Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.

Author's note: "Virtually no Jew in North Africa was left untouched. Nearly 10,000 suffered in labor camps, work gangs, and prisons, or under house arrest. By a stroke of fortune, relatively few perished, many of them in the almost daily Allied bombings of Tunis and Bizerte in the winter and spring of 1943 when the Germans forced Jewish workers to stay at their jobs clearing rubble. But if U.S. and British troops had not driven the Germans from the African continent in 1943, the 2,000-year-old Jewish communities of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and perhaps Egypt would almost certainly have met the fate of their brethren in Europe." But what if creative license goes to work.

FYI - Einsatzgruppen means "Task Force"

The Einsatzgruppen

By Suzie2b

The Rat Patrol was in the hills of Algeria watching the coast of Oran. Allied High Command received intel that a ship would be arriving in Oran's port. It was reportedly bringing in men of the Gestapo and SS. High Command wanted to know what they were doing in North Africa.

Not long after they got to their overlook, a rather beat up German cruiser steamed into port. When it got close enough, Moffitt could read the name on the side with binoculars, "It's the Kormoran."

Troy, Hitch, and Tully gathered around Moffitt. As the ship docked, Troy asked, "Think that's the one we're waiting for?"

"It's an auxiliary cruiser. Quite capable of moving troops. Let's see what they unload."

Each of the four Allies held binoculars to their eyes as the ship's crew began to offload cargo and munitions. Then they saw five men wearing dark suits walk down the gangplank.

Hitch said, "Look at that. It's the Gestapo."

Troy nodded. "Sure looks like it."

Moffitt said, "There must be more. Why would five men of the Gestapo come here alone on a ship like that?"

Hitch said, "Maybe the Kormoran was the only ship available."

Tully said, "I think it's because there's more to this than meets the eye."

Binoculars shifted to where Tully had seen German troops exiting by way of a gangplank amidships.

Troy said, "That's the SS."

As the German troops continued to file off the ship, Hitch asked, "What do you think they're doing here?"

Moffitt said, "I can't begin to guess at the moment."

By the time the flow of men stopped, there were probably 500 on the dock beginning to form ranks.

Troy said, "It's a Death Squad."

Moffitt frowned. "How can you be sure?"

"I've seen it before…" Troy didn't finish the comment and said, "There are Jewish communities all over North Africa. You know Hitler and his obsession with wiping out the Jews."

"High Command will want to know for sure."

Troy said, "There's no way we're going into Oran to look for their orders. That would be suicide."

Tully asked, "Then what do you want to do, sarge?"

"We wait. When they pull out, we follow."

Moffitt inquired, "And if they start their mass murder in Algeria?"

Troy looked at his fellow sergeant and said, "My guess is they'll go to Morocco, back into southern Algeria, then into Libya, and north to Tunisia. Then they'll finish in northern Algeria before they leave."

Hitch asked, "How can you be sure they'll go into Morocco first?"

Moffitt smiled slightly as he said, "Morocco is closer to Oran than Tunisia. It makes sense."

Troy did some thinking, then said, "Hitch, I want you and Tully to go to Tlemcen and wait. I have a feeling I know where they're going to stop first."

"There's a good sized Jewish community in Fes."

"That's right. And the road out of Oran will take the Germans straight there."

Moffitt nodded. "Hitch, Tully, let me show you the road you'll need to take."

Soon Tully slipped in behind the wheel of one of the jeeps and Hitch got into the passenger seat.

Troy said, "It'll be dark in an hour so you shouldn't have any problems, but keep your eyes open. When you get to Tlemcen find a place to hide. Make sure they take the road into Fes. Moffitt and I will not be far behind. If they branch off towards Melilla, you'll let us know when we catch up to you. For now this is a radio silence mission."

Moffitt said, "Melilla is Spanish. The Germans have no reason to go there."

"We can't guarantee where they're headed or why right now. It's best if we play it safe." Then Troy lightly smacked Tully on the knee and said, "Get going."

