The next part of the plan was tricky. In order to guarantee resupply if needed, and not have to depend upon parachute drops, the team needed access to an airfield. There were several smaller airfields in the area. But Colonel Hogan wanted one that would accommodate his anticipated needs. He had chosen a major airport near Würzburg. The good news was it was only thirty-six kilometers away, or just over twenty-two miles. The bad news was that it was a Leithorst, or major airfield. It would have upwards of 400 men posted there.
This needed some Allied assistance. First of all, a major night raid was called on the British Lancaster's. The following morning, transfer orders for almost the entire staff were received assigning the personnel to the damaged base. The twenty-five men left, including the commanding officer, joined the growing group of German prisoners at Stalag 13.
Hogan had a glut of Allied flight engineers, pilots, navigators, and bombardiers. Most of the prisoners taken over the last few years were shot down over enemy territory. Each bomber the Allies lost represented ten men. Some attacks might cost twenty or more bombers, or two hundred men, many of which survived the bailout to be found by a farmer with a pitchfork or a squad of soldiers.
As the new men swarmed over the captured airbase, they noticed how run down many of the facilities were. That might have been attributed to the attitude that comes with losing. A new officer in charge, a British Group Captain, by the name of Williams, took over. He was now going by the name Colonel Wilhelmus, for outward German appearances.
Within a week, several broken airplanes had been repaired with parts cannibalized off other aircraft. They had even gotten a supply shipment of parts delivered from a supply depot. Within two weeks, they had a small force of thirty planes air-worthy. Three transports, four night-fighters, eight ME-109's four reconnaissance, and eleven bombers. The pilots that were freed from the Oflag and a smaller number from the other Stalags were busy getting up to speed on German equipment. Hendershot was helpful there with proper German communication protocol.
Once control was established at the airbase, and a reasonable security was set up, flights of transports could travel back and forth to England. Some of the most seriously ill prisoners were the first ones transported home. A more secure line for medical and other supplies was established. Occasionally, a plane would land at the base for refueling or repair. Most of the time, the needs were met and the plane allowed to leave normally, but only after a manifest or flight plan was obtained. Additional information on movement of air groups or troops was easily obtained that way. If the plane was not quickly repairable, or the manifest valuable militarily or otherwise, it was reported crashed on landing and the pilot added to their growing group of prisoners.
The flight training also brought another bonus. Each day pilots would scour the surrounding area in ever larger circles, carefully mapping the remaining German units. This was crosschecked with other information sources. Many of these units found themselves transferred to out of the way areas, far from a front line. And with every opening, Hogan and his Heroes grew that much stronger.
It was on one of the transports that Hogan was able to return to London. He was brought to the briefing by a young Lieutenant, who identified himself as the aide to General Simpson. He was in the same large meeting room as last time, only this time there were significantly more people present. General Simpson stood up and walked over to him, holding out his hand. Hogan shook it warmly.
Simpson started, "Hogan, I really didn't think you could do it. Amazing job."
A chorus of agreement arose around the table.
Hogan replied, "We have a good start, but we're still not out of the woods."
Simpson looked around at the other generals in the room, then turned back to Hogan. "What do you need from us Hogan? Oh, and I notice you're not wearing your stars."
"About the stars, sir – I really haven't needed them, and I thought I would wait until it was necessary."
Simpson shook his head, "I know what you're thinking – everyone in your command has called you 'Colonel' for so long, you'd feel guilty putting on the stars. Am I right?"
"Yes sir, that's partially it."
"Well, you're going to need them sometime, whether it's another Colonel or a Brigadier rolls up in a Sherman tank. You need to think about the consistency for the team you've built up and the new team you're building. Chaos at the top can be disconcerting."
"All right sir, I will take care of it," Hogan replied.
Hogan turned toward the table. He motioned for the Lieutenant to bring forth the material he had brought with him. The Lieutenant opened the door and several other junior officers starting carrying in box after box.
"This, gentlemen, is the majority of information we have managed to gather so far. We have unit listings, compositions, and travel schedules. We have got call signs, specified radio frequencies and codes for many units. The airbase we have taken over had a list of transfers and contingency plans for several areas." The junior officers were still bringing in boxes. "We have plans for the ME-262 jet fighter and well as tested performance numbers. We have lists of supply shortages and where major depots are. I think you could say we hit the mother lode!"
