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Ian Fleming knew that Hitler, Himmler and Hess were all fascinated by the occult, particularly Astrology, but also by Occultist rituals. Secret Agents such as Frau Nagenast , an Astrologer who Hess consulted and paid, were employed to produce charts that pointed to the 10 May being a propitious moment for Hess to fly to Britain. Fleming carefully made sure that the Astrological forecasts that Hess received from his usual Astrologers contained very similar information. This was accomplished using intrigue, bribery and forgery.
Ian Fleming also carried out Operation 'Mistletoe'. Operating with Aleistair Crowley, an expert in German occultism, Fleming and others carried out secret occult rituals in Ashdown Forest. These rituals had something to do with the fact that many leading Nazis were members of the Order of the Golden Dawn - an occult secret society. Occultism was the driving force behind many of the Nazi Party's organisations. The SS were brainwashed and indoctrinated using occult ceremonies. Two German SS officers, codenamed: 'Kestrel' and 'Sea Eagle' were contacted through the the Romanian Mission in London. They attended the rituals in Ashdown Forest, and no doubt reported back to Rudolf Hess that the Order of the Golden Dawn was alive and well amongst prominent members of British society, and that they were waiting to take power once peace was established. Hess was convinced that his plan to bring peace with Britain could lead to greater things. Perhaps even Britain joining Germany in Hitler's Armaggedon-like struggle against Soviet Russia.
However, Hess was unlikely to be convinced by just Astrology, the occult, and correspondence through the Haushofers'. Hess needed more substantial proof concerning the Peace Party. The main plot was hatched through SO1's contacts in the banking and commercial world. Leonard Ingrams was probably the mastermind behind this part of the plot. By using British Secret Service agents to establish convincing links with people Hitler and Hess trusted, SO1 could prove to them that the Duke of Hamilton really did have a Peace Party in Britain.
One of the most important people in this scheme was Carl Burkhardt (the former Governor of Danzig, and then Head of the Swiss based International Red Cross - someone who Hess and Hitler trusted implicitly.) Meetings between Burkhardt and Borenius (who had connections with leading British Politicians as an Art dealer and Historian) and subsequently Albrecht Haushofer (Hess' Adviser) helped to convince Hess that a Peace Party led by the Duke of Hamilton existed in Britain.
The final move to lure Hess to Britain was through Burkhardt. Burkhardt was given false information by a City Agent - someone in International Banking, on good terms with both the Foreign Office, secret service and Ministry of Information. Rickatson Hatt (Press Secretary of the Bank of England) is the mostly likely person. Norman, the Governor of the Bank of England met regularly with Sir Campbell Stuart, the former head of the Political Warfare Executive and representatives of the Red Cross between January and March 1941. Rickatson Hatt had an elevated status in the Bank. Norman's diary records, 'Clearance from Morton [Churchill's Intelligence Adviser]re Hatt'. Rickatson Hatt most likely passed false information about the Duke and his Peace Party to Haushofer, perhaps via intermediaries, perhaps not, who thus passed it to Hess. Hess now had overwhelming evidence from leading officials that he could fly safely to Britain to meet the Peace Party's leader, the Duke of Hamilton. The Duke, a senior officer in the RAF in Scotland would keep the British fighters away from him so he could land.
It has been conjectured that Hamilton knew about it, and was waiting for Hess, but Hess flew into the wrong airspace and was nearly intercepted by a Bolton-Paul Defiant Nightfighter. It is quite likely that Hamilton did know and was waiting for Hess, and was part of the SO1 plot. It is not an absolute requirement, but there is much evidence to suggest a tentative link with the plot, including a cover-up by Earl Mount Batten to recover papers from the Duke's home when he died.
The ultimate bait was the British offer of a meeting with King George VI, the Emperor of the British Empire. Hess was almost certainly given to understand that he would also meet General Sikorski, the Polish President who was in Newfoundland at the time. He was destined to fly to Britain on the 11th May 1941, to Prestwick, Scotland. Perhaps he was also told he would meet the Duke of Kent. Hess believed that with such people in charge of the Peace Party, and the possibility of being able to arrange a withdrawal from Poland, peace was a real possibility. Churchill would be ousted from power. The bait was placed. The trap was set.
If the plot was successful, SO1 probably wished to use Hess as a propaganda tool. However, using Hess in this way though would have probably ousted Churchill from power. His power was based on war with Germany, and this must have crossed the plotters minds as they laid their plans. There can be no suggestion that they were really organising a secret peace initiative, because Dennis Sefton Delmer, who joined SO1 the month Hess came to Britain, and a part of the plot, was very anti-Nazi. He put a captured Nazi sign on his desk which read: "Hier sind Juden unerwunscht" ("The presence of Jews is not desirable") so as not to lose his objective: the total defeat of Nazi Germany. It was a very British thing to do: standing against the bully, on the side of the persecuted. It was Britain's historical mission. SO1 never lost sight of it for a second.