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Two hours after leaving Troy and Moffitt, Hitch and Tully passed through the town of Tlemcen. It was well after dark and no one was out and about. They found a place to pull off the road into the undergrowth that would hide them and the jeep.

They had a quick K-ration meal and Tully said quietly, "I'll take first watch. You get some rest."

The night was quiet with only the hooting of owls to keep the two Americans company as they took turns on watch.

However, as the sky lightened with the dawn, traffic on the stretch of road began to pick up. People, animals, and carts moved back and forth, never knowing they were being watched by the hidden Allies.

After a while, Hitch said, "I'm going to go to that crossroad. Let me know when the Germans show up."

Tully nodded. "Right. Be careful."

Time passed as Tully waited for some sign of the Germans. Then he noticed that travel on the road had stopped. That seems unusual … unless the people were hiding from something.

Ten minutes later a procession of German cars, trucks, and halftracks passed by the spot where Tully was hunkered down in the undergrowth. As the last one went by, Tully grabbed his little mirror and with it sent Hitch a reflected signal.

A short time after that, Tully saw Troy and Moffitt coming and stepped out into the road. Moffitt stopped the jeep and Troy asked, "Where's Hitch?"

Tully said, "He's up ahead at the crossroads to make sure which road the Germans take."

"Okay, get the jeep and let's shake it."

When they got to the crossroads, Hitch came out of hiding and told them, "They did take the road to Fes, sarge."

Troy said, "Trade places with Moffitt. It's going to be an all day trip to Fes."

#################

Just before noon Troy and his men caught up with the Germans. They had stopped at a house and were holding the family at gunpoint while they collected water from the well and ransacked the house.

The Rat Patrol were close enough to make out the words the commander used when he asked the head of the household. He demanded loudly so as to intimidate the family, "Sind Sie Jüdisch?"

Troy looked at Moffitt, who translated, "He wants to know if they're Jewish."

The husband and father answered, "Nein, Oberst."

The colonel stood straight and tall with his chin slightly tilted up. "Mein Rang ist Standartenfuhrer."

Both the husband and wife gasped. The husband stated, "Sie sind bei der SS."

"Noch mal frage ich: Bist du jüdisch?"

Moffitt said, "He's identified himself as an SS colonel and he's asking again if they are Jewish."

The husband had begun to tremble. "Nein, nein, Standartenfuhrer! Wir sind Deutsche!"

The colonel looked at the husband, then at his wife and three young children. He turned to his sergeant and said, "Sie lügen. Tötet sie."

Before Moffitt could translate the colonel turned and walked away as the sergeant ordered three of his men to open fire.

When the family of five were lying dead on the ground, the Germans moved on.

Troy and his men stayed put until the Germans were out of sight, then drove down to the house. Moffitt and Tully checked to see if by chance even one of them were alive, but it wasn't to be.

Moffitt stood and said as he looked down at the husband, "He insisted his family was German. Apparently the colonel didn't believe him."

Tully sighed and turned his eyes away from the corpses, his emotions barely held at bay. "Can we at least bury them, sarge?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah, we'll bury them together in the back yard."

With that grim task taken care of, the Rat Patrol headed out again to follow the Germans to Fes.

#################

After a quick midafternoon break, the Germans rolled into Fes at nightfall. An hour later the Allies arrived just outside the town.

Troy had Hitch and Tully cover the jeeps even though they were well off the road and out of sight. Then they took their machine guns and made their way into the town.

They took to the rooftops when they saw that the Germans were parked in the middle of town. It wouldn't take long before the word spread about who was there.

Troy asked, "Do we know what the Jewish population is here?"

Moffitt replied, "Since the war came to North Africa the numbers have dropped. The first time High Command ordered a census of the Jewish people the population was over five hundred in Fes alone. The last time the numbers had fallen by at least half. It seems that as many Jewish families as possible got out and went to safer ground as soon as word got out that the Germans were coming."

