The gestapo man smiled at Hogan and looked him straight in the eye. "Oh Colonel Hogan you and your men are way out of your league here. We
have been watching you for a long time and we are about ready to end your little work. Right now there is a radio tracer in a truck outside. I
know that you cannot do anything as long as the truck is here"
Colonel Hogan knew that the man who was standing in front of him, was not going to be like Klink or Schultz. He was a cruel man who had been
thoroughly trained and was on a mission. This man was very dangerous and would have to be watched very carefully. Gestapo at the camp or
not he had to get him out of the camp.
But fortunately for Colonel Hogan he did have a back up plan. Once he had the real Major Mark Browning safely at the camp he would bring the agent
to the rendezvous point. Even if the submarine had no contact with the Colonel and his men it would still be there on schedule in three days and both
those men were going to be on it.
After the gestapo agent who had come to them as a Major in the army air corps had been tied snugly and Colonel Hogan had checked the ropes himself
he went upstairs. The colonel left one of his men guarding him and headed up to the barracks. Here Newkirk was trying on a uniform a German
uniform that is. Newkirk Lebeau and Colonel Hogan would be going out that night to get the Major away from the Gestapo.
For that Colonel Hogan was going to present himself as a colonel with forged papers. there his men would bring the Major back to the camp. In three
days when the submarine arrived within range, they would have two men to pick up not just one.
But now it was time for Colonel Hogan to work on Colonel Klink. To make his plan work he would have to get his men out of camp. They would need a
car to bring the real Major back to camp with also. They were going to use Colonel Klink's staff car.
As Colonel Hogan made his way to the office of Colonel Klink he looked at the truck that carried with a radio locator. It was an invention that he had not
needed around his camp. It was a big pain in the neck not to be able to contact anyone and he wondered how long it would be here in camp. Colonel
Hogan would find out about the radio locator himself, while he was at the office that morning.
The office was busy with a gestapo man sitting right out in the outer office, thus not allowing Hogan to speak to anyone, so he asked to see Colonel
Klink and was allowed right in.
Klink was seating at his desk, but he looked very nervous. The truck was worrying him and Hogan would have no problem finding out when the truck was
going to be leaving. Colonel Hogan took a seat and a couple of cigars and looked at the nervous Colonel Klink. "I am wondering what the truck with the
radio detector on it is doing here at Stalag 13. We don't have any radios here for sure so I think that they are out for something else. I wonder what the
gestapo has in mind." Hogan told Klink.
This made Klink get up from his desk and walk around the room. Oh I don't know what they have in mind. You can never tell with that bunch. They will
stay here another day or so and leave. There is talk of a radio being somewhere in this area. What do you want?" he changed the subject.
Colonel Hogan looked at the German Colonel and could see that he was a wreck about everything that had been going on. "You need to relax Colonel. All
of this going on at the camp has you a nervous wreck. What you need is a night out on the town." he told him.
"Oh you are right. This is something else being around all these gestapo agents. They are trouble for us Germans too you know. But where should I go?
The last time I went to my favorite spot the gestapo was everywhere there too. They still have that man. I know that he is still with them at the hotel
because I heard a couple of the men talking about it. Oh I just don't know." Colonel Klink whined.
"Well, why don't you just go into town and have a good night out. If anyone deserves the time off it is you. You can go out have a small dinner and
maybe pick up some lady and still be back at the camp before midnight. You might be out later if you are lucky." Colonel Hogan encouraged him. "My
men have been working on your car and it is all clean and ready for a night out." Hogan told him.
Colonel Klink thought about it and said "You know what you are right. I do need the time off and I deserve it too. This will be a night for me to relax
from all this hard work that I have. I can forget about my prisoners and the gestapo for a while." Klink told him.
With that Hogan left the office and went back to the barracks. They were all set for tonight and he had found out that the radio would be out of there
tomorrow at sometime. Colonel Hogan was going to be a high ranking gestapo agent and he was going to need to get the orders written out so that
they would fool the gestapo men at the hotel. This presented a problem, but Hogan and his men had faced challenges such as these before and he
would do it somehow or another. He would be Colonel Hans Fischer and he hoped that there was no one with that name that anyone at the hotel would
know on that night or he would be in trouble.
As Carter and Newkirk pulled Klink's car up to the office Colonel Hogan slipped into the trunk. He could not be seen and there would never be a need
for three men to take Colonel Klink into town. It was their hope that he would not recognize Newkirk and Carter. They would keep their helmets on and
might not be recognized.
As they drove through town Hogan got bumped around quite a bit and he hoped that his uniform was not going to look too unkempt. The one thing
that you could say good about the gestapo is that their code was very clear. They were to look good at all times and no colonel in their service would
have a wrinkled uniform on. He would be spotted right away.
