Devils with Wings (19 page)

All three laughed.

There was a moment of silence as all three stood in a circle; hands placed on each other’s shoulders, genuinely pleased to be together again.

All of a sudden they felt embarrassed at this show of affection and after a few awkward coughs they let their arms drop to their sides and Paul asked.

“So, what happened after I left?” Curious as to what happened when he departed Poland.

Helmut answered first, “Well, the very next day I was dragged in to the Raven’s HQ.”

“Battalion HQ now, you know he’s been promoted Adjutant don’t you Paul,” butted in Erich.

“Who’s telling this story?” rebutted Helmet.

“Yes I do know,” replied Paul, “that will shake the Battalion up.”

“He’ll be Battalion Commander before you know it,” added Erich.

“Hauptman Volkman, scary isn’t it.”

“Anyway,” continued Helmut, looking perturbed at the interruptions, “I was called in to the Adjutant’s office and was told by the Raven we’d been selected for special duties.”

“Yeah, latrine digging,” laughed Paul

“My first thoughts exactly,” replied Helmut, “knowing the Raven’s sense of humour.”

“Get on with it,” said Erich impatiently; noticing that the hut was slowly emptying and they would have to follow the others to their next briefing.

“Ok, ok, I just want to get all of the facts right.”

“Get on with it,” supported Paul, punching him softly on the shoulder.

“He said my platoon was being sent to Hildesheim, for duties unknown. We had to discard our badges of rank and put on this bog standard Luftwaffe uniform, you know the rest.”

“And you Erich?”

“Same as Helmut, the day after you’d gone, I got the same speech and here I am.”

“I’m just happy that we’re all together again.”

“Hopefully, we’ll be involved in something together, replied Erich”

“Sir,” resonated Max’s voice, “we need to get a shift on.”

“You scared the shit out of me then Max!” complained Helmut jokingly, “you’re like a bloody panther creeping up, and then you open your mouth and scare the bloody living daylights out of everyone.”

“Sorry sir, I didn’t realise you were still of a delicate disposition.”

Only Max could get away with it, being the most experienced soldier in the Company. He was highly respected by the three young officers.

“Right, come on then Max, before you get yourself court marshalled for your insubordination.”

He turned back towards his friends, “I don’t know what happens next, but best of luck to you two. We will try and get together sometime soon, yes?”

They all agreed and started to move towards the exit door, the hut emptying at a faster rate now and the three officers were some of the last to leave.

Paul and Max also left for their next meeting, joining the platoon that had been waiting for them outside. The other two platoons were also there, it was almost like a big family reunion.

The group broke up, comrades promising to keep in touch and Paul’s platoon walked down the tarmac road to their destination, hut twelve.

The hut was the same size and configuration as the training one, along with the wood-burning stove.

By the time Paul’s platoon had entered, along with the engineers already there, there numbered fewer than one hundred people. The layout was similar; desks, tables and chairs strewn around the room, which they quickly organised at one end of the hut. On this occasion there was much more room available, as they were just a fifth of the numbers attending the initial briefing.

They made themselves comfortable; taking advantage of the tea and coffee that had been laid on for them. Biscuits too. Paul could imagine Helmut’s delight and so smiled to himself.

Max saw him smiling and smiled back, glad to see his Platoon officer back on form again. He knew that Paul had been troubled by their departure from Poland, and suspected that all was not well between him and his two friends. But all was tranquil again. He threw some more logs on the fire, the sizzling and spitting clearly heard as the wet logs impacted with the hot core, and settled back to wait patiently for the next briefing. One thing he had learned during his time in the Luftwaffe, patience was obligatory.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The door to the hut opened, and Oberfeldwebel Kanitz, the company senior sergeant, brought the room to attention as Oberleutnant Faust made his entrance.

“At ease gentlemen, from this moment on we dispense with the usual military ceremony. We have to work closely as a team, so we will curtail the usual military protocol.”

