The Substitute

Chapter 3

Hogan walked over to the barracks and sat down on the bench located near the outside wall. Disgusted, he removed his cap and slapped it down next to him. He gazed over the chaos that was now Luft Stalag 13. "Home sweet home," he muttered.

The "escape" plan went as expected. Schultz easily found the three missing men hiding in a storage shed near the delousing station. To everyone's surprise, Werner punished the three with just two nights in the cooler and gave Hogan a lecture and a stern warning; not violence, but threats of transfers if there were any other escape attempts. The fact that the prisoners used the raised floors did not bother the Kommandant. The Oberst remained cool the entire time. Hogan was both pleased and mystified by Werner's behavior. Figuring out what made people tick was one of Hogan's specialties, but Werner's psyche was a puzzle to him. There he was, being semi-rational and benign, meting out mild punishment for an escape attempt. Yet he was irrational too, disassembling the entire camp. And the whole time, he remained cool, making it more difficult for Hogan to challenge him.

From his vantage point, Hogan observed groups of men congregating by the fence line separating prisoners from camp staff. The guards, not yet used to the new order, stayed away, leaving the men leaving the men to mill about, huddling in small groups, worry etched on their faces.

Out of his vision, he knew that two more barracks were next in line to be torn down and raised. Sighing, he rose from the bench and entered the hut. He couldn't be greeted by a more morose looking group of men.

"Kinch is waiting for word from London," Carter told the colonel.

"I'm going into my office to think," Hogan replied. "Send him in when he hears something." He stepped into his room and paused. One way or another, he would have a plan. "Carter, call a meeting with the tunnel engineers and all barracks chiefs in one hour. In the main tunnel."

"Yessir." Carter, followed by a few other men, headed for the door. On the way to spread the word, Carter and the other residents discussed the situation. Hogan's inability to figure out a solution had them all on edge.

"It seems odd," Saunders mused. "He always seems to come up with ideas. Or at least we all brainstorm and somehow manage to fix things."

"Sometimes it takes time," Carter mentioned. "I'm more concerned that he seems really down in the dumps. And seeing as Klink won't be back for six weeks; well, that throws a monkey wrench into the mix."

HhhhH

Hogan knew that Carter and the other men would pass the word and that the meeting would hopefully be fruitful. Meanwhile, closing the door behind him, he sat down at his desk and grabbed a sheet of paper and a pencil. He immediately began making a list of action items and their pros and cons.

"Total evacuation." Shaking his head, he immediately crossed it off. So far, as long as they kept their cool, the operation was not in danger of being found out. This act would risk the civilian operatives as well as the entire rank and file. "Remove the threat." He left that stand as is. Drastic, but doable. "Cooperation. Go along with this hair-brained scheme until a change is on the horizon." He stared at the paper, then tossed it in his trash can and set it on fire. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts, and Hogan went over to the door and opened it. Kinch stood right outside while the other men in the barracks tried to look busy.

"Got word from London, Colonel."

"Go ahead."

"They advise a temporary shut-down until the situation is resolved. Don't make waves and don't risk personnel. Underground will be notified. MI9 will attempt to move rescues and escape routes to other operatives." Kinch handed Hogan his transcription, and waited.

"Wow," Hogan said. "I didn't know they could be human."

Kinch smiled.

"Tell them we acknowledge the orders." He walked into the common room. "Have Wilson and Anderson come to the meeting as well."

Hogan's main operatives, barracks chiefs, several engineers, camp medical personnel, and two prisoners supervising demolition and construction crowded into the main tunnel area. They quieted down and waited for Hogan to speak.

"So, operations are temporarily suspended." A groan went up. "I know. But London, in their infinite wisdom…and I'm not being facetious here, has given us leeway to handle this…and they don't want to risk anything for what will most likely be a temporary setback."

"That sounds a bit barmy," Newkirk said. Other men nodded. "Not like them, given past experience."

"Well, they've had more first-hand accounts of what we do here, and the danger we face, The general, the group captain….And once Klink comes back, things may hopefully come back to normal. Right, sir?"

"Could be, Baker. But I don't want to take any unnecessary chances, including waiting for Klink to get back. I have some ideas, and I welcome your feedback." Hogan sat back and waited. His men weren't shy when it came to sharing their thoughts and strategy. "But first…evacuation is off the table. So far, we haven't been discovered. That's too radical a plan, and will endanger everyone from the rank and file to civilians."

"Take him out, guv'nor." No surprise that for the second time, this suggestion came from Newkirk. "Done."

"I thought of that. I would take any action necessary, but…he is nuts when it comes to this camp reorganization. However, he hasn't threatened any physical harm unless we don't cooperate. And although we are moving slowly…he seems placated so far. And violence would bring Hochstetter over here in a flash. And that we don't need."

