Chapter 7 --The Gestapo Comes to Stalag 13

The men of barracks two lined up in formation for roll call in the morning. Colonel Hogan's spot in the formation remained vacant as it had since that day. Schultz, during his counting of each prisoner, paused momentarily when he came to Hogan's place in line, as if he hoped during roll call one day he would again see the brash American Colonel standing in his regular place and that this entire nightmare was just that….a nightmare. But Schultz knew that Colonel Hogan would never again stand in his regular place in the formation. Finishing his head count, Schultz turned around as Colonel Wilhelm Klink approached.

"Schultz! Repooooooort!"

Schultz saluted. "Herr, Kommandant, all prisoners are present and accounted for."

Klink returned the salute. "Thank you, Schultz," he said. Klink found himself staring at the vacant space in the formation. He sighed dejectedly. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, he actually missed Hogan. He was so used to Hogan's wisecracks, Hogan entering his office without waiting for permission, as well as their conversations. He even missed Hogan stealing his cigars from his humidor and glasses of Schnapps from his decanter without permission. Klink had to admit that Hogan was his intellectual equal. Things just weren't the same at Stalag 13 without the brash young American Colonel around, and Klink felt they would never be the same again. He was about to have Schultz dismiss the prisoners when he noticed a large black car with red flags with the Gestapo emblem of the swastika emblazoned on them, coming through the front gates.

Klink shuddered when he saw the car. What could Major Hochstetter be doing here? This is the last thing I need today!

Kinch and the other prisoners exchanged concerned and nervous looks. What would the Gestapo be doing here? What did they want? Did it have something to do with Colonel Hogan?

The car pulled to a stop in front of Klink's office. The Kommandant approached the car expecting to see Major Hochstetter get out. Instead, he found himself facing a Gestapo Major and two armed privates he had never seen before. The driver stayed in the car.

Klink saluted. "Welcome to Stalag 13 Major…." he paused.

The Major returned the salute, "Von Stossel. Henrik Von Stossel," he said, unsmiling. "And you are?"

"Colonel Wilhelm Klink. Kommandant of Stalag 13, gentlemen." Klink was becoming more nervous by the minute. Hochstetter was bad enough, but this Major Von Stossel gave him the chills. "May I inquire as to your visit here? I mean we weren't….."

Von Stossel raised his hand requesting silence. Instead, he never took his eyes off the prisoners still standing in formation. He approached them with the guards and Klink following. "Are these all of your prisoners, Colonel?" he asked coldly.

"Yes, sir."

"I only count fourteen. I was under the impression you had fifteen."

Klink swallowed hard. "Well…yes….we did have fifteen, Major. We recently lost our Senior POW officer, Colonel Hogan. He uh….passed away a few days ago."

"Did he?" Von Stossel smirked wickedly. "How fortunate for Colonel Hogan."

Klink and Schultz exchanged concerned looks. Neither had any idea what the Gestapo was doing here, much less what they wanted. But both had a nagging fear it wouldn't bear well for the prisoners.

Von Stossel reached out to one of his guards and took a paper from him. He didn't look at Klink. "I want the following of your prisoners to step forward when I call their name. Sergeant James Kinchloe….Corporal Louis LeBeau….Sergeant Andrew Carter….and Corporal Peter Newkirk." he looked up.

The four prisoners all stepped forward, nervously. They looked at each other. What was going on?

Von Stossel look at each man individually. "You four will accompany me to Gestapo Headquarters in Berlin. There you will be questioned extensively as to the activities of yourselves and your late Senior POW officer, Colonel Hogan."

Klink froze at the mentioning of Gestapo headquarters.

"Excuse me, Major," Kinch said, licking his suddenly dry lips. "But Colonel Hogan was a POW just like the rest of us. I mean he…."

Kinch never go to finish his sentence as he was backhanded across the face by Von Stossel. Wiping a smear of blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, Kinch stared at the Major with daggers in his eyes.

"Did I give you permission to speak, swine?" asked Von Stossel. He turned to Klink. "Kommandant, I will require a truck to transport these men to Berlin. You will supply the truck immediately. I am in a hurry to return to Berlin."

"Yes, Major. Schultz, get the Major a truck right away."

