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What's in a Name

Chapter 17

The Winter of Our Discontent

The prisoners' and Underground's optimistic outlook, after successfully spiriting Captain Marceau out of camp, deflated after a seemingly endless winter settled over the prison.

The weather was miserable; the huts became cold and damp, the frigid wind piercing the numerous cracks found all over the poorly built structures.

The ground froze, and tunnel work stopped. Without this work to keep the men occupied and hopeful, the men became more depressed and sullen. They were also facing their first Christmas and New Year holidays as prisoners, and this made matters worse.

German speakers continued to give lessons, and forgery and sewing projects were brought up into the barracks; but tempers were short, and prisoners hoping for a mass breakout became impatient. This was dangerous. New prisoners were trickling in all the time, and several were obviously wire-happy. Despite warnings from Maddock and his staff, it was only inevitable that someone would make a break for it.

The second week of January, a small group of men were sent out in a work party to clear a road. Two British corporals, Munson and Blum, armed only with navigational skills, took the opportunity to sneak away from the others and head off into the woods. While they knew of the tunnel, they realized the other prisoners would know where to find them if they hid there. They headed south, keeping away from the road.

The other prisoners in the work party quickly realized the two men were missing. After a brief discussion, they decided there was no way they could turn in two of their own, and they waited to see the outcome. About a half hour after the two men took off, the prisoners were recounted prior to returning to the truck. It took several seconds for the guards to realize they had a huge problem on their hands. They panicked.

"I think we should notify the camp," suggested Adler as he stood guarding the other prisoners.

"I think we should wait and see if Brant and Dressler can find them in the woods," stated Garber. "Why make trouble if we can head it off first? Besides, who will they blame back at camp? Klink will have our hides when he finds out we lost sight of two prisoners. If they find them, we can report they ran, and we stopped an escape."

"I don't know." Adler shifted his feet in an attempt to stop his toes from freezing. "We'll get in worse trouble if we don't find them, and we didn't tell the camp. You! Do you know where they went? Was this planned beforehand?" He poked his rifle at Sergeant Wilcox, a barracks leader in charge of the work detail.

"Watch where you're poking that thing! And no, I don't know where they went, and no, this wasn't planned by any escape committee. You'd have to be insane to try and escape in this weather. And I'll tell you what. I hope they make it, but I don't want the rest of us being in trouble for what they did." Wilcox was fuming at the stupidity of the two Brits, and he was also wondering what the reaction of the escape committee would be when they returned to camp. He just hoped the two were bright enough not to head for the tunnel. What if they left footprints? He now wished they had alerted the two guards to the escape.

The two men were bright enough not to head for the tunnel, as they had already discussed, but their progress was slowed considerably by the snow, the uneven ground, and backtracking to cover up footprints. The German guards moved faster. After splitting up, one spotted what he thought was tramped down snow, and alerted his partner, who ran back to the truck to get another man to help. Now, three guards were searching, but they had no luck. Soon, they reluctantly agreed it was time to return to the truck and notify the camp.

Two guards continued searching, while the other two drove the other prisoners back. By then, the dogs had been let loose, and more guards were sent out to look for the escapees. Klink was livid; this was his first escape, and he was determined to recapture the men before being forced to call the Gestapo. While his guards were occupied, Klink interrogated Sergeant Maddock and a very cold Sergeant Wilcox.

"I'm telling you the truth, sir. We had no idea these two planned on making a run for it." Maddock was on the fence. Should he help the Kommandant recapture the two, not that he knew how. He knew they weren't in the tunnel. LeBeau had scrambled down there as soon as word came back of the escape, and there was no sign of the two inside or outside. Or should he root for the two and hope that their escape was successful. It was a conundrum. He was angry with Blum and Munson. Although they were new, they understood the rules. No escapes until everything was ready. He sighed. It was a difficult time for everyone, and some prisoners were antsy. His other concern was Klink. What type of punishment would the two face if they were caught? Would the other prisoners be punished as well? And if they were successful, would Klink face repercussions. Schultz had told the prisoners that conditions in other camps were not as humane. Maddock feared losing Klink. The better the devil you know, he thought.

"Sergeant Maddock. Any idea of where these two might have gone?"

He couldn't. "I have no idea where they might have gone, sir."

Sergeant Wilcox chimed in. "Sir, no one else in camp knew they had this planned. It's possible they didn't plan it either.. They probably saw an opportunity, and without thinking, took it. To be honest, if I knew, I would have stopped them. It's too cold to try something like this. They didn't have any supplies with them."

"I'm glad to hear you say that, Sergeant Wilcox. That is being responsible. We don't want to see anyone hurt. And they could get hurt. If a patrol comes across them, there could be shooting. I will warn you, however, that when they are recaptured, they will be sent to the cooler. Understand?"

Maddock nodded forlornly. He glanced at Wilcox, who nodded back. Wonder if the guards who screwed up will also be punished, Maddock bit his lip in frustration and concern, for it would be dark very shortly. They don't speak German, they don't have rations or papers on them. They're in uniform, and they'll freeze unless they find shelter. Hell, they don't even know how to find a friendly German. "Sir. If I was searching for an escaped prisoner, I would head south. They're probably heading in the direction of Switzerland." It was as good a guess as any.

