It was a dangerously brilliant plan. Charles and Alex were going to fly, in a plane, over enemy lines, land near the German capital, infiltrate into the city wearing high ranking German uniforms, work their way into the Kaiser’s palace, kidnap him and bring him back to London on the same plane that they flew in on. Simple.
The plane in question was a Handley Page 0/400, the largest, most modern bomber available to the British forces, which even fully laden with fuel, was going to have to make a risky landing just behind the British front line to refuel and make the final leg in to Germany. They would then have to scavenge fuel in Germany to make the return journey.
Not surprisingly the crew of the aircraft for the mission had been hard to find. With the final crew being chosen by gathering all the German speaking pilots and letting them draw straws. Only the two pilots, plus Charles and Alex would go to Germany, the pilots staying near the plane, pretending to be German policemen, whilst the cousins carried out the mission.
It was risky, but if they carried it off, the war would be over.