"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant." Schultz hurried away after glancing sadly at the four men. Why couldn't everybody just leave Hogan's men alone? Wasn't losing their Colonel enough?

Klink nervously eyed Von Stossel. "Major, when will I get these men back? I mean, Sergeant Kinchloe is our acting POW officer."

"Is he?" Von Stossel remarked. "Well then, Colonel…. I suggest you choose someone else for that position for now. As for when you will get these men back." He shrugged noncommittally. "You'll either get them back eventually….or what's left of them."

The truck, with Schultz behind the wheel pulled up behind the Major's car. Schultz got out.

Von Stossel then ordered Hogan's men to get inside the back of the truck with both of his armed guards. As Kinch climbed into the back of the truck, a thought crossed his mind. I just hope we can find a way out of this and get back to finding a way to rescue the Colonel before we lose him forever.

Von Stossel exchanged salutes with Klink before climbing back into his car. Then, his car abruptly left Stalag 13 with the truck carrying Hogan's men following. They had only gone a few miles from Stalag 13 when both the car and truck slowed to a stop in some dense brush. Hogan's men were caught off-guard when the truck stopped.

"What do you think, Kinch?" LeBeau whispered as the two armed guards climbed out of the truck leaving the men alone.

"I haven't got the slightest idea," Kinch replied.

"Well, whatever they're up to, we better keep an eye out for any opportunity to make a break for it," Newkirk whispered. "We have to rescue Colonel Hogan, and I'll be damn if I let some bloody Gestapo keep me from that!"

"But why would the Gestapo even bother us. What could they possibly want with us?" asked Carter nervously.

"Good question, Andrew," Kinch remarked. "Maybe they figure with the Colonel no longer here, they'd have a better chance to find out about our operation and the Colonel with us."

"Well, I will tell the filthy Bosche nothing!" said LeBeau defiantly. "I don't care what they do to me."

Just then, one of the two guards reappeared. He motioned for the four prisoners to climb out of the truck. Hogan's men did as they were told. They saw Von Stossel waiting, hands clasped behind his back.

"What are you going to do now?" asked Newkirk. "Shoot us right here? I don't think Major Hochstetter would approve."

Von Stossel looked over his shoulder as a figure dressed in an Abwehr uniform appeared from the bushes. It was Major Teppel. He and Von Stossel smiled warmly at each other and shook hands. Hogan's men were confused.

"Not that we're not glad to see you, Major Teppel," Kinch said, totally confused. "But would someone mind telling us what's going on?"

"Sorry it had to be this way," Von Stossel said, his German accent replaced by an American one. "But Morrison thought this was the best way to get you men out of Stalag 13 without Klink coming along."

Hogan's men exchanged looks. Von Stossel extended his hand to Kinch who shook it. "I'm Lancelot," Von Stossel explained. "I'm with the underground. We've spoken on the radio."

Kinch smiled at Lancelot. He winced from the twinge of his lower lip. Lancelot frowned. "I'm sorry I had to hit you like that. But I had to make it look good in front of Klink."

"In this case, apology accepted," Kinch replied.

Hogan's men all shook hands with Morrison. "You sure had us going for awhile, Gov'nor," Newkirk replied, admiringly. "I thought these guys really were the Gestapo."

"That was the whole idea," Morrison admitted. "I didn't think it would be a good idea for me to come and get you men like I did when we had to capture Robin Hood, because that meant we'd have to bring Klink along, and he'll just get in the way with what we have to do. This way, Klink will never contact the Gestapo out of fear and he won't interfere."

"That's for sure," Newkirk commented. "Old Blood 'n Guts Klink's yellow streak brightens on his back when you mention the word Gestapo."

LeBeau was suddenly concerned. "But what if Hochstetter comes to camp and finds out the Gestapo has removed us from there? He'll start investigating."

"Not likely," Morrison grinned. "I understand Major Hochstetter's on leave for the time being. He won't be a problem for at least a week or two."

Hogan's men let out a collective sigh of relief at this. The last thing they needed was the fanatical Major Hochstetter poking around and interfering with their plans to rescue Colonel Hogan.

Morrison looked at the four men. "I have a plan on how we're going to get Hogan away from Frolichman," he said. "But I don't want to talk here. There's a safe house that Lancelot and I selected just outside Berlin. We can talk there and I'll explain everything."