Opening Moves

Other guards were elsewhere in the towers and shots cracked out, immediately dropping two men in their tracks. But by now the chance of escape drove every German there, and they surged towards the huge rent in the wire and beyond.

Their headlong flight was accompanied by an impressive display of thunder and lightning, which gave the whole scene a Wagnerian aspect.

As the group with Rolf and Braun in it crossed the destroyed fence, Rolf shouted to them.

“Grab anything you can comrades but don’t dawdle, food and weapons, anything of use.”

Rolf, Braun and a few others slowed sufficiently to claw and grab at various items scattered from the guard hut as they ran by but no one stopped to admire the handiwork of the Russian fighter or lament the red grease that had once been the readiness guard detachment.

As the Germans tumbled out of the compound some were dropped by rifle fire and a belatedly employed DP28 light machine gun. By the end of the break out, some twenty-three POW’s had paid the ultimate price for their attempt at escape. Those not killed outright were subsequently dispatched either with a bullet in the brain or by a bayonet. In all about one hundred and fifty Germans made it out of the killing zone and fanned out into the surrounding woods, forming small groups and starting to disperse in all directions without command. Rolf and his faithful NCO struck out to the north, in company with fifteen others. After five minutes of frantic scrambling, a quick halt was called to establish where they thought they were and how best to make it back to their homeland. As the group struggled to gain their breath, the constant sound of gunfire punctuated the night.

“I don’t know this area at all. Anyone here have local knowledge?” panted Uhlmann. Shandruk was in the group and could obviously contribute nothing, but two Austrian Gebirgsjager spoke up and felt able to take the group forward with their knowledge, and that the nearby railway to the north offered the best chance of escape, or at least the best chance of clearing the area at speed. Certainly of late, the prisoners had become aware of trains at all hours, so they reasoned there was a good chance of getting away from Edelbach onboard one before the Soviets became too organised.

A quick inventory of their possessions yielded some surprising items. Shandruk had the prize with a Tokarev pistol and belt that he had grabbed as he ran. Others brought forth two bread bags stuffed with various foods, none of which were the regulation bread, which made Rolf smile. An SS Kavellerie Untersturmfuhrer had recovered a canteen that was full to the brim with vodka. Rolf had managed to snatch a binocular case, only to find it contained only cigarettes.

“Not what I had hoped for menschen, but with good value none the less” he ventured and received the odd grin and nod.

“Just you then Braun, What delights have you brought to the party?”

Braun looked exceptionally smug, for he had lifted what he thought was a map case. A cursory examination showed it was in fact just a mail bag containing the camp guards personal mail, with not even a single official envelope in sight to ease Braun’s obvious pain. Braun, upset that his contribution had yielded nothing of value, loudly determined to hang on to the letters for no other reason than to wipe his good German ass on, much to the amusement of the others.

“Don’t worry Braun, we didn’t have much time to select the sweetest items, and at least you will have a clean arse for a few days.” None the less, despite the obvious humour of it, Braun was less than happy that his efforts had been fruitless. That he had the only cigarette lighter in the group was his salvation as he saw it.

“Ok Kameraden, Untersturmfuhrer, one nip each of vodka, you will oversee this please.” A quick ‘jawohl’ and the process started. “The food will be divided into three amounts, one for each of the next three days. We will eat now so we have strength before we run further, but quickly comrades, quickly.” So, with a decent yet small and hastily consumed supper and a warming nip of vodka in their bellies, they started out north-west for the nearest rail line as the Austrians suggested. The tobacco would be saved for later.

As they accelerated away from the camp that had housed them, they were unaware that many of their former comrades were dying; both those who had made the bid for freedom and those who had failed to act upon the opportunity and remained within the camp, probably more from fear than sloth.

Those caught in flight were mown down without mercy or thought for recapture as the Bulgarians flooded back to the camp. Those remaining inside the camp fared no better. Their guilt established, all forty-four were dragged outside and swiftly executed, their bodies being arranged around the broken fence in order to show how well the guards had behaved in stemming the flow of escapees.