‘It’s a suburb of Berlin, not too far from here. In fact, it’s right across the Tiergarten – that way. So, Feuchtwanger and Wolff – they soon became universally known as F&W – developed a very fine reputation for the quality of their work. They started off by making all kinds of engines, but after the Great War, they specialised in locomotives: my company’s relationship with them goes back to that time. Both Harald Feuchtwanger and Fritz Wolff were Jewish, and in 1936 the company was taken from them and nationalised. Hitler’s laws meant Jews weren’t able to own businesses. Fritz Wolff had died in the 1920s and his son was involved in the company. Harald Feuchtwanger was still alive in 1936, though in his eighties. He was still active in the business, but after it was taken over, he went to live in Switzerland. As I understand it, the Wolff family also emigrated, possibly to Holland, I’m not sure. Most of the management at the time were sacked and Nazi Party members put in their place. You seem to be following me, Peter. Your German must be good.’

‘I understand it well enough, much better than I speak it.’

‘Don’t worry, that could be important. So they nationalised the company and kicked out the senior managers. They even renamed it, calling it Spandau Locomotive Engineering, though I still hear people refer to it as F&W. Now, Bruno Bergmann was a very bright young engineer at F&W when Mortensen Machinery Parts started supplying them. By the time the Nazis took it over, he was director of engineering, and of course he was sacked. But nationalising the company and getting rid of the senior managers turned out to be a disaster. The Nazi Party officials who took it over had no idea what they were doing. Their main customer was DRG, the German state railway company. Because of the need to move heavy armour by rail, they demanded more powerful locomotives, but there was no longer the expertise at F&W, and their engines kept failing.

‘Eventually they realised they had to bring back some of the senior managers they’d sacked, and Bruno was one of them. He technically has a director of engineering above him, but he effectively runs that side of the company. Since he returned – which would have been around two years ago now – the locomotive engines they’re building have significantly improved. He’s very good at identifying and specifying the parts he needs and we’re very good at manufacturing them. It’s an effective relationship.’

‘What about him as a person? He’s obviously not a Nazi.’