by Ron Smoak
The leutnant looked up upon hearing footsteps on the gravel drawing near. It was Major Bayer and Karl Grimme, the Gestapo man in the black uniform.
“Have you dispatched the trucks, Leutnant?” barked the major as he strode onto the pier, his boots clopping loudly as he marched down to the desk.
“Yes, sir, the trucks are coming around now with enough men to load everything.”
Grimme stood quietly behind the major with a devious smirk that the leutnant simply hated. It reminded Trox of a weasel. Gestapo were seriously scary and dangerous people. Trox wondered if they were people at all; just animals.
Some of the things the leutnant saw Grimme do were just horrible. Grimme had personally taken a young private who asked a few questions over by the water’s edge and slit his throat ear to ear, nearly cutting his head completely off. The leutnant would never forget the look on the private’s face as he realized Grimme executed him right there without any emotion and without anyone else saying a word to stop him; especially the major, who stood there shocked and speechless. Grimme stood over the private as he bled out into the water. Then he ordered several men to put the private in a boat, tie bricks to his body and dump him in the ocean. After that, no one asked any questions…period!
Karl Grimme stood just over 6 feet, 4 inches tall. His closely cropped dark hair and dark eyes made him a poster child of the perfect Gestapo agent. His small spectacles made his face seem smaller. His early devotion to the party was solid and unwavering. At twenty-eight, most would think he was young, but the last 10 years hardened Grimme. He could kill without any hint of remorse if duty called him to do so. He was ruthless, clearly not a man to push in any way. He carried out his orders to the letter no matter how harsh anyone else would think they might be. Karl Grimme was in charge here. He was not the ranking officer but he was in charge. Make no mistake about that.
The humming sound of the approaching U-boat was louder, now just about 20 meters from the dock. Even under electric power the slow approach of the large U-boat caused waves larger than normal to lap the shore. Leutnant Trox saw several crewmen scurrying around the deck as they readied the various lines needed to tie off and secure the U-boat to the dock. His own men ran about to get into position to catch the lines. He turned to see several trucks coming down the dirt road to the left of the command building. He was relieved that unloading could begin immediately. Even though it would not have been his fault, late trucks would have infuriated Grimme. Trox definitely did not want to go down that road. He knew that when Grimme got mad someone usually paid for it with their life.
The three men waited, trying to identify the U-boat number painted on the side of the conning tower. It was just now coming into view with the weak light; the bow of the U-boat just a few meters away. They could now see the faded 1055 notation. The leutnant recorded the number on his tally sheet and checked his information on U-1055 commanded by Captain Ernst Adler. Their expected cargo should be forty-two sealed wooden boxes.
“Reverse engines,” barked the U-boat captain.
“Reverse engines, aye, sir,” came Hientz’s reply as the message was relayed to the engine room. The U-boat shuddered as the engines reversed, churning up mud and silt from the bottom.
“All stop!” commanded the captain. “Tie off all lines and secure the boat,” he said turning to Hientz. “Let me go see what this is all about. You have the bridge, Hientz.” Adler took a quick assessment of the area around the small dock. Now, this is what I call the middle of nowhere, he thought. Here they were in some forgotten cove on the coast of South America. It seemed as though they were ten thousand miles from nowhere. Actually, the captain was not far off target.
“Aye, sir,” replied Hientz as he motioned to several crewmen who were already on the deck below to tie the boat to the small pier. Captain Adler stepped down from the conning tower and down on the deck. He lifted his cap and ran the fingers of one hand through his greasy hair. Somehow he thought that might make him more presentable to the three men striding toward him.
“Heil Hitler!” barked Leutnant Trox, stepping forward smartly with a crisp raised right hand and arm.
“Heil Hitler,” responded Adler, clearly not as enthused as Trox. Adler’s salute was no more than a wave of his hand.
“I have some cargo for you,” pressed Adler. “I want to get this done quickly so I can get back to sea.” A small cove like this did not give Adler a feeling of confidence. To get trapped in here by the enemy meant death for them all.
“You are U-1055, I presume?” asked Trox.
Adler answered matter-of-factly, “Yes.” He looked over at the large 1055 painted on the conning tower. Dumbass, he thought.
“Have your men unload the cargo and place the crates on the dock. I will check them personally and they will be rechecked by the Gestapo. Then my men will load them into the trucks. In the meantime, you are ordered not to leave the docks, sir.” Trox shifted his eyes toward Grimme. Adler got the message. Goddamned Gestapo, Adler thought.
“Very well,” said Adler. He turned to Hientz, who was still on the bridge. “Hientz, get a detail to begin the unloading of the cargo. Use as many men as you need. I want to be out of here within an hour.”
“Aye, sir,” replied Hientz as he ducked down to relay the order below.
“Captain Adler, please let me introduce myself,” a smiling Grimme said, stepping forward. “I presume you had an uneventful trip?” Grimme pulled off his right glove and offered Adler his hand. Grimme caught the body odor of the U-boat captain. He crinkled his nose, reached into his pocket and took out a handkerchief, pressing it to his nose.
