Thursday, April 1, 2021

Kriegsgefangene¹

(Source)

Von Lüttwitz stood at the fence - he, Sauer, and Heinrich had been put in the officers' enclosure, his men were on the other side of a double chain link fence, with perhaps two meters between the fences. Both fences had barbed wire on top, he hadn't noticed any dogs, he knew a German camp would use this area between the fences as a dog run, he hadn't seen any here.

He had expected it but he was still in a bit of shock from having his medals stripped from his tunic. The burly military policeman (MP) who had pulled his Knight's Cross from around his neck had done so with all the glee with which a particularly bad child would exhibit. The man had glowered at him, almost daring him to do something. His pistol had been taken away almost at the very moment of them being turned over to the men from the POW camp.

Leutnant Ralf Heinrich had protested loudly when one of the MPs tore the epaulettes from Heinrich's black Panzer tunic, then torn the Army Totenkopf patches off as well. A slap across Heinrich's face from the MP had almost caused Heinrich to strike back. Sauer had barked at him to stand at attention. Heinrich had immediately complied.

That was the first time von Lüttwitz had heard the phrase he and the other officers would become very familiar with, "F**king Nazis."


"Regrets Herr Major?"

"No, Manfred, but, well, yes, many, but not over our actions of the past few days. Look at the men, some don't look very happy, but most of them look relieved. They know that the retreating is over, the dying is over. They are going to survive. Things may be tough over the next few months, but I think the Amis will treat us well."

"Even these Ami Kettenhunde?"

"They're the same in any army, some are good, some are bullies, but in general, the Amis aren't a vicious people. At least not in my limited experience." von Lüttwitz sighed then looked at the sky, "I think it's going to rain."

As the rain started to fall, Sauer wondered how long they would be kept in these open enclosures. Not a single shelter in sight, open pit latrines, life wasn't going to be comfortable, but at least no one was shooting at them.

Situation on the 2nd of April 1945
1st Infantry Division is circled in red.

(Source)
Once again C Company was mounted in halftracks. The Big Red One was covering the left flank of the right pincer of the forces encircling what remained of the Germans' Army Group B. On paper that Army Group consisted of three armies - one Panzer, one Infantry, and one Parachute, between those three armies they controlled fourteen divisions.

On paper.

Most of those once proud divisions were little bigger than regiments. Many of the men in those divisions just wanted the war to be over. While Hitler might scream about fortresses and fighting to the last men, most of the troops had had enough. They were ready to quit.

Cpt. Tony Palminteri climbed out of his jeep and stretched his back, these roads were killing him. He looked over at his driver, Pfc. Clay Newton, and said, "Don't wander off too far Clay. Stretch your legs, take a nap if you want. We've got a few minutes before we push off again."

Then he turned to his radioman, Cpl. Jacob Winters, and said, "Get the platoon leaders up here with their platoon sergeants. We need to set up shop around here someplace, I want to have a look at the terrain and compare it to the maps we've got. I've seen no sign of the Krauts trying to escape out of this bag we've got them in, but you never know."


1st Lt. Stephen Hernandez was talking with his predecessor, 1st Lt. Nate Paddock. The two men had moved away from the column and were quietly enjoying the spring weather. It was a long few moments before Hernandez broke the silence.

"Ya know Nate, I think I'm going to stay in the Army when this is over. I had plans but..."

"It's got to be hard for you. I know Beth cared for you, a lot. I'm still shocked by her death. I'm not sure if Edith will ever get over it. They were close." Paddock sighed and looked down at the ground. He and Hernandez hadn't spoken much about Beth McGee's death. He'd talked to a couple of the guys in his old platoon, they said that Hernandez didn't let on that he was in pain, but as one of the men said, Hernandez was a lot quieter than he used to be, more intense in some ways.

"So you gonna marry Edith?" Hernandez had to ask.

"Well, I think there's an understanding there, you know, if we both survive the war..."

"Yup, Beth and I were serious, but decided to wait until after... Well, shit, there isn't going to be an 'after' for her, is there? Sorry Nate, it still hurts, I think it always will."

"Ya know Stephen, word at battalion is that they're considering you for a Silver Star."

"For what?"

"I don't know, something about arranging the surrender of an entire Kraut battalion. Regiment has had their eye on you for a long time. Division too. If you stay in, you might get to keep that commission too." Paddock looked at Hernandez, then said, "Don't take any stupid chances, okay. Your men need you, Hell the whole outfit needs you. This war is damned near over."

