Obersalzburg, Hitler's Burghof
March 16, 1944, 1120 hours
Burkhalter was glad that the Führer had moved to Berchtesgaden. The drive up the mountain to the Berghof was scenic and relaxing, which was always needed before a meeting with Hitler. Another nice thing about meeting in the Berghof was that Hitler liked to have his staff meetings in front of the fireplace in the Great Room - much nicer than being in a cramped briefing room at the Wolfsschanze. Because of all this, Burkhalter was not dreading that day's meeting like he usually did. In fact, when the meeting began, he was in a very good mood. And when the meeting concluded without a typical tantrum from the Führer, he was even happier. It seemed that the change of scenery also affected Hitler.
But as the meeting was breaking up, Burkhalter felt his world turn upside down. The participants had rose and begun to filter away from the meeting table when Reichsmarschall Göring spoke up. "Albert, please stay behind," he said. "The Führer and I would like to discuss something with you."
Burkhalter was stunned. He barely managed to stammer out a "Yawohl, Herr Reichsmarschall" as he sat back down in his chair. He was too stunned to notice the sympathetic looks from those at the meeting he was friendly with. He knew that it was never a good thing to be asked to remain behind for a private conversation with Hitler.
What could he want? What did I do? Burkhalter was almost in a panic. What had gone wrong recently that they could blame on me? There was the incident with Zuglitz, but both Göring and Himmler have assured me that they blame the missing Colonel Hoffman for that. Could it be all the things that have gone wrong after getting to Stalag 13? Hitler himself gave me almost carte blanche to suggest the camp for anything that needed a safe location. Burkhalter searched his memory. Was there something that Hogan had done that he wasn't aware of? He knew that there was always a danger that Hogan's escapades, which Burkhalter was sure about but had no direct proof, could leave him in a bad light. Hogan, if you've caused me trouble, I'll make sure that you are discovered!
By the time everyone else had left, Burkhalter had worked himself into a nervous panic. Then, as suddenly as it had set in, the panic lifted when Göring spoke. "Albert, the Führer has come up with a brilliant idea that he needs your help with," Göring said.
When he heard that, he felt himself relax – he was not about to be sent to the Eastern Front. "It goes without saying that the Führer can count on my full cooperation," he said, trying to keep the great relief he felt out of his voice.
"As you might be aware, the Americans have developed a new version of their P-51 fighter," Hitler said.
Burkhalter nodded his head. "Ja, I am aware of that," he said. "Those new machines are causing our pilots a lot of trouble." As soon as he said it, he knew that wasn't a particularly smart thing to say with the head of the Luftwaffe sitting next to him.
"As I have pointed out repeatedly to the Reichsmarschall," Hitler said with a glare towards Göring. "They can now escort their bombers all the way to Berlin, and contrary to the assurances I have been given …" another glare towards the Reichsmarschall "… we have yet to be able to shoot one down."
Burkhalter began to feel uncomfortable. He didn't want to be in the middle of a disagreement between Hitler and Göring, and he couldn't see why they had pulled him aside. "Mein Führer, what is it you want me to do about the P-51?" he asked tentatively.
"We want one of those planes," Göring replied.
"Bitte?" Burkhalter asked. "You want me to ask the Americans if they will give us one of their new fighters?"
Hitler stared at Burkhalter for several moments, unsure how to take his question. Finally, he laughed. "Ah, a nice sense of humor you have, General," he said. "If it were only that easy. We obviously don't expect the Americans to simply give us a plane because we ask for it."
"Nein, Albert," Göring added. "We want to take one of the planes."
Burkhalter was about to open his mouth to ask his next humorous question. You want me to steal a plane from the Americans?
"Obviously, we don't expect you to take the plane," Hitler added.
"Danke, mein Führer," Burkhalter replied. "That would be quite a task for me to accomplish." Hitler laughed again and Burkhalter was starting to wonder why the Führer found him so amusing.
"At Stalag 13 – the camp run by Colonel Klunk - there is that American prisoner, what's his name … Brogan?" Hitler asked. "The one that did that radio broadcast."
"Hogan," Burkhalter corrected. "Colonel Robert Hogan." It was now dawning on him what Hitler wanted him to do. "You want me to ask Colonel Hogan to steal a P-51 from a base in England and bring it back to Germany?" Both Hitler and Göring nodded. "I'm not sure that he would agree to do such a thing."
