Back down in the camp, the men have formed a special formation by the order of their colonel and now waited for him to talk. Hogan cleared his throat, exchanged a short few words with Major Wayne and then turned to his men. As he was not one for long speeches, and his men knew that, the colonel came right to the point. He told them how proud he was to have been their commanding officer for the last three years and he also promised them that once he was back in London, he would write recommendations for every single one of them. The men whistled and applauded, cheering loudly for their CO.
Just as Hogan ended his little speech, a single rifle shot reverberated throughout the compound. Before the shocked eyes of all the men; among them now many of the liberation forces, Colonel Hogan collapsed in a heap to the ground, where he stayed unmoving. A blood pool started to form beneath his head, soaking the sandy soil a bright red color. Major Wayne reacted first and kneeled down besides the fallen colonel. Seeing the obvious gunshot wound he shouted out, "Get the medic at once! This man has been shot!"
Moments later, Wilson was at their side and checked his colonel over. He felt for a pulse and finding none, sadly shook his head. Major Wayne lowered his head and then called out again to the men. "He is dead! But I promise you men, that we will leave no stone unturned until we have the men who did this to your commanding officer! You have my word on it. Dismissed!"
Out in the woods, the two black clad men congratulated each other on a successful mission, packed up their things and went on their way back to Berlin; to report the success to their superiors. They left no traces of them ever being their behind. The young corporal had even picked up the spent cartridge, although it was hot to the touch.
Patrols from the US Army headed out into the woods to search for any signs of the sharpshooter who took out the Air Force Colonel. But they found none; not even with the help of the friendly guard dogs.
In the meanwhile, Hogan's body had been lifted up and carried into the private quarters of the former camp Kommandant. There he was gently deposited on the soft mattress in the master bedroom. As his men were about to leave; a sudden loud groan, halted them in their tracks. As one, they turned around; their eyes fixed on the person lying there. Newkirk moved slowly closer, anxious what he would find and not wishing to see their renewed hopes squished. But they weren't. Another louder moan was heard and this time they all heard it loud and clear. Baker rushed out to get the medic and ran headlong into Colonel Klink, who was curious about all the commotion going on.
"What is happening, Sergeant Baker?"
Baker answered slightly out of breath, "It's our Colonel, Kommandant. Someone shot him in the head! We all feared he was gone for sure, but just now we heard him moaning in pain. So I am off to get our medic to tend to him, Sir."
Klink took it all in and after some thinking, said to the young American sergeant, "I have a better idea, Sergeant. I will call my personal physician and ask him to make a house call immediately. I am sure he will be better equipped to help Colonel Hogan. Now if you'll excuse me, Sergeant, I need to go do that."
Stunned at the generosity from their former jailer, Baker thanked him and still headed out to get Wilson. Outside he was met by Major Wayne, who asked what will happen now and who will be in charge; if there was any other officer besides Colonel Hogan.
Shaking his head, Baker replied, "No, Sir. There is no other officer here. See, it was like this: the Germans wanted to make sure that the Colonel stayed grounded after they had shot him down in June '42. So instead of sending him to an Oflag with other officers, they sent him here to this enlisted men's camp, hoping that Colonel Hogan would take charge of the enlisted men and not try to escape. Sadly, their perfidious plan worked beautifully. We never had a successful escape from this camp, but thanks to the colonel, our living conditions improved considerably. As to your other question, we are getting medical help for Colonel Hogan. He is still alive and needs medical attention immediately. So, if you'll excuse me, major, I need to go get Sergeant Wilson."
Ten minutes later, Baker was on his way back to the Kommandant's quarters together with Wilson. As they were about to get inside, a car stopped right beside the building and an elderly bespectacled man got out, holding a big black suitcase in his left hand. Obviously he knew his way around the place, because the man walked right past the two Americans and went inside. In the quarters he was greeted by his patient Wilhelm Klink. The men shook hands and Klink explained to his doctor why he had called him over. Not needing to be told twice, the doctor moved directly into the master bedroom and closed the door behind him, so he won't be disturbed while tending to his new patient.