"I won't Nate, the only thing I care about right now is getting my boys home alive and in one piece."

(Source)

Every day saw more men being brought to what some of the men were starting to call 'The Zoo.' Von Lüttwitz and Sauer had been able to stay in touch with their men through the efforts of Hauptfeldwebel Klaus-Peter Keller. The Spieß had managed to organize a very efficient communications network in both the enlisted and the officer enclosures. Word had it that he'd convinced the American commander to let the men start building shelters.

Word also had it that the Spieß had pointed out to the American officer that the job could be very profitable for that officer. Keller had contacts in the region from before the war. The area occupied by the Allies needed rebuilding, why let the prisoners sit around idle all day? After all, the war was nearly over.

Somehow Keller had managed to recover von Lüttwitz's Knight's Cross from the brutal, and as it turned out not very bright, MP who had stolen it from him. As Keller said, "Hide it somewhere Sir. I don't think there will be any repercussions, but you never know."

"I shall find a safe place for it Klaus-Peter. How are the men?"

"Getting fat from the rations the Amis give us. Far better than what we've had for quite some time. Hopefully I can get them working soon, idle hands and all that."

"Indeed. Well..."

Von Lüttwitz was interrupted by an entire squadron of American twin engine bombers passing overhead. No doubt to strike some target in the Ruhr pocket. Von Lüttwitz waited until the noise had passed, then said to Keller, "What were we thinking when we started this war?"

"We weren't thinking Sir, not at all..."




¹ Prisoners of war

Link to all of the Chant's fiction

78 comments:

  1. So, Stephan will quit the Army of the United States, and join the United States Army?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Paddock and Palminteri are the only US Army in the cast, aren't they? The rest being draftees, and wartime and six months enlisted?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nope, the men who enlisted are considered to be Regular Army.

      Delete
  3. Here's hoping the foreboding I felt after reading the conversation between Nate and Stephen is baseless.....I sure hope so!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's hard to tell with my Muse, she sometimes takes me down paths I'd rather not go.

      Delete
    2. Hopefully Paddock will talk to some of the sergeants and get a discrete lookout set up so Hernandez doesn't step in or on it.

      Delete
  4. God bless the Spiess! A vital function deftly handled as usual.
    Ah, Muse! Hear our entreaties!
    Boat Guy

    ReplyDelete
  5. I looked at the photo of the GI holding the carbine, and I'll paraphrase what Admiral Gallery said about the German prisoners he had after the capture of the U-505.
    He'd noticed an American sailor with a Thompson walking carelessly through a group of German U-boat sailors and he said that earlier in the war the Germans would have taken advantage of that sailor's carelessness.

    My dad mentioned that he'd thought about staying in the Air Corps after the war, but never really regretted his decision to get out at the war's end and marry Mom.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At this point, you would see a single private with his M1 slung escorting over a hundred Germans. They were done, I saw a photo in the Army's official history of a number of Germans heading to a POW camp. No guards at all.

      Delete
    2. Look at the right side of the photograph. Looks like there is some backup there.

      Delete
    3. You see the same thing with Germans guarding prisoners, especially Camp Guards. There are photos of guards out there with the bolts open on their rifles.

      Once someone submits completely to the situation, it's all over except the prodding and the leading. And usually the defiant or frisky ones are cut out of the 'herd' before the mass-walking to the 'corrals.'

      Which, well, is usually one of the first things about prisoner treatment. Find out who the wolves are compared to the sheep and separate them, quickly. By this stage of the game, there's been lots of practice by front line troops in finding defiant or insane prisoners.

      Delete
    4. Musashi (A Book of Five Rings) would say that the important part is to destroy the enemy's spirit. He refers to it as "Penetrating the Depths".

      Delete
    5. Kill the spirit, the enemy won't fight.

      Delete
  6. Dunno that Esteban will like the peacetime Army. Neither my Dad nor Uncle did. Like my Uncle, I can see 1Lt Hernandez getting "retreaded" for Korea; Nate too.
    Boat Guy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's not far from my mind. The Korean War is very personal for me.

      Delete
    2. As for me. My grandmother had both of her son's over at one time. Ever see the "Koran War Educators" site? My Dad contributed some years back, wish my Uncle had before he died
      BG

      Delete
    3. A maternal uncle served in combat in Korea as well. So yeah " personal" in my family
      Boat Guy

      Delete
    4. Just visited that site, I think I need to read more over there.

