Tunnel Diggers
Hogan wants another tunnel dug and we get tasked with the job. Who does he think he is and why do we have to dig it? This is the strangest prison camp, our commanding officer orders us not to escape. Well I have a life and want to get back to it, not sit in some stinking camp until the end of the war! With the amount of people that go through here heading home, you'd think Hogan could come up with some way to send us home. How come they're the lucky ones and not us, because of some fluke they didn't get sent to Stalag 13 in the first place. They go home and I get stuck digging tunnels for days at a time and we're not allowed to use them. My barracks doesn't even have a tunnel entrance. What if the Gestapo discovers the operations here and come to arrest Hogan and his group? They'd escape and we'd be stuck here to bear whatever form of punishment they decided upon. I bet we'd be shot without trials while Hogan and his men are safe in London.
"How's the tunnel coming along?" Sergeant Kinch asked me inspecting our work. He's one of Hogan's men but seems to be mostly okay. "When this one connects up to the main tunnel, Colonel Hogan wants a tunnel dug to barracks eight next."
"We're really going get a tunnel to barracks eight?"
"Yes, the Colonel wants one to every barracks in case we need to evacuate the camp quickly."
"So Colonel Hogan wouldn't leave us behind?"
"The plan is if something happens we all go home together."
"Thanks Kinch, we'll have this one finished in a couple of hours then start towards barracks eight." Wow for an officer Colonel Hogan isn't a bad sort after all; he's not going to abandon us if there's trouble.
Tailors
Six months ago, I graduated from high school back in Oklahoma, and volunteered to serve my country in the war. I thought as a gunner on a plane I'd be fighting the war high up in the sky, until we were shot down. I'd never been so scared in my life and then I was captured and questioned by the Gestapo. I felt that I'd die of fright until finally landing here at Stalag 13 and met Colonel Hogan. He's a good officer and made me feel welcomed. There's an amazing group of men working for him, and we're still fighting the Germans behind enemy lines. Who would have thought it possible to strike the enemy from within the heart of Germany? I was honored to be able to join them on this mission, and it's amusing to watch how Colonel Hogan manipulates the Kommandant.
I'm learning a new trade and getting to be a pretty good tailor. London drops us material for making German uniforms and civilian clothes for escapees. After the war I might start my own clothing business back home. My grandmother was a seamstress back in the old country, so this line of work comes natural to my family.
Today we're working around the clock to outfit a large group of escaped prisoners who showed up on our doorstep unannounced catching the Colonel off guard. Fortunately it doesn't happen often, and we're doing everything we can to save them. There wasn't enough material on hand, so London made an emergency drop last night and Newkirk, LeBeau, and I went out and picked it all up. I'm literally sewing my fingers to the bone trying to get these men out of here as is everyone else. I wish London could send us some sewing machines instead of doing this all by hand. My grandmother still uses an old foot powered model and those would be great for use in the tunnels. Maybe I should ask if we can get some.
The Colonel wants these men out of here to rendezvous with the submarine tomorrow night. Sometimes I'd like to go home with the escapees, but we're making a difference in the war effort and that's what I signed up too do.