Denial of a German Pretender to the Title of Second Viscount Milner

The First Viscount Milner, Alfred Milner, was created as Viscount in 1902 in recognition of his services to the Crown as Governor of the Cape Colony and High Commissioner of South Africa during the Boer War. Viscount Milner died in 1925 without a legitimate heir. However on Friday, February 12th, 1926, the First Herald of the Heralds' College convened a Hearing to examine the application of a German claimant to the titles and estates of the late Viscount Milner. A stenographic record of the proceedings was made, but it was sealed pursuant to the Official Secrets Acts of the United Kingdom, so that the Hearing transcript and the resulting decision were never disclosed to the public. The following transcript -- a photostatic copy -- was found among the classified papers of the late American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and it is provided here to the public despite the vigorous efforts of the government of the United Kingdom to suppress it and to obtain possession of it.

First Herald: I thought this hearing was to be closed and secret. Why are so many people here, Sinclair?
Sinclair: My Lord, it is secret, but all those present are here in official capacities. Except of course, for the Right Honorable David Lloyd-George.
First Herald: Mr. Lloyd-George, how does this matter interest you?
Lloyd-George: My Lord, the late Viscount Milner served in my cabinet as Secretary of State for War during the Great War. I am greatly distressed at the prospect that his good name as well as the reputations of all of us who had served with him over the years might be dragged through the mud with him unable to speak for himself.
First Herald: Very good. But you do understand, this is a secret session of the College of Heralds. What you may hear in this proceeding must not revealed by you -- ever.
Lloyd-George: Of course, my Lord. I understand perfectly.
First Herald: Perhaps, everyone seated in the audience should rise and identify himself so his name will be in the stenographic record.
Sinclair: Uh, my Lord, I have already made a list of names of those present. You will see that two of those named were sent officially by my uncle, Sir Hugh Sinclair.
First Herald: How extraordinary. Admiral Sinclair sent along two of his staff to oversee a matter such as this.
Sinclair: Yes, my lord. They are Mr. Ian Fleming and Commander Wilfred Dunderdale, R.N.
First Herald: Well, let's get to it, then. Now, Mr. Hitler, I have read your statement in which you claim to be the illegitimate son of the late Lord Milner, and I have examined the photostatic copies of your baptismal certificate and birth certificate. You seem to have been born in the Kingdom of Austria in the Austrian-Hugarian Empire. It was my understanding that you are a German national. Could you please reconcile this seeming contradiction?
Hanfstaengl: My Lord. Mr. Hitler asked me to speak for him. His English is not very good.
First Herald: And you are, sir? If you could please identify yourself for the record?
Hanfstaengl: Of course, my Lord. My name is Ernst Hanfstaengl. I'm in the publishing business in Munchen -- which you would know as the City of Munich. My mother is American, and I went to college in the United States, so I am comfortable in the English language. My good friend, Herr Hitler, was born in Braunau in April 1889, but he lived in Germany for most of his adult life. Upon the outbreak of the Great War, Herr Hitler enlisted in a German regiment, and served bravely at the front in France.
First Herald: Yes, but Herr Hitler's birth certificate gives his parents as Klara Poelzel and Alois Hitler.
Hanfstaengl: If you examine the photostatic copy of the letter from Frau Klara Hitler to her son, Adolf Hitler, the petitioner or claimant, here today, you will see that she told her son after the death of Alois Hitler, that Adolf Hitler was actually the son of Alfred Milner. There is an English translation attached to the letter with a Certification by the translator given under oath before a Justice of the Peace.
According to our research, Alfred Milner was born in Frankfurt-am-Main in the Kingdom of Prussia in 1854. Although Viscount Milner received much of his education in England and pursued his career in England, he maintained ties in Germany through most of his life.
Frau Klara Hitler's letter to her son, Adolf, makes it clear that Alfred Milner was on a summer holiday in 1888 on a walking tour of Bavaria when he met Fraulein Poelzel in Braunau, Austria.
