Peaky Blinders The Immortal Man: The True Story Behind The Nazi Conspiracy And The Birmingham Bombing

When it comes to historical accuracy, Steven Knight’s celebrated gangster saga, “Peaky Blinders,” is quite a mixed bag. The series’ titular Birmingham-based gang of criminals indeed terrified the British populace in the aftermath of the First World War, but they were neither influential enough to have a stake in the nation’s political scenario, nor did they have a leader like Tommy Shelby who had such notoriety for conspiring in cross-country criminal schemes. Still, the series has tried to align the narrative around real historical figures and setups to provide a sense of gritty authenticity, and the latest feature, “Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man,” essentially the epilogue to the main series, is no exception in this regard. The movie highlights a Nazi conspiracy to flood the British market with fake currency during the Second World War, which is actually rooted in a real historical event known as Operation Bernhard. Also, the bombing of the Birmingham Small Arms factory, which plays a crucial role in the narrative, is also inspired by real-life events.

Spoilers Ahead

During the Second World War, Hitler and his Nazi think tank of intelligence agencies, Sicherheitsdienst, came up with different ways to corner the Allied forces, ranging from aggressive expansion in Eastern Europe to outlandish approaches such as resorting to metaphysical means to gain advantage. Amidst all this, the intelligence agency devised a ploy to cripple the British economy by introducing mass-produced counterfeit money to the country, and in its initial phase this long-term ploy was known as Operation Andreas. The British pound had long held the status of a world currency, and weakening its influence by introducing rag paper made fake currency would have given Nazi Germany a way to turn the tides of war even without engaging in prolonged warfare. Led by Nazi Major Alfred Naujocks, the initial phase of the operation, set up during 1940, involved only Nazi intelligence officers who created matching currency material, printing plates, and an algorithm to clone the serial numbering on currency. The elaborate scheme didn’t produce the desired results, as a British ambassador was already informed of the Nazi ploy by a Russian spy operating from Greece—resulting in the Bank of England and the US getting alerted in due time. By 1942, the prime directive of the operation shifted under Heinrich Himmler’s command, who wanted the counterfeit currency to fund Nazi wartime operations. It was around this period that Bernhard Kruger took charge of a renewed Operation Bernhard and forced prisoners in Nazi concentration camps, especially in Sachsenhausen, to produce the fake currency on a huge scale. As the operation succeeded, the prisoners were instructed to forge US dollars as well, and at one point, this fake currency was used by the SS to get intel to free imprisoned Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. 

After Allied forces pinned Germany down, the operation was brought to an end, and the captive prisoners were freed. Kruger was detained by British forces, but strangely enough, no charges were pressed against him, as forging enemy currency during war was not seen as a grievous crime. Additionally, Kruger apparently saved a significant number of concentration camp prisoners and even treated them with dignity, unlike the rest of the Nazi authorities and Gestapo forces—which made Allied Forces consider his case with laxity. French intelligence even tried to convince Kruger to forge passports, a proposal he refused before going through the ludicrous ‘denazification’ process and settling in West Germany. 

As an industrial, populous city, Birmingham was the third major target of the Axis forces in England, right after London and Liverpool. The city sustained severe damage during the infamous Birmingham Blitz of the 1940s, when the Nazi Luftwaffe launched a series of aerial bombings spanning three years.

The Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) factory played a key role during the Second World War as a producer of a range of products, which included rifles, Sten guns, machine guns, other small arms, motorcycles, bicycles, tanks, cars, public transport vehicles, etc. If you are wondering, the trusted BSA cycle brand, operating successfully across the globe, is a subsidiary of this BSA, and their emblem of three rifles reflects the company’s history. During the initial days of the Birmingham Blitz, on 19th November, 1940, the BSA factory in Small Heath, Birmingham, was bombed, resulting in the deaths of over fifty workers, which included several female employees, and hundreds of others surviving with severe injuries. Despite knowing the risks before the Nazi bombing, factory workers chose to stay, showing remarkable courage, which “Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man” honored by opening the movie with the devastating impact of the incident. In fact, series creator Steven Knight’s mother used to be a worker in the BSA factory, and even though she wasn’t present on the fateful night, she too experienced the dread of constant mortal danger. The bravery of the factory workers of Small Heath should have become the stuff of legends, which could have motivated soldiers in war; instead, it was covered up by the government to keep public morale from dwindling further. As unfortunate as it sounds, no monuments or memorials were erected in the memories of the late workers. In that context, the makers of the movie dedicating their effort to pay homage to BSA workers is a really commendable gesture. The bombing of the BSA factory halted the production of rifles and motorcycles for a bit until the operations were shifted to other branches of the company.