Adler looked at the other two officers and cautiously shook Grimme’s hand. Grimme’s hand was cold and damp. Adler winced and quickly let go the handshake.
“The trip was long and rough,” stated Adler with little emotion. He clearly did not like his situation and wanted to leave as soon as possible.
Captain Adler noticed several large trucks coming out of the jungle, pulling up to the dock. He watched as several dozen soldiers emerged from the back of the trucks and ran down the dock toward them.
Grimme continued, “Captain, this is Major Bayer, our base commander here.” Bayer stepped forward and offered Adler a limp, unimpressive handshake.
“We are very glad you were able to complete your mission, Captain Adler. You did follow your orders implicitly? The crew knows nothing?” asked Major Bayer.
“Yes; only the first officer and navigator,” said Adler, still eyeing both men intently but acutely aware of all of the soldiers rushing their way.
“Very good, Captain,” snapped Bayer, also shifting his eyes over to Grimme as if to get a validation that all was okay.
“My good captain,” started Grimme, “what news have you brought us from home?”
Adler looked squarely into Grimme’s eyes and wondered if the question was some kind of a trap or was Grimme that stupid. He looked around to ensure no one was within earshot.
“You may not have heard the war is nearly over. We are losing. Is that the news that you want to hear?”
Grimme looked sternly at Adler. He thought Adler was a traitor. If this so-called captain said that back in Germany, he would be arrested and shot within hours. But they were far from home. He thought of the consequences of shooting Adler himself. He decided to let the comment pass. There was time later to deal with this U-boat pig.
Grimme fixed a bleak smile upon his face. “While the war has its inevitable ups and downs, all loyal Germans know we will be victorious in the end. Our Führer will lead us to a glorious victory.”
Adler looked at Grimme as if Grimme was crazy. Actually, Adler thought he was crazy. But who cares in this place.
Several soldiers grabbed a narrow wooden gangplank and placed one end on the U-boat deck and the other on the dock. Adler noticed that the gangplank was very heavy. It took six men to manhandle it into place. The first of the crates were beginning to come up from below. The crewm
en pushed the crates across the deck and down the gangplank. It was then that Adler spotted the heavily armed SS troops that appeared from nowhere lining the shore on both sides of the dock. Adler surveyed the SS. Whatever he was delivering in these crates must be damned important for such a show of force here in the middle of nowhere.
Trox stepped toward Adler. “Captain, as soon as your cargo is loaded and checked, you will be free to go.”
“Thank you, Leutnant,” answered Adler.
Major Bayer was standing beside Adler. He could smell the stench of the U-boat captain and his men after the long voyage. Many days of being confined in the U-boat with other sweaty, dirty men were not pleasant. U-boat sailors in general were proud of their aroma. For the life of him, Bayer could not figure why a man would want to be cooped up in a submarine without adequate bathing facilities and not seeing the light of day for so long. These guys are just crazy, he thought.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Wednesday, May 9, 1945
A Small Secluded Cove on the Southern Coast of Brazil; 9:55 p.m.
The unloading took nearly two hours. All the while, Leutnant Udo Trox meticulously counted and recorded each crate unloaded from the U-boat, carried down the pier and loaded on the trucks. All of this under the scrutiny of Major Bayer, Captain Adler and the ever-present Gestapo, Karl Grimme.
With the last crate on the truck, Trox rechecked his tally and conferred with the other three.
“I have forty-two crates recorded. Is that the same number you have, Captain Adler?”
Adler reached inside his grimy shirt pocket and took out a small piece of paper and unfolded it. “Yes, forty-two crates. Correct.”
Grimme interjected, “Forty-two crates is exactly what you should have, Captain Adler,” checking his tally. “You have done your job very well, Captain. Please give my compliments to your crew. Your job here is complete.” Grimme turned to one of his SS troopers and motioned to him.
“Captain Adler, after your long voyage I am sure you and your crew need some fresh provisions. I have taken the liberty to provide you with several cases of fresh milk, eggs and fruit. I trust you can use this?”
Adler’s face broke into a smile. “Why, yes, we certainly could use fresh food. We’ve not had fresh provisions in quite a while. Sea rations are not the tastiest of food.” For a moment, Adler thought that this Gestapo goon might not be as bad as he thought. Regardless, he and the crew would eat well tonight. This simple pleasure made life good!
As the trucks loaded with the crates began to leave another truck backed up to the end of the pier filled with supplies.
Adler turned to find his first officer. “Mr. Hientz, make ready to take on fresh provisions.”
“Yes, sir,” Hientz replied with a wide grin. “Yes sir!”
Hientz dropped down into the conning tower and within seconds a forward hatch on the U-boat’s deck opened. Several crewmen streamed out on deck and clamored down the gangplank to help form a man-to-man chain from the gangplank, across the deck and down the hatch. As soon as Grimme’s men began to unload the truck the human chain quickly manhandled the truckload of food into the U-boat. Adler smiled again as he watched his men. They looked happy for the first time in weeks. Within fifteen minutes the entire truck was unloaded and the food stocked aboard.
