head from side to side. I can’t hear you, he signaled.
Zorn squeezed the shoulder of the mime artist. “It’s probably temporary,” he tried to reassure them as he shouted in his ear. “Your hearing will probably return within a few days.” Or a few weeks. Or never, he thought. The para shrugged his shoulders. He then braced up and saluted. Zorn was caught off guard. He returned the salute and watched the paras continue their journey down stairs.
The two paras exited the communal entrance and walked into the Square. The injured paratrooper looked to his left. Two more paras were walking towards them.
“Are you alright?” Ansett whispered as he reached them. His words were almost lost amongst the sound of the carnage and chaos around them. The Germans were still firing indiscriminately at the windows of the flats surrounding the Square. There was not a single pane of glass that had not been shattered.
“Yes, we’re fine,” Alan reassured him.
Ansett pointed with alarm at their blood soaked uniforms and their equally blood soaked faces.
Sam laughed at Ansett’s confusion. “It’s not our blood,” he explained.
Ansett laughed with relief. “No, I didn’t think that it was. You look like you’ve been at an Aztec Sacrifice! Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter Eight
“What’s the final body count?” Schuster asked. He was sitting up in bed with his right arm in a plaster cast and in a sling. His face was pale and drawn. He had lost a lot of blood from his wound.
Zorn stood at the foot of his bed. He read the names from the casualty list which he held in his hand. “Generalmajor Wurth, commanding officer of the Seventh Parachute Brigade killed.” Schuster grunted his approval. “Obersturmbannfuhrer Wrechert, your second-in-command, killed…”
“A damned shame,” Schuster interrupted, “he was a good man.”
“All the commanding officers and second in commands of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth S.S. Infantry Regiment killed…”
“Christ! All of my senior officers!” Schuster interrupted angrily.
“…and Sturmbannfuhrer Offenbach the commanding officer of your Signals Company was killed. He was murdered in his flat, sir. A paratrooper bayonet was found stuck in his chest.”
“Interesting.” Schuster scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Go on.”
“Major Lindau, Second-in-Command, First Potsdam Grenadiers killed…”
“Every cloud has a silver lining.” Schuster chuckled at his own joke.
“Hauptsturmfuhrer Andreas Schmitt was murdered in his own flat as well, sir. He was executed at point blank range with two shots to the forehead. Forensics has determined that the rounds were fired from a Luger…” Zorn said grimly. “The killers had sticky fingers, sir. Schmitt’s webbing and Luger are missing.”
“Verdamnt! I served with his father in the last War. That’s one letter that I’m not looking forward to writing. ”
“The Mayor of Hereward was also killed…” Zorn continued.
“Which rules out any British Resistance involvement…”
“Unless he was shot as an example to collaborators…” Zorn interrupted.
“Three of our men survived the attack in the flats. One of them swears that the reason that the Scharfuhrer in charge hesitated before opening fire was because the attackers were paratroopers.”
“Could he have been mistaken?”
“Of course it’s possible, sir. However, I was in the same block of flats. Two wounded paras limped down the steps towards us and we let them go by. We found the bodies of our men and our wounded further up the stairs. A Hauptsturmfuhrer from the Fifth S.S. was in command, sir.”
“Could you identify these paras if you saw them again?”
“Possibly, sir. But they were covered in blood and I didn’t notice which of Wurth’s three para battalions they were from. Anyway, Goering would never allow the S.S. to carry out an identity parade inspecting three thousand odd paratroopers.”
Schuster nodded.
Zorn squeezed the shoulder of the mime artist. “It’s probably temporary,” he tried to reassure them as he shouted in his ear. “Your hearing will probably return within a few days.” Or a few weeks. Or never, he thought. The para shrugged his shoulders. He then braced up and saluted. Zorn was caught off guard. He returned the salute and watched the paras continue their journey down stairs.
The two paras exited the communal entrance and walked into the Square. The injured paratrooper looked to his left. Two more paras were walking towards them.
“Are you alright?” Ansett whispered as he reached them. His words were almost lost amongst the sound of the carnage and chaos around them. The Germans were still firing indiscriminately at the windows of the flats surrounding the Square. There was not a single pane of glass that had not been shattered.
“Yes, we’re fine,” Alan reassured him.
Ansett pointed with alarm at their blood soaked uniforms and their equally blood soaked faces.
Sam laughed at Ansett’s confusion. “It’s not our blood,” he explained.
Ansett laughed with relief. “No, I didn’t think that it was. You look like you’ve been at an Aztec Sacrifice! Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter Eight
“What’s the final body count?” Schuster asked. He was sitting up in bed with his right arm in a plaster cast and in a sling. His face was pale and drawn. He had lost a lot of blood from his wound.
Zorn stood at the foot of his bed. He read the names from the casualty list which he held in his hand. “Generalmajor Wurth, commanding officer of the Seventh Parachute Brigade killed.” Schuster grunted his approval. “Obersturmbannfuhrer Wrechert, your second-in-command, killed…”
“A damned shame,” Schuster interrupted, “he was a good man.”
“All the commanding officers and second in commands of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth S.S. Infantry Regiment killed…”
“Christ! All of my senior officers!” Schuster interrupted angrily.
“…and Sturmbannfuhrer Offenbach the commanding officer of your Signals Company was killed. He was murdered in his flat, sir. A paratrooper bayonet was found stuck in his chest.”
“Interesting.” Schuster scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Go on.”
“Major Lindau, Second-in-Command, First Potsdam Grenadiers killed…”
“Every cloud has a silver lining.” Schuster chuckled at his own joke.
“Hauptsturmfuhrer Andreas Schmitt was murdered in his own flat as well, sir. He was executed at point blank range with two shots to the forehead. Forensics has determined that the rounds were fired from a Luger…” Zorn said grimly. “The killers had sticky fingers, sir. Schmitt’s webbing and Luger are missing.”
“Verdamnt! I served with his father in the last War. That’s one letter that I’m not looking forward to writing. ”
“The Mayor of Hereward was also killed…” Zorn continued.
“Which rules out any British Resistance involvement…”
“Unless he was shot as an example to collaborators…” Zorn interrupted.
“Three of our men survived the attack in the flats. One of them swears that the reason that the Scharfuhrer in charge hesitated before opening fire was because the attackers were paratroopers.”
“Could he have been mistaken?”
“Of course it’s possible, sir. However, I was in the same block of flats. Two wounded paras limped down the steps towards us and we let them go by. We found the bodies of our men and our wounded further up the stairs. A Hauptsturmfuhrer from the Fifth S.S. was in command, sir.”
“Could you identify these paras if you saw them again?”
“Possibly, sir. But they were covered in blood and I didn’t notice which of Wurth’s three para battalions they were from. Anyway, Goering would never allow the S.S. to carry out an identity parade inspecting three thousand odd paratroopers.”
Schuster nodded.
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