The junior officers were still bringing in boxes.
Hogan continued, "Obviously, some of this information is time sensitive, so I would recommend you assign a group to review as quickly as possible."
The room was starting to get uncomfortably full of boxes.
Hogan turned to the aide, "I think that's enough, they get the idea. Start getting the rest of the intel to the people that can make the best use of it."
The aide had a grin that threatened to split his face. "Yes, Sir!"
General Kalikovich moved a box from in front of him so that he could see Hogan. "General Hogan, we could be months just sorting through this information. This could destroy the German's ability to fight if we just know where their depots are."
Hogan smiled, "That's why I thought it was imperative to get you this information as fast as possible, General."
Most of the Generals and one Admiral, Hogan saw, were ripping into boxes to see what he had brought. Loud voices were constant with cries of one discovery after another. Chaos reigned at the moment.
"Gentlemen, Gentlemen!" Simpson roared, "We still have lots to do here. Lieutenant, please see that all this material is taken to S-2, and tell them to cancel all passes and leaves, and to pull in all additional staff that they can." Without waiting for a response, Simpson turned back to Hogan. "Okay, that was a good opening. Now, what is it going to cost us?"
"Funny you should say that, General," Hogan smiled. "As a matter of fact, I have a list of needs here someplace." He pretended to pat his coat down. "Ah, yes, here it is. With all seriousness, the first thing that is most in short supply is gasoline – it seems the Germans are very short of fuel. You might want to make that a priority. I have been ordered by German High Command to limit my fuel usage to only emergency use. I'm sorry, but that's an order I tend to disregard." The group of generals from the major armies of the Allies all laughed at Hogan's disobedience.
"Secondly, I need some trained ground troops, specifically artillerymen. We have a few pieces, and we are going to acquire more, a whole battalion of towed 88's, but we lack the operators. Most of the men we have were downed flyers. It will be some time before we are able to tap into any captured army personnel, with the Wehrmacht holding them, and not the Luftwaffe."
Hogan continued, "Just in case you weren't aware, I now have over ten thousand men under my control. Only four thousand or so are combat ready, but that number is growing daily. We have a very small air force, control of communications, and we are monitoring movements for all enemy activity in our area. To this point they have no idea we are even there. Just to bring that point home, a German General is coming this week to present the air base commander with an Iron Cross for the high efficiency on the base." The room was very still. "He will probably decide to stay on with us, and will eventually find his way here to you." Several of the mouths hung open and some heads were nodding. "By the way, Group Captain Williams, who I put in charge, wants to know if he can keep the Iron Cross in his records."
Hogan walked across the room to pour himself a cup of coffee. "We will soon be adding a limited amount of armor to our inventory, as we have found a recycling yard that has been busy rebuilding and repairing armor. We will be needing tankers after that. I also have plans for three more airfields, since most of us are airmen, it's only natural. We should be able to double or more the size of our air fleet."
"Oh, another point, the Germans are highly efficient and have been filling our requests for replacement parts as fast as they can. They seem to be under the impression that we are preparing to ship out to the front. Overall, it is very courteous of them, don't you think?"
Hogan smiled inside. It was very difficult to have a room full of generals, and not have them say anything. It was a very rare thing indeed. Even Simpson, whom he had partially briefed, looked a little shell shocked.
"Finally, we have a problem with German prisoners. We are starting to get too many for us to effectively handle and we run the risk of an escape. Heavens knows there are enough tunnels under Stalag 13 that I'm surprised they haven't found one yet. But, if we send them to you, we would have to inform the Red Cross of their capture, and that will quickly get back to the Germans that something is wrong. I don't need them investigating."
Simpson shook himself out of his reverie, "Ah, there we can help. You were not made aware of this, but many of the prisoners you have sent us over the time you have been there, have been sent to a special camp, on the border of Alaska and the Yukon Territory. These men have been deemed a very high security risk. People like your General Biedenbender, who we really couldn't allow to talk to the Red Cross. The paperwork for the prison camp is being handled by a tribe of Intuits, and they have notoriously slow on forwarding the files."