"I think he would do it, especially if we offer him one million American dollars for his troubles," Hitler replied.
"We all know that the Americans will do almost anything for money," Göring added.
The very idea of Hogan traveling to England and stealing a P-51 from an airbase and flying it back to Germany struck Burkhalter as absurd. He struggled hard against the urge to burst out laughing. What made the idea more laughable was that he got the impression that the Führer and Reichsmarschall actually believed that this was a viable plan. Actually, Göring may believe it's a joke like I do, but he would never laugh in the Führer's face. "I don't know if even that would make him do it," he said slowly. "He might just use this to get to England and never come back."
"To make sure he does come back," Göring said, "we will hold the rest of his fellow prisoners as hostages. I know how close these prisoners become."
Burkhalter knew that Hogan and his men were closer than Göring could imagine, and any threat to them would make him very angry. "Ja, he would want to make sure his men are kept safe," he agreed. "But there's still no guarantee that he'll go along with it once he got to England, assuming he could get there."
"We've got that all worked out," Hitler said. "Reichsmarschall Göring will fill you in on the details of how to get him to England. But we don't plan to allow him to travel alone. We want a Luftwaffe officer to go with him, posing as an American flyer. They will travel as escapees from Stalag 13."
One name popped into Burkhalter's mind … Klink. They can't expect Klink to pass as an American flyer!
"And the person we want to go with him is his Kommandant – Colonel Klunk," Hitler continued.
"Klink, mein Führer," Burkhalter corrected.
"Ja, that's him," Hitler agreed absentmindedly.
"I don't mean to be difficult," Burkhalter said. I know what happens to those who argue with your harebrained ideas, mein Führer. "But it'll be a difficult task for one man … two if you count on Klink to help … to steal a plane from an Allied airbase."
"One more bit of information you must know," Göring said. "We will tell Colonel Klink how to contact our espionage organization in England, in case they need help. We have a large network in place that will be able to provide any assistance they need."
Burkhalter nodded. Now I know that Hogan will be tempted to try this. When he finds out about the spy network in England, he will want to get any names he can get and put it out of business. "I think I might be able to persuade him," he replied. I don't think he will want to bring us back a plane, but Hogan is a clever man – he'll find a way to eliminate the spy network and NOT bring back a plane … and hopefully do it in a way that will not get me shot.
Hitler stood. "Good! I will leave you two to go over the details," he said. "You will also be given a suitcase with the money. Brogan may want to see the money to make sure that we are serious. We want this to happen as soon as possible."
- - - - -
On the way back down the mountain, Burkhalter sat in the back of the staff car and thought about the Führer's idea. He still thought it was a rather foolish notion to think that an American prisoner would agree to provide any fully functional aircraft – let alone the top of the line fighter that was giving the Luftwaffe fits – to the enemy for any sum of money. He looked at the suitcase on the seat beside him. Granted, one million dollars was not just any sum, but compared to treason, it was a mere pittance.
Burkhalter allowed himself a moment to realize the irony of that thought. He had also been guilty of treason each and every time he would direct secret projects to Stalag 13, knowing that Colonel Hogan would find a way to discredit or steal the idea. But Burkhalter was doing this for a reason greater than money. He was tired of watching the fools in charge of his country driving it to ruin. And from what he saw of Colonel Hogan, Burkhalter found it hard to believe that Hogan would betray his ideals for money. No, Hogan wouldn't just agree to this because there was a suitcase of American money in it for him.
But, there was a carrot in this that Burkhalter could dangle in front of the American. He just knew that Hogan would try his best to break up that spy ring in England once he found out about it. Burkhalter wanted this as well – with a spy ring operating in England, the war could possibly be extended for a long time. He had to get that information to Hogan … somehow.
Burkhalter knew he could simply leave the list with Klink, and like everything else he had intended to pass on, Hogan would discover it's contents and take care of the problem. But he couldn't think of a good reason why he would have this list or even give it to Klink. The more he thought about it, the more he decided that it would be best to present the Führer's ridiculous plan, and when Hogan refuses to do it, drop the information about having a ring and see if that entices him to help.
He spent the rest of the trip to the airfield planning how he would present this idea to Hogan. Since the Führer wanted this to occur as soon as possible, he would call Klink the next morning to set it up for tomorrow night. Colonel Hogan, I do hope you will find a way to eliminate the German spy network. I would hate to have this war go on too much longer.