The London Cage
THERE is an area of London which is generally known as Millionaires Row. It is populated by exclusive and expensive addresses and over the years has been home to ambassadors, billionaires and princes.
Steel magnates, the Sultan of Brunei and any number of other extremely rich individuals have lived in Kensington Palace Gardens. But between July 1940 and September 1948, three of these exclusive houses at number six, seven and eight, were the residences of an altogether different kind of person.
During that period, the addresses housed some of the most notorious Nazi criminals - including Fritz Knoechlein, the man responsible for ordering the massacre at Le Paradis. For this was the London address of the Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre, better known as the London Cage. It was run by MI 19 which was responsible for obtaining information from enemy prisoners of war.
The Cage had a single barbed wire fence, but few of its neighbours were aware of just what the properties were used for. Over the years the London Cage has been at the centre of allegations of the use of torture and the systematic ill treatment of German officers and soldiers.
A total of 3,573 men passed through The Cage with many giving statements about war crimes and the centre continued in its interrogation role until well after the war ended.
At the heart of the London Cage was its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Scotland, who is featured at various points of this web site. Scotland was involved in the interrogation of German prisoners during the first world war and was recalled for similar duty in 1939 at the relatively advanced age of 57.
At any one time there were 60 prisoners in the London Cage and there were also satellite cages in various other parts of the United Kingdom. It had five interrogation rooms and had a staff that included 10 officers and a dozen NCOs who served as interrogators and interpreters.
After the war, Scotland wrote his memoirs of his time at the Cage but these were "watered down" by the authorities who accused the author of breaching the Official Secrets' Act. The original manuscript seemed to detail examples in contravention of the Geneva Convention with regard to the treatment of prisoners. The book that was eventually published was a re-write of the original with many passages of a controversial nature left out.
Allegations of cruelty from prisoners included sleep deprivation, the use of violence during interviews, forced labour and much more and one of the primary complainers was Fritz Knoechlein - The Butcher of Le Paradis.
Knoechlein wrote a letter of complaint about his treatment. Knoechlein was taken to the Cage in October 1946 and claimed that he was stripped and given only a pair of pyjama trousers. He also claimed he was deprived of sleep and starved. Many commentators would claim of course that this was no more than he deserved after being responsible for ordering the mass execution of 99 defenseless British soldiers.
Knoechlein claims he was forced to perform rigorous exercises until he collapsed, ordered to walk in a circle for four hours, pushed down the stairs, made to stand close to a hot stove and then sprayed with very cold water and forced to run in circles whilst carrying heavy logs.
The allegations were made after Knoechlein had been convicted of mass murder and the War Office decided not to launch an inquiry as this would have delayed the execution. The Red Cross eventually got to hear about the Cage and paid a visit only to be refused entry. The organisation did eventually gain access after a period of 18 months and found little evidence of ill treatment but did find evidence that prisoners had been moved to other prisoner-of-war camps. The Red Cross decided not to take the matter further on the grounds that The Cage was being wound down.
Writing in the Daily Mail of November 19th, 2005, historian Tony Rennell posed the question "Did Britain Really Stoop As Low as the Nazis?" and answers his own question with the following words:
"If the accounts of what went on at the London Cage are true - and that is far from certain - they are a blot on our humanitarian record. But it is nothing compared with the vast, bloody stain that Hitler and his inhuman apparatchiks made on the map of Europe."
The article goes on to list numerous atrocities committed by the Germans on British prisoners of war and concludes with the words:
"And this is just one amongst thousands of similar stories of casual brutality by German officers that make events at the Cage seem tame by comparison."
The article goes on to suggest that Knoechlein's complaints may have been made to deflect the blame for the massacre at Le Paradis.
Tony Rennell concludes with the following words:
"By all means let us take on board the 'secrets of the London Cage' now revealed and regret them.
"But let us also set them against the death marches of British PoWs, the Gestapo dungeons in every town in occupied Europe; and the unimaginable bestialities of Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, Treblinka and Ravensbruck.
More information on Fritz Knoechlein's time in the London Cage appear in other sections of this web site.
