The soldiers who manned Stp. Corbiere

[M19 MADMAL]

I shouldn't have laughed so loud about it because some days later the 'poacher' and myself were cut off from the cliff path near the 'Smuggler's Cave' by the incoming tide. We had to scramble quite a few yards to get to the path where it was above the incoming tide. On our right the dangerous minefield, on our left the roaring sea! I felt as if I were between 'Scylla and Charybdis'. But we managed to bring home two rabbits safely. I was later 'asked' during inspection why rifle ammunition was missing. I replied that "We have used it for live firing". I was told that I should not be doing this and my reply was "I thought it was my duty to do such things". Luckily for me the matter was then dropped! The 'fisherman' had completed his trap and with the help of of three men it was carried out between the rocks on the south side of the La Corbiere headland. Joszef explaned in his broken German "Water, must always be in water". So it was put into a deep gully where even at the lowest ebb it was covered with water. The trap was fastened with strong iron wires to the rocks. These wires were also for lifting it up for inspection. Some days later Joszef came running into the M19 bunker excitedly shouting "Big fish, big fish!" Several of the crew, me included, went to help with lifting the big catch! There was a conger eel in the trap, and I had never seen such a big living fish before. It was rather difficult to get out but after a while Joszef managed to free it. We had to hold it up to be photographed. It was a yard and ten inches long and weighed at least twenty pounds. The fish was divided among the bunker crew after some had been cut off for the Le Brocqs and an extra piece for Joszef, the constructor of the trap. For want of fat we cooked the fish which lasted for a couple of days. Joszef told me that he would 'smoke' his extra piece and I watched him fiddling about with it next to the stove before, and without anybody knowing, putting it in his drawer of the chest. Then one evening we noticed an odd and strange smell in our bunker, nobody having any idea where it was coming from. The following morning it was so strong and disgusting that we started sniffing in all the corners of the crew room and we found out it was the chest! On opening the drawers we discovered the so-called 'smoked fish' full of maggots. Joszef was terribly disappointed and frightened that he would loose his reputation of being an expert fisherman. We got some fun even out of that disaster when it was suggested that Joszef should be tried and court-martialled. I was the 'judge' and Gustav was joszef's 'defence'. Joszef was charged with "wasting food and destroying defencive power". Poor old Joszef didn't have a clue what was happening due to his poor understanding of German and we explaned to him that it was all a joke. I then sentenced Joszef. The sentence - "To catch more fish!"

to be continued....
Malcolm

[M19 MADMAL]

Anyway, our 'idyll' compared with the fact that there was a terrible war on (which we demanded not to be guilty of) was not to bad. Meanwhile, I had been invited by a retired school master to listen to his music and sing with him. He lived in a house opposite Petit Port and while strolling about I had heard a piano playing and stopped at the house to listen. This happened two or three times, then the gentleman waved to me and appeared at his front door asking whether I liked music. "Very much so, sir" I answered and he invited me in to have a cup of tea and a biscuit. He was such an amiable and kind man that I forgot the war and recalled that 'music embraces all'. Now and again I knocked at his door to listen to his piano playing and to sing with him. Nearly all the people in the surrounding area were kind to me and had time for small talk. But this 'idyll' was interrupted when I was ordered back to the La Moye Golf Hotel. They gave me some military papers and a huge map to prepare a lecture on 'The situation and progress of the war in France'. The lecture was to be held at the Soldatenheim at St. Brelade's Bay for NCOs of the battalion. This was supervised by Nationalsozialistische-Führungsoffizier (Nation Socialist Guidance Officer) Leutnant Maaßen, so I had to be careful with what I said and stuck to the papers they had given me, using the large map and explaining northern France. This procedure had to be done twice, once in July and once in August. I was glad to return to the bunker after two days of absence. The real situation was given to me by young Mr. George Le Brocq, who listened to the BBC news on a crystal set. While visiting the Le Brocqs one day I spotted George taking a bit of paper out of his shoe. Asking him what he was doing he replied "Such things don't concern you Bertie". After assuring him I would keep it to myself and 'forget everything' George regularly told me the BBC news. Propaganda was still telling us that we were still fighting around Caen when in fact the British and US had entered Paris and were on their way to the Rhine. I wouldn't even had told Gustav a single word!

