Chapter 4 --- Sergeant Tyler Mitchell, RAF

Sergeant Tyler Mitchell sat on the bench outside barracks two. Depressed, he folded his arms and stared out at the other prisoners at their various activities in the compound. Stalag 13 didn't seem to be so bad, at least on the surface, he thought. Certainly the Kommandant was not too bright. And that Sergeant. What was his name? Schultz. He didn't seem to have it all together either. He hadn't formed an opinion on the other guards as yet, but if they were anything like these two, escape shouldn't be too much of a problem after he did what he had to do. He hadn't really liked the idea of purposely allowing himself to be captured, but those were the orders. Crash land in the area of Stalag 13 and allow himself to be captured. Once brought to the prisoner-of-war camp, he recalled how surprised he had been when told what he was to do after that.

Mitchell sighed wearily. He thought back to the mission that landed him here. Operation Chastise(1) was suppose to be successful from what he had heard about it which wasn't much. Operation Chastise had been the official name for the attacks which were going to be made on selected German dams on May 17, 1943. The selected dams were providing power and water into the canal transport system, and the RAF figured if they could disrupt the German hydroelectric dams in key areas, it would be a huge blow to the German war machine. At least that was the plan.

But because the dams had safety measures already in place, a specially-designed bomb was needed. So, in the spring of 1943, what was called a 'bouncing bomb' was designed for such an express purpose. It was called a 'bouncing bomb' because once released, it would bounce on water to bypass the dam's defenses and slam into the wall of each dam.

Special crews were selected, of which Mitchell was one of the first, and trained to fly at less than 100 feet above water, the height required to be able to drop these bouncing bombs successfully. A problem was that the Lancaster bombers could only carry one bomb per plane, and another was the bombers had to resort to such low-level flying, the chances of being seen by the Germans was that much more probable(2).

So, on May 17th, 1943, under the command of Wing Commander Guy Gibson(3), Squadron 617 of the Royal Air Force had taken off to destroy several of the Nazi's major hydroelectric dams. In the end, Mitchell had been informed that only four of the six targets were hit with two being destroyed(4), and eight of nineteen bombers were either shot down or destroyed in the process. Mitchell also remembered hearing somewhere that millions of gallons of water had flooded the German countryside following the destruction of the Mohne Dam, while there was significant flooding in the wake of the bombing of the Eder dam. Miles of German factories and homes were destroyed in the flooding with thousands of casualties being suffered by the Germans(5). Mitchell hung his head and sadly shook it. To him Operation Chastise was a dismal failure. But the Allies considered it a success. Mitchell couldn't see how they ever could. A lot of his fellow crewmen were killed or captured like himself, and some he never found out what happened to them.

Mitchell let out a deep breath as he leaned the back of his head against the barracks wall. He suddenly became aware of a shadow in front of him. He turned his head to the side and shaded his eyes from the sun. He noticed a tall black man standing in front of him. "Can I help you?" he asked softly. "Wait, aren't you one of the chaps I met earlier?"

"Yeah. Name's Sergeant James Kinchloe, but everybody calls me Kinch." Kinch held out his hand. Mitchell shook it. "Glad to make your acquaintance, Kinch," he said. "Care to have a seat?"

"Don't mind if I do, Sergeant," Kinch replied with a smile as he sat down on the bench beside Mitchell. "So, how do you like it here in Stalag 13 so far?"

Mitchell shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. I mean, I suppose it could have been worse. I could have been shot or hanged."

"Or...." added Kinch, "You could have ended up in another POW camp. You're fortunate to be here instead of another camp."

This time Mitchell turned his head to face Kinch directly. "How so?"

"Well, for one thing...." Kinch folded his arms. "...We have Colonel Hogan. And as long as he's around, you don't have to worry about the Krauts."

"I say. How does the Colonel manage that?"

"Well, you've met our Kommandant and his Sergeant-at-arms, Schultz. Need you even ask?"

Mitchell chuckled. "No, I guess not. So, this Colonel Hogan runs things, in a manner of speaking?"

