Charles Turner (composer)
Encyclopedia
Charles Turner was an English
composer
and part-time spy
, who took the last recorded British pre-World War II
photographs of Adolf Hitler
.
Born in the early 1900s, Turner's life changed when his father died and his God father Henry Pelham, 7th Duke of Newcastle took care of the young boy. Turner resultantly attended Worksop college, the public school endowed by the Duke of Newcastle. He gained a place at Cambridge university to study music. In the late 1920s into the 1930s he became a broadcast composer and fluent German speaker.
In 1934 Turner made the first of a series of annual visits to the Wagner festival in Bayreuth. In 1938 the British secret service MI5
, convinced war was imminent, needed to urgently examine and assess the German threat. Approached by mutual friend Alan Angles, later War Office and Directorate of Ministry of Aircraft Production, Turner was recruited to infiltrate Hitler's entourage at the 1939 Bayreuth festival. Registered as a Führer guest, Turner was hosted by Dr Fritz streit Chairman of the Bavarian Chamber of Commerce, through whom he received an invitation to follow the Führer's itinerary on Wednesday 26 July 1939. This unexpected opportunity allowed Turner to photograph Hitler and his intimates throughout the day. He took photographs of Hitler and other leading Nazis including propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Deputy, Rudolf Hess and "Strength Through Joy" leader Dr Robert Ley. Turner subsecquently delivered a report back to London which is still regarded as top secret, if indeed it still exists.
Having married in 1941 and started a family, Turner's work post war often took him to Moscow. Reportedly on one occasion he took his son on tour of a housing estate in a search for the British spy Kim Philby. Such activity may mean that Turner was still working in the interests of British Intelligence. His son is at pains to say that his father may have gathered Intelligence but was never a spy.
Charles Turner died in 1977, and his Hitler photographs were released to the public in 2007.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and part-time spy
SPY
SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...
, who took the last recorded British pre-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
photographs of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
.
Born in the early 1900s, Turner's life changed when his father died and his God father Henry Pelham, 7th Duke of Newcastle took care of the young boy. Turner resultantly attended Worksop college, the public school endowed by the Duke of Newcastle. He gained a place at Cambridge university to study music. In the late 1920s into the 1930s he became a broadcast composer and fluent German speaker.
In 1934 Turner made the first of a series of annual visits to the Wagner festival in Bayreuth. In 1938 the British secret service MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
, convinced war was imminent, needed to urgently examine and assess the German threat. Approached by mutual friend Alan Angles, later War Office and Directorate of Ministry of Aircraft Production, Turner was recruited to infiltrate Hitler's entourage at the 1939 Bayreuth festival. Registered as a Führer guest, Turner was hosted by Dr Fritz streit Chairman of the Bavarian Chamber of Commerce, through whom he received an invitation to follow the Führer's itinerary on Wednesday 26 July 1939. This unexpected opportunity allowed Turner to photograph Hitler and his intimates throughout the day. He took photographs of Hitler and other leading Nazis including propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Deputy, Rudolf Hess and "Strength Through Joy" leader Dr Robert Ley. Turner subsecquently delivered a report back to London which is still regarded as top secret, if indeed it still exists.
Having married in 1941 and started a family, Turner's work post war often took him to Moscow. Reportedly on one occasion he took his son on tour of a housing estate in a search for the British spy Kim Philby. Such activity may mean that Turner was still working in the interests of British Intelligence. His son is at pains to say that his father may have gathered Intelligence but was never a spy.
Charles Turner died in 1977, and his Hitler photographs were released to the public in 2007.