Please note that this is my first fan fiction story that I have ever written. I have had this idea for a while about a back story for LeBeau so wanted to put it into words to see what other thought of the idea so please R&R.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Hogan's Heroes characters. No copyright infringement is intended.
LeBeau's Tale
In February 1941, six Free French airmen arrive as POWs at Camp Grün at the outskirts of Hammelburg. These airmen consist of Colonel Thomas Wickham, Sergeant Henri Beaumont, Sergeant Arthur Spencer, Corporal Louis LeBeau, Corporal Francis Rowley and Private Andre Jetter. They are assigned a barrack away from most of the other prisoners in the camp.
The Kommandant of the camp is Colonel Velten Hampel who is infamous within the region of the brutal torture and killing of the POW within the camp. At least once a week a prisoner is picked at random and executed in front of the other prisoners while standing a roll call. However the Red Cross are unable to confirm these rumours so the killings go on.
The new French POW are the first French that have come to the camp so they immediately get the attention of Colonel Huger. The guards sense this attention so treat the prisoners with little or no respect, handing other major punishments, including beatings, for the most minor offenses.
Within the first three weeks of their arrival in camp, the smallest Frenchmen Corporal LeBeau goes missing for three days. None of the prisoners know where he is and none of the guards seem to care. On the third day the answer is revealed when he is released from the cupboard inside Colonel Hampel office. He is half dead as he has been given no food or water since the captivity in the cupboard began.
A week later a fire occurs inside the French barracks. The windows and doors are bared so the prisoners are unable to escape. The guards watch the fire but do not attempt to release the prisoners. They can hear the screams of the men inside, but still do nothing. The men are finally saved when Corporal LeBeau manages to get his hand through a small hole in the window and remove the piece of wood which is locking them in. However two men, Sergeant Beaumont and Corporal Rowley are killed by the fire, the latter dying after three days in terrible pain finally succumbing to his burns. Another, Sergeant Spencer is left with serve burns to his face and hands. The other men only suffer minor burns and smoke inhalation.
In the weeks after the fire the French go unnoticed by the guards and Colonel Hampel. They are left mostly left alone apart from the occasional physical violence against them during morning and evening roll calls. However one night this all changes when Private Jetter is taken in the middle of the night by Colonel Hampel. All the prisoners can tell that the Colonel has been drinking and try to stop him from taking the Private. The guards, however, are called and soon put a stop to any attempts. The Private is brought back late the next morning. He has been severely beaten and succumbs to his injuries the following day, despite all the prisoners attempts to save him.
Now there is only three of the original six French prisoners left; Colonel Wickham, who is having trouble accepting the death of this youngest man, Private Jetter, as well as the lost of another two of this men in the fire; Corporal LeBeau, who has now become the face of the French to the other prisoners in camp, he is the only one that is seen outside during the day, apart from at roll calls; Sergeant Spencer, who keeps inside whenever possible, unable to face the world with the scars left by the fire.
During one roll call a week after the death of Private Jetter, the now unstable Colonel Wickham attacks Colonel Hampel. It is a spur of the moment attempt and the Colonel is quickly overcome by the guards. Without any hesitation the Colonel Hampel pulls out his gun and shoots the French Colonel straight through the forehead. Blood spatters the on looking, shocked French prisoners. Corporal LeBeau faints dead away, while Sergeant Spencer just screams.
From this point on the only time a French prisoner is seen is during roll call and when Corporal LeBeau comes out to look for food or beg for more medical supplies. Colonel Hampel has tired of the French airmen so they are left in relative peace. However this peace is broken one day as Corporal LeBeau heads back to the barracks after an unsuccessful attempt at getting medical supplies. The other prisoners soon heard a cry from the French barracks and rush to help. When they get there they find a shocked Corporal LeBeau staring up at the hanging body of his comrade, Sergeant Spencer. The prisoners manage to cut him down but it is too late, the Sergeant is dead.
The guards refuse to let Corporal LeBeau move to another barracks so he is left alone in the barracks which is associated with the deaths of most of his friends and comrades. The other prisoners can hear his screams and shouts of terror throughout the night. However the guards continue to do nothing.
The next morning Corporal LeBeau is finally allowed to move into another barracks. He is assigned to an English barrack where the prisoners try their best to welcome him and help him overcome the recent events. Despite having limited English and terrifying nightmares, Corporal LeBeau does find the help and friendship that he needs to deal with the loss of his comrades. His English improves quickly and soon he joins the camp escape committee, in hope that someday he might escape from this living nightmare.
More prisoners are brought into the camp each day and as the population grows, Colonel Hampel torture and executions begin to escalate. The prisoners are beginning to get angrier and angrier as they watch companion after companion killed or torture just for the pleasure of the Colonel. One day a riot breaks out in the camp and over 50 prisoners are killed. The rest of the camp is severely punished with no food given to them for three entire days. They are also forced to stand at attention for hours on end and are woken up at least four times at night for roll call.