      Delete
    5. Having served there, and having Korean relatives, makes it personal for me.

      Delete
    6. Korean War... If you served over there, 30 days continuous or 60 days sporadic, it makes you eligible to be listed at the Korean War Memorial.

      Most of the dying stopped at the Cease Fire. Most...

      As to Hernandez, there were lots of crappy jobs for officers to fill after the war. He could stay in Germany and work in the Occupation Force, or be transferred back to the states and be assigned a job overseeing the destruction or liquidation of all that now-war surplus, or even be sent to Japan for that occupation. Lots of bases in Europe to close, lots of little islands in the Pacific to do the same.

      The between-war period did suck. And we paid for it in the lack of preparation and equipment in Korea.

      Delete
    7. Politicians declaring that peace has broken out, don't need armies or navies anymore and...

      "Kim Il Sung did what?"

      Delete
    8. Hmmm.. Hernandez staying in, being assigned to the Occupation Force, falling in love with a Fraulein... Or going to the othe rside of the world and falling in love with some Japanese maiden.

      Delete
    9. The possibilities are endless...

      Provided he survives the war.

      Delete
  7. One of the men I admire most has a small display of stuff he brought back from just this stage of the war. He was front line, and did occupation as well. A coal bucket helmet, dagger, armband, some medals, and a couple pictures. All neatly stowed in a built-in display cabinet in a modest farm house sitting in cotton fields in a corner of the county.

    That rear echelon hero struck a chord. Seems they would trade for captured goodies. Intriguing and thought provoking as per usual. Carry on!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think some of you have misinterpreted my reasons for having S/Sgt Preston Santos go up to the "front" with his Panzerfaust. You're putting too modern a spin on things. He's the C Company mess sergeant, he's a good cook and a good man. But he's heard the talk of the guys who are at the sharp end and feels the need to see the elephant for himself. Remember, as a company level guy, he's always pretty close to the front, unlike say an equivalent guy at battalion or regiment or higher.

      Of course the riflemen are going to give him crap about it, it's what the guys at the sharp end do to those who are not.

      I have a mass production samurai sword and a Nambu pistol with holster I got from a guy who was a PB4Y pilot in the Pacific. He mentioned how he bought them from a rear area type. Said that went on a lot. If you're an infantryman, where would you stash your war souvenirs? An infantryman will only carry what he needs to survive, so they "sold" them to rear area guys.

      I have the feeling that the stolen valor phenomenon is post Gulf War mostly. I've met guys who served in Vietnam who felt the need to "enhance" what they did there as they were made to feel being assigned in the rear was looked down on. I also knew a former Army officer who made a big deal about being an infantryman and that everyone else was a "REMF." That guy was a useless dick. People are weird and many of the things we see these days is based on civilians' perceptions of what people in the military do (or what they think they should do). Give S/Sgt Santos a break, he's a good guy.

      Guys in the rear have more places to store stuff.

      /rant

      Delete
    2. I watched Band of Brothers and what struck me was mailing the silver and other valuable loot back home. I'd never thought about it before but how else would you get it home?

      Delete
    3. A lot of what the GIs attempted to mail home was stolen by Army postal workers.

      Delete
    4. About 15 years ago I was talking with a gentleman in a waiting room. WWII vet. I asked his branch and where he served. He looked down and said he had been in the Army, but spent the whole war in DC doing logistics. Almost apologetic. I allowed that without the lance, rider, and horse to support and propel the "sharp end" it would fall to the ground, useless.

      Delete
    5. There's lots of Stolen Valor from Vietnam. If the number of guys who said they served on the front-lines were actually there, we would have sunk Vietnam just by the weight. That's just from the REMFs in Japan or Germany who said they served in Vietnam.

      And every one was Marine Recon or Green Beret or SEALS...

      Then you have people like certain congresscritters who still swear they served there even though actual physical records show they did not.

      Or ones that served on a PBR in the rear areas and saw more action at the range than on the river.

      Stolen Valor has always been an issue with REMFs. You see it begin when the REMFs start outnumbering the shooters. Not so much in the Rev War but by the ACW, in the North, REMFs and Stolen Valor.

      Spanish-American War? You'd think most of the Army charged up San Juan Hill. But most didn't.

      Same with WWI, lots there. The sale of captured German gear or parts of German planes was a big way the Doughboys generated money for girls or booze or both.

      Where you get enough people together, you'll find venal and stupid mixed together and - poof - false tales.