"Fake orders putting a stop to this?" suggested Olsen. "Or better yet; orders getting Klink back here?"

"I have thought of that." Hogan replied. "Wilson, Anderson…What can you tell me about his condition? I had an officer in my bomber command who went through the same surgery. He was out for weeks."

Wilson stood up. "Well, I had a fair amount of young men having their appendix removed. Not too many gall bladder surgeries. It's a more complicated recovery. And of course, there is always a chance of infection. What about you, Rich?"

Anderson, Wilson's aide, was the son of a doctor. "Yeah, it is. I'd give him at least a month. Plus, didn't you say he was due some leave?"

Hogan nodded. "He's packed up nice and cozy in that officer's rest hospital."

Saunders raised his arm. Hogan nodded at him and he asked, "What about Gruber, Colonel? He should have been given the command. He's tough, but he wouldn't tear up the camp."

"I don't even know where he is at the moment. Seems he floats around." Hogan explained. "Until we can come up with a better solution, we have to work with what we have and make sure we aren't discovered." Hogan stood up. "We still need to keep the emergency tunnel operating." He went over to a cabinet and pulled down a diagram of the entire tunnel system. "That's where the engineers come in. Wynne, you're up."

A shorter man, a sergeant with blond hair, blue eyes and a strong Welsh accent, walked over to the screen. "Thank you, sir. As you know, we've always had several operating plans when it came to filling in the tunnel system. Some involved explosions. But we never conceived of a batty bloke raising all the huts. But, we don't give up. Since this started, we got together and came up with a plan. It's possible to fill in the spurs under the barracks part way. We can collapse one tunnel. I'll leave that up to you, Colonel, as to which one; use the dirt and wood and make it seem there is nothing under the barracks. We just need a lot of men."

"What are you proposing?" Hogan asked.

"Make a barrier in the area leading to the spurs-that ranges about three to five feet depending on the building...packing it in really tightly, and using the wood to keep it in place. If the Krauts don't inspect too closely, it will look real; but I'd be more confident if we do a bit of proper landscaping at the top part if you get my drift. We need to get a start on this right now, before the barracks are raised."

"I got it," Hogan said. He walked over to the diagram. "I don't want to lose the infirmary tunnel." Lost in thought, his hand resting on his chin, he stood, checking off alternatives in his mind. "Collapse the tunnel to VIP headquarters. That's the widest part I'm willing to lose at the moment." The new kommandant had made himself at home and transferred to Klink's quarters. "Start forming groups...men can work on their own barracks. Let the construction people know when a barracks is done. We'll raise them in order."

"Right away, sir."

The men scurried away to begin their tasks. Hogan took a deep breath and sat in his chair. He looked up at his main crew. "This is the last thing I thought we'd be doing with Klink in the hospital."

HhHhH

The same exact thought crossed the minds of multiple members of the camp staff. Schultz shook his head as he observed the prisoners sullenly and slowly follow orders. He shuddered every time the ground was exposed; but to his relief, nothing seemed amiss, and the new Kommandant and his aides barely gave the dirt a poke and a pass. The man seemed satisfied and accepted Hogan's explanation of the slow progress.

"After all, we are fliers not construction workers," Schultz heard Hogan tell Werner. As long as the work progressed, the Kommandant was calm.

Even an unexpected visit from General Burkhalter didn't faze him.

Hogan stood quiet and still as he, Werner and Burkhalter met in Klink's office.

Burkhalter took the seat behind the desk. He leaned over and stole a cigar from Klink's humidor, which Werner quickly lit. Sitting back, the general took a puff and then held the cigar aside. "I heard something was going on here, and decided to take a detour from my inspection tour and see for myself."

"I'm glad you did, General. You see..."

"Silence, Colonel Hogan," Werner barked.

Burkhalter looked at Hogan, who was frozen in mid-sentence. He raised his eyebrows and then shook his head at the colonel. "You will have your turn, Hogan. Werner?"

"As I was told, I found this camp to be in excellent condition and the prisoners well-behaved. The guards and the prisoners seem to have developed an understanding and there have been no attempts at any uprisings or misbehavior. Three prisoners did make it out of their barracks, but they were quickly caught and punished accordingly. The security issue has been addressed."

"Yesss...well...that seems not out of the ordinary. For some reason, Klink has been the beneficiary of either good luck, or surprisingly, he manages to have one skill...running a prison camp. My question is, Something very unusual is going on here. Why?"

"I'm glad you asked, General, you see..."

"Hogan shut up." Burkhalter gave Hogan a glare and motioned for Werner to proceed.