Corporal LeBeau can see that the camp has descended into hell and the only way for the prisoners to have any chance of freedom ever again is to remove Colonel Hampel from the world. He tells no one of his plans. This is his revenge for the death of his comrades and for all the prisoners in the camp. He know that he will never get away if it and it will likely mean death for all those in camp, but to stop the continue abuse and killing of the other prisoners that might someday come to this camp, the benefit will be worth it.
One night, between roll calls, Corporal LeBeau sneaks out of the barracks and heads for the mess hall. Within it he knows there are knives which the kitchen staff use to cut the meat and other provisions given to the prisoners. Using a small spade borrowed from the escape committee, Corporal LeBeau is able to force open the door to the kitchen and takes one of the knifes. He also spies some bread and cheese and takes this for the other prisoners.
Once he has gotten back to the barracks, he waits until the final roll call is complete and the guards to return to their normal guard positions then sneaks out again this time heading for the Kommandant's quarters. Again he has no trouble breaking in and is soon entering the bedroom. Colonel Hampel is asleep lying on his back, snoring gently. Corporal LeBeau knows it is now or never. His will never get this chance again to dispose of man who has made his life and those of hundreds of others a living hell. He would love to put the Colonel though all the pain and suffering that they have had to go through. However he knows this would put him on the same level as the Colonel so instead he pulls out the knife and quickly plunges it though the Colonel's heart, or where it should have been if he had one. There is no movement from the Colonel, he just ceases to breath. The blood flows from the wound covering Corporal LeBeau's hands as they continue to hold the knife positioned deep inside the Colonel's chest. Corporal LeBeau finally puts out the knife, unable to believe what he has just done.
He was expecting that the pain from the lost of this friends and comrades would finally be released. However all he feels is a sense of horror and remorse in what he has done. This in turn causes anger to swell up inside him, why should someone who has caused him so much pain, continue to do so in death. Corporal LeBeau turns away from the major's body and begins to search the closet for the Colonel's uniform. He finds the thing that he is looking for, the marks of rank, to show that he and only he could have been in the Kommandant's room tonight. This way no one else can be blamed. Taking the knife, Corporal LeBeau makes his way back to the barrack, climbs into bed and surprising soon falls asleep, one hand still holding the bloody knife and the other clutching the Colonels marks of rank.
The next morning the guards storm the barracks, shouting and pulling men from their beds. The prisoners know that something has occurred, but are unable to guess what. However when Corporal LeBeau is thrown from his bunk, still in procession of the knife, they realise that there has been a murder and the Corporal was likely to have been the killer.
Corporal LeBeau is dragged down to the cooler, where Major Gerd Kempf, Camp Grün's second in command, interrogates him for hours. Corporal LeBeau never protests that he was not the killer, but neither does he confirms it. Sometimes he will speak out about the Colonels' treatment of the prisoners and how he deserved what happen to him, but he only get a slap or two in return. Finally the interrogation is over with the official German outcome being that Corporal LeBeau had killed the Colonel to get revenge for the "unfortunate" deaths of his comrades during their captivity. Corporal LeBeau is sentence to death by firing squad.
Within days of the killing, the prisoners are forced to watch as one of their own is lead up, in chains, from the cooler and towards a concrete wall near the Kommandant's office. Corporal LeBeau refuses to be blindfolded and the guards allow him this one wish. Watching the faces of the other prisoners, Corporal LeBeau is thankful that the Major has not taken out the death of the Colonel on any of the other prisoners, that only he has suffered from his actions. He also has no fear of the death that awaits him. He knew that from the time that he grabbed the knife from the kitchen that it would mean his death. He doesn't care just as long as no-one else has to suffer what he and his comrades had had to suffer.
The firing squad lines up and awaits the order to shoot. The prisoner facing them shows no signs of fear, only defiance. Suddenly he speaks softly the words 'Vive Le France' and continues saying it over and over again. Soon the other prisoners watching, take up the saying as well. However, by this time Major Kampf has had enough and orders the firing squad to shoot. With a loud bang the guns goes off and Corporal LeBeau falls silently to the ground clutching his chest. After a couple of minutes it becomes apparent that the bullets have not killed the Corporal. He is still showing signs of movement and is even attempting to sit up. When Major Kampf bends down to check the prisoner's condition, Corporal LeBeau opens his eyes and says in a weak, but still defiant voice 'Vive Le France'.
As customary when the firing squad fails to immediately kill the target, the Major pulls out his gun and aims a killing shot at the prisoner's head, as kind of a mercy killing. As the trigger is pulled, however, the gun misfires, leaving the prisoner still alive. An event like this, when a gun fails to fire, it is thought to mean that a higher power has determines that this person should live. The Major is furiously angry with the turn of events. However he know that he can not get away with trying to fire another shot, so he orders the Corporal to be taken to the camp infirmity, where all should be done to save his life.
As Corporal LeBeau begins to heal from two shots in the chest and another in his lower left arm, the other prisoners in the camp are beginning to be dispersed to other camps in the area. They are told never to reveal what had occurred here on the threat that if they do, everyone else that had been to this camp, including Corporal LeBeau, would be hunted down and executed. By the end of the month, Corporal LeBeau is the only prisoner left in the camp. Once his wounds are fully healed he is placed in the cooler, where he is to spend a yet undetermined amount of time in solitary confinement.
