The camp was finally starting to quiet down. Most of the new arrivals had at least two meals and were getting the much-needed rest. Although the tents and most of the barracks were full, it wasn't yet at the point that it was dangerous. Captain Williams had woken up long enough to go to the latrine, which Wilson had said was a good sign, and then he ate again, and went back to bed. Sergeant Schultz was even careful not to wake him up during nightly roll call.

It wasn't very long after roll call when Hayward, Fuller, and Shupp arrived from their own barracks. They had their black 'traveling clothes' under their uniforms. Within minutes, Newkirk and Carter had led them out to the rendezvous. Just over thirty minutes later, they were just more from a mile from camp waiting to signal the plane from London.

Carter was the first to hear it coming. The two of them strained their eyes to see through the darkness. Finally, Newkirk saw the plane. "There it is, me boy, and right on time."

"Ah, Newkirk, it's not alone. There's two of them," Carter added.

"Blimey, we've never had two planes before. Just what are we getting?"

Newkirk turned to Hayward and Fuller. "The drop zone will be bigger, tell Shupp to secure the area."

Those two went off in search of the third, whose sole job tonight was making sure no wandering patrol interfered with their mission. Private First Class Shupp was an enigma. He hardly ever said a word, and even then, mostly a whisper. It was rumored that he was part Comanchero, or Apache, and some even guessed Ninja. But nobody knew for sure, and Shupp wasn't talking. All the guys knew was that even in the barracks, no one would see him come in or leave, but all of a sudden, he would be sitting next to you or gone. He was perfect for security, as his main task was making sure a heavily laden group, or newcomers to the woods, didn't stumble into a patrol. He would scout ahead and to the sides, and lead the group back safely, without ever being seen.

Hayward circled left and Fuller went right. Within 200 yards Fuller found Shupp suddenly standing beside him. "Don't do that!" he whispered.

Shupp smiled, "Hayward already told me. I'm checking." And he disappeared into the night.

"I hate it when he does that," Fuller muttered to himself as he headed back toward the others.

Meanwhile Newkirk had flashed the code to the planes, who had already divested their cargo. A dozen parachutes were drifting down to earth.

Newkirk and Carter were standing next to the first one to hit the ground. As they helped him fold up his parachute, Newkirk said, "What a bloody mess – no one said anything thing about this big a drop."

"So sorry about that, lads. Hendershot, First Royal Commandos. We were told you might need some supplies."

"What did you bring us?" Carter asked.

"We have German blankets, allied clothing, and medicine mostly," the commando said.

"And a doctor." This was a new voice. Newkirk and Carter turned to face him. "David Green, First Rangers."

Hendershot turned and looked in the direction they had following during the descent. "We have two more lads, who jumped behind the Doc, they'll guide him toward us."

Newkirk let out a small laugh. "Ten to one, our man has already tagged them, and has found all your supplies."

Hendershot angled his head a bit, "Interesting, another situation, and I might take that bet."

Carter piped in, "We've got to get moving."

The small group headed off in the direction the others and their supplies would have fallen. They found the other three jumpers first.

"No time for introductions right now gentlemen, let's get loaded up and back to camp," Newkirk said.

"No problem there," one of the newcomers said. "Your man said the others are already working on the supplies over that way." He pointed in the general direction they had been heading.

Within a minute, they were alongside Hayward and Fuller, who had disposed of the chutes and had the supplies piled up in large bags. Five minutes later, they were loaded up and headed back to camp. Shupp had given them the all clear. If was a difficult travel as each man carried almost his weight in supplies. Shupp kept moving from one side to the other, making sure they didn't run into any patrols.

It took almost an hour for the men to get into camp. It was obvious that the five jumpers new their intended location, but just like everyone that visited Stalag 13 through its underground access, they were amazed.

Once they were able to freely converse, they maintained a running discourse about the things they saw. They were awestruck at the extent of the operation. The had to pass several rooms to get to the command center. Each one brought out a new exclamation of unbelief.

Colonel Robert Hogan was waiting for them in the radio room. "I expected the supplies, but they didn't mention new visitors to go along with them."

Hendershot drew himself up and presented a formal salute. "Sir, my name is Hendershot, myself and this here bloke," pointing to one of the other men, "Blaine, are First Royal Commandos. These other two, Green and Smith, are Rangers. The other lad back here is a Doctor, name of Easley."

Hogan looked back at him, "I'm a bit confused, no ranks for you, and a Doctor? What is this about?"

Hendershot answered, "Sir, they gave us quite a bit of background of your operation. Enough that we had to see it, just to prove the fairy tale was true. We have all volunteered to join the operation."

Green added, "Colonel? Is that right? Hogan, you have been labeled as the most uncharacteristic underground operative ever. They have told us it's no longer just 'The right way, the wrong way and the Army way.' Over here you have 'Hogan's way,' which nobody outside of your area even begins to understand. We wanted to come see it for ourselves, our job has been to try and teach some aspects of deep penetration operations to others. Here you go, with no training, and completely upend all of what we took as the natural order for operations."

"We have also been told to ignore our ranks," this was from Hendershot, "that you ran a most unusual organization. A private might be running some project with 2 lieutenants under him. We were told our ranks might actually get in the way."

"Colonel," Green said, "we have skills that might be useful. We are both fluent in German, and masters of their codes and radio etiquette. We have taught many how to sneak, evade and penetrate objectives."