He made his way over to where Paul was stood and reached out his hand to shake Paul’s, who returned the gesture.

“Leutnant Brand, I get to meet you at last, you are gaining quite a reputation for yourself.”

Oberleutnant Rudolph Faust was born in Gelsenkirchen in nineteen sixteen. At the youthful age of nineteen, he began his military career as an officer cadet in the army’s pioneer Battalion 16. He remained with the engineers for only 10 months before he was enticed into the new voluntary service, the paratroops, the Fallschirmjager. By this time he was commissioned as a Leutnant.

He was promoted to Oberleutnant in nineteen thirty nine, and here he was now in command of the pioneer Platoon and Paul’s Platoon, that now formed assault group granite.

“Thank you sir, your reputation precedes you also,” he reciprocated.

“I shall give a general briefing to the men now, then you and I and the senior NCOs can go through some of the elements in more detail before opening it up to the group.”

“That makes sense sir,” agreed Paul

“Right, let’s make a start then.”

Faust made his way to an area of the hut that had been set up with a six foot table, a map board and an easel. There were also various blank notice boards attached to the walls close by.

“We have been allocated an extremely difficult mission,” he began, “and we have a little over five months to prepare for it. So, be prepared for the long haul,” he said looking around at the expectant faces of the group.

“Our task is to assault a major facility, which unfortunately, I cannot divulge to you at this time. I can’t even tell you where it is, what it is, or, show you any pictures, for the moment anyway.”

The group members looked at each other, probably all thinking the same, how do we prepare to attack a target we know nothing about?

“I will again reiterate Hauptman Kaufmann’s security brief. Who we are, what we are doing here and the purpose of our long-term goal must be treated with utmost secrecy. To the extent that no one will be allowed to leave the barracks unless specifically authorised and there will be no mail or phone calls, in or out. Do I make myself clear?”

The assembled men all nodded their heads and murmured their agreement; military secrecy was not new to them.

“We will assault this target from the air, not by parachute gentlemen, but by glider. It is my intention that we put the assault force directly on top of the target.”

He waited a few moments for it to sink in, the fact that they would be landing by glider, something none of them had done before, and to allow the murmuring to die down.

Max turned to look at Paul, “So, those papier-mâché gliders are not for dropping supplies after all, they are for dropping us.”

“So it would seem Max, so it would seem,” replied Paul calmly, becoming more and more intrigued by this operation and the innovative approach that was being taken. His interest was soundly peaked; they were not going to help construct airfields after all, although deep down he never believed that that would be the case.

“We have nine specific targets to assault, secure and destroy, by landing on them directly. The group will be spilt accordingly, but I shall cover that in more detail at a later date.”

Faust turned to the easel behind him and pinned up a picture of the DFS Glider.

“This will be our taxi,” he said, pointing to the glider. “It can carry ten men, with their equipment, or over a thousand kilograms in weight. We will need to get used to it. Sitting in it, getting in and out of it, securing any equipment or explosives we’ll need to take with us. We will also need to train extensively in the use of explosives.”

Faust made eye contact with the engineers that he had brought with him from his engineer platoon.

“I’m sure the sappers amongst us will be more than willing to demonstrate their skills at blowing things up,” he said smiling. “You will practice with explosives until it becomes second nature to you. As we won’t initially, have any plans of the target, for security reasons, we’ll have to recreate a pseudo target, on the ground, that match the dimensions of the actual objective. We’ve been allocated a section of the training area, specifically for our use. We also have this hut as our base and our Company headquarters. Most of our internal training will be completed here. Tomorrow we start work, gentlemen.”

This was clearly a big undertaking, thought Paul, it was going to require all of their skills, wits and stamina, and would undoubtedly test them to the limit.

Paul looked at the Oberleutnant, whom he knew by reputation to be a strict disciplinarian and a meticulous planner, so Paul had no doubt that the months ahead would be tough and the pressure would truly be on.