Documents used for this article included the following:
The Secrets of the London Cage - The Guardian - November 12th, 2005
Did Britain Really Stoop As Low As The Nazis? - Daily Mail - November 19th, 2005
Steel magnates, the Sultan of Brunei and any number of other extremely rich individuals have lived in Kensington Palace Gardens. But between July 1940 and September 1948, three of these exclusive houses at number six, seven and eight, were the residences of an altogether different kind of person.
During that period, the addresses housed some of the most notorious Nazi criminals - including Fritz Knoechlein, the man responsible for ordering the massacre at Le Paradis. For this was the London address of the Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre, better known as the London Cage. It was run by MI 19 which was responsible for obtaining information from enemy prisoners of war.
The Cage had a single barbed wire fence, but few of its neighbours were aware of just what the properties were used for. Over the years the London Cage has been at the centre of allegations of the use of torture and the systematic ill treatment of German officers and soldiers.
A total of 3,573 men passed through The Cage with many giving statements about war crimes and the centre continued in its interrogation role until well after the war ended.
At the heart of the London Cage was its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Scotland, who is featured at various points of this web site. Scotland was involved in the interrogation of German prisoners during the first world war and was recalled for similar duty in 1939 at the relatively advanced age of 57.
At any one time there were 60 prisoners in the London Cage and there were also satellite cages in various other parts of the United Kingdom. It had five interrogation rooms and had a staff that included 10 officers and a dozen NCOs who served as interrogators and interpreters.
After the war, Scotland wrote his memoirs of his time at the Cage but these were "watered down" by the authorities who accused the author of breaching the Official Secrets' Act. The original manuscript seemed to detail examples in contravention of the Geneva Convention with regard to the treatment of prisoners. The book that was eventually published was a re-write of the original with many passages of a controversial nature left out.
Allegations of cruelty from prisoners included sleep deprivation, the use of violence during interviews, forced labour and much more and one of the primary complainers was Fritz Knoechlein - The Butcher of Le Paradis.
Knoechlein wrote a letter of complaint about his treatment. Knoechlein was taken to the Cage in October 1946 and claimed that he was stripped and given only a pair of pyjama trousers. He also claimed he was deprived of sleep and starved. Many commentators would claim of course that this was no more than he deserved after being responsible for ordering the mass execution of 99 defenseless British soldiers.
Knoechlein claims he was forced to perform rigorous exercises until he collapsed, ordered to walk in a circle for four hours, pushed down the stairs, made to stand close to a hot stove and then sprayed with very cold water and forced to run in circles whilst carrying heavy logs.
The allegations were made after Knoechlein had been convicted of mass murder and the War Office decided not to launch an inquiry as this would have delayed the execution. The Red Cross eventually got to hear about the Cage and paid a visit only to be refused entry. The organisation did eventually gain access after a period of 18 months and found little evidence of ill treatment but did find evidence that prisoners had been moved to other prisoner-of-war camps. The Red Cross decided not to take the matter further on the grounds that The Cage was being wound down.
Writing in the Daily Mail of November 19th, 2005, historian Tony Rennell posed the question "Did Britain Really Stoop As Low as the Nazis?" and answers his own question with the following words:
"If the accounts of what went on at the London Cage are true - and that is far from certain - they are a blot on our humanitarian record. But it is nothing compared with the vast, bloody stain that Hitler and his inhuman apparatchiks made on the map of Europe."
The article goes on to list numerous atrocities committed by the Germans on British prisoners of war and concludes with the words:
"And this is just one amongst thousands of similar stories of casual brutality by German officers that make events at the Cage seem tame by comparison."
The article goes on to suggest that Knoechlein's complaints may have been made to deflect the blame for the massacre at Le Paradis.
Tony Rennell concludes with the following words:
"By all means let us take on board the 'secrets of the London Cage' now revealed and regret them.
"But let us also set them against the death marches of British PoWs, the Gestapo dungeons in every town in occupied Europe; and the unimaginable bestialities of Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, Treblinka and Ravensbruck.
More information on Fritz Knoechlein's time in the London Cage appear in other sections of this web site.
Documents used for this article included the following:
The Secrets of the London Cage - The Guardian - November 12th, 2005
Did Britain Really Stoop As Low As The Nazis? - Daily Mail - November 19th, 2005