Hitch asked, "Why would High Command take a census of the Jews?"

"With Hitler's obsession with eradicating the Jewish people, President Roosevelt thought it prudent to see what he was up against out here. However, this is the first time a Death Squad has actually come to North Africa as far as I know."

Tully said, "We have to stop them."

Troy gave a nod. "We're going to give it our best shot."

Moffitt inquired, "Do you think we should contact headquarters? We could use some help on this one."

"We can't risk it right now. I don't want them to know we're around. At least not yet."

"Do you really think we can take on 500 German SS troops by ourselves?"

Troy said, "We'll radio headquarters when we don't have to worry about who knows we're here."

Hitch mentioned, "It'll take several days to get troops here from Ras Tanura."

"They don't have to come from Ras Tanura. We're just going to have to chance it."

#################

As soon as the Germans were settled, their commander, Colonel Kandler, ordered a large detail to take shovels out beyond the town's wall.

Troy thought to himself, "I know what they're going to do, but…" He whispered, "Hitch, you and Tully go find out exactly what they're going to do with those shovels."

Hitch nodded. "Right, sarge."

The buildings in Fes were close enough together that the privates could easily jump from rooftop to rooftop.

As they hurried along, keeping an eye on the German detail in the street, Tully wondered aloud, "What are they going to dig up?"

Hitch said, "I don't think they're here to dig for buried treasure. They're probably going to dig a trench."

Tully frowned deeply. He'd heard of the Germans digging trenches before taking groups of Jews out to be assassinated. He never let himself think too much about it though … until now.

A German sergeant led the detail just outside the walls. Hitch and Tully could hear the sergeant yell orders to the men. They spread out and began to dig. Hitch didn't need Tully to translate what the sergeant's order's had been.

After about twenty minutes, the privates hurried across the rooftops back to Troy and Moffitt.

When they rejoined the sergeants, Troy asked, "What'd you see?"

Hitch said, "They're out there digging a trench."

Moffitt frowned, "More than likely it's going to be a mass grave."

Troy nodded. "More than likely you're right."

Tully asked, "What're we going to do, sarge? We can't just let the Germans murder these people."

Troy said, "I don't know what we can do, Tully. They have us out numbered big time."

Hitch said, "Maybe it's time to call in reinforcements."

"I've thought of that and I plan to send a message to headquarters. But the soonest anyone will be able to be here is in twenty-four hours tops."

Moffitt suggested, "What if we were to warn the people? The only ones that have had a chance to notice the Germans are those in the immediate area. If we warned the people beyond…"

Troy said, "Where would they go? As soon as the Germans realize they're gone, they'll go after them."

The four Allies took turns watching the Germans from they're rooftop hiding place through the night. Troy sent Moffitt down to the jeeps to send a message to headquarters.

However, when he returned, he had bad news. "I sent it, but I don't think the message got out. It sounded like the signal is being blocked."

Troy sighed heavily. "Great. That's just great. We're on our own."

#################

Just before sunup several details of Germans began going door to door, breaking into the homes. Anyone that didn't look Arab was hauled out into the cool morning darkness. Men, women, and children, most still in their night gowns, were lined up in front of the German vehicles.

Colonel Kandler paced back and forth. As the numbers swelled, he finally said to his second in command, Sergeant Eberhardt, "Nehmen Sie ein Dutzend auf einer Zeit."

The sergeant nodded and went about the task of pulling the first twelve adults out of line. Those that had children were told to bring them along.

Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully watched as the people were led away at gunpoint. Frightened women and children cried while the men remained stoic as they accepted their fate with their heads held high.

Minutes later they heard gunfire. Even though the Allies expected it, they still jumped at the sound. They were silent for what seemed to be an eternity and wouldn't look at each other because their emotions were so near the surface.

Then they saw Sergeant Eberhart and his men return. Another dozen men and women were culled from the group and led away with their children.

As the Jews and the Germans disappeared from sight, Tully whispered urgently, "We can't let them do this, sarge."

