THE
SECRET SABOTEUR Y 1944 THE SENIOR OFFICERS COMMANDING B THE FORCES OF THE THIRD REICH OCCUPYING FRANCE KNEW THAT AN ALLIED INVASION WAS VERY LIKELY TO COME SOON. ALL ALONG THE CHANNEL COAST, SLAVE LABOURERS HAD HELPED BUILD FORTIFICATIONS KNOWN AS THE ATLANTIC WALL AND AN EVER-WATCHFUL EYE WAS KEPT ON THE APPROACHES FROM THE SEA.
STORY MAC MACDONALD ART KEITH PAGE COVER KEITH PAGE
4 ONE MAN NOT TOLERATING THE WAITING AND WATCHING WELL WAS COLONEL HANS HOLBECK OF THE SICHERHEITSDIENST, THE S.S. INTELLIGENCE BRANCH. HE WAS IMPATIENT AND EASILY RILED AT THE BEST OF TIMES, BUT HE WAS TRULY ON EDGE NOW. DON’T LEAVE FILES ON MY DESK WITHOUT TELLING ME FIRST! DON’T YOU THINK I HAVE ENOUGH TO DO WITHOUT DUMMKOPFS LIKE YOU TO CONTEND WITH? SORRY, SIR, I WILL NOT LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN.
EARLIER ON, MANY LOCALS BELIEVED TO BE RESISTANCE MEMBERS HAD BEEN ARRESTED AND SHOT OR SENT TO CONCENTRATION CAMPS. THERE HAD BEEN LITTLE ANTI-NAZI ACTION SINCE THEN BUT THAT JUST MADE HOLBECK FEEL UNEASY.
THE TREACHEROUS FRENCH SCHWEIN ARE UP TO SOMETHING...I JUST KNOW THEY ARE! BUT WHAT IS IT?
5 EVERYBODY HAD HEARD AND SEEN THE DEPARTURE OF THEIR FURIOUS C.O., A MAN NOT WELL LIKED BY HIS JUNIOR OFFICERS. THEY WERE ACTUALLY QUITE ENJOYING THIS QUIET PERIOD, ESPECIALLY AS THEY SUSPECTED THAT THERE WOULD BE MORE THAN ENOUGH ACTION SOON. HE’S A BIGGER PAIN IN THE NECK THAN EVER THESE DAYS. HE GOT ALL THESE EXTRA GESTAPO AGENTS IN TO HELP US AND STILL HE MOANS.
HE’S GETTING EDGIER BY THE SECOND. HE SEES GUNMEN IN THE SHADOWS WHEN IT’S JUST SOME BUSHES.
TOMAS MERKEL WAS ONE OF THE EXTRA GESTAPO MEN DRAFTED IN, MUCH AGAINST HIS WILL. A HOMICIDE DETECTIVE IN THE BUSTLING PORT OF HAMBURG BEFORE BEING HUSTLED INTO THE SECURITY POLICE, HE WAS NO FAN OF THE NAZI REGIME OR ITS WAYS.
ALL NOISE AND BLACK UNIFORMS, THAT’S HOLBECK AND HIS CRONIES. I BET HE’S NEVER BEEN NEAR ENOUGH TO ANY REAL ACTION TO KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE.
6 AN INFANTRY SERGEANT DURING THE BLOODY BATTLES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR, TOMAS HAD SEEN ENOUGH DEATH AND VERY LITTLE GLORY TO LAST HIM A LIFETIME. HE HAD ALSO DISCOVERED THAT THE BRITISH AND FRENCH SOLDIERS THAT HE AND HIS COMRADES WERE FIGHTING...
...WERE A LOT LIKE THEMSELVES AND SHARED THE SAME HUMOUR AND LACK OF RESPECT FOR THE MADMEN WHO HAD SET THIS CONFLICT IN MOTION.
MAKING ABOUT AS MUCH NOISE AS AN ARTILLERY BOMBARDMENT, LUDWIG HEIDEN, WHO SERVED AS A JUNIOR DETECTIVE TO TOMAS, BUSTLED IN. HE CAME FROM A SMALL SAXONY TOWN AND THIS WAS THE GREATEST ADVENTURE OF HIS LIFE. I SAW THE BOSS LEAVE IN A RAGING HURRY. SOMETHING BIG MUST BE BREWING.
I DOUBT IT. BUT, TALKING ABOUT BREWING, LET’S GET A BEER.
