The Valkyrie Option

by Markus Reichardt

  In the meantime the Polish airmen of the Polish Special Duties Flight took matters into their own hands. A supply drop involving 14 heavy bombers to Home Army units outside the Warsaw perimeter had been scheduled for nearly a month and Slessor duly allowed it to take off as scheduled on the afternoon of August 4th. What he did not know was the four of the crews had decided to drop their supplies directly onto Warsaw.

  2am 5th August

  Over Warsaw

  Flt Lt. Jan Mioduchowski’s Consolidated Liberator S shook violently as they came in at 500 feet over night-time Warsaw. Seconds ahead lay Krasinski square the target for their supply containers. The flight had been uneventful until just south of Warsaw when German flak had opened up noisily but ineffectually. Now only the flickering fires of burning Warsaw below illuminated the cockpit. The maximum speed at which the containers could be dropped was 140 miles per hour. At this altitude the flak was the least of his worries. With its 110 foot wingspan and 70 foot frame, Liberator S, landing flaps out for extra lift, was an easy target for small arms fire. Some machine gun tracers reached up to the aircraft but Jan did not seek to evade. Any deviation could mean the loss of the containers. He would only be over the square for seconds, a jolt. He felt the mighty plane lift as nearly two tonnes of packed supplies dropped from the bomb bay. He pulled upwards seeking altitude.

  A second later, a machine gun volley ripped through the still open doors of the bomb bay. Another stitched a series of holes in the left wing, cutting fuel lines and causing the number 4 Pratt & Whitney engine to sputter.

  Jan fought furiously to gain altitude but something critical had been hit. A few more flak burst splattered fragments into the left wing. ‘Compensate’ he yelled at his co-pilot .

  Another flak shell burst nearby. This one rained death into the cockpit. The co-pilot screamed and went limp while below Warsaw disappeared into the darkness. At this altitude the night air was not cold but that would change soon if he sought altitude. More by sheer will than anything else Jan edged the stricken plane upwards and away from the burning city.

  A minute later disaster struck the damaged plane. The radio operator had just come forward to confirm the course home and see to the dead co-pilot when suddenly the plane shook as if kicked repeatedly. The roof gunner opened up screaming ‘Jerry’ just as Jan saw the black shape soar past the shattered windows of his cockpit. The nigh fighter was a single engine aircraft and it was faster that the stricken Liberator. Another pass set fire to a second engine and added to the internal damage sustained over Warsaw. In seconds the mighty aircraft started to list to the side. Jan switched off the burning engines and set their propellers to sail but was not good. Whatever other damage the Liberator had sustained hindered his ability to adjust the planes trim. They were going down.

  ‘Everybody get ready to bail out’. Jan struggled to turn the Liberator eastward. With any luck he would come down over Russian territory. Despite the orders to avoid the Russian airfields, the Polish crew knew what would happen if they fell into the hands of the Gestapo and were found to be Poles. Taking their chances with the Russians seemed a better bet.

  Fighting to keep any altitude Jan reached the Vistula a minute later just as part of the Liberator’s tail came apart in a hail of bullets from the night fighter. The plane instantly began to spiral, it would be seconds before the speed of its descent would trap them in it. ‘Everybody Out. NOW!’

  Jan hit the latch on his seatbelt and ran for the hatch. He was the last one out. Dangling from his parachute he saw the plane spiral in ever tighter circles before ending in an orange fireball a few seconds later. The fireball illuminated the night for a second and to his relief Jan saw six other parachutes floating through the night nearby. So at least some of his crew had got out.

  Air Marshall Slessor looked at the numbers 5 planes lost out of 14. These were unsustainable losses. Bomber Command had made it clear that in the light of the terrible disaster that had befallen them on July 21st, there would be no replacement planes for a while. His decision was instant. All flights cancelled until further notice.

  The next day Moscow informed her Allies that Russian airfields were not open to English or American crews or their craft even if these should be damaged. Stalin had shown his hand.

  The Soviet Government cannot of course object to English or American aircraft dropping arms in the region of Warsaw, since this is an American and British affair. But they decidedly object to American or British aircraft, after dropping arms in the region of Warsaw, landing on Soviet territory, since the Soviet Government do not wish to associate themselves either directly or indirectly with the adventure in Warsaw. In the situation which has arisen the Soviet command has come to the conclusion that it must dissociate itself from the Warsaw adventure, as it cannot take either direct or indirect responsibility for the Warsaw action.

  Stalin’s note to Churchill dated August 15th read by Andrei

  Vishinsky, first assistant people’s commissar for

  foreign affairs to the US Ambassador in Moscow.

  August 5th

  Warsaw

  While Bor and Okulicki fretted in the absence of clear information from London, their men captured their first German tank, a Panther. They repaired it and with more enthusiasm than ability drove it towards the German lines near the former Goose camp concentration camp. By nightfall it was out of action having contributed little to the expansion of the liberated area. But the troops opposing it had nearly been routed.