"It's how you look at it, I suppose. The Krauts here aren't that difficult to fool. And the Colonel does have a golden tongue."

"You know, mate, I meant to ask, what happened to the Colonel? I mean, I noticed he was using crutches. I do hope it's nothing serious."

"He and Sergeant Carter tried to stop another prisoner from escaping through a tunnel. The tunnel wasn't safe and there was a cave-in. The Colonel and Carter were both injured, but the Colonel suffered a lower back injury that paralyzed him from the waist down and confined him to a wheelchair for about a year. He's just now starting to regain the use of his legs to some degree."

"Good Lord! And how is Sergeant Carter?"

"Andrew? He's fine. Other than a bump on the head, he got off lucky. He's completely recovered now."

"Thank the heavens for that. And Colonel Hogan is still the Senior POW officer despite his problem?"

"That's right," Kinch eyed Mitchell with narrowed eyes. "Something wrong?"

"Not at all, old chap. No, I was just wondering if he had delegated those duties to someone else until he's fully recovered is all?"

"They were. To me. But now the Colonel's back where he belongs and he's been reassigned his duties as Senior POW officer by the Kommandant. So if you have any problems, troubles or complaints, bring 'em either to the Colonel or to one of us and we'll take them to the Colonel. That way, he can bring them to the Kommandant."

"Understood, mate." Mitchell sighed wearily.

"Something wrong?" asked Kinch. "When I stopped by, you looked like you had lost your best friend."

"No. I was just recalling how I ended up here is all." Then, in capsule form, Mitchell repeated his involvment in Operation Chastise and about the 'bouncing bombs.' Kinch looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Wow," he replied, amazed. "Doesn't sound like much of a success to me."

Mitchell chuckled again. "My sentiments exactly. Don't get me wrong, we did manage to put a dent of a kind in the Jerries' hydroelectric dams, but still, the cost to the Allies almost didn't seem like worth the effort."

Kinch checked his watch. "I have to get going. We'll talk some more later." Kinch started getting up when Mitchell called out to him. Kinch paused and turned.

"You need something, Sergeant?" he asked.

"I believe you have a British corporal in the barracks? Newkirk I think he said his name was?"

"Yeah, we do. Corporal Peter Newkirk. Why?"

"Oh nothing. I'm just hoping to have a chat with him is all. You know how it is." Mitchell smiled innocently. "One Englander to another. That sort of thing."

Kinch smiled in his ususal friendly manner. But there was something about Mitchell he found troublesome. "Sure. I'll tell Newkirk you'd like to speak with him."

"Oh, don't do that right now. I'll catch up with him when I get the chance. Don't trouble yourself."

"It's no trouble. really."

"I understand. But I'll catch him later. Really. Thanks anyway."

Kinch merely shrugged and walked away. Mitchell watched him go before turning his attention back to the other men in the compound. His mind was rehashing what the Sergeant had told him about Colonel Hogan. He remembered his commanding officer calling him into his office before he took off on Operation Chastise. He had shown him a photo of the Colonel to be sure Mitchell knew what Hogan looked like.

A small smile made it's way onto Mitchell's face. If any of them actually had an idea of what he was planning to do they would try and stop him. But, if he was careful, he might just be able to get away with it. But the worse thing was, he thought, should they find out, not only would they try to stop him, but he himself knew failure was not an option he could afford.

(1) Operation Chastise was the name given to the plan to destroy major German hydroelectric dams which, once destroyed, would cut off water for industrial purposes and halt much if not all work in factories and coal mines. (2) The bombs, called 'bouncing bombs' because, once released on target, would bounce across the waterin order to bypass the German defenses protecting the dam before slamming into the dam wall. (3) 24-year-old Guy Gibson, who up until then, had completed about 170 missions, was chosen to lead Operation Chastise. (4) Because they were required to fly low-level for the bouncing bombs to be effective, the Germans could spot the bombers' spotlights nearly two to three miles away. (5) The middle of the Mohne dam was destroyed causing millions of gallons of water to flood the German countryside. Significant flooding resulted after damage to the Eder dam.