It was less than a week later when Hogan's team took over their fifth additional Stalag. They were going after their first Stalag in Austria, Stalag 18 near Markt-Pongau. This was a major operation for several reasons: the distance, of over five-hundred kilometers, and that they held almost four-thousand prisoners, mainly of Russian heritage. General Kalikovich had requested action in this direction, personally of Hogan. Both of them had known of the terrible conditions and forced labor going on there.
By this time, most of the guarding of the liberated camps was be performed by the former inmates. This freed a large force of trained people ready to conquer another task. Fifteen trucks were assigned, along with a few escort vehicles to make the journey. A total of 150 men were taken, or what would have been considered a full company of troops. They actually were well armed, due to the distance and possibility of a fight.
The takeover went fairly smooth, with one gunshot heard and only the wall by the door being hit. The Kommandant kept a luger hidden, and was able to get off the single shot before he was disarmed. Luckily, he was the last person to be taken. Unlike Stalag 13, the office of the Kommandant was outside the fence, and the Major in charge of the Stalag was gone when the takeover occurred. He came roaring into his office after he got back to camp, his personal weapon had been removed, but he was able to get to his hidden weapon. It seemed he had a genuine fear of a prisoner uprising, thus the office outside the fence.
The problem started almost immediately after the takeover. It was bad enough for a call to be put in directly to Colonel Hogan, and for him to be headed that way. The following day, two transports full of medics and Doctor Easley, and one very upset Colonel Hogan, arrived at the small airport near Markt-Pongau. The Air Station commander bent over backwards to arrange transport for the medical staff. He was told that their orders came from Doctor Josef Mengele, a name that terrified anyone that had heard of the name. (1)
The takeover team for this operation had involved a captain from Stalag 13 and two from other camps. Also included was Sergeant Anderson from his own barracks. And in overall command was a newly minted Major Peter Newkirk. Even though the takeover had been reported as complete, Colonel Hogan had received an urgent phone call that he was needed here.
Colonel Hogan arrived at the camp in a foul mood. He had known Newkirk long enough to know that there was much that the man couldn't do. He was resourceful and resilient. What could have caused Newkirk to have called for help so quickly?
Before Hogan even got to the Kommandant's office, he could hear raised voices from inside. He quickly opened the door and went in. Then stopped cold. Before him, at almost nose to nose, were Newkirk and Colonel Crittendon.
Newkirk saw him first. "Colonel Hogan, blimey it's good to see you. Colonel Crittendon won't allow us to do anything."
"I say, Hogan old chap, this is not proper. I know you have an operation running out of Stalag 13, but this is putting my men at risk," Crittendon said. "I just can't stand for it."
"Simpson was right," Hogan said, almost under his breath.
Crittendon continued, "Look here, it's fine to do some small stuff, and help others escape, but now Newkirk here is talking about open warfare. It's against the law of war. And besides, we both know that Newkirk isn't a commissioned officer in the British army, that's also not done, he could be shot for impersonating an officer."
Hogan had been reaching for something in his pocket as Crittendon was rattling on. He opened a small case and took out two stars and pinned them to his collar. Newkirk stood there with his mouth hanging open.
Crittendon continued, "Colonel Hogan, we both know that I have more time in rank than you do. So the stars can only be a fake. I will take over here. We could together organize a mass escape that will keep the Jerrie's occupied for weeks."
Hogan walked right up to Colonel Crittendon. "No, Rodney, you won't. What we will do is go to the outer office, where I have radio equipment being put together. You will talk to London. You will abide by what they decide. And you will follow my orders. I have too much at stake for something to go wrong now. Let's go." With that, Hogan turned and opened up the door, holding it for Crittendon.
"Yes, we'll see what London has to say about this," Crittendon said.
Hogan walked over to where the radio had been set up. The operator nodded to him and handed him the microphone. "Papa Bear calling Goldilocks, are you there, Goldilocks?"
"Papa Bear, this is Goldilocks, we read you."