My religious life was mostly private except for once a month when there was a Catholic Sunday Service at the Soldatenheim at St. Brelade's, either held by Division Chaplain Quecke or by Father Martin Clar and Father Richard Grünewald who also did Red Cross medical duties as Corporals. They were part of the Oblate Order, OMI and both were 32 years of age and had been leaders of the Catholic Youth. To me they were men of the highest regard and exemplary in their belief and attitude. Father Richard was also a wonderful musician, playing the piano, organ and trumpet. Occasionally, we would meet in groups as Catholics at the Soldatenheim with one of the Red Cross nurses calling us the 'black corner'. I once overheard a nurse saying to her colleague while pointing at Fathers Richard and Martin, "Look at these two handsome and good looking Corporals. Would you imagine them being in a monastery!" I thought her to be rather keen on them. It was always a highlight walking or riding by bike to St. Brelade's Bay and the Soldatenheim, but it didn't happen too often.

To be continued....
Malcolm

[M19 MADMAL]

One of the well remembered 'Characters' from Machine Gun Battalion 16 was Erwin Duwe.
He was well know for always saying "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner) and this earned him the nick-name "Der Icke".

He served as a Medical orderly for the Battalion and the photo below was taken outside the Soldatenheim at St. Brelade's Bay


Malcolm

[M19 MADMAL]

On a sunny afternoon in the second week of August I was watching the sea with my field glasses, as I usually did. I had sometimes noticed naval vessels off to the south-west of the lighthouse, but this time they were clearer than ever before and were hardly moving. In my opinion they were British or American naval forces because they never came close and kept their distance. I recall that on the day after my birthday, on the 19th, firing started in the afternoon (what a great salute it would have been the day before!) and then we suddenly heard a loud bang from the La Moye direction. I thought this shooting to be silly as even the heavy 22cm French field guns could not shoot that far. Sometime later there were rumours that the '22' had an explosion in the gun barrel, so being nosy and curious about the matter I went up there to have a look. I couldn't get near as the 'Chain Dogs' ('Kettenhunde' = Military Police, so called because of the chain hanging around thier necks with a plaque on it) had blocked the surrounding area and ordered me to get back to my platoon. Later we were informed that one of the gunners had been killed and two or three others had been injured. We thought it was a great tragedy and felt for the gunners, but on the other hand it was a petty, tiny little bit of a bloody war we had experienced.

This action on 19th August was against a convoy carring the second battery of 4 x 15cm K18's being transfered from Guernsey to Jersey. The German minesweepers M412, M432, M442 and M452 were escorting the coasters Spinel and Tourane and were also carrying shells and two companies of Army coastal artillery soldiers (each about 60 men). At 15.26 hours four of Jersey's coastal artillery batteries (Hindenburg, Ludendorff, Moltke and Roon) were put on full alert as a hostile warship (HMS Onslaught) was observed approaching the convoy. At 15.31 the four batteries opened fire on HMS Onslaught who was now exchanging fierce gunfire with the German convoy. Under the weight of the shelling from the coastal artillery batteries HMS Onslaught was forced to retire, having been successful in inflicting some damage to the German Convoy.

It was during this engagement that one of the 22cm K532(f)'s of Battery Roon had a shell detonate prematurely in the barrel during firing. The barrel was quickly replaced and the blown barrel was buried next to its emplacement and was not re-discovered until the area was being developed into a prison in the 1970's. The barrel was then given to the CIOS and is on display in one of the emplacements at Batterie Moltke.

to be continued....
Malcolm

[M19 MADMAL]

Soon daily life retuned to normal with trying to solve the 'food question' which, as a consequenc of the further reduced rations, became more and more difficult. Of course, compared with the situation on the whole there was little reason to complain. There was the washing of clothes, cleaning of the bunker and its surroundings, occasional alarms and, for myself, writing and reading, with the odd visit to the Le Brocqs and the gentle piano player. One night Gustav and another member of the crew returned with a big bag of tomatoes and two buckets of the so-called "wild potatoes". Nobody asked where they came from and the main thing was to make them disappear because the 'Chain Dogs' were often around. Karl suggested emptying an ammunition box of 5cm mortars, one of those that were sealed and only to be opened with the express orders of higher command. Karl manipulated the lead seal open and emptied out the mortars and then filled the box with the potatoes and replaced the seal.

