Uh, Wait, What?

(Source)

So I'm preparing for the next installment in my early World War II tale, I figure it's time to get back to our German tank crew. Especially seeing as how they were there at the very beginning of my "I want to be a novelist" phase. It all started with a dream. which you can read here. Or peruse the vast collection of The Chant's fiction here. (Which I just now realized doesn't include a single episode of my latest series!!)

Call me Lucy, 'cause I got some 'splainin' to do.

I know the names of my current tank crew, they are -

 

Unteroffizier Willi Hoffmeister (commander/gunner)

Gefreiter Fritz Weber (driver)

Panzerschütze Horst Krebs (loader)

Panzerschütze Ulrich Neuhäuser (bow gunner/radioman)

Georg Hansel, the tank's loader (1944) 

Now while doing the research to upgrade their ride from a PzKw 38(t) to a PzKw III Ausf H, it struck me that this is where I would add the fifth member of the crew as they had five in 1944, then it struck me -

 

If there are five guys in 1944, what are the odds that it would be the same five guys from 1941? 

Pretty bloody slim, I can tell you.

Then I remembered that in the original story line Willi Hoffmeister had been promoted to tank commander when Panzer 413's old tank commander got promoted, or sent off to some school, I don't remember which. Which led to the next problem, I kinda need to get all of these stories straight so the first book (this one is a prequel) matches up with what I'm writing now.

So, I need to go back and read those bits, who's who and all that.

Fortunately I have the first book in Word in it's draft format (suitable for publishing, sort of), so I can go back and read that so I get the background for this book straight. It's also time to dust off the old Excel spreadsheet roster and update it!

I also need to get this current storyline onto "The Fiction of The Chant" page of the blog. Makes it easier to go back and look these things up.

Man, I need a secretary!

One more thing, I need five volunteers who are willing to sit down and make a serious effort to read and comment upon the first book, ya know, editors.

If you wish to volunteer, email me at oldafsarge AT Gmail DOT com, five likely victims, er, candidates, will be chosen completely at random, in a secret process which is kept secret in a bank vault in Switzerland, guarded by heavily armed gnomes who ...

Well, so much for my heavily armed garden gnomes.¹

Anyhoo, drop me an email, I know some of you have already volunteered, so the names I recognize will (more than likely) get chosen. So include your blog handle.

Anyway, that research into the first book ain't gonna do itself, so I'm off to do just that. The next few days might be kinda slow in the fictional realm, I might even give the Muse a couple of days off, she tends to look over my shoulder when I'm reading my old stuff and make snide remarks.

Muses ...

Sigh ...

¹ My apologies to those who have not read the Bourne series of books (by Robert Ludlum) or seen the movies. Basically, Jason Bourne is this highly capable operative who gets screwed by his bosses yet survives to basically come back and kick everyone's ass, well, at least the guys who screwed him. A most satisfying thing to see a good guy beat the dog snot out of the bad guys. Maybe that's just me ...
Author's Note - The guy in the opening photo, the wing walker, yeah, that's me realizing that I'd forgotten something. Like where the cockpit is?