"Goldilocks, we have found a lost sheep in a briar patch, who doesn't answer to Papa Bear. Can Old Mother Hubbard explain it to him?"
Another voice came on the radio, this one sterner. "This is, who? That's not my code-name! Yes, then, this is Old Mother Hubbard. I will take joy in telling them Papa Bear.
Hogan smiled and handed the microphone over to Crittendon.
Colonel Crittendon took the mic, and said, "London, or Old Mother Hubbard, I outrank Colonel…or Papa Bear by time in rank. I should maintain command of my men to affect the most impact as we can."
"Lost sheep. ENOUGH! Papa Bear is now two grades higher than you, and has been named area commander. You will give him the respect he is due and provide him all the assistance you can. Is that understood?"
Crittendon stared at the microphone in his hand. Hogan reached over and took the device from him and said, "This is Papa Bear, I believe he understands. And you were right. Papa Bear out."
Hogan handed the microphone over to the operator. Then he turned back to Crittendon, "Now that is settled. Any other questions?"
Crittendon shook his head.
"Good. First of all, I want to know how you got here."
"Well, Hogan, or I should say, Major General Hogan, congratulations are due I suppose." Crittendon took a deep breath and continued, "After that nasty affair with Lady Chitterly, your men got me on the way to London. But somewhere along the line, something got fouled up and I ended up in Austria. I think I got on the wrong train. They're not very well marked, you know. A station master turned me in and I ended up here."
"Five hundred kilometers in the wrong direction. Alright, the fact is you're here. Who was in charge before you got here?"
"That would have been Major Eddings, Royal Air Force."
Hogan turned to Newkirk, who had followed them outside. "Newkirk, find this Major Eddings, you and I need to have a talk with him. Rodney, you are coming with me. I need someone of your expertise."
"Righto, General, I have several plans to really let the Jerrie's have it, so to speak."
"Fine, we'll talk more when we get back to Stalag 13, right now, I have some things to do here. Why don't you get your things together – we'll be leaving right away."
With that, Hogan turned and went back into the office, to await Newkirk.
The conversation with Major Eddings was much more fruitful. He, like most of the other officers here, had been underwhelmed by the plans that Colonel Crittendon came up with. They had barely prevented retaliations brought on by the Colonel's repeated escape attempts. Eddings was given more information more quickly than most senior POW's. But the need for an active command structure here, with the distance from Stalag 13, was imperative. Within thirty minutes, Eddings had signed onto the plan, accepted Newkirk as in charge, and was already helping Newkirk identify the best men to bring into the plan.
Thirty minutes after that, Hogan and Crittendon boarded the plane to fly back to Würzburg. From there, the troublesome Colonel boarded the next transport leaving for England. It was a miracle, but the plane made it safely, without an incident. Hogan received a promise that Colonel Rodney Crittendon would not step on the continent again as long as the war went on.
A natural progression of the Stalag takeover was to take over the small airport. Obviously, the number and frequency of transport would have been reported. So, almost immediately after Hogan had departed, the airport troops had been rounded up. Their replacements were not noticed with the bustling activity going on near the camp.
Local merchants were delighted by the increased money being spent by the Stalag. They were able to find goods, at a higher price offered, about which they had told the original Stalag officials, was simply not available days before. Soon, the prisoners were eating well, and the men started to get healthy again. Warmer clothing found its way to the prisoners. An additional generator was found on the airbase and brought to the camp. Additional wood for the stoves was cut and disbursed, so that the huts were warmer.
The work by Doctor Easley and his team was becoming routine. The medical teams were processing the men as fast as they could, but the prisoners had not fared as well here, especially the Russians. The human body did certain things when the proper food was not available. The procedures that the team had come up with helped reverse the damage done, and prevented most long-term problems. The worst cases, or other serious injuries, that could not be treated locally were ferried to London.
A regular transport run began between Markt-Pongau and Würzburg. From there, British and American transports ferried the prisoners, a good portion of them Russian, on to England. From there, the Russians went to Scotland, and then a long cold flight to either Arkhangelsk (Archangel) or Murmansk in Russia.