However, an inspection took place not long after and the Oberst in charge pointed at me and demanded to know "You, what is in those crates?" I immediately replied "Ammunition for the automatic mortar, Herr Oberst". "Open them!" "No Herr Oberst, not without an express order." "You're Lucky! Thats the answer I wanted to hear." and the potatoes were left peacefully sleeping!

The photos below show the standard green crate for holding 30 x 5cm Grw. 36 mortar bombs in their cardboard tubes for the infantry mortar. Even though the M19 fired the same type of mortar, a special black crate marked 'Mun.19' was produced ( :roll: ) for holding 30 x 5cm mortars in their cardboard tubes and the lid was in a different position. The 'Mun.19' crate is originally from this bunker.... could it have been the one used to hide the potatoes originally???


To be continued....
Malcolm

[M19 MADMAL]

Some days later Joszef the 'fisherman' came up to me and tried to explain in his broken German that there were "fish around for fine people". I didn't quite understand and asked him how he knew. He took me outside the bunker and pointed out that there were baskets attached to floating markers in the small bay on the south side of the causeway out to the lighthouse. These baskets were to catch "them fine fish". Confused as to how fish could be caught in a basket I rushed down to Mr. Le Brocq and explaned the situation. He told me the catch in the baskets would be lobsters, a kind of shellfish with eight legs and two claws, a delicacy when prepared. Looking it up in my dictionary, that I always had at hand, I found the german word 'Hummer' for it. But I had never seen or eaten it. I promised to present one to Mr Le Brocq should we be able to catch any. I told Joszef to take the rowing boat whenever he needed it, with one or two of the crew. I would tell the lighthouse crew that he was fishing (I knew 'in troubled waters'). A day later, in the early morning, Joszef came back from his 'fishing tour' with two lobsters of black/blue colour in a pail. As soon as possible I went down to the tearoom, bringing the promised lobster. They invited me over for lunch and to show me how to prepare it. Joszef, of course, knew how to handle lobsters, and although two or three of the crew didn't want to try it at first, they changed their minds after Joszef had poured boiling water over the lobster and cracked the shell. I went down to have my lunch and found that Mrs. Le Brocq didn't have the rough way of dealing with lobsters like Joszef. She opened the shell for me and I was enthusiastic about the wonderful meat. During the week four or five more lobsters were landed but then the 'lobster season' suddenly ended! The reason was simple. We later learnt that lobsters were meant for 'Higher Headquarters' so we lost that wonderful new source and never saw another lobster again.

One day I saw through my field glasses a small boat in distress. For about three to four hours it stayed near to La Rocco Tower and was unable to get away from the coast. The boat eventually foundered near to the lighthouse, so we went to rescue the stranded crew who turned out to be an Irish woman and a Dutchman who were very weak. As I helped the woman from the boat she rammed her elbows into my ribs in protest. We took them up into the lighthouse and gave them some food and water and they were kept there until the 'Chain Dogs' arrived and took them to St. Helier for questioning. During September there was a terrible storm and we were called to the 10.5cm coastal defence gun casemate 'K2' to help secure the wooden shutters, that covered the gun embrasure, to prevent the waves and seaspray from getting into the bunker.

The Irish woman was Belza Turner. She attempted to escape with a dutch seaman (Siebe Koster) from Havre des Pas in Septermber 1944. Unfortunately, they were blown off course and instead of landing in France, ended up at La Corbiere.