      Delete
    6. Joe - Something I always point out to the so-called "operators," try doing all that fancy shooting-shit with no bombs/bullets/bandages/chow/etc.

      Delete
    7. I got no beef with a cook that want's to see a bit of the elephant. I actually thought his sense of duty is what propelled him there. I have nothing but respect for men that do their duty. What I was referring to was this gaping arse: "The burly military policeman (MP) who had pulled his Knight's Cross from around his neck had done so with all the glee with which a particularly bad child would exhibit." Big tough guy with a disarmed, compliant man. I've seen it too many times before. Put that dink out in the line. He needs to learn respect.

      Dad was a peace officer. He would say that MP was stuck in stage 2. And wouldn't ever make stage 3.

      Delete
    8. Oh, that guy! Yeah, complete POS. Not atypical of military police.

      Delete
    9. Seen that with any police force. You have the good guys who are trying to do their job, and then you have the badge-orcs. Sigh. Badge-orcs are the ones that screw it up for everyone else, and, sadly, often get promoted over the good guys.

      Delete
    10. I like that term, "badge-orcs."

      Delete
    11. I found overtime generally those who were special forces or Marine recon don’t really talk about it then you find out about it thirdhand.

      Used To be a guy at our local hardware store that was really quiet but he was adept at catching shoplifters.

      One his coworker said he was in a Vietnam Marine recon unit and then he’s actually in a book or two.

      Delete
    12. Knew a Marine Recon guy. He talked about the fun things they did, like shooting wildlife with aircraft cannon, stuff like that. Nothing dealing with the deaths of other humans.

      And he could sneak up on you in broad daylight.

      Aegergon, Godspeed good Sir, Godspeed.

      Delete
  8. I've made this comment before, I think. Circa 1965, when we built a float bridge across the Rhine on a Sunday, the locals would come to watch. Our 1st Sft, a Big Red One vet, would set up a display on a tarp. Two or three M-14s, a M2 .50, and a 3.5 Rocket launcher. You would see German men, mid to late thirties, with small boys examining the weapons and talking to their sons. We let the civilians handle the weapons and seeing one of them quickly field strip a rifle or machine gun while explaining the function (assume that-nicht spreken) was humbling. I was glad I didn't have to fight those men.

    ReplyDelete
  9. There's always some jerk or idiot who has to be stupid-mean to prisoners. Be funny if Paddock or Palminteri show up to talk to Herr Major and ask where's everyone's stuff.

    Kettenhunde gotta Kettenhunde, no matter what army or what you call them. Now, I'm not saying all MPs are like that, just, well, it was a place that unreliables seem to accumulate.

    As to quarters for prisoners, much of the lack was just from the pace of the war and the sheer number of prisoners we were suddenly taking. Though some of it was due to petty vindictiveness and misappropriation of materials - tents supposed to go to POWs being used by the guards or being 'diverted' in the black market.

    REMFs, the ones that make good rear echelon personnel look bad, gotta REMF...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In the spring of 45 open enclosures was the rule rather than the rarity. The sheer number of prisoners taken in the Ruhr pocket overwhelmed the system.

      The one thing no one ever mentions about the "Greatest Generation" are the number of deserters and the organized crime that went on behind the lines. I'm still pissed at Brokaw for coining that phrase and all the goons who parrot it. The other thing that goes up my ass sideways in regards to that phrase is that the Russians did most of the fighting and dying against the Germans, we don't teach that. Sure they were assholes, but they were our assholes.

      Delete
    2. There is a good visual of the numbers on tube o' you. And they learn precisely the wrong lesson, like all good weasels...

      Kinda like the "guns be bad" mentality after the Great War that disarmed the Brits. We sent them arms for the Home Guard, because of their fervor. Ugh...

      Delete
    3. Those civilian arms we sent them in '39 and '40 for home defense were supposed to be sent back after the war. They weren't. Destroyed ASAP (except for the ones hidden.)

      Delete
    4. As to the 'Greatest Generation,' I'd ping that on the Rev War, or the Wilderness People, or even the ACW soldiers on both sides.

      Where you have an army you have deserters and venal jerks like Crapgame, Don Rickle's character in "Kelly's Heroes." Or the original Sgt. Bilko. Always some self-serving jerk in supply.

      Delete
    5. Beans #1 - Or the Garands which went to Korea...

      Delete
    6. Beans #2 - Concur on your definition of Greatest Generation.