Troy stared at the last place he'd seen the prisoners as he said, "Tully, you and Hitch go down and find a place to hide a box of grenades. Make sure it's within throwing distance of the Germans. Then bring a second box up here."

The privates nodded and headed out over the rooftops.

When Hitch and Tully were on their way, Moffitt quietly asked, "Care to share the plan?"

Troy looked at his fellow sergeant and replied, "As soon as work out a few more details, I'll let you know."

#################

As Hitch and Tully climbed down to the ground, gunshots were heard and they knew the second group was dead. They moved as fast as they dared in the direction of the jeeps.

They uncovered the back end of both jeeps to get to the boxes of grenades that were each.

Hitch asked, "How are we going to get one of these up to Troy and Moffitt?"

Tully thought for a moment, then spotted a pack in the back of the jeep. "Grab that other pack."

They split the grenades in the second box into the two packs and slung them onto their backs. When they were ready, Hitch picked up the other box and started for town. Tully put one machine gun strap over his shoulder and carried the other one as he followed.

Hitch and Tully managed to keep out of sight of the marauding Germans, who were still breaking into homes looking for anyone that looked Jewish.

They went into one of the mudbrick homes that had obviously already been searched, as both the front and back doors had been splintered open. They went through and found a window facing the Germans.

Tully said, "This should work."

Hitch nodded and set the box of grenades in a corner. Another round of gunfire made them both sigh with sadness and anger.

Hitch took a careful peek out the window. "Hey, look at this."

Tully joined his friend. "What's up?"

"Isn't that those Gestapo guys we saw at the docks?"

"Sure looks like it."

The privates watched as two of the five men in dark suits walked up to Colonel Kandler. Hitch and Tully couldn't hear the conversation between the four men, but they knew it couldn't be good.

After a minute, several of Kandler's men were ordered to bring a few of the Arabs that were in the crowd to watch into a house that the Gestapo had appropriated for their own use.

Knowing what the Gestapo was best at Hitch and Tully didn't bother to wonder what was going to happen.

Tully finally said, "Let's get back to Troy and Moffitt."

When the privates arrived back on the rooftop with the sergeants, Hitch knew the answer, but questioned, "You saw that right? What is the Gestapo going to do with those Arabs?"

Moffitt hazarded a guess, "I'd wager they're going to try to get the Arabs to tell them if there are any Jews hidden away somewhere."

As Hitch and Tully removed the packs they'd been carrying, there was a sudden scream from inside the house the Gestapo was using.

Troy looked into one of the packs and saw that it was mix of German and American grenades. He took a German grenade out of the pack, then turned and said, "Moffitt, you and Tully get one of the 50s and go to where those grenades are hidden."

Moffitt asked, "What's your plan, Troy?"

"We won't be able to get every one of those Germans, but we can get as many as possible. We're going to make them believe there's a whole company of Allies here."

"You do realize there are just the four of us?"

Troy smiled slightly. "I like playing the long shot. I'll give you thirty minutes to set up. Don't fire until I give the signal."

Moffitt asked, "And that would be?"

"You'll know it when it happens." As Moffitt and Tully left, Troy looked at Hitch and asked, "Got any tape? Any kind at all?"

Hitch fished through the second pack and came out with a roll of duct tape. "Don't leave home without it."

"Good. While Moffitt and Tully are setting things up downstairs, I need you to make some cluster bombs out of the German grenades in these packs."

"Right, sarge."

As Hitch went to work, Troy made his way around the roof of the building to see if there was anything they could use to their advantage. In one corner he found some building supplies neatly piled up. Troy went through the things and found a canvas bag full of nails.

#################

Moffitt and Tully made it to the jeeps without difficulty. As Tully removed the pins that held the 50 caliber machine in place on the stationary mount, he said, "We're going to need the portable mount."

Moffitt nodded. "I'll get it."

"Getting through with the grenades was one thing. Getting to the house is going to be a little harder carrying this, the mount, and the ammo."