Faust also believed in realistic training, so the training would be intense and not without risk. Like Paul, Faust held his men and NCOs in high regard and gave them the opportunity to contribute to the planning and enable them to help mould the plan specific to their element of the operation.

“Right, I have talked enough I think, are there any questions?”

Paul was the first to ask a question, probably a question that was on the minds of most of the soldiers and pilots there.

“Oberleutnant, are you able to tell us about the bigger picture, what will the impact of our operation have on the wider context? Besides us, what are the three other groups tasked with?”

“They are valid questions Leutnant Brand, but I’m afraid, for the moment, the answers to both questions will have to remain unanswered. We have explicit instructions, as regards the dissemination of information, to work on a need to know basis. The Fuhrer himself has instructed all military units to operate on that basis, regardless of what activity they are involved in, but particularly where sensitive information is concerned.”

Paul had known the answer even before he had asked it, but the question had to be posed, so that all present knew where the information line was drawn.

“But I can assure you,” Faust continued, “that when I can release available information to you, I will share it with the group immediately. I understand the need for security, but equally I don’t expect my men to operate in darkness, when it is not necessary.”

“Thank you gentlemen. Except for Leutnant Brand and the Senior NCOs you are dismissed for the day. But, we start in earnest at oh eight hundred tomorrow, meeting here. Leutnant Brand if you will please remain here. Oberfeldwebel, take the senior NCOs to the canteen, get yourselves a drink and meet back here in one hour. Thank you, that’s all.”

The group started to disperse and Paul made his way over to Faust’s area.

“Right Paul,” said Faust, pulling up a chair and sitting astride, its back facing towards Paul.

“Let’s go over my plans and see what you think.”

Paul grabbed a chair and joined the Oberleutnant at the table.

“I wanted to go over them with you first, before we share them with the rest of the group. If you have any concerns, ideas or changes you think should be made, then speak up, ok?”

“Understood sir,” replied Paul holding back suppressed excitement at the prospect of this clearly important operation they were being entrusted with.

Faust pulled out a rolled up schematic, unrolled it on the table, placing weights on the four corners to hold it down, and smoothed it out. To Paul, it appeared to be a plan of some sort of complex alongside a river or canal. It actually looked like a large fort, with various bunkers and turrets, of a type he had not seen before.

“This,” he said pointing at the outline of the structure on the western side of a waterway, “is Fort Eben Emael, which is situated just inside the Belgian border.”

The actual site for this new fort was determined by the course of the Albert Canal, which ran through a channel carved out of a massive feature known as Mount St Peter, some forty metres high. This feature known as the Caster Cutting ran some three hundred metres in length starting from the Lanaye rocks on the Meuse River. Its high, sheer sides were a natural defensive position that was an integral part of Eben Emael’s strength.

Construction for this fort began on the first of April, nineteen thirty two, and was completed after three years under the supervision of Commandant Jean Mercier, of the Corps of Engineers.

“And its purpose sir?” enquired Paul.

“This cutting here, which goes from South to North, and is over one thousand metres long, links the Albert canal and the Meuse. The cutting and the sheer embankment created by it, acts as its Eastern barrier. The Fort overlooks the Albert canal and its purpose is to protect those bridges that are within its range and prevent an enemy from crossing.”

“It’s pretty big sir.”

“And well armed Paul. To the south here,” he pointed to the chart, “this block, is a two storey structure armed with two, sixty millimetre anti tank guns and three machine guns. Here is a four metre gap to cross, impassable by men and machines without the retractable wooden bridge or other crossing equipment. This position itself is covered by an additional machine gun emplacement and the ability to drop grenades from special slots onto the attackers attempting to scale this four metre gap.”

“They’ve certainly gone to town on their defence,” concluded Paul.

“I’m far from finished, on the Western flank of the fort is Block two; similarly armed to block one, with two anti tank guns and three machine guns. But, it also has a sally port to enable the defenders to counter attack any assaulting force.”