Chapter Eight: The Men

June 10, 1940

The following day, it was as if the incident of stolen potatoes had never happened. At least to the guards. The prisoners wisely mentioned nothing of it. Peter learned that the prisoners were withholding Captain Lawrence's meals for the following two days. It was quickly apparent that the prisoners wanted him gone. Peter never uttered a word to him. The prisoners also abandoned any thoughts of following rank. They knew a corporal had tried to help them by feeding them and a captain had sold him out. From then on, each man had to earn his respect through endurance and how he treated his fellow prisoners.

When Lawrence finally got his food back, he was feeling great remorse over his deed. He tried to gather some respect by giving half of his food to Peter, who was still recovering. Peter, however, was now wary of everything and everyone. To him, Lawrence was too easily becoming a changed man. In the Cockney's eyes, Lawrence was trying to earn his well wishes because Peter now held every prisoner's respect. Officer or not, Lawrence realized he would have to do something else. He left Peter alone, much to the Cockney's pleasure.

By a week after the incident, Peter was as well as he was going to be. More alliances between prisoners were being made, as they became more comfortable around one another. The infantry and airmen still had a bit of a riff between them. The infantry was convinced that the fliers and airmen had played a small, unimportant role during the siege of Dunkirk. Most of the airmen found this annoying, feeling that their presence as prisoners should have pointed out that they played a tough role in all of it. The routine of the march had hardened them by now, so fewer men fell. Every now and then, though, someone would get sick, and they almost never got better.

Twenty days into the march, they entered Germany. There was an air of hesitancy when they crossed. They knew they had come to the border because of the checkpoint. When they raised the road guard of the bridge that crossed the Rhine, the first man was reluctant to go through. But the guards prodded him, and he went on. Before each man went through, they said a desperate prayer, so that maybe they would return from Germany alive.

The guards became worse, now that they were in the Fatherland. They boasted more and more each day. June 23rd was the worst. The day before, Le Compiègne Armistice was signed, and German now had control of northern France, with the Vichy puppet government in control of southern France. The Wehrmacht guards celebrated the day, for their country had taken another one down…again. But the Frenchmen resisted losing their spirit. Throughout the day they sang patriotic songs nearly bellowing La Marseillaise. But Haussler had them stopped eventually. The guards were annoyed that their prisoners were not squelched by the fact that they were now from an occupied country. So, the guards moved onto the British prisoners, antagonizing them with tales of how Britain was next. There were no more organized British units fighting. This was taken with mixed emotions by the British prisoners. They were glad that most of their boys had gotten away, but now they knew that the United Kingdom was alone in the fight. The attitude from the Nazis did not help their futile hopes. The Nazis were very optimistic that Britain would be on her knees in a few months' time. The British kept up their spirits, though, that they would resist. And together, the prisoners mentally battled the guards. They would not be swayed that the times were hopeless.

The trek through Germany did not turn out to be as bad as the prisoners originally thought it would. It seemed that Haussler and his men did not want to come into contact with anyone unless it was impossible not to. The prisoners were grateful for this. They were not sure about how German civilians would react to them. They had had their fair share of propaganda as well, and had heard that the civilians were brutal. Some prisoners hoped this was only propaganda. Others knew it was probably true in some cases, and not so true in others. Some were less optimistic and kept noting that if it hadn't been for the German civilians, they wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.

Peter was one of those less optimistic prisoners. He was regarding every civilian he saw with deep hatred. Louis tried to be lighter of heart, but found that he could not. Not when all he could think of was that his home was taken over by power hungry Germans. Peter could not fathom as to why these people were doing this. Why were they condoning someone to take over the world? That was not how it was supposed to work. Peter was becoming more irate with every day that passed, because he kept thinking that Britain was next. He would give anything to be home, just to protect his sister. Every time he saw a Nazi soldier flirting with some young girl, he felt like throwing up. He could hardly imagine having them walking around London like that.

Louis knew that they were walking around Paris like that, which only made him more furious. He thought of his sisters, and then the older Nazi soldiers. His father was really in no condition to be protecting all of his girls, who were growing up anyway. They would not always be close by. And his brother was still so young. Also, he had a sickening feeling that if anything happened between the soldiers and the girls, there would be little anyone could do about it. Filthy Boche.

Well, the days seemed endless. No prisoners knew where their destination was, and they knew by now not to ask the guards. The guards were more talkative now, and some of them tried to be friendly with the prisoners. But the prisoners did not want to deal with them. Only sometimes would they take a cigarette if offered. But this was only on the march. If Haussler or some other, stricter guard caught you smoking, it was a quick beating. These comforts were not allowed to the prisoners. The prisoners tried to appear more relaxed with the routine, but it was hard. They feared what lay ahead. They feared that the march would be for nothing, and that they would only end up getting shot wherever they ended up.

Peter and Louis grew onto each other even more. They, Luke, Stephen, and Marcel, spent their time together. At night, they exchanged stories about home, and learned about one another's past, if that person was open to tell them.

They all wanted to hear how Peter had gotten out of the barn that night, so he quietly showed him his pencil sharpener and explained his talents. Stephen and Marcel were not very excited to hear that Peter was a bona fide thief, but Luke was mesmerized, especially when Peter performed some simple magic tricks with a coin. Louis did not really care, because he had known about these skills before they had been captured. Peter told them much about his past and how he had come into the service.

