The Unquiet Grave

by David J Oldman

  ‘Maltot.’

  ‘I did not know the name. Units of the 10th SS-Panzer Division, Frundsberg, were holding the front. We were told a reserve company of the 22nd Battalion had taken over a house in the woods. When we arrived we found they had been ordered into the village where the British――’ a smile passed fleetingly across his lips, ‘――where you were attacking in strength. We were told to hold the house until the arrival of 9SS-Panzer Division, Hohenstaufen.’

  ‘Do you recall seeing Gestapo officers and a French civilian at the château?’

  Hess appeared to give this some thought. I wondered if he was considering the advisability of a denial. But before he could make up his mind Peter said:

  ‘SS-Mann Werner Richter was a member of the platoon, was he not?’

  ‘Richter? Yes, Werner was a comrade.’

  ‘In his diary Richter states that there was a Frenchman as well as Gestapo at the château when the platoon arrived.’

  ‘Werner wrote this in his diary?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And you have talked to Werner?’

  ‘Richter has been repatriated.’

  This seemed to surprise Hess. ‘We have heard that some men have been sent home but only the sick and the wounded.’

  ‘Richter was among the wounded.’

  Hess nodded thoughtfully.

  ‘The Gestapo and the French civilian?’ Peter prompted again.

  ‘Yes, the Gestapo I remember. Two of them and the Sicherheitsdienst Hauptsturmführer.’

  I sat up. ‘An SD capt——’

  Peter’s knee nudged mine beneath the table and I shut my mouth.

  ‘This Intelligence officer...,’ Peter said evenly, ‘...the captain. Do you remember his name?’

  ‘I did not know his name,’ Hess said.

  ‘And what rank had the two Gestapo men?’

  ‘I do not know. They were not in uniform and I did not speak to them.’

  ‘But the officer from the Sicherheitsdienst, he was a captain?’

  ‘A hauptsturmführer, yes.’

  ‘They had brought a military escort?’

  ‘No,’ said Hess. ‘Perhaps they had come with the reserve company of the 22nd Battalion who had moved up to the front. I do not know.’

  ‘They had no vehicle?’

  ‘Yes. A Kübelwagen. I saw it in front of the house.’

  ‘How many men were in your platoon?’ Peter asked, switching direction.

  ‘At the house? Only a few. We had suffered much in the fighting for Caen. There were only ten or eleven of us left.’

  ‘Names?’

  Hess frowned. ‘Unterscharführer Vogel, Mann Huber, Mann Lehmann, Mann Krause...Werner Richter, as you know. Neumann, Schmidt, Hartmann...but this you know. There was one other who had just joined us but he was killed shortly after and I do not remember his name.’

  ‘All Hitlerjugend?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Weapons?’

  ‘We had our rifles and pistols. A machinegun and also a faustpatrone. You know the faustpatrone?’

  ‘Anti-tank weapon,’ said Peter.

  ‘Yes, anti-tank.’

  ‘Tell me about what happened when you reached the château. Was there anyone other than the SD captain and the two Gestapo men there?’

  ‘We had been told there would be a company of Frundsberg there as I have said, but they had already moved up to the village. The Tommies had crossed the river at dawn that morning and were in the village by the time we got to the château. You could hear the fighting...tanks, rifles...artillery. The house had been shelled.’

  ‘Did you encounter any British forces before you reached the château?’

  ‘No. Not at first.’

  ‘You say the château had been shelled. Was it badly damaged?’

  ‘Not badly.’

  ‘Was it burning?’

  ‘No, I think not. There had been a small fire, from the artillery perhaps. But it was not burning when we arrived.’

  ‘What did you do when you arrived at the château?’

  ‘When we arrived we wanted to eat but Obersturmführer Müller told me to take three men and the machinegun and the faustpatrone back down the drive. It was about two hundred metres long with two bends. He told me to set the MG up in the trees where we could see anyone approaching. I chose the first bend where we had a good field of fire.’

  ‘And the other men? What did they do?’