The full story is in CIOS Review 1986 avalible from the CIOS (Jersey) wesite http://www.ciosjersey.org.uk

To be continued....
Malcolm

[M19 MADMAL]

Then by the end of September came the time of rumours:

Rumour 1. Lieutenant General Graf von Schmettow had had secret negotiations with the British regarding the surrender of the German gerrison and had insisted on being given safe conduct and an escort to Portugal.

Rumour 2. The British Government negotiatiors had refused the safe conduct and escort and insisted on uncoditional surrender.

Rumour 3. The negotiations were to be continued in order to find ways and means to provide the hungry Islanders with food and that the occupiers might also, in some way or other, benefit (the last part was more withful thinking on our part).

Rumour 4. The Islanders would in due time be provided with the urgently needed food vaia the International Red Cross which, of course, would not work for the occupiers still being at a state of war.

The rumours spread for weeks and nothing happened. But something happened to me! On 8th October I was ordered to report the next day to Schiffsstammkompanie Jersey at the Pomme D'or Hotel in St. Helier. My task would be to act as an infantry trainer for the stranded and shipwrecked sailors and marines. It struck me like lightning! I reasoned "Would I be able to live on the rations that grew less and less?" I would be torn away from that familiar atmosphere with the Le Brocq family, away from the gentle schoolmaster and away from the camaraderie of the M19 bunker crew. However, in the circumstances I had no choice but to agree. I felt there was someone behind the scenes who thought of mixing us up and I was sure it was O.Stb.Fw. Sonntag, the '24 antlers'.

To be continued....
Malcolm

[M19 MADMAL]

On 9th October I was picked up early in the morning and taken to the La Moye Golf Hotel for a short check and then on to the Pomme D'or Hotel. When we arrived I was rather surprised to see such a fine hotel facing the harbour. The guards on the door in naval uniform checked my papers and I was shown in. After a while a naval officer appeared, a senior Lieutenant with quite a few decorations, and it seemed to me that he was not very convinced of my task but kindly told me that I would get timetables for different groups in due time. They gave me a nice hotel room to myself with white linen on the bed, something I hadn't seen for months! So I settled in and made myself comfortable. There was a shelf with books on which were the wrong ones for me. Compared to the bunker at La Corbiere it was utmost comfort. I was extremely eager when a bell rang for lunch - the dinningroom was very neat and I shared a table with some Petty and Warrant Officers. "Tomato soup again," they groaned and it was clear to me that I had to face hunger.

During the first two days nothing happened and I was free to have a look around the town. On the third day I recieved my timetables for giving three to four lectures a day. Topics were: Infantry weapons, how to use a hand grenade, digging foxholes, behaviour in open field and wooded surroundings, and similar stuff. "If you are easy with me, I am easy with you" was the most welcome agreement, and so I plodded on for the next three weeks. The sailors didn't mind when I asked them to sing a shanty and I often joined in. Despite being hungry all the time with little food we had a kind of gallows humour which kept us going. Once I had an opportunity to attend a service at St. Thomas's Catholic church in St. Helier which made a nice change. I had been given a special job from the start at the hotel which was controlling all the bedrooms after 10.00pm (except those of the senior NCOs and Commissioned Officers). On certain nights, but not regularly, bedroom doors were not allowed to be locked so I just knocked and entered. I often had a chat with the fellows in their beds. Sometimes it was a sad conversation taking place, bad news from home, familes being evacuated because of the constant Allied bombing, relatives and friends being killed, anxiety about home and fear of the Russians invading Germany. Despite common apathy there were still some fellows around believing in Hitler and the 'Endsieg'. The retreat of the German Army from different occupied countries was looked at by some stout Nazis as a great strategy, and one had to be diplomatic. But hunger and food had become topic number one. Yet one night entering the single bedroom of a Petty Officer I saw someone moving in his bed. "How did you smuggle her in?" I asked him, "Iron stairs!" he said, putting a finger to his lips. I gave him a warning - next time I would report it and he should get her out before dawn. "Via the iron staircase," he added. Then I saw her face, pretty and dark haired, about twenty-five.