Carter drove Klink to a café on the other side of the block where he would not see them going into the hotel where the gestapo had their major and
let Colonel Klink out of the car. They then drove down the street a little way and Colonel Hogan slipped out of the car unnoticed. As the three men
drove to the hotel Hogan gave himself a quick check. He was ready for his meeting. He had practicing his German each and everyday and knew that
he had little or no accent.
As they pulled the car to the front of the hotel they noted the two gestapo guards that were located at the front door. As they entered the lobby of
the hotel there were two more agents stationed there and the desk clerk could also be an agent of that they were not sure. Newkirk went right over
to the man at the desk and demanded to see the man who was in charge of holding the prisoner. "I must see him right away. The prisoner is to be
moved." he shouted.
The desk clerk looked at the two gestapo men who were watching and listening to what was happening and one of the men walked into the room
next door. He was gone for a few minutes and then a tall man came out. He had heard of no such orders. "Who gave you these orders?" he
demanded. This order came from headquarters. The underground has found out about the major's location and is going to be trying to rescue
him. They want to have him moved to a new location. Here are the orders." Colonel Hogan told him.
The captain looked at the orders and with some grumbling he went into the other room. The real major came out of the room with him and Hogan
thanked the man. "Come on you piece of slime. We have other ways to make you talk." he told the major.
Once the major was in the car Colonel Hogan told the man who they really were and for the first time in days Major Mark Browning could relax. The
gestapo had been rough with him and for some reason he had the feeling that he was never going to leave that room. He was sure that the Germans
had plans to kill him once he cracked. From what the Colonel here was telling him his feelings were right.
With that the four men left the hotel and got into the car. They came back into Stalag 13 and managed to slip the major into the barracks unnoticed.
It was when the major got into the tunnel that he knew the full story of the plans that the Germans had for him. He now knew that they had planned
to put this German as a plant who would be receiving all the information from the men and relaying it to the Germans. The plant was going to be a
double agent. But the German plans had not worked and he had been caught in the act.
Colonel Hogan brought the man down to the tunnel and Carter and Newkirk went back to town to wait for Colonel Klink who once more was failing
miserably with the women at the café. When they saw his car pull up in the front they were more than pleased. Klink was an idiot even to the loyal
Germans and with ninety percent of the men out fighting the war a man was a welcome sight usually. Not so with Colonel Klink he was jittery and
foolish. They were glad to see him go.
As Colonel Hogan introduced the major to the gestapo man, the German laughed. "Now colonel what are you going to do with the both of us? You
cannot keep us down here forever and your contact has no way of contacting you as long as the radio detector is here. My men have the orders to
stay here until I send the truck away. I have stopped your little operation even if I do end up in England." he bragged.
This indeed was a worry for the Colonel and his men. They needed the radio. But the gestapo man had made a mistake. He had given Hogan information
that he badly needed. He was sure that the men driving the truck had not ever met the major and now all he had to do was impersonate him. No better
than that he was going to allow the real major to do that. He looked very much like the imposter and it was his turn to have fun with the Germans.
The Germans had been so sure that the major was never escaping they had spoken about his impersonator and foolishly said the gestapo man's real
name within hearing range of the major . His real name was Major Arnold Schmidt and he had come straight from Berlin. With just a few modifications
the Major's uniform was made up by Newkirk and he was ready for the plan.
The major took a look at the man who was going to impersonate him. He did appear to look like him somewhat but he was not him. Fortunately the
real major was German himself and had been raised speaking German. He was going to enjoy this job. As he dressed in the uniform the men of
the barracks kept a careful eye on the door and when everything was clear the Major left once again in the colonel's own car. Once he had been gone
for about twenty minute Carter drove him back into the Stalag. Carter let him out of the car and he went in to see Colonel Klink.
Major Mark Browning walked into the office and was met by the nervous older man who introduced himself as Colonel Klink. "I am here to remove
the radio detector out of your Stalag . We need to use it elsewhere. There has been no transmissions in the past few days and all is clear." he told the
older man.
"Very good. It has been a pleasure doing business with you." Klink told him. With that the imposter headed out to the truck that had the radio locator
on it.
He went over and spoke to the men. Neither one of the men appeared to recognize him. But they were more than happy to leave the Stalag. It was
a boring place with a Colonel who was so nervous it made them nervous. They packed up and were out of the compound within twenty minutes.
With that the major left . He did not want to get caught by someone who would know him. Carter left with the car for a few moments and then
came back in. The major had been let down the emergency tunnel and everything was all set.
In the morning once the radio detecting truck was out of range they would contact the submarine. The two majors would be on their way back to
England and Colonel Hogan and his men could go on to another job.