Oberwiesenfeld Airport is the Munich airfield where Neville Chamberlain and his party arrive for diplomatic talks in 1938. The landing brings Hugh Legat back to Germany for the first time in six years, placing his personal return inside a carefully staged political reception, with national flags and anthems alongside an SS honour guard and close attention to the delegation’s movements.

Approach and Landing

As the plane descended through cloud, Legat saw the factory chimneys and church spires he took to be Munich, then passed low over a field dotted with brown cattle before touching down. The Lockheed bounced along the ground and braked hard, skittering past terminal buildings that appeared larger than those at Heston, with two or three storeys and crowds gathered on terraces and the roof. The airport’s position in the scene is established through this abrupt transition: after a turbulent descent, the aircraft arrives among signs of a public, organized welcome.

The Prime Minister’s plane stopped at 11:35 a.m., after three hours in the air. Once Commander Robinson had spoken with Chamberlain and Sir Horace Wilson, he opened the aircraft door and lowered the steps. German voices reached Legat as warm air came into the cabin. Chamberlain descended first, steadying himself on the seat headrests, while Wilson waited beside Legat. The formal order of disembarkation made the airport the first setting in which the British party’s hierarchy became visible.

A Staged Reception

Swastika banners hung from the terminal parapet and flew beside the Union Jack and the French tricolour. After Chamberlain and Wilson left the plane, Legat followed the other officials down the steps. A military band played the British national anthem, requiring him to stand awkwardly at attention; it then began the German anthem. The music and flags placed the British visitors inside a conspicuously public display of welcome, even as the symbols on the airfield registered the power of the state receiving them.

The crowds applauded and chanted Chamberlain’s name. On the apron, Joachim von Ribbentrop gestured to the Prime Minister, and the two men walked along the line of soldiers. Legat searched the crowded field for Paul von Hartmann but could not see him. Newsreel cameramen, photographers, the official reception, an SS honour guard, and a row of Mercedes limousines bearing swastika pennants filled his view. The airport was therefore not merely a point of arrival: it was also a public stage on which ceremony, security, and Legat’s private search occupied the same space.

Delegation Protocol and Legat’s Role

At the foot of the steps, an SS officer checked Legat’s name against a clipboard and noted that he had replaced Cecil Syers. He assigned Legat to the fourth car with Frank Ashton-Gwatkin and said the luggage would be taken to the hotel. When the officer tried to take the Prime Minister’s red dispatch boxes, Legat refused; the two briefly tugged at them before the German let go. The boxes remained with Legat, making this small dispute over baggage a concrete instance of his duty continuing across the threshold from aircraft to airfield.

Narrative Significance

The arrival contrasts the delegation’s orderly itinerary with Legat’s unsettled return. The terminal and reception provide a public spectacle, but his attention moves between the political display and the absence of Hartmann, whom he had hoped to find. His memory of Ralph Wigram also shadows the scene: seeing the swastikas at the airfield, Legat is glad Wigram is not alive to witness them. In this way, Oberwiesenfeld Airport serves as both a diplomatic entrance to Munich and a point where Legat’s earlier understanding of Germany meets the present reality of the visit.