"The camp can be improved and brought into regulation with little disruption. Let me explain. The prisoner area was not separated from the staff area. That has been easily rectified; the men are locked in at night and the prisoners have been separated by nationality as per the rules...after all, that is standard procedure in your other camps, and now we are working on raising barracks. It is completely inconceivable that the huts were not raised when this was turned over to the Luftwaffe. After some assistance from an engineering unit, the prisoners are undertaking this task...and busy prisoners are less likely to cause problems. They are even taking pride in their work."

"Is that right Hogan?"

"Well, yes, sir, but I ..."

"That's all well and good, Werner," Burkhalter said, not paying attention to Hogan. "But while this may be a way to comply with regulations, not all camps are laid out as you say...Colditz is a castle. You work with what you have, and this camp was running well. Your job was to oversee it until Klink returns."

Hogan let out a small grin. And he knew the men listening in on the coffeepot would be happy to hear that Werner was about to get called out.

"Bet this ends right here," Kinch said happily.

"'Bout time, Carter added. "And wait til Burkhalter hears about Hilda."

"How do you account for the funds spent on this boondoggle?"

Werner stepped forward, walked over to the desk and pointed to a set of ledgers. Coming around to where Burkhalter was seated, Werner opened the cover to one of the books and pointed to several pages. "You are welcome to peruse these further while you are here, but I can point out there, here and here...the engineering unit was reimbursed for their supplies, and all other expenses have been accounted for; we used what was already in the camp budget; no extra funds were used. Even our staff is learning to do without. And I found ways to stretch both the food and utilities."

Hogan stood with his mouth open...the look on Burkhalter's face was not what he expected. He quickly shut it, and then spoke as fast as he could. "He let Hilda go, sir. That has to account for some of the savings."

Burkhalter frowned. "Is this true?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. A civilian secretary is completely and totally against regulations. I did suggest she try to join the auxiliary and then we can bring her back. But in the meantime, we have additional trained clerks already working here. They do not need an extra salary, and they are competent. There are people working in Berlin who would cause trouble if they discovered a female civilian working here. I would not like that to happen, sir."

Burkhalter was as guilty as Klink in this regard, having once sent his sister in to work in the office.

Hogan grabbed the back of a chair and sat down with a flop. He tried to imagine both Helga and Hilda train for the auxiliary. It was not a pretty picture.

"You all right? Colonel Hogan," Werner asked with concern.

"Oh, just peachy." Hogan grabbed the bridge of his nose and squeezed. That did nothing to ease the pain of the headache he knew was coming.

Burkhalter stood up. "Well, seeing as this hasn't cost anything extra, and you have been bringing the camp into compliance, I see no reason for concern."

"Thank you sir," Werner said, giving Burkhalter a salute.

"You sure you don't need to see the medic, Colonel? You don't look well."

"Just concerned about Colonel Klink, General."

"Well, he will be back as soon as he recovers."

"Um...always a pleasure, General." Hogan stood and offered Burkhalter a decent salute. He followed the two Germans out, and shrugged at Langenscheidt. The corporal offered the colonel a sympathetic grin and continued with his typing.

Hhhhh

Back in the barracks, the coffee pot was put away and the stunned men tried to make sense of the conversation and the general's capitulation.

"I'd strangle Burkhalter," LeBeau said, "but I wouldn't be able to get my hands around that fat neck."

"We need to keep calm," stated Kinch. "This is only temporary."

"Is it really?" asked Olsen. "What if this guy charms Burkhalter so much that Klink recovers and gets sent elsewhere?"

The colonel walked into the common room, accepted the cup of mud masquerading as coffee from LeBeau and looked at the mix of men standing patiently, while they waited for reassurance.

"I suppose you are waiting for me to say something."

"Um, yes, sir?" Carter mumbled.

"Well, we may have met our match."

That did not lift the men's spirits. Only Crittendon could make Hogan so down in the dumps.

"What if Klink likes the new look?" asked Newkirk. "Then what?"

"One thing at a time." Hogan took a sip of the hot beverage. "We now have Burkhalter on this guy's side. Step one. Don't get caught. Step two. Make sure Klink gets his assignment back. Keep working on the tunnel barriers. Any word from the Underground or London, Kinch?"

"No word. But, Oskar's scheduled to change the dogs later this week."

"Well, carry on." Hogan rubbed his eyes. "I have a headache."

MI9 was the dept of the British War office tasked with aiding members of the resistance and using them to support the various escape routes used to help POW's and downed airmen get back to Allied countries or lines. The history of MI6, The SOE and this dept is both fascinating and depressing in some ways as there were many power struggles and funding issues going on between the depts. Many of the higher ups frankly did not know what they were doing, or did not listen to the concerns of their staff members, and this cost many lives. I learned a great many details about the resistance and the escape lines in the book "Last Hope Island," by Lynne Olson.