Swiss neutrality

Early in the war the British had a problem in that they needed high quality wristwatches for their aircraft navigators. Switzerland was the best source of those but after the fall of France getting to Switzerland became a problem. The Germans had no problem getting to Switzerland and needed gold to finance their war effort.

So the Germans would pick up a load of Swiss watches and fly to Spain, where through an intermediary they would sell the watches to the British in exchange for gold. Occasionally the German and British representatives ended up at the same bar in Madrid.

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:

Swiss battaries and fighting positions...

View attachment 498477 View attachment 498478 View attachment 498479

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Great photos

billrunnels said:

Great photos

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Shoot I forgot to souce them...

"So the Germans would pick up a load of Swiss watches and fly to Spain, where through an intermediary they would sell the watches to the British in exchange for gold. Occasionally the German and British representatives ended up at the same bar in Madrid."

This short of, demystifies the WWII, meaning that bottom line, everything was done for the money no matter what the cost. My apologies if I'm being too literal but, when details like this come to surface, I'm getting more and more convinced that money rules our world.

As some have noted, the majority of European countries and not only had and still have their financial assets, be it gold, or ownership titles, bonds, etc, in Switzerland which was and still is a safe place to finance anything you want without being directly blamed.

Just my two cents.

This short of, demystifies the WWII, meaning that bottom line, everything was done for the money no matter what the cost. My apologies if I'm being too literal but, when details like this come to surface, I'm getting more and more convinced that money rules our world.

Click to expand...

Actually both Germany and Japan went to war in order to gain natural resources, not money as such.
They both held the Social Darwinist view that in order to survive a nation had to be totally self-sufficient, in food stocks, oil and vital metals.
The money involved in the story posted was merely a way of paying for vital supplies needed to further the war for resources.

Pretty well all the resources Switzerland needed to arm itself were only available through the Germans except for those already in hand in 1939.