But moments later he was disturbed, as the door opened once more and Sergeant Wilson walked in. He introduced himself and the old doctor returned the courtesy.
"Nice to meet you, Sergeant Wilson. I am Doctor Klaus Hofmann, and I think we two have a patient to tend to."
Wilson nodded, "Yes doctor. Colonel Hogan was shot in the head from a distance. Miraculously, he is still alive and judging by his louder groans and moans, he is about to come to very soon. So we should act fast in treating him, as I know that patients with head wounds are not given any pain meds."
This time it was the old doctor who nodded in confirmation. "That is right, Sergeant. I think I should take a closer look at the wound and then we will go from there."
On closer examination of the colonel's head, Doctor Hofmann found not only an entry, but also an exit wound. The small entry wound was located between the center and the left side of the colonel's forehead; the bigger exit wound was right above his left ear, having cut a small piece of flesh off of it. Not believing his eyes, the doctor said to Wilson, "This is a miracle. The bullet went in and out of his skull cleanly. It doesn't look like much damage has been done to this man's brain, although I can't guarantee it. He has to wake up first before I can determine that."
As Wilson is about to answer, the bedroom door opened and Hogan's core team members walked in as one. Newkirk asked outright, "So how is the Gov'ner doing? Will he be alright, mate? I mean, we do have to travel to London tonight and he has to come with us."
The doctor repeated his earlier findings to the colonel's men before stating, "This man is in no condition to travel. He has suffered a serious head wound and like I told you already, I can't tell you if his brain has been damaged or not. Hopefully it hasn't, as there are no vital brain parts in this area of the head. But there is a possibility that he's bleeding internally, which we can't tell for sure as there is no way for us to look inside his head. X-rays are not that good enough to show us these things. But what I can tell you for certain is the following; due to the colonel hitting his head on his way down, there is a big lump at the back of his head. This also caused a swelling inside his brain and this swelling is putting pressure on various nerves. The left side of his face is also swollen, a side effect of the trauma he suffered. This will go down in a few days on its own. The other swelling inside his brain will hopefully go down too; if not we have to give him medication to bring it down. Otherwise, the pressure could also cause brain damage. If you ask me, this man should stay where he is or better yet, be taken to a hospital."
As he explained all this to the colonel's men, the doctor opened his suitcase and got out what he needed; rolls of bandages, antiseptic fluid and two syringes; one filled with penicillin and the other with a mild sedative. With help from Wilson, Doctor Hofmann treated the two head wounds fast and efficiently. He cleaned them both thoroughly, used the antiseptic and then used a clean roll of bandages to tie around the colonel's head. The thick gauze pad that he put on the entry wound above the colonel's left ear was hold securely in place by the bandage. Satisfied with his treatment, the doctor than readied the syringes and gave the colonel the two shots; hoping to prevent an infection and to help ease the man's pain a little by making him less alert.
But to everyone's great surprise and astonishment, the colonel suddenly woke up. Totally disoriented and in obvious pain, he blinked hard a few times and looked around. Realizing where he was and who was with him, Colonel Hogan came right down to business. Turning to his men, he asked them, "Is everything ready for our imminent departure? Has the underground been informed?"
Again it was Newkirk who spoke up for them all, stepping closer to the colonel's bed, "Everything is done, Gov'ner and the underground knows about our situation. The only thing that is worrying us all now is your health, Sir. The good doctor here told us you are not ready to travel, but I say, we won't leave you behind, Gov'; not after everything you have done for us. No chance in hell of that."
LeBeau, who stepped up to the other side of the bed, put a hand on the colonel's shoulder and said softly, "Pierre is right, mon colonel. We won't leave you behind. If we go to London, we all will go or we will all stay. There is no argument there, right mes amies?"
Baker and Carter eagerly nodded and smiled lightly at their commanding officer, happy to see him awake and even lucid…which was truly remarkable, seeing as he had a bullet go through his head! Hogan thanked the doctor for his help and after getting into a half sitting position with his back against the headboard, wanted to speak with Colonel Klink. To his men he said, with a twinkle in his eye, that he needed to get the paperwork done that would make the take-over official before they were allowed to leave for London.
