The Unexpected POW
I don't own or claim to own any of the Hogan's Heroes characters.
The plot and any other characters that are not in the show are mine.
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Chapter 1:
Colonel Robert Hogan, Corporal Peter Newkirk and Sergeant James Kinchloe (or Kinch) were sitting at the long table in the middle of the barracks. They had been playing poker for the last half an hour and as the time past, the other men in the barracks started to watch them. It was no surprise that the game had lasted this long but it was always fun to watch and see who finally gave in first.
"I'm out" Kinch said throwing his cards on the table and leaning back on his chair.
"You give up to easy mate" Newkirk smiled as he threw two chocolate bars into the ever-growing pile in the middle of the table. "I'll match your bet guv'nor and raise you three."
Hogan smiled as he looked into the Englishman's face and then down at his cards. He knew he had a bad hand and that he was probably going to lose. Hogan sighed and shaking his head, threw his cards face down on the table.
"I'm out too. The rest of this stuff has to last me until next week and there's no way I'm gonna win this round." He pushed the pile of biscuits and chocolate bars towards Newkirk.
"Hey colonel, Schultz is on his way over here." Olsen called from across the room. He had been looking out the window just incase anyone decided to drop in on them while LeBeau and Carter were down in the tunnels working on the German uniforms they had managed to get hold of.
Hogan got up from the table and hurried over to Kinch's bunk. He tapped on the wooden frame and the bottom bunk rose into the one above it, to reveal a hidden entrance to a tunnel below them.
"Carter, LeBeau get up here and fast, Schultz is coming!" He called into the tunnel. Schultz wasn't that big of a threat to them but he didn't really want to push his luck any further then he had to.
Seconds later LeBeau hurried up the ladder and into the barracks closely followed by Carter who hit the wooden frame of the bunk to close the entrance. They turned around just in time to see the door of the barracks open and the big, burley sergeant of the guard, walk in and shut the door behind him.
"Hey Schultzie, What's up?"
"The kommandant wants to see Colonel Hogan in his office, that's what's up Newkirk." He said as he walked over to the stove in the middle of the room, to warm his hands. It was the middle of winter and it was freezing outside.
"What's he wanna see me for? I haven't done anything"
"Colonel Hogan please, I know nothing about why the kommandant wants to see you, he never tells me anything. All he said was to get you and bring you to his office now."
Hogan pulled a chocolate bar from inside his brown bomber jacket. "Are you sure you don't know anything Schultz?" He asked casually as he pulled a chocolate bar out of his inside pocket.
Schultz looked longingly at the bar in Hogan's hand and quickly answered. "Something about the comments that were made in this morning's roll call, that's all he said."
"Okay Schultz, let's go get this over with." He handed over the chocolate bar, grabbed his crush cap and walked out of the barracks pulling his collar up around his ears as he and Schultz walked across the compound to the Kommandant's office.
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Colonel Wilhelm Klink, kommandant of Stalag 13, sat behind his desk talking to General Burkhalter over the phone. He might have been the kommandant of the only POW camp with a perfect no-escape record, but that didn't mean he was entirely confident talking to his superior officer, even if it was just over the phone.
"Yes sir, I have doubled the guards around the fence…yes general Burkhalter both in and out side the wire…but there is no need for you to…" Klink winced and held the phone away from his ear. "Yes sir, I will be expecting you…yes sir. Hail Hitler" Klink hung up the phone and sighed.
The door to his office opened and colonel Hogan walked in. Klink rolled his eyes. // Doesn't anyone knock any more? // He thought to himself.
"You wanted to see me colonel?" Hogan asked in a somewhat cheery voice, which Klink was in no mood to hear at the moment.
"Yes Hogan I did. This morning during roll call your men said things that I do not appreciate. I want them to be found and punished. Is that clear?"
"I never heard anything offensive, what did they say?"
"You know very well what they said Hogan." Hogan started to respond but was interrupted.
"There is going to be a surprise inspection by general Burkhalter today in about two hours. I am warning you now Hogan, if anyone tries anything funny, or attempts to escape while he is here, I will hold you personally responsible. Is that clear?"
"Come on kommandant, would I do anything to ruin your record while Burkhalter's here?"
"You're right, I'm sorry." Klink stopped and realized what he was saying "Hogan!! Make sure your men are ready for the inspection."
"Yes sir." Hogan turned to leave. He stopped when he reached the door and turned around to look at Klink. "Oh by the way, I wouldn't try anything with Burkhalter but let me know when Hochstetter's around, I might be able to pull off something by then."
