Benson Freeman

He was born on 6 October 1903 at Newbury, Berkshire the son of serving officer and lived in Portsmouth until he was 18, attending St.Helen's College in Southsea and later Newton College Devon. In 1922 he entered the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, being commissioned in August 1924 into the Kings own Royal Regiment as a second Lieutenant. He developed an interest in flying and in September 1926 was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and posted to RAF flying school near Chester. He qualified as a fighter pilot, transering to RAF. In 1931 he retired, taking up farming, which gave tiem to develop his political views.1937 saw him join BUF, remainig a member until a war. Even though he became very agitated due to conflict of loyalties the war produced he returned to service wit the RAF, assuming he was hold a non-combatants position. Events overtook evantualities on the 22 May 1940, when ordered  to fly to Merville, where on landing the planes were destroyed by enemy action. Freeman, accompanied by other RAF personel, ordered a DC3 for England only to be forced  down by ground fire , beign taken prisoner. He was taken inot Luftwaffe captivity and moved to special camp set up to extract information from newly captured air crew. However it seems that his incarceration was due to his pro-Nazi views. His position in the camp became increasingly uneasy and he was concerned to discover that air crew were being informed in briefings by M19 that he was „German informer“. Eventually, after a number of heated disagreements with other prisoners  he and a few  other were asked to sign a document requesting theyr removal from the camp. He was eventually taken to Berlin meet Hesse, who asked him if he was prepared to help in „ promotion of peace and the frustration of Bolshevist plans “ Freeman agreed. In June 1942 he became propagandist and the next two years were a disaster for him and his employers. In September 1944 a chance meeting with d'Alquen at a social function in Berlin changed his resolve. Taking a liking to Freeman and having joint views on the likehood of the German defeat in the East, d'Alquen offered him commition in the „Kurts Eggers Regiment“. Freeman joined Waffen-SS in October 1944, when he made a declaration „ an Englishmen of Aryan descent and have never, netiher now nor previously , been a membe of a free masons lodge nor other secret sosciety“. He was not required to command troops, but to vet propaganda material being prepared for use in scorpion west. He found his ideological niche as an SS officer. By the end of April 1945 d'Alquen decided to evacuate his staff from Berlin. He went with his deputy Sturmbahnfuhrer Anton Kriegbaum, American SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer Ackerman and Freeman. Commandeering three Stork planes they flew to Lenggries in south west Germany. Persuasion was placed on Freeman to fly to Switzerland, but he resfused and subsequently surrendred to American forces in the area on the 9 May. He was court-martialled, receiving a sentence of 10 years.