Although 37 years have elapsed since Mr. Milner's summer holiday visit to Braunau, we have submitted to you several sworn affidavits from innkeepers in southern Bavaria that he was in that area. From Frau Hitler's letter, you will see that Mr. Milner wandered across the German-Austrian border in a night of wind and rain and arrived at the Hitler home sick with a fever in mid-July 1888. Lord Milner was a guest at the Hitlers' for a week, and when he departed, he left behind his Guide Michelien in which his name and London address are written.
First Herald: Thank you, Mr. Hanfstaengl. Does anyone else have evidence to offer in this matter?
Churchill: Yes, your Lordship. I am Winston Churchill, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and I am here officially representing the government in opposition to the claim of Mr. Hitler. The time for Mr. Hitler to bring forward his claim was during the lifetime of the late Viscount Milner. As the late viscount has never acknowledged paternity of Mr. Hitler, it is therefore impossible to overcome the issue of Mr. Hitler's illegitimate birth. If Lord Milner had acknowledged Mr. Hitler and accepted him as his heir, the government could accept the situation. However, as matters stand, the government cannot accept Mr. Hitler's pretension to the title of Viscount Milner.
First Herald: Thank you, Mr. Churchill. Any other evidence or arguments to come before the College of Herald's?
Tweedsmuir: My Lord, I am John Buchan, first Baron of Tweedsmuir, I worked closely with Sir Alfred Milner beginning when he was High Commissioner in South Africa. Lord Milner was an honorable man who would have taken responsibility for any child he had fathered. I believe I knew him as well as any man, and I believe I was a confidante of his, and at no time, did Lord Milner ever impart to me that he had an illegitimate child in this world.
Dunderdale: My Lord, I am Commander Wilfred Dunderdale, Royal Navy, and at the direction of Admiral Sir Hugh Sinclair, I have visited Munich, Germany, to ascertain the character and background of Herr Hitler.
Mr. Hitler is active in nationalist politics in Germany, and he has formed a political party with a name which roughly translates as the National Socialist Workers Party. He is a violent man, and he is an anti-semite. During my investigation, I obtained a Prussian State Police report which states that Mr. Hitler mistakenly entered the wrong railway compartment where he found an elderly Jewish couple whom he beat insensible for their offense. A short while afterward, when he learned of his mistake and was arrested on an assault charge, he was able to use his political influence to conceal and suppress the incident.
First Herald: Well, the issue of poor character doesn't enter into this. Mr. Hitler, although we cannot determine whether Lord Milner might be your father, you admit yourself that you would only be illegitimate, and therefore, without Lord Milner overcoming the "legitimacy obstacle" by embracing you and accepting you, we must deny your petition.
Hitler: You Jewish swine! You English are all swine. You are a Jewish nation. I curse you. I will destroy all of you shit Jews.
First Herald: I hereby declare this proceeding concluded.
(Special reporter's note: Commander Dunderdale, Mr. Fleming, Mr. Sinclair, and Major Churchill combined to restrain Mr. Hitler who seemed intent upon assaulting the First Herald. Shortly afterward, the police arrived to take Mr. Hitler to the boat train at Victoria Station so he could return to Germany.)

Fusion Field Failure -- Sunday, 02:34 hrs, GMT

The magnetic field control for number-three engine spontaneously failed early Sunday morning. The watch engineer, Lieut. Cmndr. Churchill, personally damped the fuel and dumped it, and he then repeatedly flushed the atmosphere of the Engine Control Room into space. The ECR is usable, although for safety, the watch engineer will have to wear a full suit with breathing gear till we get back to base. Cmndr. Churchill died before 4:00 hrs.
Cmndr. Sebastian and Lieut. Trazam inspected the control chips in the CPU of engine-three, and they concluded that one or more tin whiskers caused the magnetic control field to fail. According to the Engineering Log, the control chips were new replacements five months ago. Both Cmndr. Sebastian and Lieut. Trazam have stated in the Ship's Log that they suspect the control chips were falsely certified as new, and they have both signed their logged statement.