Louis shared his skills as a chef, and his dreams for the future. As Louis spoke of his favorite dishes, only Marcel seemed to care. Marcel was from the east of Lyon, which had special dishes of its own. He and Louis talked in English, for the benefit of their British friends, but they could have very well been speaking Greek. The talk about gourmet dishes did not mean anything to the Brits, who knew only three different types of gourmet: Peter knew fish and chips; Luke knew Manchester Pudding; and Stephen knew haggis. Louis was in disgust when he heard how these dishes were made, and how much the Brits enjoyed them.

Marcel told about his home city, Lyon. He said that before he had enlisted, he had been a newspaper reporter, and had dreamed of creating his own newspaper. He told them that he had actually visited Germany in 1937. He spoke German fluently. He said that his stay had actually been very nice, except that he saw some brutal things as well. His hosts had tried to disguise it and hide it from him, but he had seen it or at least noticed it easy enough. He spoke of what he had seen done to the Jews. He also spoke of the rumors about labor camps for the Jews. Marcel had never seen one, but he had seen a lot of vacant houses where people explained that a Jew had lived there. He had enlisted in '39, fearing some kind of invasion was going to take place. He had wanted to be a part of defending his country.

Luke was from Manchester. He had grown up in an upper class family. This shocked Peter. He thought all the rich were not very kind people. 'Bloody toffs' he called them. Luke explained that he was the only boy out of seven children, and the youngest to boot. He had always tried to act tough, because he was the only boy. He had run away to join the military at seventeen, only to find that a year later he would actually be fighting. Now, he admitted, that he didn't care about acting tough or anything. When he had gotten into the fight, he had been scared out of his mind.

Stephen was from a Scottish town called Sterling, not far from Glasgow. He had worked on a sheep farm. His father had been in the Great War. So, when the call for British soldiers was made, Stephen felt that it was his duty to follow in his father's footsteps, even though he had a wife and a baby girl. He only hoped that he could return to Scotland to see them and carry on his family's business. But his Highlander Battalion had gone completely under siege. His platoon had been able to escape from the town, only to be recaptured. The rest they learned were massacred.

Their personalities were quite different as well. Louis was the oldest of them all, at twenty-nine. (1) He was very passionate, with a fiery temper, but watched over them all health wise. If they looked a bit peckish, he always managed to have another piece of bread for them that night. They teased him, calling him a mother hen. Stephen was second eldest, at twenty-seven. He had a lot of good humor and spoke wise words to them whenever they needed to hear some. Peter and Marcel were the same age at twenty-five. (2) Peter was wild and theatrical. He could be wary and brusque with them at times, but mostly he was a happy-go-lucky, who didn't think through things very well. Marcel was almost the opposite. He was very thoughtful and reserved. He never let any of emotions get out of hand, except when he was pushed too far, though they would not witness that very much. And Luke was like their baby brother. He was eighteen, which to them, still made him a boy. He had not seen as many hard days as them, so he was not as hardened. This was refreshing, though, because of his optimism. He was energetic, but considerate. He could perceive what the others were feeling, and would often mold himself to meet their needs. They were all protective of him, since he was the youngest. But since Luke had originally attached himself to Peter, they had the closest bond.

And since Peter and originally attached himself to Louis, they had a very close bond. Louis never showed it, but he felt that he had to protect Peter too. Both in fact, because of how they had met, were compelled to protect one another. But Louis, after having all those younger siblings, felt he had to protect Peter simply because he was younger. Ever since the Cockney had begun to follow him, Louis had become fonder of him. He wanted nothing to happen to him.

One night, when they stopped, Louis looked around him at those he was now becoming close to. It was an odd assortment: a thief, a chef, a rich boy, a sheep herder, and a reporter. But they still had a few things in common: they were young and had all willingly joined the service. They had a patriotic sense towards their beloved countries, and a patriotic hatred toward this enemy. But they were all humane, and treated no man badly unless he deserved it. Their talents and former jobs made them unique to one another. They also had a growing admiration and respect for one another as people.

Soon enough, it was like this with all the prisoners. There were little groups of people who stuck together always. But a lot of the prisoners got to know one another at least by name. Of course, there were a few that were loners, because no one was sure about them. The most famous one among them was Lawrence, but he was quiet. He never talked unless he was spoken to. Many thought he was actually making a turn for the better. Some were kinder towards him but not open with him. He was just grateful to not have anyone forcing him away. When the Nazis saw that, they targeted that man, because they knew he was weaker. The weaker they were, the easier they were to get rid of.

But there were no more gun shots for a fallen man. Those who were left were the strongest, and that meant that they would last longer. One night, three days into Germany, Peter looked around at all the prisoners. They were more relaxed, and even the guards were. Haussler had been leaving them alone. The days were somewhat cooler of late. He kind of thought that maybe things would be okay.

(1)(2) I'm sure everyone had their ages for our heroes. I'll just explain mine as best as I can. I always thought Louis looked older than Peter, so that's why I made him older. I know that they did not look this young on the show, but that's because the actors could not really be that young. I just wanted to keep it more realistic, and that they would be younger POWs. We can't help it if the actors look rather older.