The Newkirk at the end of this chapter is the Newkirk before he became part of the operation and learned that what individuals do can matter to more people than just yourself. I imagine this was what Newkirk was like before Stalag 13. Of course, you´re free to think otherwise ;-)

Thanks for the reviews and I hope you enjoy reading the rest of Newkirks story. The next stories in the serie will follow.

A flash of pain and the world went dark. When Newkirk woke up again, he found himself dangling from a tree, still wearing his parachute.

He cursed and rubbed his throbbing forehead, but pulled his hand away as the sharp pain soared through his head. His hand was wet and he wiped it dry with his uniform. Then, seeing the dark red stains, he realised that he was bleeding severely from a wound on his forehead.

I need to get down this tree and fast!

He reached into his pocket and pulled out an army knife. The knife clicked open and seconds later, Newkirk fell towards the ground. He could hardly prevent himself from crying out loud as he landed hard on his ankle and felt it twisting beneath his weight.

Breathing hard through his nose, he fought the feeling of nausea and tried to stand up. Slowly, he put his weight onto his injured ankle and exhaled deeply through his nose, as a flash of pain shot up his leg.

Slowly, Peter, slowly.

Finally he managed to get into an upright position and began to limp slowly towards the nearby trees.

I have to hide somewhere.

Panting, he lay down behind some bushes, waiting for the pain to move away. Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat, when footsteps approached him from behind and someone held a gun against his head. As in a dream he obeyed to the whispered order "Hands up", before realizing that the order was spoken in English.

English, here? In the middle of rotting Germany? Never.

He was startled at the laughter that suddenly rang through his ears. Curiously he turned around and stared right into the laughing face of Crittendon.

"Hahaha, I thought you were a German. What´s your name again Newkrik? No, wait it was...".

"Newkirk, Peter Newkirk, sir.".

Newkirk breathed hard to control his temper. The Group Captain smiled pompously.

"Yes indeed, a very indisciplined fellow you are. A pity that I can´t send you to the solitary right now for what you said before we left. I guess that´ll have to wait before we get back to England. Now, I´ve got a plan.".

Newkirk looked sceptically but waited. Maybe this idiot was of some value. Anyway, nothing could be lost by listening.

"First, we need to find some geraniums, then, we´ll surrender to the Germans and give them the flowers as a bargain to bring us back to England. Isn´t that a great idea.".

"Sir, with all due respect you do not deserve you are an idiot.".

Newkirk watched as the words seeped into the Group Captains mind.

"Th- Th- This is insubordination. Corporal I will not tolerate this!".

A cracking sound and Newkirk brought his finger onto his lips. "Shhhh, Group Captain, quiet, the Germans, I heard a patrol.".

"I do not care about it! You insulted me! You, you-".

He could not finish his sentence as Newkirk knocked him out cold with the butt of his pistol.

He glanced down at the still figure of his commander. "I´m sorry, sir, dearly sorry that I have waited up until now to do this.".

Then, he crouched behind the bushes, trying to hide Crittendon from view as well.

As the patrol passed, Newkirk hoped he could melt away in the darkness, but Crittendon choose this moment to wake up and begin a furious charade against Newkirk.

Within seconds, they were surrounded by the patrol. Crittendon grinned at them and tried in his best German:

"Hallo, eine sehr schöne Nacht, nicht wahr. Schaut ihr auch so gerne in den Nachthimmel und träumt? Aber nicht nur der Himmel ist schön, der Wald auch, wisst ihr ihr solltet Geranien hier pflanzen für die Moral eurer Männer."1

The patrol looked stunned at this brutalitiy, but the major, who was in command took action.

"Shut up, Engländer, you will learn to pay respect to your enemy and you will learn very soon, what it is to be a prisoner of the Third Reich. Wache, abführen! 2"

As they both were handcuffed, Newkirk shot furious glances at Crittendon.

How can someone be so bold and still have become an officer?

Crittendon seemed to have seen this look, because he turned towards Newkirk and whispered.

"Don´t worry, Corporal, I´ll have us out in no time, or my name is not Rodney Crittendon any more.".

Newkirk rolled his eyes again and thought of the last occasion on which the Colonel had said this.

Last time I heard these words I landed in the middle of enemy territory, where am I going to find myself after this time?

Two hours later

The drive had seemed endless for Newkirk, who began to feel dizzy. He had searched his pockets frantically to find something to stop the blood from dripping into his eyes from the wound on his forehead, but had not found anything besides an already used handkerchief.

Guessing, that this dirty rag would only higher the chance of infection he resigned and left the blood where it was. Now and then, he wiped it off with his hand, to prevent it from dripping into his eyes.

Finally, the truck stopped and the two of them were roughly told to get off the truck. Moments later, they found themselves in the Kommandant´s office.

Newkirk studied the man before him carefully. He was nearly bald, tall, thin and wearing a monocle in his left eye. A riding crop was tucked under his right arm as he strode around the office, circling the new prisoners.

"I am Colonel Wilhelm Klink, Kommandant of Stalag 13, the toughest POW camp in Germany. There has never before been an escape from Stalag 13 and I´ll see to it that this record remains unbroken.".

He then turned his attention towards Crittendon.

"Colonel, you are from now on the senior POW in this camp. This includes that you will receive all the privileges according to your rank and you will forward the requests of the enlisted men to me.".

Crittendon frowned at being adressed as "Colonel", but then decided that obviously this German had never before captured a RAF officer and therefore could not know about the difference between a Colonel and a Group Captain. He then returned a crisp salute and said:

"Yes, sir.".

Newkirk rolled his eyes once more.

He is the enemy, bloody hell, he is German! We ought to fight him instead of promising to cooperate with him.

Klink nodded, satisfied.

"Very well, Schultz, my Sergeant of guard will escort you to your Barracks. You are in Barracks Two. Schultz, bring sie zu ihrer Baracke.3".

"Jawohl Herr Kommandant.".

In Barracks Two

Newkirk looked along the line of men, who were standing in the middle of the room to greet the newcomers. Schultz, walked past them and addressed the men.

"Boys, these are Colonel Crittendon and Corporal Newkirk. Colonel Crittendon will be your new senior POW. On order of the Kommandant, you are to tell them about the rules of this camp and show them around.".

Newkirk did not listen to the rest of the speech, his eyes wandered around the Barracks, from the wooden bunks along the wooden walls, towards the holes in the ceiling. Then he looked over the faces. Everybody looked weary, hopeless and helpless.

So this is what POWs are supposed to look like. People, grounded for the rest of the war in the hands of the enemy. Having to sit back, while others are fighting, dying and new prisoners delivered now and then, as a message to their hopelessness. Sometimes a letter from their families to tell what havoc the war has been wreaking on everything that is dear to them.

And the worst of all, I´m going to be one of them. I should not be here, I should be in a pub in London, drinking a beer with my mates, picking someone´s pocket, performing magic tricks, not rotting away in some prison camp.

And for what good is this? For my King? For my country? Only for the greed of some people. For the want of power, no, whatever I put my life on the line for. It´s not the noble things they told us in training.

No, definitely not for King and country or for the sake of others.

Translations

1 "Hello, a beautiful night, isn´t it? Do you like watching the night sky and dreaming as well? I must say, not only the sky is beautiful, the woods are as well. You know, you should plant some geraniums, it would increase the moral of your patrols."

2 "Guard, take them away"

3 "Bring them to their Barracks"