Biggles Wiki
Advertisement

In Biggles in the Blue, Werner Wolff was an ex-Nazi who resided in Jamaica after World War 2 under the assumed name of a Norwegian Christen Hagen. Wolff had been an ex-associate of Erich von Stalhein in German Intelligence Service but had left the service for politics during the Hitler regime. He had served as the liaison officer with large industrial corporations, dealing mostly with naval weapons, and as a result managed to make a large sum of money on the side by controlling the award of armament contracts. Before the United States entered the war, Wolff had made several trips across the Atlantic where it was believed he "feathered a nest" for himself there.

Wanted as a war criminal, Wolff disappeared after the war. According to an engineer who had been on Wolff's staff during the war, Wolff had been at Kiel just before he disappeared. He had been seen taking the experimental data and blueprints of Hitler's secret weapons, going all the way to the V. 18. Subsequently Wolff reappeared in Jamaica, having sailed there in a small yacht, the Vega. He had grown a beard and had papers identifying him as a Norwegian named "Christian Hagen". He appeared to be well-to-do and bought himself a villa called Rumkeg Haven at Tew's Anchorage on the outskirts of Kingston.

At Rumkeg Haven, Wolff lived alone witn only one house-servant, Josephine. He made a brief acquaintance with his neighbour, Commander Evans but otherwise lived mainly as a recluse, making only a few cruises on his yacht. According to Evans, these did not happen very often but they were obviously to distant places because Wolff was usually away for some time. Wolff occasionally helped Evans with is ornithology hobby by bringing back specimens. Evans had told Wolff that he very much wanted an egg of the endangered scarlet flamingo, of which he knew of two colonies, one on Andros and another on Inagua. Wolff had told Evans that he knew of a third colony on a small uninhabited island and offered to get an egg from there.

Towards the end of his life, Wolff's health began to deteriorate. Dr Douglas, his doctor, advised him to put his affairs in order as he had thrombosis and death could come suddenly and quickly. Wolff apparently accepted this advice and wrote a letter to von Stalhein, wanting to tell him where he had hidden the secret papers he had taken with him. However Wolff died before he could finish the letter, and never got round to mentioning the location.

The police, in searching Wolff's house for clues as to his next-of-kin, discovered, in his safe, a personal letter of commendation from Hitler and a signed photograph, thus revealing his Nazi past and his true identity. The authorities in London were alerted and thorough searches of his house and yacht failed to locate his papers.

Not long after Wolff's death, von Stalhein was spotted in Kingston and this led Air Commodore Raymond to despatch Biggles and his team there to recover Wolff's papers or at least ensure that no one else got them.

Advertisement