Moffitt set the mount aside and went to the other jeep. In the back he found the other two packs – they always had four on hand. "We'll pack as much ammunition as possible into these." When they were ready, the sergeant said, "Lead on and I'll follow."

Tully smiled as he said, "Guess you don't have much choice with this gun between us."

They quietly made their way back into Fes. Luckily Moffitt and Hitch had the advantage, as the German didn't yet know the Allies were there.

When they arrived at the house, Tully said, "The grenades are in that corner there."

Moffitt thought for a moment, then said, "Troy wants the Germans to think there are more of us than there are, right?" Tully nodded. "What if we take the 50 to another house? It would give the sense that there are more soldiers."

Tully nodded. "Yeah, let's leave the 50 here and take the grenades down the block. The box will be easier to carry."

#################

Troy checked his watch and asked, "All ready, Hitch?"

The private gave a nod. "I've got the grenade clusters taped together and nails taped to that for extra shrapnel. Use them wisely, there's only four of them. The rest of the grenades are American."

Troy handed Hitch a machine gun. "Now, go down and find a place to hide. Wait for my signal."

Hitch asked, "Sarge, that German sergeant and his men haven't come back after that last group went out. Do you think they're done … at least for the day?"

"I doubt it. It's part of a game they like to play. Make the prisoners sweat. Let them hear the screams of pain from the Arabs the Gestapo have. Let the fear grow until they beg to get it over with."

Hitch absorbed what the sergeant said, then silently left to go downstairs.

Troy watched the young private leave. He knew that they were all having a difficult time processing what was happening, but it seemed to hit Hitch and Tully harder. He pushed his worries and fear aside to deal with the task at hand.

There were more screams from the Gestapo house. Troy was waiting for the German sergeant and his men to return. He wanted as many of the Germans to be in one place as possible. Troy knew that getting all 500 troops would be impossible, but he wanted to take out as many as he could. And he hoped the townspeople would have enough sense to scatter when the first bomb hit.

Troy checked his watch once more. It had been thirty minutes since Moffitt and Tully went to set up the 50. And Hitch should be ready too.

Just then Sergeant Eberhardt and his detail returned. It was while the sergeant was reporting to Colonel Kandler that Troy struck.

#################

The first bomb hit and exploded, sending shrapnel and nails flying. This time the screams were from the Germans as they were torn apart.

That was the signal that Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully had been waiting for. Tully let loose with the 50 as Moffitt began to lob grenades and fire his machine gun. Hitch fired from the place he'd found between buildings.

Troy was satisfied when the Jews and Arabs on the street suddenly ran for cover as he threw an American grenade into the middle of a group of Germans.

Colonel Kandler began to yell orders to his men, but it was hard to tell how many heard his voice. His men dove for whatever cover they could find and blindly opened fire before determining where the shooting was coming from.

Between the shooting from both sides and the grenades the Allies were throwing, things got pretty loud.

Finally one of the Germans saw the muzzle flash of a machine gun and opened fire in that direction. Hitch barely had time to get back as the bullets hit the building.

Sergeant Eberhardt caught sight of Troy on the roof. He pointed and ordered the men near him to open fire. Troy tossed a second cluster bomb, intending that it should hit the ground near the sergeant and his men. Instead, it fell directly in front of Eberhardt. He reached out reflexively and caught it, realizing to late what he'd done would be the last thing he would ever do.

Tully was firing the 50 nonstop from a doorway, strafing the Germans with the large caliber bullets. He could hear Moffitt alternate between grenades and machine gun fire.

Then Moffitt noticed a toddler that had been trapped under her mother after the woman's unfortunate demise, wriggle out from under the body and push herself up to sit on the ground and cry.

Tully saw Moffitt race out, machine gun blazing, to grab the child. He shifted his sights to keep the Germans at bay until the sergeant was again in the cover of the building.

Moffitt set the little girl in a sheltered corner before resuming his barrage of grenades and gunfire.

