The Disguise in Plain Sight Raid
By:AliasCWN
Chapter 2
Only minutes before Littlejohn and Billy arrive:
The guards ushered the four German prisoners into the Major's tent. Looking up, the Major studied the men before him. They certainly looked German. Their uniforms were correct and they fit them well. Rising from his desk, he returned their salutes, feeling awkward as he did so.
"All right Lieutenant, explain this. What is going on?"
"Major, these men say they are American. They speak perfect English sir….that is, all except this one. He has an accent."
"It's an English accent Lieutenant, a proper English accent, not one of your movie ones." Moffitt corrected the young officer.
"Moffitt." The German sergeant addressed the German private. "You're not helping."
"My apologies,… this just happens to be a sore spot with me." Moffitt apologized before falling silent again.
The Major watched the exchange in surprise. Not sure what to say, he turned to the German lieutenant. The tall blond officer fit the image of a Hitler youth. "All right Lieutenant, can you tell me what is going on here?" To his surprise the lieutenant smiled and nodded to the sergeant.
"You'd better talk to my sergeant; he's the one in charge." The young officer stepped back until he was behind the sergeant.
"All right, someone tell me what is going on!" The Major ordered irritably.
"As we tried to explain to your Lieutenant," The sergeant began, "we're an America unit working undercover." The sergeant went on to identify himself and each of his men. "I'm Sergeant Sam Troy, the private is Sergeant Jack Moffitt. He's British in case you didn't notice." The sergeant smiled at his team mate. "The lieutenant is Private Mark Hitchcock while the other private is Private Tully Pettigrew. We were on our way home from an assignment when some of your guys caught us."
"Then your mission is complete?"
"Yes sir." Troy confirmed. "We successfully completed it before we ran into your guys."
"My guys Sergeant? Don't you mean 'our guys'?" The major watched the sergeant's eyes as he pointed out the phrasing. "If you are really Americans then we are all on the same side."
"You're right of course Major." The sergeant admitted, meeting the Major's appraising stare. "Only the ones who caught us are under your command, not mine. My guys are the ones that you see right here."
The Major nodded, somewhat satisfied with the answer. "And how do I know that you are telling the truth?"
"Call headquarters and ask for Colonel Taft. He knows about our assignment. Our codename is "Ghost Fox." Let him know that we are here and that 'the fox was in the henhouse but the chickens fought back'. He'll know what it means."
"All right Sergeant, I'll contact headquarters, but until I hear back from them, we are holding you." The Major agreed but he added a warning.
"Understood Major," Troy nodded, "only you can't put us in with the German prisoners. Moffitt is the only one of us who speaks the language; once they realize that, we're dead. They don't like spies any more than we do."
"At least we agree on something." The Major remarked.
Troy smiled. "We agree on a lot of things Major. It's the things we don't agree on that are causing the problems."
Eyeing the sergeant, the Major sent his aide to contact headquarters.
"I will have you and your men held in a tent until we get the word back from headquarters. Make no mistake Sergeant, until your story is confirmed, you are still prisoners. Don't give me any trouble."
"Give us a place to sleep and you won't know we're here Major." The sergeant assured him.
"All right…Lieutenant, find them an empty tent and assign guards to keep an eye on them. We'll talk later Sergeant." The Major returned their salutes and watched as they were ushered out of his tent. He stepped to his door to watch them go, a thoughtful expression on his face.
They had only gone a short distance when he heard someone yell 'hey!' Glancing over, he saw two privates approaching. One of the 'German' prisoners returned the greeting by calling 'hi guys' as if they were acquainted. Curious, the Major stepped toward them.
The Major questioned the two privates and they identified the 'German' prisoners as American soldiers. He didn't like that they claimed that any other information was classified, but they did give him the information he needed to confirm their story.
He would have sent them to their tent at that point if the message from headquarters hadn't arrived just then.
"Is something wrong?" The Lieutenant asked as the Major's face paled as he read the message.
"What?" The Major asked. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"
"I asked if anything was wrong Major." The Lieutenant repeated.
"There was a high level staff meeting held at headquarters. Some of the officers were on their way back here when they were captured. They have all of the information discussed at the meeting." The Major looked like he was in shock.
"What can we do Major?"
"There is nothing we can do Lieutenant. By now they are well behind enemy lines. We will just have to wait until headquarters decides what they want to do."
"Major?"
The Major looked up at the big private who had recognized his 'prisoners'. "Yes Private?"
"Where would they take those officers?" Littlejohn asked.
The Major shrugged. "I would think that they would take them to a holding area something like this. We can only assume that they have one somewhere behind their lines."
"But they won't keep them there long will they?" The big man insisted.
"Probably not." The Major admitted. "Why do you ask?"
Littlejohn hesitated and looked at Troy. "I know that there isn't much time, but maybe we could rescue them." Looking at Troy, he continued, "You already have the German uniforms. Maybe you could sneak in there and get them out."
Troy looked at Moffitt in surprise, a gleam of an idea in his eyes. Looking back at Littlejohn, he asked. "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"
"I guess so." Littlejohn answered uncertainly.
Troy began to smile as he looked at his team. "Do you think Saunders would go for it?"
"You could ask him." Littlejohn answered with a grin.
"Go for what?" The Major demanded.
"Let's go back inside Major. I think that we may be able to help." Troy waited for the Major to lead the way. Once inside he outlined his plan.
"What if we got to the compound before they move the officers? If it's like here, there aren't that many guards. Suppose we walk in with another group of prisoners? We might be able to take over the camp before they know what hit them."
"You'll go in dressed as Germans?" The Major asked.
"We already have the uniforms." Troy replied with a grin.
"Who will you take as prisoners?"
"First squad, Littlejohn's outfit, has worked with us before. We actually did something like this once before. If you could let us use them, I think we can pull this off."
The Major considered the idea for a few moments, balancing the risks against the benefits.
"All right Sergeant, I'll run it past headquarters. I'll let you know. Private," the Major looked at Littlejohn, "stick around until we get an answer."