THE HITLER WHO FOUGHT FOR THE ALLIES

The estranged half-nephew of the Nazi leader, William Patrick Hitler led his own wartime crusade against his half-uncle across the ocean. William's story is one of family drama, FBI investigations and eventually the taking up of arms against the Axis

- MICHAEL G STROUD

The name Hitler evokes many feelings and emotions to this very day: hatred, evil, monster and warmonger to name but a few. But what about patriot? Even more specific, Allied patriot? William Patrick Hitler struck out to forge his own path, to the ire of his controlling uncle, which would eventually lead him to the United States along with his mother, where he would play his part in the fight against 'Uncle Adolf' and his Nazi regime.

William's story truly begins with that of his mother, Bridget Elizabeth Dowling of Dublin. It was here in 1910 during a horse show that Bridget met a young waiter by the name of Alois Hitler. After a four-month courtship, much to the disapproval of Bridget's father, the couple eloped to London. Their relationship was contentious from the beginning as Alois, the half-brother of Adolf, would separate from Bridget (and vice versa due to allegations of abuse) and get back together with her numerous times. The birth of William on 12 March 1911, in Liverpool, did nothing to assuage the volatility of his tempestuous father. Eventually Alois, who "ha[d] his brother Adolf's dictatorial disposition" according to William, would abandon them both in 1913, returning to Germany, where he would take another wife. The following years would find his mother working in the box office of the Olympia Theatre in Liverpool, among other jobs, to try and make ends meet for the two.