To be continued....
Malcolm

[M19 MADMAL]

A few days before my time at the Pomme D'or was up I did my last bedroom round. Knocking on doors as I went and having the usual small talk I finally came to the bedroom of the blond curly haired Petty Officer. On entering I found him with his arm around the shoulder of the pretty girl, a good looking pair. "Cheeky, Imprudent!" I said. He only replied, "I love her, she is my Fiancee." Turning my back and wishing them all the best I left the room. I was fed up with the whole situation. Why should I bother as I would soon be off to La Moye, looking forward to seeing the Le Brocqs, the crew of the M19, listning to the piano player, enjoying the surroundings, and at the same time hoping that someone would have a little additional food for me. But on arriving at the La Moye Golf Hotel I was immediately informed that a 'Kriegsschule' (War school) for all infantry Officer Cadets had been instigated. The three month course would commence on 20th November 1944 at Elizabeth Castle. This struck me again like lightning! It was a small relief to learn that Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Gebhardt, our former Battalion Commander, would be in charge and the main lecturer of the War School. Dr. Gebhardt was highly respected for his most humane and Christian character. There was once a rumour that he sympathized with the resistance movement round Colonel Von Stauffenberg who had tried to kill Hitler. Our Company Commander, Hauptmann Schellenburg, replaced Dr. Gebhardt as Battalion Commander and the replacement 2nd Company Commander was a young Leutnant Weil. He was a combat veteran and had lost an arm while on the eastern front.

I had five days to prepare for the change so I went to the M19 bunker first and found my crew who were a bit dejected and hungry. But they were still better off than many others. Gustav started a song I had often sung with him in Cologne dialect, but instead of singing the verse of homesickness properly ha had changed it to "I would love to give away my rifle and walk away to dear Cologne, seeing the cathedral right in front of me". That exactly hit the change of atmosphere. They gave me some boiled tomatoes and turnips for a meal and wished me well. I went down to the Le Brocqs who gave me a hearty welcome. I had a cup of tea and some biscuits. I told them what was going on and that, sadly, I had to leave again. They wanted me to come back whenever I had a chance, but certainly for Christmas. Early on 20th November after a cold night I walked to the La Moye Golf Hotel, via La Pulente, and was taken to Elizabeth Castle to report for the War School. About twenty to twenty-four Officer Cadets had arrived during the morning and were welcomed by Dr. Gebhardt, saying that according to the food situation we would remain at our billets, with all lectures and exercises being held at Elizabeth Castle. The few things I remember were lectures on Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) (the Prussian General and theorist on war who also commanded the Military Academy in Berlin), Friedrich the Great, Napoeon, the Schlieffen Plans and military history. I can't remember any lectures on weapons systems, but I do recall lectures on 'Menschenführung' (leadership of men).

[M19 MADMAL]

Quite often Dr. Gebhardt had 'lunch' with us. Behaviour at the table had to be taught from time to time. But it was very difficult to behave when the orderlies brought in some thin soup and the bowls were emptied faster than a blizzard. I recall a 'lunch' when potatoes and vegetables were served after a thin tomatoe soup. The potatoes had been counted, one for each cadet, and a spoonful of vegetables. When the bowl was passed one could firmly see how everybody was fishing for the biggest one, so the last cadet to be served ended up with the smallest one. Hungry, that's what we were and not having the slightest chance of 'organizing' some food. Twenty-four young men aged 20-25, thinking of nothing else but food. In December came the cold in addition to the lack of food. Dr. Gebhardt even allowed us to sit in the lecture rooms with our coats on. One night I was so hungry that I did what I never thought I would do. Beg. So I went to Father Richard who had a room to himself at the far corner of the castle. On Knocking at his door he opened it and, looking at my face, he asked straightaway "What are your worries, Engelbert?" I answered "Richard, forgive me, but I want something to eat." Father Richard replied "Go over to that little cupboard, there is a small loaf of bread and a glass of sugar beet syrup, take it, you need it more than I do." I took it and ate the bread and gobbled the sugar beet syrup with a teaspoon until I had finished it. Not a crumb of bread nor a drop of the syrup was left. I felt (and still feel) ashamed. Father Richard didn't care. "If you are hungry and I can help, come and see me."

