UK NEWS

BRITISH SPY'S ALBUM

Adolf Hitler

Thursday May 24,2007

By Jo Willey

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WAR was only weeks away when an intrepid British spy got within feet of Adolf Hitler to take these extraordinary pictures.

They were snapped by secret agent Charles Turner at the 1939 Wagner Festival in Bayreuth, Germany.

Music lover and composer Turner, a regular visitor to the festival since 1934, had been recruited by a friend to a British intelligence unit set up to examine the growing German threat.

On arrival in the town, he was greeted by his host, a member of the chamber of commerce and one of Hitler’s inner circle.

“The miraculous happened,” said Mr Turner’s son David, 64, who released the amazing photographs as part of a project to retrace his family’s roots.

“My father was invited to join Hitler’s entourage for the day. He was given carte blanche permission to photograph the Fuhrer.”

The Briton took advantage to record Hitler’s every move.

His photos include images of the Fuhrer next to his Mercedes, sporting incongruous white tie and tails, collecting flowers from children – and even looking straight at the camera.

David is certain his father was the last Englishman to photograph Hitler before the Second World War was declared on September 3, 1939.

It is also thought he was one of the last Britons to speak face-to-face to the dictator.

What was said in those brief conversations between two men with a shared love of classical music must remain a mystery.