  The capture of the tank was significant in that it attracted the attention of the Wehrmacht’s Ninth Army Command. The day before, 9th Army logbook had calmly noted the “outbreak of the expected insurgency” and requested police formations to be brought in to crush the uprising which threatened to cut the supply line of 39th Armoured Corps and communications for all units in this sector”. It was the SS that had created the mess in Warsaw, but the SS was no longer around to clean it up. This would now have to be done by whatever anti-partisan formations were available on short notice. Tasked with holding the Warsaw sector, Ninth Army Command made it clear to Berlin that they did not have the men to hold the Red Army and crush the Poles who now posed a military challenge. And thus began the search for whatever anti-partisan units could be found.

  That night the following units boarded trains for Warsaw two Cossack battalions, a Posnian militarised police battalion, the 3400 former poachers and criminals comprising SS Brigade Dirlewanger, the 2000 men of the SS Brigade RONA of the Russian National Liberation Army The former was an SS unit comprised of hardened criminals released from Germany’s jails, the latter a group of Russians who had sided with the Germans in 1941 in the hope of genuine liberation from the Soviet system and now were stuck as mercenaries on the losing side. By the morning of the 5th they were in position to attack.

  4th August

  Moscow

  Stalin’s problem was not unforeseen but still the man in the Kremlin wavered. Except for some specks of land around the Baltic States the Red Army had retaken all Soviet territory. He now faced the choice of a continued westward advance on the direct path to Berlin or a shift in his emphasis southwards towards the Balkans. Much as he wanted to he could not do both; the reduction in lend-lease shipments would make itself felt soon and that would count nowhere as hard as in the transport department, for by now nearly 100 000 American jeeps and trucks provided the mobility that allowed the Soviets to pursue the retreating Germans. With the unexpected success of the Bagraton Offensive it had suddenly seemed possible for the Red Army to reach the Reich’s capital before the retreating Germans had a chance to muster their defences. Now with the neutralization of the western front that no longer seemed as likely. If, instead he turned the Red Army’s resources to the south he could probably take much of the Balkans before the western allies, in particular the meddlesome British could regain a foothold. It would give Russia control over half of Europe.

  What he needed at the moment was information; how much of a
roadblock would the Warsaw Poles turn out to be? And how badly had Rokossovsky and his the First Byelorussian Front been hit by the Germans. Realistically even Stalin accepted that the Marshall was operating way beyond what had been thought possible in terms of supply lines. The success of the German counter-attack on August 2nd had caught everyone, including the Germans by surprise. Conceived a last-ditch effort to stem the route of the remnants of Army Group Center caused by the Bagraton offensive, it had crashed into Rokossovsky and pushed his forces halfway back from the outskirts of Warsaw towards the River Bug. It had also cost him some of his best units.

  Then there was as always the political issue, for the first time Soviet soldiers were leaving the ideological isolation of their rigid worldview, and they were certain to discover that reality did not conform to existing analyses. There would be repercussions for morale if they were not uniformly welcomed by the East European populations as liberators. There would be long-term dangers for the Soviet Union if this move into another world were not carefully managed. This issue was real; the day before Beria had forwarded an NKVD report regarding the recent operation to disarm ‘so-called Polish Home Army units’ captured in Lithuania. The report highlighted that not only were the Polish nationalists ‘formenting anti-Soviet activity’ but Soviet efforts to integrate these units into their ranks had met with almost no success and quite a bit of opposition. Not a single Home Army officer had chosen to join the Poles fighting under Polish General Berling in the ranks of the Red Army. If this was the response from the irregulars, then Warsaw was likely to be a harder nut to crack. With an eye to history, the dictator himself called Rokossovsky and halted the advance of the First Belorussian Front westward. There would be no paper trail to later show that the great Stalin had stopped the advance.[61] He would await the arrival of more information.

  5th August

  the banks of the Vistula

  south of Warsaw

  Flt Lt. Jan Mioduchowski lay shivering under a sparse bush about a kilometer from the Vistula. His had been bad luck crashing down through the branches of a small group of trees and twisting his ankle upon impact. It hurt like hell and for all he knew it could be broken. Walking was out of the question now he could only hope that his friends would find him soon. Together they would be able to make contact with other Poles. It only struck him now that after nearly four years of exile he was back on sacred polish soil; a rather ignominious return.

  The sun had come up and warmed the landscape. Looking around the meadows and fields it seemed impossible that this was a country, a continent at war. Jan rubbed his face. The first stubbles of beard were beginning to appear on his normally clean-shaven long pale face. The waiting did nothing for his nerves. In the distance there was thunder, the artillery of the Russian advance.