Troy continued to inundate the Germans with his own grenades and gunfire, with an occasional bomb thrown in for good measure. Then he felt a searing pain in his upper arm. He whirled around to see three Germans coming across the roof in his direction. Troy's machine gun quickly took care of them and he was again alone on the roof. He quickly checked his bullet grazed arm, then went back to work.

Tully heard a sound behind him and turned just as a bullet whizzed past his head. The German was taking aim again when he was hit from behind. As the soldier fell, Tully saw an Arab man standing behind him with a mallet raised in case a second blow was necessary. Then three more Arab men entered the house and took up stations at the windows. They began to fire their rifles without a word to the American.

Hitch was joined by several armed Arabs as well, adding their bullets to that of the Allies.

Moffitt realized that there was more shooting coming from the homes and buildings surrounding the Germans, who were being picked off one at a time.

The Allies were getting unexpected help.

Troy noticed that the colonel had been wounded and was being carried out of the line of fire. With his third cluster bomb, he threw it directly into the truck where Kandler had been taken. The explosion and ensuing fire meant the German leadership was gone. Would what was left of the colonel's command retreat now?

It took some time, but word of Colonel Kandler and Sergeant Eberhardt's deaths made the rounds. Slowly the shooting died down as engines came to life. The Germans at the back of the pack started to leave.

However, this left a large group of Germans – nearly ninety – stranded, as their vehicles had been destroyed. With his last cluster bomb Troy convinced them it was time to surrender. The Germans dropped their weapons and moved into the open with their hands in the air.

Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully moved out cautiously, and the privates started by doing a quick check of the bombed out German vehicles. They reported that there was no else left alive. As Hitch and Tully began to pat down the prisoners, Moffitt signaled Troy that it was all over.

Arabs moved in with rifles at the ready and provided rope to secure the Germans hands behind them. But they'd forgotten one thing – the Gestapo.

#################

The five suit wearing men had stayed out of sight during the firefight, but always with their pistols ready in case the enemy broke in.

Finally, one of them quietly said to the man next to him, "Gehen Sie überprüfen."

The other shook his head. "Nein. Du gehst."

The third of the five Gestapo officers sighed and rolled his eyes. "Ich werde es tun." He stayed low as he made his way across the room. He turned the doorknob slowly and opened it just enough to peek out. Then he looked back at his comrades and explained he saw only four Allies and the Arabs. "Ich sehe nur vier Verbündete und viele Araber."

Troy had just rounded the corner when he spied the Gestapo man at the door. Before he could shout a warning, the German got a shot off, hitting Tully in the shoulder and knocking him off his feet.

Troy and Moffitt turned their machine guns on the Gestapo house and opened fire. The one at the door died instantly and as the door itself splintered, one of the Gestapo inside was hit and killed as well.

Troy and Moffitt ran to the house followed by a half dozen eager Arabs. Moffitt told the Arabs to back off out of the line of fire as he and Troy stood on either side of the doorway.

Moffitt called for their surrender, "Es ist vorbei! aufgeben!"

The answer came in the form of a gunshot that ricocheted off the splintered doorjamb.

Troy was tired and out of patience. He stepped into the doorway and opened fire. Two more of the Gestapo went down. The final two readily tossed their guns aside and put their hands in the air.

Once the Gestapo were secured with the other Germans, Troy looked around for Moffitt and saw him walking towards him with a small child in his arms, her arms around his neck and her face buried in his shoulder. "What do you have there?"

Moffitt said, "A little girl. Her mother was killed. I couldn't just leave her out there to be shot."

Troy sighed sadly. "Yeah … yeah." Then he said, "Moffitt, tell some of our Arab friends to do a house to house search for any Germans that might be hiding. Ask them to try and not kill them all. The others can help us guard the prisoners."

Hitch and Tully joined Troy as Moffitt went off to instruct the Arabs on what was needed of them. Troy noticed the bullet hole in Tully's shoulder and asked, "You going to be okay?"