"Well, that's obvious," snapped Klink. "I doubt they would be heading for Berlin."

As night fell, Blum and Munson realized they were in trouble. They were hiding underneath a small rock formation they discovered not far from where they had fled. They figured the guards would spread out further away, and not think to look close by. Their plans were to wait for the search party to leave or give up, then head south. However, the twigs and leaves they used to gather some warmth-they were too scared to light a fire-were not helping. Reluctantly, they decided to head back to the safety of camp and face the consequences. A stint in the cooler was certainly better than freezing to death.

The dogs, who were not familiar with these two newer prisoners, picked up the scent of the men they were tracking, and began barking. The men heard the dogs, and hands raised, walked onto the road and gave themselves up. As soon as the dogs recognized the right kind of uniform, they immediately stopped straining at their leashes and sat. Fortunately, the tail wagging went unnoticed.

Klink was relieved, and also proud of his search party and their canine partners. The fact that the prisoners heard the dogs, and left their hiding place of their own volition, seemed to not matter. His men found the escapees. He had trained the guards, and he would get the credit for the recovery of the two miscreants. Blum and Munson were each sentenced to thirty days in the cooler, and the guards responsible for their temporary escape received extra duty as a punishment. His report, which embellished the details, was sent off to General Burkhalter with the scheduled monthly paperwork.

"Helga," Klink said. "Our very first escape attempt, and it was foiled. You know, I heard that other camps in this district were not so lucky."

"Is that so, Kommandant?" Helga was getting tired of hearing the boasting from her boss, but she was a trooper, and she maintained the appearance of caring.

"Yes. Work parties were mainly the culprit. Prisoners slip away. But there have been incidents of men sneaking out through the fence and in the laundry. Could you imagine?"

"That's very daring, Kommandant. I can't imagine why they didn't search the laundry."

"It's plain common sense," Klink said. "Perhaps I should write a manual." He stroked his chin in thought, as Helga held back a giggle as the colonel's sense of importance inflated. She just hoped it wouldn't end up like the Hindenburg.

"Or give a lecture, Kommandant?"

Klink snapped his fingers. "You are brilliant, my dear. Take a memo for General Burkhalter."

Maddock and the escape committee spoke with each prisoner individually, and made it crystal clear that at this point, escapes would not be tolerated. The POW's were still under a military command structure, and Maddock expected the men to conduct themselves accordingly. They all vowed to obey the orders, and work together towards a more successful outcome. Meanwhile, word had come from Helga that Klink's ego had reached sky-high levels, and that hiding someone in the laundry, if for some reason a prisoner needed to get out of camp and the tunnel entrance was unusable, would not be wise.

LeBeau wasn't so sure. Since Schultz had provided him with extra cooking supplies, the chef's experiments with the meager rations, supplemented with food from the Red Cross packages, were paying off dividends. He discovered that Schultz was easily distracted, and could also be bribed for information. Other guards were also willing to open up about various issues. Who was on leave. Whose wife just had a baby. What was showing at the cinema in town. Complaints about how the restaurants were taken over by troops coming and going. All it took was a chocolate bar, a friendly gesture, a smile, or a thank you, and some of the guards began seeing the prisoners as human beings and not numbers. Others were still strict and considered dangerous, and the prisoners gave them a wide berth.

Schultz, more than anyone, was an easy target. As the Sergeant of the Guard, there was no way he would remove himself from the responsibility of handling Barracks two. That position was too lucrative. The residents quickly realized that they, more than anyone else in camp, could get away with things as long as Schultz was their barrack's guard. And so, if any real foul play had to occur, they were the logical choice to perform the duty. It also helped that Maddock, the MOC, lived there, and was willing to accept responsibility if anyone was caught, and that Newkirk, a man of many questionable but useful talents, lived there as well. They all kept this in mind, as they planned and plotted and tried to keep themselves busy until the spring thaw, when hopefully, their escape plans would move forward at a quicker pace.

Meanwhile, to keep the prisoners from going stir-crazy, the rec hall became a lecture hall, and prisoners began giving lectures in a wide variety of subjects. Art supplies sent by the Red Cross were distributed, and the men started painting, making pottery, and trying their hand at knitting. Several musical instruments showed up, and variety shows were held; even Klink and Helga attended. This gave the Kommandant an incentive to begin playing his violin; he had been too busy and distracted to touch it since his arrival. Fortunately, the entire camp got a welcome reprieve when the Kommandant joined the Hamelburg Quartet and attended rehearsals in town. (1)

(1) Season 6, The Big Record. There are photos, numerous records, memoirs etc that show or discuss the various ways POW's kept themselves occupied. Everything I mentioned in the last paragraph (besides Klink's violin playing) actually took place in real camps. We also heard pottery mentioned in the show, saw the instruments and theater being performed.