The captain turned back to Grimme. “I was told there would be orders for our next destination. Do you have any for me?”
Grimme reached into his pocket and unfolded some papers. He meticulously reviewed the papers. “I have no orders for you, Captain, at this time. You will receive your new orders at your first scheduled radio contact tomorrow morning.”
“Very well,” answered Adler. “Gentlemen, it is time for us to go,” Adler said smiling. “I want to get back out to sea as quickly as possible. Thank you for the provisions. Thank you very much!”
“It is our pleasure to aid such fine seamen and such a fine U-boat commander,” a smiling Grimme answered. “Well done!”
“Yes. Let me add our congratulations as well, Captain Adler. Leutnant Trox and I also hope your crew enjoys the food,” Major Bayer beamed.
With final handshakes, Adler bounded up the gangplank.
“Mr. Hientz, let’s get underway!”
“Cast off all lines!”
Trox directed the men on the dock to remove the gangway.
Bayer, Grimme and Trox watched as the U-boat slowly and silently moved away from the pier and disappeared into the darkness of the bay. At least the crew of the U-boat was leaving this hellhole, thought Trox. He, on the other hand, was doomed to stay here forever; at least until he could find some way to get back to Germany and home.
The loaded trucks left the pier area and headed back into the jungle to wherever they went. Only Grimme knew their final location. And he was not telling anyone.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Wednesday, May 9, 1945
Fifty-five nautical miles out at sea in the South Atlantic Ocean; 2:30 a.m.
Captain Adler felt relieved lying in his bunk eating a banana. Since leaving the pier the men of the U-1055 spent the last several hours or so eating. They attacked the fresh fruit as if they never tasted anything better. Funny how such a simple thing as fresh fruit could cure the doldrums of a long voyage. Now he could smell the lovely aroma of eggs cooking along with bacon. And milk. They had fresh milk aboard. At this point in the war, far from hostile sea traffic, his boat could relax a bit and savor the food haul they made. Hell, maybe he was wrong about the Gestapo. Grimme turned out to not be such a bad guy after all.
There was a soft rap at the door of Adler’s cabin.
“Captain, you awake?” It was his first officer, Willie Hientz.
“Yes, Hientz. Come in,” answered Adler between bites as he sat up.
“Sir, what are our orders? I have us on a bearing to the mid-Atlantic but after that nowhere specific. Our depth is ninety meters.”
“That’s because we have no operational orders as of now,” Adler said looking toward his desk. “We have not received any communications from Germany since we left. Even the supply ships we encountered had no contact. We know the Reich is in shambles. When we left Germany, the Americans and Soviets were knocking at Berlin’s door. By now Berlin has to have fallen.”
“Damn Nazis,” said Hientz. He felt close to his captain. Close enough to let most of his real feelings show. Aboard a U-boat they were isolated. Germany had long since stopped the old procedure of placing Nazi Party representatives aboard U-boats. Even the Nazis knew they were in trouble.
The radioman stuck his head in the captain’s door.
“Sir, are there any messages to go out?”
“No, not now,” said Adler. “But we do need to listen for new orders at the scheduled time tomorrow morning. Let me know immediately when we make radio contact.”
“Yes, sir, I will, of course. Well then, sir, may I pipe some music through the boat? The men have asked for music.”
Adler smiled softly. “Yes. That would be nice. Go ahead.”
“Thank you, sir.” The radioman ducked away.
The two men sat silently for a few seconds.
“You think the war is over, sir?” asked Hientz.
Adler looked grimly at his first officer. “Yes, Hientz, I think it is. I do not see how we can win. Right now I’m just worried about our families and those we have left behind. There is no telling what is happening back there. I heard that when the Americans found out about the work camps they went wild. They shot camp guards and punished the citizens of the nearby towns. God knows what they will do to the general population in Berlin. Those damned SS generals really screwed things up with Hitler and Himmler’s get rid of the Jews politics. They must have killed thousands. Now we are going to pay for that crap.”
Hientz didn’t say anything but he knew Adler was right. He looked at his boots on the deck of the U-boat. “Actually, looking back, I can’t believe that we fell for all of that master race bullshit. Rule the
world, Hitler said. Yeah, it sounded great back then but we all should have known that the rest of the world was not going to just stand by and watch us take over Europe, especially after the first world war,” added Hientz. “Dammit, we should have known.”
Adler shook his head slowly. “Yeah, we should have known. I never should have stayed in Germany. I should have taken my family to Switzerland and on to America.”
“If we could only go back in time,” lamented Hientz.
A soothing German ballad began playing throughout the boat. The two men listened silently.
“Damned Nazis,” Hientz finally hissed. “Damn them all to hell. They are the cause of all of this.”
Adler stood and placed his hand on Hientz’s shoulder. “None of us dreamed it would come to this. There’s nothing we can do now, Hientz, nothing we can do. Our job now is to stay alive and get this crew back home to Germany any way we can.”
Hientz pursed his lips and looked down at the deck. Adler knew what he was thinking.