  It was nearly ten when he noticed a group of about sixty men working their way across the field towards the river behind him. Caution prevailed and he made no effort to be noticed. The uniforms marked them as Russian, but not all of them. When they had come within about 150 meters of his position, he noticed that two of the men seemed to holding up both hands in a sign of surrender. Their uniforms he realised were also not the grey-brown uniforms of the others whom he took to be Russian infantry. Slowly he slid back under the cover of the bush flattening himself so as to avoid detection. His parachute had been dug into the ground long ago.

  One of the Russians noticed the broken branches and pointed in his direction. ‘Please no Holy Mother of God’ Jan whispered. One of the Russians pulled out a set of binoculars and scanned the vegetation around him. In the foot deep grass Jan didn’t dare move a muscle. But nothing happened. No-one came.

  When he finally dared to look up again he saw the Russians and their prisoners standing three hundred meters away at the side of the country road that ran parallel to the river in this area. A truck came lumbering along carrying the Red Star of the Soviet Union. Roughly the Russians shoved their prisoners onto the truck before joining them. Noisily the engine kicked back into life and the vehicle headed off away from the river.

  Suddenly a man left from the truck, rolled and started running towards a small forest whose trees stood barely fifty meters from the road. There were shouts and screams from the truck. But as Jan watched in horror none of the occupants made any attempt to pursue. Instead three submachine guns barked. Dozens of bullets kicked up the ground around the running man who was knocked forward. There was no scream, no shout of pain. Just silence.

  The truck came to a stop and two of the Russians clambered down. They walked over to the fallen man and dragged his body back to the truck. As they flung the body into the back a scream rang out. ‘Michael!’ Jan recognized the voice instantly. His radioman Miroslav. That could only mean that Michael was Michael Anders, the tail gunner. As the truck rumbled away Jan felt very, very alone.

  5th August

  Berlin, Reichskanzlei

  Stauffenberg slumped into the chair next to Speer. The Armaments Minister shot a relieved smile his way, 'Colonel always good to see you.'

  And you, Herr Speer. Making more guns and butter I assume.' Stauffenberg was too tired to come up with better humour. The dark rings under his eyes matched those of Speer. Everyone in Germany it seemed wanted his attention. From Field Marshalls to majors every officer somehow thought that it would be Stauffenberg who would help out with this or that problem. Although he in theory had an office at the War Ministry, he had seen it only twice in as many weeks. His one consolation was that Nina and the kids were safe and he made a point of speaking with the on the telephone at least every second day. Many who watched marvelled at this display of endless energy. Stauffenberg knew somewhere along the line something would have to give but right now his country needed him.

  Today the agenda of the cabinet meeting was dominated by economic and domestic issues. Political prisoners had been formally released and now the German administration was struggling to organize the repatriation of all forced labourers. Speer ran down lengthy series of numbers of how their removal from the munitions factories and agricultural estates was impacting on food and munitions production. He then lost everyone in a technical presentation on how cutting back of diverse weapons programmes would boost production of core systems. Leber and von Witzleben then promptly got into a heated debate over whether the returning troops from Italy, Scandinavia and the Western front, who were not combat soldiers should take their place or not. The church leaders tossed in the idea that imprisoned Nazis be put to work and on this the cabinet found common ground. From there the discussion drifted into the politically hot potato of war crimes trials. The Western Allied had indicated that they did not believe German war criminals should be tried by German courts and the issue had remained unresolved.

  So many issues, so many serious ones remained unresolved. Although the Western Allies were not interfering with the German withdrawal too actively, they had begun bombing the main bridges over the Rhine to hinder the movement of heavy equipment to the Eastern Front. Stalin's troops were once again on the move particularly in the Baltic States and southern Russia. However they had not moved to help the Poles in Warsaw.

  When Beck ended the war criminals discussion without resolving it, he looked around. Is there anything else ?

  Stauffenberg sighed - yes there were so many other things but none of them would be resolved by debating in this forum. The soldier in him deeply resented the inefficiency of the political process. He had hated it as a conspirator, he liked it no more as one of those in power.

  That evening Stauffenberg leaned back in his chair, in his brothers living room. The three fingers of his hand gripped a wine glass unsteadily. For once the top buttons of his uniform was loose.

  Adam von Trott zu Solz, his foreign policy advisor, and Deputy Foreign Minister watched as Stauffenberg's eye followed his children sprawled out across the Stauffenberg flat. Nina von Stauffenberg had come back from rural place and for a day no-one had seen Claus. Although everyone was sure t
hat the likelihood of another young Stauffenberg being born in nine months was enormous, Claus had actually spent much of the day asleep in his wife's arms. The few moments they had shared together had been loving reassuring moments between two people deeply committed to each other and to the course on which they were set. But they were also the time partners spent together to nurture inner strength and confidence drawn from the unquestioning support and respect given by the partner.

  Nina, her dark hair cropped short, sat quietly across the room watching over the brood. Adam felt almost like an intruder. His own family also saw precious little of him these days with his new duties as deputy foreign minister. Neither Claus nor Nena however minded him being here. Both accepted that duty generally intruded into private life.