  Hess shrugged. ‘Obersturmführer Müller told Richter and two others to set up an observation post along a track at the back of the house. This was narrow and led to the river. He remained at the house where there were outbuildings to fortify.’

  ‘At this point you believed you were to stay and occupy the château?’

  ‘Yes, Obersturmführer Müller told us we would be relieved by Hohenstaufen——9SS-Panzer Division.’

  ‘And the Frenchman? What was he doing?’

  ‘I did not see the Frenchman then. Only later.’

  I stood up. Hess followed me with his eyes. I opened the door. Nugent and the guard had gone but the corporal was still at his desk.

  ‘Can you organize us some tea? Three mugs?’

  The corporal looked as if he hadn’t quite caught what I had said. ‘What, for the prisoner too, sir?’

  ‘If you can.’

  I went back to the table and sat down again.

  ‘Tell me about the British Bren gun carrier,’ Peter asked Hess.

  The German’s eyes became vacant.

  ‘The Bren gun carrier wasn’t there when you arrived, obviously. But it was when you left. Obersturmführer Müller has already told us this. We need confirmation. That is all.’

  Hess looked down at his hands while I looked at Peter, wondering if he was as prepared to lie as barefacedly in a British court when this was all over and he finally became a barrister.

  ‘Müller told you this?’

  ‘Before he killed himself,’ said Peter. ‘And we have Richter’s diary as well. What we need is to have the story from your perspective.’

  ‘But I wasn’t at the château.’

  ‘No, but you were on the drive when the British Bren gun carrier arrived.’

  Hess gave a sigh, glanced at his hands once more. ‘We had just set up the machinegun when we heard the sound of a tracked vehicle approaching. I signalled to my men——

  ‘Which men were with you?’

  ‘Lehmann, Neumann and Krause.’

  ‘Go on.’

  Hess faltered. ‘There was a bend in the driveway. I signalled my men not to fire until the target was close enough. When it came around the bend in the road we saw the vehicle was a British Bren gun carrier. There were four men in it, the one beside the driver had a Bren gun.

  ‘Four men in the vehicle?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What happened next?’

  There was a knock on the door and Hess hesitated. The corporal came in with three mugs of tea. He set them on the table and I pushed one towards Hess.

  ‘Danke,’ he said and picked it up.

  ‘What happened next?’ Peter asked again.

  Hess drank some tea before resuming. ‘When Lehmann saw the carrier he fired the faustpatrone.’

  ‘You destroyed the vehicle?’

  ‘Yes, but Lehmann fired too quickly and his aim was bad. The vehicle swerved to the side of the drive. Neumann had already opened up with the MG.’

  ‘The machinegun?’

  ‘Yes. The driver and one of the men in the back were killed. The sergeant with the Bren gun was slumped in the front.’

  ‘But he was alive?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes. But he was wounded by the faustpatrone.’

  ‘Was the carrier on fire?’

  ‘At that time just a little.’

  ‘And the fourth man?’

  Hess shook his head. ‘No, he was lucky. He was not injured.’

  ‘What happened then?’

  ‘We waited to see if other ve
hicles were following. Tanks, we thought, maybe infantry...,’

  ‘Were there?’

  ‘No. We heard nothing except the sound of fighting in the village.’

  ‘Did the two men still alive surrender to you?’

  Hess glanced at me again. ‘If Obersturmführer Müller told you this, then you must know...,’

  ‘We need to hear your version of events.’

  ‘Befehl,’ said Hess. ‘You understand this?’

  ‘Orders,’ said Peter. ‘Yes, I understand.’

  ‘My rank is SS-Sturmmann. It was my job to do as I was ordered by my superior.’

  ‘We understand this,’ I assured him.

  Hess sipped his tea, licking his lips. ‘So,’ he said after a moment, expelling breath like a sigh. ‘Two men are dead. The driver and one man in the back. The radio operator, I think. The one in front——the sergeant who carried the Bren gun——was wounded.’

  ‘And the fourth man?’

  ‘He was on the ground. He had put his arms over his head.’

  ‘But he wasn’t injured?’