"Okay," Hogan said as he looked at those four, "Alright, we can use you, although you might be surprised as to what degree." Then he turned to the Doctor, "I am glad to see a Doctor, surprised, but again, you may be very helpful."

Easley looked up at Hogan, it was obvious he wasn't in a normal place for him. "Sir, I volunteered. You see, I have had the duty of working on many of the boys you have sent back to us. I have been continually impressed by the care they received here, and I thought I could help by being here." He looked at the floor for a moment then back up, "Additionally, I have the debt I owe all of you. My brother was one of the flyers you rescued and sent back to England."

"Easley, Easley," Newkirk interjected, "we had one by that name about a year ago."

"Well," Hogan said, "we can't just bring you upstairs, even with all the confusion now, they might notice five new people. But the supplies might be helpful right now. What did you bring?"

"Sir," this was from Green, "besides the medical supplies, we have German blankets and allied clothing. We also have smaller more portable radios with stronger antennas for increased range. We also brought copies of the latest German code book." Saying that, Green reached in his jacket and pulled out a small book, which he handed to Hogan.

Hogan looked closely at the book, then smiled and handed it to Baker, who was still on the radio. Baker looked at the book too, set it down and reached up to a small bookshelf behind his head. He handed a similar book to Colonel Hogan.

"Sorry," Hogan said, "that version was replaced a week ago with a new code. We've been using it now for several days. A copy of that book is even now on its way to London. Unfortunately, a submarine is slower than an airplane."

Green face was crestfallen. The first thing they had been instructed to do was a failure. Even their briefings didn't cover a portion of what they had already seen. What else were they going to see? Green could already see that they were not here to be teachers, but students.

"Did you say German blankets?" Hogan asked.

"Yes sir," answered Hendershot, "Might have had to answer questions if the blankets all had a big Union Jack on them."

Hogan walked over to the pile of supplies, reached down and pulled out a blanket. "How many?"

"Fifty. More later if needed," answered Hendershot.

Hogan looked quickly into the other bags. Then he turned around and came back to the group of men. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. First of all, let's get these medical supplies up to Wilson. Easley, you'll go with them. We can move you between barracks, there's enough confusion to hide one guy easy enough." He looked at Newkirk. "Newkirk, you, Carter, and Kinch bring these four up to speed. Show them the whole operation, but from down here. Until we know we're secure, we can't risk the operation. I want you new guys to look and see if there's anything we missed. I may have an idea to start the ball rolling a little easier."

Hogan turned around and looked at Baker. "Any more results?"

Baker handed over a clipboard. "Yes sir. They are coming over in twos and threes. We have about half of the transfers accounted for. And Captain Williams is good, even down to a birthmark Wilson was able to confirm while the Captain was sleeping."

"Good," Hogan replied, "I will bring him up to speed tomorrow morning. He should be very helpful in bringing everyone else up to speed."

###

Hogan woke up as Schultz was going through the barracks doing a count. When he knocked on Hogan's door, the Colonel jumped down off the top bunk. "Come in, Schultz."

"Bitte, Colonel Hogan, but I must do the count."

Williams woke up with the commotion. "What time is it?"

"Six am," Hogan answered, "roll call."

"How long have I been sleeping?"

"Most of yesterday, you needed the rest. Now you need breakfast. We'll see what LeBeau is making this morning."

Schultz nodded, "The little Frenchman is the best cook there is." He had turned and was going back out the door, back into the room soon to be filled with glorious smells.

Williams stood and stretched. "My men, I have to check on my men."

"Don't worry about your men. I have several people looking after them. They have been checked out and were given food and water. They all had a warmer place to sleep last night. It will improve more today. But we will go and make rounds after you've had something to eat."

###

"That was the best breakfast I've ever had!" Williams stated to anyone that could hear.

Merci, mon ami," said LeBeau, "I will take the compliment, but you have not had much in the way of good lately."

"Are all my men getting food like this?"

"Close," said Newkirk, "Louis has trained most of the other cooks, so all of the men here eat fairly well. Nobody is a better chef than me little mate."

"Merci, Newkirk, but you still have to do the dishes."

Hogan walked with Williams as he went to visit his men. "The Kommandant allowed us to set up several tents. We expanded the infirmary for the worst cases, which luckily were very few. We have several more tents to house most of your men, that weren't that serious. Most of them are up and about. Some needed closer observation and were placed in assorted barracks."

"Thank you, I feel rotten I wasn't able to help more."

Hogan stopped and looked at Captain Williams directly in the eyes. "Captain, I'll say this once, what happened to you and your men was criminal. You did very well getting the vast majority of your men here alive. The other men have told us how, without you, none of them might have made it."

Williams looked down at his feet. Then back up at the Colonel. "What happens now?"

"You and I are going to talk about that in a little while. For now, go see your men. Keep them calm. We are working hard to get everyone better as fast as possible." Hogan looked over William's shoulder at the doctor, Easley. "You spend time with your men, then come find me, we'll talk."

Hogan turned away and walked over a few paces to where Easley was standing. "Tell me I didn't lie, Doc. Tell me his men are going to get better."

"Yes, I believe they will. Wilson has done an excellent job taking care of the worst problems. The supplies I brought will hasten their recovery. I may have a few cases that need help with more long-term problems, but that is after they've gotten their strength back."

"Good," Hogan said, "Wilson does do a really good job, especially under these conditions, but I've always been worried about not having a real doctor around. Don't tell him, but I fully intend on paying for Joe to finish medical school, on my own, when this is over."

"After what I've seen, I think I'll pay half."