7 LUDWIG WAS NOT THE SHARPEST CARD IN THE PACK, BUT HE WAS BRIGHT ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT BENEATH HIS CALM EXTERIOR AND HABIT OF CARVING CHESS MEN, TOMAS WAS AN ACE DETECTIVE. HE HOPED SOME OF THIS SKILL WOULD RUB OFF, BUT THERE WAS MORE CHANCE OF HITLER SHAVING OFF HIS TRADEMARK MOUSTACHE. WE WILL STILL WIN THIS WAR, WON’T WE? I HEARD HOLBECK SAY THAT THE ALLIES ARE SURE TO JOIN US TO FIGHT THE SOVIETS.
YOU NEVER KNOW, YOUNG MAN, BUT REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU...BEER TIME IS NOT FOR TALKING. I’M SURE WE WILL HAVE ENOUGH DRAMA SOON TO OCCUPY US FULLY.
A FEW DAYS LATER, JUST AFTER DAWN BROKE, A FRENCH TRAVELLING SALESMAN CYCLED ALONG A QUIET COUNTRY ROAD. HE EASED ON THE BRAKES AS HE SAW A GERMAN ROADBLOCK UP AHEAD. ALWAYS OUT AND ABOUT WITH THEIR CHECKS AND QUESTIONS. WELL, HERE WE GO AGAIN...
8 THE SERGEANT IN CHARGE RELAXED HIS TONE WHEN HE FOUND THAT HE WAS DEALING WITH A MAN TRYING TO MAKE ENDS MEET BY SELLING CROP SEED TO THE LOCAL FARMERS.
LET ME GUESS... YOU HAVE TO BE OUT AT THE CRACK OF DAWN TO CATCH THE ORDERS BEFORE ANYBODY ELSE DOES.
OUI, THAT’S IT. I USED TO HAVE A CAR, BUT FEW CAN RUN THEM NOWADAYS, SO IT’S ALL PEDAL POWER.
THE MAN WAS WAVED THROUGH. THE N.C.O. GLOOMILY REFLECTED THAT THINGS WERE NOT MUCH BETTER IN GERMANY.
A FEW KILOMETRES FURTHER ON AND A HIGH PITCHED SOUND REACHED THE SALESMAN’S EARS.
NOW WHAT’S THIS COMING MY WAY?
MORE BOMBING AND LESS FOOD. THIS WAR IS GOING BADLY WRONG.
9 A B.M.W. MOTOR-CYCLE COMBINATION ESCORTING A STAFF CAR POWERED PAST AND JUST ABOUT PITCHED THE CYCLIST INTO THE DITCH. HOLBECK, SEATED IN THE BACK OF THE AUTOMOBILE, NEVER NOTICED.
I AM SURE I WILL LEARN MUCH AT TONIGHT’S CONFERENCE. IT WILL BE DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN WHY THINGS ARE SO QUIET IN THIS REGION, HOWEVER. BLASTED GERMANS! I WAS NEARLY RUN OFF THE ROAD THERE.
THE SMALL CONVOY TURNED OFF WHERE A NARROWER ROAD LED TO A PARTLY-HIDDEN CHATEAU WHICH SERVED AS THE GERMAN INTELLIGENCE CENTRE FOR THE AREA. HOLBECK HAD REACHED HIS DESTINATION.
WE CAN THRASH OUT SOME PLANS TONIGHT FOR MORE RANDOM RAIDS TO UNSETTLE THE FRENCH TERRORISTS. I BELIEVE THE FOOD AND WINE IS VERY GOOD TOO!
10 A HIGH-LEVEL REGIONAL SECURITY MEETING WAS BEING HELD OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. THE SWEATING FRENCHMAN, TOILING ON HIS BIKE, THE SCAR ON THE BACK OF HIS LEFT HAND ACHING WITH GRIPPING THE HANDLEBARS, SAW MORE ENEMY PERSONNEL ARRIVE.
IT’S ALL RIGHT FOR THEM, SWANNING ABOUT IN BIG CARS WHILE I HAVE TO LABOUR LIKE HERCULES JUST TO COVER A FEW KILOMETRES. THE PAIN IN MY HAND DOESN’T HELP EITHER.
BY DAWN NEXT MORNING A FAR FASTER MODE OF TRANSPORT WAS SKIMMING LOW OVER THE AREA IN THE DYNAMIC AND DEADLY SHAPE OF A DE HAVILLAND MOSQUITO MARK VI FIGHTER-BOMBER, ITS 1,635hp ENGINES PROPELLING IT ALONG AT OVER 300mph. TARGET COMING UP.
ROGER, SKIPPER.