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945 — AS THEY ADVANCED TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER THROUGH FRANCE AND POLAND, THE COMBINED ALLIED FORCES MET STIFF RESISTANCE. THEY KNEW, THOUGH, THAT ONCE THEY CROSSED THE BORDERS INTO GERMANY THIS RESISTANCE WOULD STIFFEN EVEN FURTHER. FOR THE GERMANS WOULD NO LONGER BE FIGHTING TO RETAIN CAPTURED TERRITORY, THEY WOULD BE FIGHTING TO PRESERVE THE FATHERLAND ITSELF.
STORY MIKE KNOWLES ART JANEK MATYSIAK COVER JANEK MATYSIAK
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BUT THE INEXORABLE FORCE OF THEIR ADVANCE COULD NOT BE RESISTED, AND OUTSIDE A RUINED GERMAN TOWN, TWO SETS OF UNLIKELY ALLIES GREETED EACH OTHER IN AT AN HISTORIC MEETING.
WELCOME, COMRADES! IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU. HOW IS COMRADE CHURCHILL?
HE’S FINE. AND HOW’S UNCLE JOE?
AS THE TWO GROUPS MINGLED, A 19-YEAR-OLD PARATROOPER CALLED TONY HIBBERT WATCHED FROM THE SIDE-LINES AS THE OTHERS SWAPPED TALES OF COMBAT.
I FEEL LIKE A WALLFLOWER AT A DANCE. THESE LADS HAVE DONE THE LOT, ALL I’VE DONE IS SQUAREBASHING.
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WHEN TONY SPOTTED A YOUNG RUSSIAN ALSO STANDING ALONE HE RECOGNISED SOMEONE IN THE SAME SITUATION. AN IMMEDIATE BOND WAS FORMED BETWEEN THEM AS THEY SHOOK HANDS.
HELLO, ENGLISH! MY NAME IS KIROV. MY UNIFORM IS CLEAN LIKE YOURS. MAYBE YOU TOO ARE A NEW REPLACEMENT?
YOU’RE RIGHT — I ONLY ARRIVED HERE YESTERDAY.
THEY WERE SOON TALKING FREELY, A LITTLE DISTANCE FROM THEIR COMRADES.
YOUR ENGLISH IS GOOD.
I LEARNED IT AT SCHOOL. ONCE THE WAR IS OVER I HOPE TO GO TO UNIVERSITY.
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AS THEY SHARED JOKES, KIROV THREW HIS HEAD BACK IN MIRTH… AND A BULLET CRACKED THROUGH THE AIR WHERE HIS HEAD HAD BEEN. YOU MUST BECOME A COMEDIAN WHEN ALL THIS IS OVER…BY LENIN’S BEARD!
SNIPER! WHERE DID THAT COME FROM...
…AH, I SEE YOU, YOU SNEAKY SO-AND-SO, BITE ON THIS!
YOU GOT HIM! WELL DONE, ENGLISH!
TONY HAD SWEPT UP HIS THOMPSON AND FIRED BEFORE THE GERMAN MARKSMAN COULD RELOAD. HIS BURST HAD NOT MISSED.
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THE FIRING BROUGHT THEIR FELLOW SOLDIERS TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON. AT THE SAME TIME THE BIG GUNS BEGAN TO RUMBLE IN THE DISTANCE. SEEING A MOMENTARY GLIMPSE OF FEAR IN TONY’S EYES, KIROV GAVE HIM A REASSURING SMILE.
DON’T WORRY, MY FRIEND. I’M SCARED TOO. BUT WE BOTH HAVE A JOB TO DO. YOU’VE JUST SHOWN YOU CAN DO IT. THANKS, MATE. I DIDN’T EVEN HAVE TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT.
THE SOUND OF DISTANT BATTLE REMINDED THE OTHERS TOO THAT THERE WAS STILL A WAR ON. THEY PARTED WITH HANDSHAKES AND WAVES.
GOOD LUCK, ENGLISH. LET’S HOPE WE MEET AGAIN ONE DAY.
SAME TO YOU, MATE. AND LOOK AFTER YOURSELF.
THE MEN DEPARTED TO FACE AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE.
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NEARLY TWENTY YEARS INTO THAT UNCERTAIN FUTURE — 1961 TO BE PRECISE — A LAND ROVER BELONGING TO THE BRITISH ARMY OF THE RHINE WAS STOPPED AT THE ENTRY TO THE EAST GERMAN PART OF BERLIN.
BRIXMIS, MATE. WE’RE ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS.
YOUR PAPERS ARE IN ORDER. YOU MAY PROCEED. THE CAPITAL OF THE REICH WAS STILL DIVIDED AMONGST THE ALLIES WHO HAD FOUGHT TO DEFEAT GERMANY...AND FRANCE HAD A PIECE TOO.
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IN THE PASSENGER SEAT OF THE LAND ROVER SAT TONY HIBBERT, NOW A CAPTAIN IN THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT AND NEWLY POSTED TO THE GERMAN CAPITAL. SO THEY’RE REALLY BUILDING IT, EH?
THE WALL? YES, SIR. AND IT’S GOING TO STRETCH RIGHT ACROSS GERMANY. TENSIONS ARE HIGH BETWEEN US AND THE RUSSKIS, THAT’S WHY. AS HE TALKED, THE DRIVER, A ROYAL ARMY SERVICE CORPS CORPORAL, BOB HARRIS, SPOTTED A CAR BEHIND THEM.
OUR ESCORT, SIR. TWO GOONS FROM THE EAST GERMAN SECURITY SERVICE.
THE LAND ROVER’S TYRES SQUEALED AS HARRIS STABBED ITS ACCELERATOR AND SWUNG IT INTO A SIDE STREET.
HANG ON, SIR! WE’LL HAVE A BIT OF FUN WITH THESE TWO.
THE STASI? I’VE HEARD ABOUT THEM.
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AT SPEED, THEY EMERGED FROM THE SIDE STREET ON TO A CROSSROADS WITH A TRUCK BEARING DOWN ON THEM. WATCH OUT! PLENTY OF ROOM, SIR. IT’S JUST A QUESTION OF TIMING. I’VE DONE THIS LOADS OF TIMES.
AT SPEED, WHILE THE STASI WAITED FOR THE TRUCK TO PASS, HARRIS DODGED DOWN ANOTHER SIDE STREET. IS THIS NORMAL PROCEDURE?
THAT DEPENDS, SIR. I JUST WANTED THOSE GOONS TO GET A REAL ROCKET AT STASI H.Q. FOR LOSING US.
BUT THEY WEREN’T ALONE VERY LONG BEFORE A RUSSIAN JEEP APPEARED OUT OF A SIDE STREET.
WHOOPS! G.R.U. THE GOONS MUST BE OUT IN FORCE TODAY.
SOVIET MILITARY INTELLIGENCE. MAYBE THEY WANT TO WELCOME ME. WHAT KIND OF POSTING IS THIS?