To be continued....
Malcolm

[M19 MADMAL]

Some days before Christmas I got a letter from Lemgo/westfalia. My parents and my sister had been evacuated there. Eschweiler had been bombed and our house had been partly destroyed. My brother, Heinz, who was a pilot flying an Me 109 fighter had lost his aircraft on the ground near Paris and had been posted to a parachutists' unit. Nothing else was known of him. (After the war it transpired that he had gone through many hardships: he was released in 1947 as a POW by the Americans in France for being hopelessly ill, and died in May, 1949 in the arms of my mother at the age of 23. What a bold and fine fellow he was!). On Christmas Day I went to attend a service at the St. Brelade's Soldatenheim. On the whole we were not in a hopeful mood, in spite of hearing the lesson of love and peace. Still, we believed that love and peace would never die away. Sitting together after the service we talked of Christmas and what it had been in years past. Would we experience Christmas in better years to come? In the afternoon I went to La Corbiere to see my crew at the M19 bunker. They had collected some dry wood and seaweed to get the cold out of the bunker, and had their blankets round their shoulders. But they were not in a very bad mood, comparing their situation with that of Germany lying in ruins. Bad news or no news at all was the story of Christmas beside hope and glory from above.

A few days later I went to the Le Brocqs for lunch. The good people had a wonderful surprise for me, because the International Red Cross ship 'Vega' (brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere) had arrived and parcels had been distributed among the Islanders, one parcel with high quality food for each of them. After a wonderful meal I was presented with a small parcel containing chocolate, biscuits and some butter. Of course I was moved to tears and didn't know how to thank them. In the afternoon their son had arrived with his wife and I was quite happy to see them too. He told me the latest news that gave hope for the war to end in a couple of months. Churchill had mentioned that there were "28,000 prisoners of war in the Channel Islands that feed themselves!" Very sarcastically, he forgot to say on what, but he certainly knew that we were starving.

To be continued....
Malcolm

[M19 MADMAL]

Back to the War School (the school for under nourishment) we were told that all of the Officer Cadets would be promoted to 'Fahnenjunker-Feldwebel', and with a handshake from Dr. Gebhardt, we plodded on towards the end of our course, losing weight with hunger. With finishing War School on 24th February I was promoted to 'Oberfähnrich d.R' (1st Junior Officer Candidate of the Reserve or Sub-Lieutenant). That promotion strengthened my position regarding O.Stb.Fw. Sonntag and so Hauptmann Schellenburg ordered me to take command of the M19 mortar bunker, the adjacent Schartenturm bunker and the Company Battle HQ bunker at Action Post Height 201 above La Carriere. My crew at the M19 bunker welcomed me back. I told them that I had to command three bunkers now, but this wouldn't end our friendship. It was a bitterly cold February, the sea was very rough and Joszef Pröhna told us that there wasn't a chance to catch any fish. Then something like a miracle happened! After a terribly stormy night, and when the tide had dropped, we saw the beach of St. Ouen's Bay covered with strange black objects in the heaps of seaweed. The sea had opened its bounty to us and there were octopuses all over the bay. I regarded it, as others did, as a godsend. All of the bunker crews, with a single sentry left behind, rushed to the beach with pails, bags and sacks to collect this feast. There was a unique, fantastic harvest of octopus, squid and cuttlefish. Quite a few Islanders were just as eager as the German soldiers to bring home as much as they could carry. First of all big portions were cut up and cooked, but the problem was how to preserve all that fish. As the temperature was low Mr. and Mrs. Le Brocq told me that they would keep when salted. We had so much fish that it lasted for more than a week. Cooked in salty water and nothing added the fish was not a delicacy, but is served us wonderfully. The bread ration had become a mixture of very fine sawdust and little flour and it could hardly be cut as it just fell apart! To make it more appetizing we would mix the 'bread' with small pieces of the fish.