      Delete
    7. (Don McCollor)...I think the number toward the end of the war was that 10,000 prisoners a day were coming into Lucky's (Third Army) POW cages. It was a wonder that they could string barb wire that fast, let alone feed and shelter them..

      Delete
    8. I've seen the pictures after the surrender of the Ruhr pocket, 300,000 POWs in open enclosures. It was insane!

      Delete
    9. (Don McCollor)...There is the picture of a long column of German prisoners walking west down the meridian of an Autobahn. No guards, just two endless columns of American vehicles racing the other way on both sides..

      Delete
    10. They were done, and they knew it.

      Delete
  10. Not like the Soviets had a choice. They did a whole lot of that fighting with gear our people got to them at some cost -something that's conveniently overlooked in Russian histories.
    Yes the crime rate in that army is a decimal place worse per capita than the boys (and girls) of today. Parentheses because the gala are rarely crooks -well, except for "victimless" crime.
    Boat Guy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. True and logistically we helped tremendously. (Worthy of note, Lex's Dad was on the Murmansk run.)

      Delete
    2. The convoy losses were my first thought but we left a bunch of airplanes scattered across the Aleutians too.
      The account of the internment of Ski York's crew after the Doolittle Raid is instructive of USSR in those days
      BG

      Delete
    3. Cynical me notes that the USSR declared war on Japan two days after Nagasaki
      BG

      Delete
    4. BG #1 - Yeah, they were marvelous pains in the ass. Trying to do shuttle bombing of Germany by landing in the USSR was a good example.

      Delete
    5. BG #2 - Which led to our idiot government letting the Reds disarm the Japanese above the 38th parallel in Korea which led to...

      Well, we know the rest of the story there. Thank God we weren't stupid enough to give them a slice of Japan to occupy. (Sakhalin doesn't count.)

      Delete
    6. All the while the USSR was waging war using our State Department and all of the USSR's bought flunkies within the American Government and in American universities and in the American press.

      Delete
    7. They were never our friends. They were barely our allies. They spied on us, committed acts of espionage that, well, Nazi Germany wished they could have gotten away with. They bought politicians and bureaucrats, and with that, bought US policy. Way before Jimmy Carter found no dictator he couldn't love, FDR was pandering to the Soviets. The New York Times was fully in the Soviet's pocketbook.

      Yeah... Great allies... I mean, when you make the French look positively angelic in comparison, you know you've gone full Soviet.

      Seriously, look at what they did to their own people. The pogroms, the holocausts of whole nations and ethnic people.

      I think we'd have done better sending all of that aid to Finland than to the Soviets. Well, Finland before they joined the Nazis (partly out of desperation as their European allies deserted them.)

      Delete
    8. Beans #1 - Yup. Those bastards are still selling us out.

      Delete
    9. Beans #2 - Finland sided with the Germans in order to regain the territory they lost in the Winter War of 1940.

      Delete
    10. Their allies really didn't come through for them in 1940, so, geez, who would you go to?

      Delete
  11. I heard something interesting on a documentary about the German invasion of France last night. Most of the German soldiers before were demoralized remembering World War I and really didn’t want to invade.

    The Nazis gave them a pervatin, which was an amphetamine.

    It made them all pretty much fearless and uncaring.

    Didn’t realize it was the same is crystal meth and if so god what an addiction.

    As far as the line where the major says “we started the war“ the only one I would attribute that to was Hitler

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. True to a certain extent. The Germans were very leery about invading Poland. People in Berlin said it felt like they were at a funeral when the announcement was broadcast that Poland was being attacked. The relative quickness of that campaign improved morale so that by the invasion of France, there was no demoralization at all. The amphetamines issued by the German military were also issued by the US military.

      The German nation started the war by electing Hitler, he was one man, one man cannot start a war.

      Delete
    2. Correct. But one man can provide the impetus and cover for others to start the war.

      Odd, in the reading (and knowing the history), how soon these POWs will be considered valuable allies and the Soviets the enemy.

      Delete
    3. True.

      In a little over ten years, the Bundeswehr will come into being. To fight the Soviets and the Warsaw Pact, if need be.

      Delete
  12. Just got this timely item in my Youtube feed this afternoon: "The Rhine Meadows Camps - What Really Happened?" https://youtu.be/icFKdMw7nT8

    /
    L.J.

    ReplyDelete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

NOTE: Comments on posts over 5 days old go into moderation, automatically.