A small proportion of the of the mainly Russian population of the stalag volunteered to stay and help with the occupation. Perhaps it was because of the terrible conditions they had suffered through. Perhaps it was the moratorium against retaliation of the Germans who had guarded them. Still, even after the majority of Russians left, there were still Poles, who had nowhere to go, and long-term British and French troops. Surprisingly, many of the French troops expressed a strong desire to stay and help.
Newkirk earned his gold leaf on his shoulder. He truly started to understand how much responsibility Colonel, no, General Hogan, had on his shoulders. There were millions of details. Who to send home first, and a schedule for all that wanted to leave. Maintaining security for the operation. Who could speak German, or learn quickly enough. Green arrived to help with language training, and was pleasantly surprised by the number of German speakers. As had been seen in other camps, trying to learn what the guards were saying helped ensure one's survival. It had become almost human nature to study the language.
One of the Russians that did stay was Vladimir Minsk, who had been with the Stalag 13 operation as it's tailor, before Newkirk took on that role. He had been transferred to a more ethnic camp early in the Stalag 13 activities. He was familiar enough with Newkirk, that he trusted him when he told part of the plans. He helped persuade a few others to stay and help, which provided a small core of Russian volunteers.
Within three weeks of changing hands, Stalag 18 began its first operations to secure the area in Austria it resided in. By that time several hundred prisoners had made the long journey back to Russia. General Kalikovich sent to Hogan his greatest thanks for saving his countrymen.
The control of this area gave Hogan almost six hundred kilometers of border facing Switzerland, Italy, and Yugoslavia. The major routes out of Southern Germany were now secure.
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Berlin, German High Command Headquarters. A meeting between some of the highest-ranking officers left in Germany. In discussion was the upcoming battle plans for Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein. (2)
SS-Oberstgruppenführer Sepp Dietrich, Leader of the 6th Panzer Army, was complaining to German Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) Gerd von Rundstedt, "Herr Field Marshall, they have destroyed my fuel. I have less than fifty percent of projected needs."
"I know, the change in the Allies bombing targets caught us by surprise. They have been very lucky in catching our fuel and ammunition depots in their attacks. They have changed from major industrial targets to more spread out attacks on a wide area. Our defenses are having a difficult time intercepting so many different attacks from so many directions."
"But, Herr Field Marshall, how are we going to be successful, when we are so short on supplies?"
"We have no choice, the Führer has ordered that we win this battle, there is no other option. Unless you would like to tell him yourself of your unwillingness to attack?"
Dietrich, an officer known for his courage, blanched at that thought. "No, Herr Field Marshall, we will attack and take from the Allies what we need."
The resulting attack into the forests of the Ardennes brought 12 infantry divisions instead of the planned 16 and only 6 armored divisions instead of the planned 8. The attack was also delayed three days due to fuel problems.
The resulting battle was never named the Battle of the Bulge, because the German counter attack was doomed from the beginning. The large advance of German troops into the Allied rear never happened. They never encircled Bastogne. The tanks were unable to make their objectives because the delay brought good weather, which doomed the troops, as overwhelming Allied air superiority destroyed the advance.
This defeat, coupled with the loss of supplies, crippled the German Army. A large portion of its remaining war material had just been destroyed or captured. New equipment couldn't be brought forward due to lack of supplies. From this point on smaller detachments of forces would be left to fight a rear-guard action, as more ground was given to create a smaller, more defensible line.
What the Germans never knew was that the Allies had rushed additional reserves into the line even before the attack had taken place. Units just removed from the lines were sent back up. Units were moved from other sectors, and planned offensives were changed to emergency defensive positions. Precious information about the attack had been received at high command only days before the attack. That information came from Papa Bear.
The last great chance for a German negotiated peace with the Western Allies was gone. The race to Berlin had begun.
Dr. Josef Mengele was also known as the Angel of Death, for his cruel experiments on the prisoners at Auschwitz.
"Operation Watch on the Rhine" otherwise known as what would have become the Battle of the Bulge.