The incident with the Squid etc was also described in similar terms by Herr Ernst Kämpfer. A devout member of the Lutheran Church, Ernst said that after they had prayed for food, God "answered our prayers, there was a storm and hundreds of squid were washed ashore in St. Ouen's Bay". Herr Georg Brefka, who served with Engelbert on Action Post Hill 201 also compared the arrival of the squid to "manna from Heaven".

To be continued....
Malcolm

[M19 MADMAL]

I had become friends with Unteroffizier Josef Schwieren, from Cologne, who had trained as an architect/artist before the war. He was the commanding NCO of Wn. Steps Pünkt 43 and resided in the Sechsshartenturm bunker located there. This Resistance Nest was manned by soldiers from the 1st Company on Machine Gun Battalion 16. Uffz. Schwieren had painted a seascape of La Corbiere as a gift for me and it was hung in the crew room of the M19 bunker. He later told me that during March 1945 some of the crew had managed to smuggle a live pig down to their bunker from a nearby local farm. After slaughtering the animal, all of the unwanted bits were disposed of in the sea and all of the meat was chopped up, salted, and placed in empty ammunition boxes which were then buried in a nearby minefield! The next morning came the 'Chain Dogs' with a bloodhound which had followed the sent from the farm, and stopped by the barbed wire fence that surounded the minefield. They turned the bunkers inside out and interrogated the crew about the pig. The crew, who had sworn themselves to secrecy, stated "What are you looking for? What pig? We know nothing about a pig" and "We heard a big bang in the night from the direction of the minefield, but we dared not go in!" So the 'Chain Dogs' found nothing and gave up.

To be continued....
Malcolm

[M19 MADMAL]

One day in April I reported to the Company Headquarters at the La Moye Golf Hotel for several things regarding food. This being done O.Stab.Fw. Sonntag told me that he had a soldier in custody, one of the West-prussians. As he didn't know whether he would be court-martialled I should take him with me to Action Post Height 201 as there was a spare bed and he could be easily used as a sentry under supervision of someone else. I didn't mind and we both marched to the Action Post. I asked him what he had done wrong but I couldn't get a clue. He was very intimidated and anxious. I told the Obergefreiter in charge to put him on the 12-4.00am night watch with Janosch, the "sleepy fool" from Berlin. I would be around in the small hours for inspection from La Corbiere. At dawn I walked up to the Action Post on the path that went around the barbed wire fence. When I arrived at the 'Spanish rider' I couldn't believe my eyes; peacefully hanging on it were a uniform jacket, helmet, rifle and a belt with a bayonet attached! Looking for Janosch I found him asleep leaning against a post inside the wire perimeter fence. I allowed myself a bad joke. I pushed him from behind and as he fell he lost his rifle, and tumbling over he started crying, "They're coming, They're coming....!" I said "Who's coming you fool?! Janosch, stop it, it's me. Where is your mate?" "Other side," he stammered. I felt like I was playing 'Red Indians' as I often did in my childhood. My thoughts were with the West-Prussian fellow. I called the crew to search the surrounding area in case he had done harm to himself.

We found no sign of him. He had left the German Army and had vanished. I quietly hoped that he had found a hiding place with one of the Islanders. After an hour or so I went easy-going, to the La Moye Golf Hotel to report. I had plenty of time to reason and to think about the situation. The war was over and lost, but there were still some idiots like the red hot and deep brown Nazi Admiral ("The Nazi Sw***"!) who meant to sacrifice men, even now. On arrival at the Company Headquarters I bumped into O.Stb.Fw. Sonntag and told him what had happened (of course, I didn't tell him about 'playing Red Indians'). "How could you put him together with that prize idiot Janosch?" he stated. "Isn't he a soldier too?" I answered Ironically. Without another word I went to head to the Battalion Headquarters at the Alexandra Hotel, St Peter's, to report the situation to Hauptmann Schellenburg. But I found him outside La Moye Manor where he lived. As I explained the situation he looked at me meaningfully and shrugged his shoulders. "You have scoured the surroundings and that is it." The matter was settled for him. We never saw the West-Prussian fellow again nor heard of him.

To be continued....
Malcolm

[Hysteria__]

An excellent read, thanks for posting.