BBC News - The Germans who took up arms against Hitler It's 65 years since Hitler drafted his will before committing suicide. The men who translated it were renegade Germans who fled to Britain to take up arms against their own country. Two new memoirs shed light on this little-known group.
There were a fair few Austrians and Germans in the Independent Company at Arnhem - Hans Rosenfeld who served as John Rodley, and Timothy Bleichroder who served as Private Bleach.
Wilfried Hoffman/Wilfred Harding Served as a Lt. Colonel in the Royal Army Medical Corps. (Sorry to go off post, but the George Cooper who passed away, was the twin Brother of Henry Cooper, Boxer) Both lived in Farningham, Kent.
American Forces have always been filled and are with men and women with German/American names, and we are all loyal and dedicated Americans. We never thought it necessary to change our names. Pennsylvania was nearly all German at one point. Our city of Allentown had 8 German Language newspapers during the American Civil War and only 2 English Language papers. My Grandfather before he died showed us where the first Heilman was buried in our community in 1725. He said it was important we knew this because when he was young some of the Germans were descendants of Hessians who fought as Mercenaries for the British in the Revolution. In time even the Hessians who remained became loyal Americans. Many American and British traitors have had British names. It is not the name but the heart of an individual that dictates their loyalty and character.