Tully nodded. "I'll live. The bullet was a small caliber one and went on through."

Hitch said, "Still needs to be cleaned up though."

When Moffitt was done talking to the Arabs he handed off the child to a woman who told him she knew the father.

As the Allies watched, half of the armed Arabs went off to do the search and the rest positioned themselves around the prisoners.

Moffitt joined his friends and said, "They have a desire to help in whatever way they can. However, there's no guarantee they won't shoot any Germans on sight."

Troy chuckled, then said, "Can't say I blame them. I need you and Hitch to go get the jeeps. Then find out if that jammer is out so we can get a call out for help."

Two men followed by two women carrying basins and bandages tentatively came out to where Troy and Tully were standing. One of the men said in English, "Thank you for coming to our aide, sergeant."

Troy nodded his acknowledgement. "Just doing our job. I just wish we could've done more."

"You did what you could, and that is what matters." The man turned to the two women that were basically hiding behind the men and said, "Our wives would be honored to clean and dress your wounds."

Troy smiled a bit. "Well, I guess we do need a little help in that department. Thank you…"

"My name is Abraham … Ethan Abraham, and this is my wife Miriam. My friends are Yechiel and Esther Gerber. Come and sit while your wounds are tended to."

It was nearly an hour later when Moffitt and Hitch returned with the jeeps.

Troy asked, "Were you able to get a message out?"

Moffitt nodded as he got out of the jeep. "Help will be here by morning." He smiled at the white bandages that both Troy and Tully wore along with a sling that the private was now using and said, "Looks like you two have been tended to."

Troy smiled. "The Abraham's and Gerber's insisted on getting Tully and me taken care of."

Moffitt watched as several Arabs escorted more Germans to join the other prisoners. "How many do we have?"

"At last count there were 103. The Arabs are doing pretty good. They've only killed three or four of the Germans they've found."

#################

Both the Jewish and Arab communities shared food with their new Allied friends that evening. Which rankled the German prisoners, who were given nothing but bits of stale bread and water.

There were always guards on duty thanks to the Arabs. This gave Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully a chance at more rest than usual, as only one of them had to be up at a time to keep an eye on things – which meant keeping an eye on the Arabs so nothing happened to the prisoners.

An hour after sunrise, a company of Americans rolled into Fes with everything needed to transport the prisoners to the nearest base for processing.

Major Jamison was in charge and was met by Sergeants Troy and Moffitt. Jamison asked, "How many in total, sergeant?"

Troy said, "105, sir. There's at least ten wounded that will need further care."

"It'll be seen to when we get back to base." Jamison looked at the two men standing before him and said soberly, "We saw the trench outside."

"Yes, major. We did our best, but we couldn't save everyone."

The major nodded. "Understandable."

Moffitt hesitated, then said, "We've been talking, sir. We'd like to suggest that since the German dug the trench, they should be the ones to fill it in."

"A mass grave? And what does the Jewish community think of this?"

"Troy and I discussed it with the community leaders, major. They think it's a good idea … and only fair. If you agree, they will mark it as a grave site for all to see."

Jamison sighed. "Perhaps as a warning?"

Moffitt shrugged and said, "Perhaps."

"Yes, I think it's a good idea. I've got enough men to see that it gets done before we head back to base with the prisoners.

Troy said, "Thank you, sir."

Jamison said, "I see that you and one of your men are wounded."

"Nothing serious, major."

"Well, as soon as you're ready, you can take off. We'll handle the rest of it."

However, Troy and his men didn't leave immediately. They hung back with the guise of making sure the 50 was secured back in the jeep and all of their left over grenades were accounted for.

When they did finally leave, they saw the German troops diligently filling the grave one shovel full at a time. A Jewish Rabbi stood nearby saying prayers for the dead.

It was over … for now. The events that happened on this mission would stay with the Rat Patrol for some time. However, eventually another atrocity would take its place in their memories.