Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.
A German's Point of View
By Suzie2b
Hauptmann Hans Dietrich of the German Afrika Korps stood on the passenger seat of the halftrack, his hands gripping the metal windscreen tightly as he tried to get his anger under control. His plans had once again been thwarted by the desert rats that had been plaguing him throughout the Desert Campaign. Now he watched as the two jeeps sped away after once again decimating his column and men.
Finally, when the Rat Patrol was out of sight, the captain sat down heavily in the seat with a sigh and told the driver, "Lassen Sie uns zurück zum Ausgangspunkt."
The driver nodded as he said, "Ja, Sir."
On their way back to base with what was left of his men and vehicles, the frustrated captain thought about his adversaries. Sergeant Troy was a smart man and an excellent soldier, even if he was a bit soft hearted. "He can be a hard, cool and calculating killer, then turn around and save the life of an enemy without hesitation." He was sworn to his duty and would do whatever it took to carry out an assignment. "I have seen him do the seemingly impossible to free himself and his men when I have had the opportunity to capture them. We think a lot alike at times. If I wasn't sworn to kill him, we could possibly be friends."
Captain Dietrich turned his thoughts to another. Sergeant Moffitt. A British soldier through and through. He knew who was in charge, but as a second in command he was excellent. "He knows how to take orders and carry them out without question. I wouldn't mind having one like him under my command." The two sergeants worked well together. They always seemed to know what the other was thinking. "I've been around enough of the British to know how stuffy and arrogant they can be. But Sergeant Moffitt is neither stuffy nor arrogant. He is, however, very intelligent and as deadly as his counterpart."
Then there was Private Hitchcock. The captain smiled inwardly as he thought, "Whoever gave him that ridiculous nickname should be shot." Dietrich saw Hitch as little more than a boy, but a boy that could drive, shoot, and kill as well as any soldier on either side … even better than some. He had seen Hitchcock in action and knew what he was capable of. "A little brash at times, but all in all a good soldier."
Dietrich then thought about Private Pettigrew. He saw the private as a sort of country bumpkin with a matchstick between his teeth. "But when you look into his eyes you see the quiet calm that could prove so deadly." Tully was as smart as any of them and the captain knew the private wouldn't hesitate to kill to save his own life or those of his companions. "He is as good a driver as Hitchcock. They communicate well. But I've also seen him handle that 50 caliber machine gun."
The captain let out another sigh as he stared out at the desert and thought, "I cannot deny that the Rat Patrol is a good unit. A well-oiled machine that should not be taken lightly." He wished he could get his superiors to understand that. They seemed to think that four men and two jeeps were not much of a threat. "How wrong they are."