  ‘No,’ said Hess. ‘Frightened. He was not a brave man.’

  ‘What did you do?’

  Hess put his mug on the table. ‘We disarmed them.’

  ‘What weapons did they carry?’

  ‘A Bren gun, a rifle and an anti-tank gun. The kind you call the PIAT. There was also a radio but it had been hit by the MG.’

  ‘What did you do with the two captured men?’

  Hess cleared his throat. ‘I left Lehmann and Neumann with the carrier. Mann Krause and myself returned to the château with the prisoners to report to Obersturmführer Müller.’

  ‘You say the sergeant was injured?’

  ‘He had a few burns to his face and hands from the faustpatrone.’

  ‘What happened when you reached the château?’

  ‘The one whose name I cannot recall was guarding the door. We took the prisoners inside. Obersturmführer Müller and Unterscharführer Vogel were in a ground floor room with the SD hauptsturmführer and the Frenchman. This was the first time I saw him.’

  ‘But you knew he was French?’

  Hess shrugged. ‘The manner of his dress. But he spoke good German.’

  ‘Did you receive the impression that he was under arrest?’

  ‘Arrest? No, not at all.’

  ‘What were they doing? The Frenchman and the others?’

  ‘Sorting through papers. The Frenchman and the SD hauptsturmführer. They examined them and some they handed to the two Gestapo officers who were burning them in the fireplace.’

  ‘They were burning the papers?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Did you see what these papers were?’ I asked Hess.

  ‘No.’

  ‘How did they react when you brought in two prisoners?’

  ‘They became very nervous. They thought the Tommies had arrived. The Frenchman told the two Gestapo men to burn all the rest of the papers and began talking urgently to the hauptsturmführer and Obersturmführer Müller. Then Müller told me to take the prisoners into another room and await orders.’

  ‘Did the prisoners say anything?’ Peter asked.

  ‘Not the sergeant. The other was trembling and speaking quickly. I could not understand but I could see he was frightened. The Tommie sergeant told him to be quiet.’

  ‘How long did you wait in the other room?’

  Hess shrugged. ‘A few minutes...’

  ‘And then?’

  ‘Obersturmführer Müller came in. He looked at the identity discs of the prisoners then ordered us back to where we had left Neumann and Lehmann. He said I was to collect the identity discs off the dead Tommies in the carrier and bring them back to him.’

  ‘Did he say why he wanted them?’

  ‘To note the identification of the men, he said.’

  ‘Was that normal practice?’

  ‘I do not think so.’

  ‘You did as he asked?’

  ‘Yes. Krause and I went back to the Tommy vehicle. It was burning now. Lehmann and Neumann were complaining as the bombardment had started again and artillery shells were falling nearby in the wood.’

  ‘Did you take the ID discs off the men as you had been ordered?’

  ‘With the vehicle on fire it was not so easy but Krause got the ID discs off and I told him to take them to Obersturmführer Müller.’

  ‘But he had told you to bring them, is that not the case?’

  ‘I stayed with Lehmann and Neumann.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because they needed their NCO with them.’

  ‘What happened after that?’

  ‘Krause was gone maybe ten minutes. When he came back, Unterscharführer Vogel and one of the prisoners was with him.’

  ‘Which one?’

  ‘The frightened one, not the sergeant.’

  ‘He was uninjured?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Vogel said Obersturmführer Müller had ordered Krause to put the discs back on the men in the carrier and that we were all to return to the house immediately.’

  ‘And did Krause put the identification discs back on the two bodies?’

  Hess glanced at me then back to Peter.

  ‘The vehicle was burning fiercely by this time. We could not get close enough to replace the discs around the men’s necks. There were cans of petrol ready to explode.’

  ‘What did you do with the discs?’ Peter asked.

  ‘Krause threw them onto the bodies. I knew they would not burn and that their comrades would still be able to identify them.’

  ‘What were Vogel and the prisoner doing?’

  ‘They were standing by the side of the road. Unterscharführer Vogel told us to go back to the house.’

  ‘And did you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And the prisoner?’

