer to deliver some papers to an operative in Sweden only to be betrayed when he arrived at the airport. Conway intercepted and the two worked together to blackmail Nazi sympathizers hiding in Britain and the US. They slip up and are captured by MI6 agents and end up being sent by them and American officers back into Germany to infiltrate Himmler's hideout, an ancient castle he called Black Camelot, to confiscate incriminating files stored there by the previous owner, Heinrich Heydrich, the main architect of the holocaust. Based on historical information, Kyle weaves an intricate story ending with Conway, alone and on the lam, hiding in Bancock in 1963. Oddly, one thing I found relevant for today was a comment by the Nazi Foreign Minister, Gauleiter Bohle: "Businessmen like strong, stable economic systems they feel are well disposed towards them." Some things never change.

[Michael Sterckx · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started off as a genuinely intriguing idea for a wartime espionage thriller, and then gradually became more ludicrous, owing a huge debt to Alistair MacLean and Jack Higgins, but not up to the standards of Where Eagles Dare, or The Eagle Has Landed. Disappointing.

[Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating read and clever plot.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abbandonato

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thriller set against the background of World War Two in Europe, this is a 'might-have-been' which takes the reader into the world behind the scenes. The plot is fiction but based on fact, including the Nazi leaders' involvement with the occult and the pseudo-Arthurian pageantry they tried to build around themselves. The 'Black Camelot' in question is literally a medieval castle in Germany where a read round table has been set up by Heinrich Himmler; coats of arms have been prepared for certain Nazi leaders; and it is a repository for certain critical secrets, which makes it a target for both sides in the conflict. The book fascinated me because it shows the interwoven plots and intrigues that clash and interact in the world. The reader is taken into the different worlds that different characters come from and shown how one impinges on another; what secrets are hidden by apparently ordinary people and how it all leads to a clash of purposes which is never resolved the way any one party would have wanted. It struck me as realistic. This is what may well have happened, based on real events and characters. There is no romance, but a suggested explanation about how the world became as it is. Historical characters are involved with fictitious ones in ways that could well have happened.