A British general spoke up, "We have already started enlarging the camp up there just in case this situation arose. But just out of curiosity, how many men might you be sending us?"
"At this point," Hogan answered, "Only a couple hundred. But that might increase as our operations progress. As prisoners, we have learned not to let anyone have too much time in one place. We are moving the men almost daily, but we are running out of room. We have almost four-hundred former guards, men from the airbase and every other small installation that we have acquired. It's actually surprising how fast it adds up."
"That's more than we have accounted for," the British general said, "we'll have to increase the size even faster."
"Thank you," Hogan replied, "we have a lot of irons in the fire now, that would remove a big headache."
"Are you looking to move all the German prisoners?" the British general asked.
"No, it won't be needed. A lot of the guards are old men and boys. They are just happy to be out of the line of fire. They are getting more food now than when they were in charge, and they don't have to be on guard duty. We are classifying the men as we get them, for risk, ability, and commitment to the Reich. Those who we deem the most dangerous will be the first to go."
The meeting lasted longer this time, since Hogan did not have to report back in time for roll call. He had arranged for a few things to be picked up before he left the headquarters. There was no sense coming all the way to London without a treat or two for his men, who hadn't seen London in years.
###
The trip back to Germany was long, a British Lancaster flying low and slow all the way to Würzburg. It was probably the first bomber in the war that had night fighters from both sides guarding it. The Germans fighters found the bomber about a hundred miles from Würzburg, and escorted it the rest of the way in.
By the time Hogan made it back to Stalag 13, daybreak had come and gone. He found the usual flurry of activity both inside and outside the gates. He headed directly to Barracks 2, the command headquarters for all their operations.
Everyone was there, having had some idea when he would return. Hogan saw LeBeau first, "Any chance you have some breakfast left over, LeBeau?"
"Oui, Mon Colonel, I have saved you some." He busied himself getting the plate of food saved for the Colonel.
Hogan turned to the others, who were all eagerly awaiting the news. "It went well, everything we have asked for was approved. The biggest was the transfer of prisoners, they will start leaving in two days, the army is sending Douglas C-47 Skytrain's to handle the men. Figure about twenty prisoners each. Additionally, some B-24's have been fitted to haul gasoline. They're being used now to supply Patton, and they have a few extra, so they will be coming our way." (1)
"But I have something important for everyone." Hogan lifted a large bag onto the table. "Class A Uniforms for all of you. You may need to look like the rank you now have. I know the army has a Sergeant Major, but not Major Sergeant, or Major Corporals. I was going to bring back some Good English food, especially for you, Newkirk, but I couldn't find any," Hogan teased, because of the notoriously bad reputation English food had. "I had to come all the way back to Stalag 13 to get a good meal. But I did manage to find a few hundred cakes and pies and pastries that managed to make their way here. See that everyone gets some, even the Germans. I have someone to go see." With that he turned and left the barracks.
Hogan crossed the compound to the Kommandant's quarters. He knocked and it was just a moment before the door opened up. Schultz was holding the door open.
"Schultz," Hogan began, "go and find the guys – they will have some pastries for you."
"Pastries." Hogan could almost hear Schultz drool. "Ja, ja, I will go find them right away," and he was gone.
"Good Morning, Kommandant," Hogan said.
"Good Morning, Colonel Hogan."
"I have something for you – I know your regular supply hasn't been available." Hogan pulled a small box from behind his back and handed it to Klink.
Klink slowly opened up the box, and with a look of surprise, looked back up at Colonel Hogan. "Hogan, where did you manage to get these? I am told that none exist in Germany." Klink slowly raised a hand-rolled Cuban Cigar under his nose. "These haven't been seen here in years."
"I know what a burden we've put you under and I didn't want you to think that your assistance wasn't appreciated. Without you, life here would have been much more difficult in the past years and without your assistance now, life for all of us could have been more difficult. It's my way of saying thank you. Have a good day, Kommandant." With that, Hogan turned and went back into the compound.
C-47's (Skytrain or RAF version Dakota) were one of the main transports of the war. Over 10,000 were produced. It was based on the pre-war DC-3. It would hold about 25-28 men, so I've allowed for guards. Also, several B-24 Liberators were modified and did provide fuel delivery to General Patton (very long range and large payload).