  Hess shook his head. ‘No.’

  ‘Did you hear the sound of any shots from behind you or from the château?’

  Hess shook his head. ‘We heard only the sound of artillery and rifle fire in the village. Then the fuel cans exploding in the Tommy vehicle.’

  ‘What happened when you got back to the château?’

  ‘Obersturmführer Müller told us to form up by the truck and to wait.’

  ‘How long did you wait?’

  ‘A few minutes.’

  ‘Did Vogel join you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Did you see either of the two British prisoners again?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Did you ask what had happened to the sergeant and the man you left with Vogel by the carrier?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Were you ordered not to speak of what had happened?’

  Hess looked surprised. ‘No, not at all.’ He had answered Peter but was looking at me. ‘This was not necessary. It was war. It is regrettable but sometimes it is not possible to take prisoners. As soldiers we understood this.’

  ‘And afterwards? Did Unterscharführer Vogel or any of the others speak of what had happened?’

  ‘There was little time to speak of these things. We were expecting the Tommies to arrive any moment. The SD hauptsturmführer and the Gestapo were anxious to leave. Obersturmführer Müller ordered us into the truck and we left by the track to the river.’

  ‘Did you see the SD hauptsturmführer and the Gestapo men leave the château? Did you see the Frenchman leave?’

  Hess shrugged. ‘They were not in our truck. I assumed they followed us in the Kübelwagen.’

  ‘But you didn’t see them?’

  ‘I was sitting in the front cab. I could not see behind.’

  ‘You didn’t see the Kübelwagen again? Later perhaps?’

  ‘As we crossed the river,’ Hess said, ‘we met units of the 9SS-Panzers moving up. There were tanks and trucks and men everywhere. I did not see the Kübelwagen again.’

  28

  July 5th

  By the time we had finished w
ith Hess, the camp staff had eaten. That left us with several hundred POWs as lunch companions, in my view a prospect too soon after hostilities not to interfere with digestion. So we skipped the canteen and I told Corporal Givens to drive us back into Brockenhurst. There would be a two-hour wait for the train although we found the Rose and Crown was offering pigeon pie and local ale in compensation. Finishing what I regarded as the first decent meal I’d eaten in weeks, I began to realize why Penny looked so healthy on her rural regime.

  Over a second pint, Peter read back to me from his arcane shorthand in order that I had understood all of what Hess had told us.

  When he finished, Peter snapped his notebook shut and slipped it into his pocket.

  ‘There is some discrepancy with what Richter wrote in his diary,’ he said. ‘But Richter didn’t give much away so I don’t suppose it’s important.’

  I lit a cigarette. ‘I got the impression Hess knew more than he admitted. Perhaps if we’d made it clear Dabs’ death had been the point of the interrogation, he might have been more forthcoming.’

  ‘Or clammed up altogether,’ said Peter.

  ‘You’ve been spending too much time at the pictures with Susie,’ I said.

  He looked mystified. ‘Clammed up,’ I said.

  He smiled. ‘The Americans weren’t here long but they certainly left their mark.’

  That made me think of Tuchman.

  Peter said: ‘We still can’t be absolutely sure that the Frenchman at the château was Pellisier. But it certainly looks like the body buried in the garden was Kearney’s.’

  ‘Well Müller’s men didn’t bury it. Not unless Hess was lying to us. It’s possible the Gestapo and the SD captain tried setting fire to the place before they left in order to burn the body and botched it because they were in a hurry.’

  ‘We know 9SS-Panzers relieved the 10SS-Panzers and what was left of the Hitlerjugend around Maltot and Hill 112. Would they have tried to burn the château if they knew another unit was coming to take it over?’

  ‘Perhaps they just tried to burn the corpse to prevent identification,’ I suggested. ‘Then when 9SS-Panzers arrived they buried the body in the garden. I don’t suppose they’d want to keep stepping over a corpse while they were there. And they weren’t to know he wasn’t French remember.’

  ‘And it was probably 9SS-Panzers who pushed the carrier off the road to clear the drive,’ Peter said.