"Hogaaannn!!" Klink called as he watched his senior POW officer walk out the door, Giving Klink a very sloppy salute as he went.
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"Okay fellas listen up." Hogan called as he walked through the door of barracks 2. He waited for them to stop what they were doing, although there was no real need. They had looked up as he walked back inside. "Looks like Burkhalter's coming for a little inspection tour of the camp again."
"Did Klink say when he'll be here? Or how long for that matter?" Kinch asked.
"Yeah, in about two hours. Kinch, I need you to get downstairs and radio London, Tell them we need the underground to be on stand by in case Burkhalter's here for longer than usual. They may have to go out tonight and pick up any flyers that might get shot down. London is gonna have another go at that factory tonight."
"Right sir." Kinch got up, hit the wooden frame of his bunk twice and went down into the tunnels.
"Newkirk, has Cpl. Langenscheidt gone into the armoury to do an inventory check since we last borrowed some weapons?"
"No sir. Although I only took some extra ammo and some grenades two nights ago, I don't think that would be anything Klink would worry about, even with that inspection today."
"Well this is one time we can't risk it, if Burkhalter wants to inspect the armoury as well and finds anything missing that Klink can't account for, he's going to suspect we had something to do with it. Go down and see if you can find the grenades that we took, and then take them back to the armoury through the tunnel. Don't worry about the ammo. Klink would probably think he used it in one of our escape attempts."
Newkirk took off after Kinch while the others kept watching Hogan waiting for the next lot of instructions.
"The rest of us have the less fun part of a cleaning detail. Klink wants the camp in perfect condition for Burkhalter. Any volunteers?" Olsen, Forster, Adams and Carter stood up. "Okay, while you're out there cleaning, spread the word through the camp. No one is to do anything out of the ordinary today while Burkhalter's here." They all headed for the door.
"LeBeau, you and the rest of the guys round up anything that might look the slightest bit out of place and take it down into the tunnel. Then I need you to go and make sure the tunnel entrances are secure at the other end, all of them, except the emergency tunnel. I don't think we'll need to use it but just in case."
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Kinch looked up as he heard someone climb down the ladder from the barracks. Hogan looked around and saw Kinch at the radio, turning everything off.
"Just got word back from London colonel, they say that they will pass on the message to the underground."
"Great, thanks Kinch." Hogan sat down for a minute on the chair opposite Kinch.
LeBeau walked around the corner and came to a stop before Hogan and Kinch. "Everything is done mon colonel, know one would ever be able to tell what we have down here."
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For the last half an hour, Hogan had been in quarters listening to everything that had been going on in Klink's office. Last year, about two months after he had arrived at stalag 13 he had asked Kinch to set up a hidden microphone in Klink's office. He was able to plant the microphone into a picture that was hanging on Klink's wall near the door. He had also attached the listening device into an old coffee pot in Hogan's room, which was the perfect hiding spot for it. Even though LeBeau had accidentally used it to make coffee a couple of times after it was set up, which had unfortunately made turning up the volume impossible.
"Colonel Hogan?" Kinch said as he opened the door to Hogan's room slightly and poked his head around it.
"Hey Kinch, take a seat."
"Thanks. Anything new from Klink's office yet?" he asked taking a seat on the only other seat available in the room.
"No nothing yet. Klink's just being his usual worried self. Even more so now cause Burkhalter's on the way."
"Colonel Hogan sir," LeBeau came hurrying in closely followed by Carter and Newkirk. "Burkhalter's staff car just came into camp."
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General Burkhalter was a large man who could be very intimidating to anyone and everyone he knew, even if they had only spoken to him for a few minutes. He was head of the Luftwaffe and was also on Hitler's personal staff. Klink was always sucking up to him. Although Klink had a perfect record with the camp, Burkhalter could easily send him off to the Russian front.
"Ah, general Burkhalter, what a pleasure to see you again." Klink said in a slightly over excited voice. He moved from behind his desk and over to where the general was standing.
"Klink why is it that you get more pleasure out of me coming here then I do?" Burkhalter said as he handed Klink his coat. He didn't wait for a reply. "I am here to inspect the camp and make sure everything is in order and that no escapes have taken place from the last time I was here."
"Yes sir, and I can happily say that there has never been a successful escape from stalag 13" Klink smiled as he walked over to the small table and poured himself and Burkhalter some wine.
"So you have told me, and told me. Although how it is possible that there has been no escapes from here is beyond me. I want to get this over with quickly Klink, call Schultz in here and order him to have the prisoners fall out for roll call. The quicker I leave the happier I would feel."