The Long Way Home (7 page)

But this time I was more than happy to take on the chore. To have the chance of perhaps meeting the lady of my dreams gave me quite a tingle and also a chance to work on my thought transference
technique. I have always believed in telepathy and on this particular day it worked like a charm. So if you ever want to try it, make sure you have some smelly potatoes around. Within an hour of my
arrival in the cellar there was the patter of feet coming down the stairs from the hotel. There she was – Traudl with a basket over her arm for the family’s ration of potatoes.

Can you imagine the odds against such a situation? For a POW on a working party suddenly to find himself alone with the girl of his dreams, with no one around to disturb or distract them, was
quite amazing. Yet that is exactly what happened.

Traudl looked very surprised to see someone in the cellar, but when she saw it was me she gave me a big wide-eyed smile of recognition, which I happily returned. The next ten minutes were taken
up with introducing ourselves, at first very tentatively, but a rapport quickly built up between us and ended with my suggesting we meet some night after dark at the edge of the woods near the
hotel. She was naturally a bit sceptical about the idea but I worked hard at convincing her that I could do it and in the end she agreed. I was shocked at how limited my German was and decided to
work much harder with my little dictionary. The strange thing is that if I had been in the main Stalag in Lamsdorf I could have taken a real first-class course in German under a proper teacher. On
the other hand if I had been in the main camp there would have been no incentive to learn the language.

Three of the lads had already tried out the tunnel outlet a few times to visit the Greek girls at their quarters in the village. However, the strain had become so great on them that their
outings became fewer and eventually died out altogether, they having decided in favour of a quiet and peaceful life. I confided in Joe and Jimmy about my proposed meeting with Traudl: they both
agreed that I must be crackers to attempt such a thing, but they would give me all the help I needed. Dress was very important, nothing white or reflective, and shoes would have to be covered over
with an old pair of socks to reduce noise to a minimum. The route I would take was worked out between the three of us and I was warned that after clearing the camp lights I would have to stop and
wait until my eyes adjusted to the darkness.

I told Bill about my date and he wished me luck and said that I would be out on my own that night, which suited me fine as I had no wish to bump into any of my own pals. I was reminded by Bill
that there was a curfew on, and if I got into trouble outside it would be disaster for the whole camp. So at all costs I must avoid trouble.

The next day Traudl appeared on her daily walk with the baby and I gave her a nod of confirmation that our tryst was on the agenda. She smiled her acknowledgement. Now my nerves began to jangle.
What had I committed myself to, and would I be brave enough to see it through? The enormity of the whole idea suddenly came into focus. I was going to risk my life for the possible reward of a kiss
and a cuddle – if I managed to make the rendezvous and if Traudl turned up. My head was telling me I had lost my marbles and should stay in bed after lights out, but my heart was shouting
that I should give it a try. In this type of contest, I don’t know of anyone who has listened to their head rather than their heart.

The weather could not have been better for my first attempt at breaking out of camp. It had been a beautiful sunny day with clear skies and good visibility. I had also checked
that there would be no moonlight that night.

My nerves were jangling like a fire alarm bell and the strain on my innards was horrendous. I knew that I couldn’t show the state I was in or Jimmy would never have agreed to my going out.
So there I was, looking cool, calm and collected until it was time to go. After work we all made our way back to camp for a wash and change of clothes. Believe it or not, hygiene standards were
extremely high; we had all learned that hygiene was easier than delousing. We all followed our normal routine. The evening meal was collected from the hotel, pleasurably eaten; then followed the
customary dish-washing and cleaning of the billet. After dinner everyone settled down to relating the adventures of the day or being bored to death listening to other people’s stories, which
of course we had heard time and time again.

At last the guard came to make the evening roll-call, which he did with his usual care and efficiency. Then we were safely locked in for the night, or so they thought. Timing was now critical.
If the guard followed his normal routine, I had only ten minutes to clear the camp. Jimmy and Joe opened the trap-door in the kitchen while I was dressing, and with their best wishes ringing in my
ears I went down the hole and through to the outside toilet before I could even think of changing my mind. I replaced the toilet floor carefully, quickly checked the coast was clear and, without
further ado, ran across the compound to the barbed-wire fence. In a couple of minutes I got through Joe’s cleverly prepared hook-on gate at the bottom of the fence, and after carefully
replacing it I reached the safety of the trees.

At this point I should have been able to relax and prepare myself for the next part of the outing. Instead I had to move like lightning and drop my trousers as all the years of constipation that
I had suffered came to an abrupt end. I had literally scared the shit out of myself.

By the time I regained my composure, the problem of adjusting my eyes to the darkness was completely overcome. The visibility made me move with less caution than I should have to the safety of
the woods on the other side of the road and onto the path leading to the village. It suddenly dawned on me that I might not be able to negotiate the few hundred yards to the spot where I hoped
Traudl would be waiting for me. The path was almost invisible and my feet were warning me when I strayed onto rougher ground or it became too grassy. I walked with my arms outstretched and hands
clasped together so that twigs and branches couldn’t blind me if I got too near the trees. My ears were working overtime but fortunately on this first trip there was no wind to create any
strange noises to jangle my already overstretched nerves.

Hidden animal instincts must have taken over and soon I was moving more freely and, more importantly, faster. In the excitement of solving the early problems, I had almost forgotten the object
of the whole operation. With the adrenalin flowing, it all came flooding back and elation set in. There was a break in the trees where it seemed to be very light compared with the blackness of the
woods. Suddenly I had reached the rendezvous point. Standing still and watching for Traudl was a tremendous relief – a bit like having climbed a mountain and enjoying the moment you have
reached the peak. A new thought came to mind: even if Traudl didn’t turn up, this would be a night to remember.

A slight movement to my left alerted me, and Traudl and I were re-united. There is no need to go into details of the next hour. I am sure everyone can remember his or her first big date. It can
be awkward under normal circumstances, but here was I in a village under curfew, in enemy territory, trying to communicate in a foreign language of which I knew only a few words. We managed so well
that we decided our next meeting should be indoors, since courting in the great outdoors at this altitude in winter was not on. Traudl showed me where her bedroom window was, at the back of the
hotel, and conveniently on the ground floor. When we had a date in future, this window would be left unlatched and it wouldn’t matter what time I arrived. Likewise, if anything went wrong and
I didn’t arrive at all it meant that Traudl would not be at risk wandering around at night after curfew. After a prolonged goodnight kiss, we decided time was up and I had to start back to
camp and embark on the part of the night I hadn’t thought about – breaking back into camp. Now I realised why the other blokes had stopped going out – the mere thought of getting
back into camp was quite daunting, perhaps more hazardous than breaking out.

Making my way back through the woods seemed more difficult than before, and seemed to take twice as long. Once misgivings had set in, I almost lost the path. Everyone else was tucked up in a
warm bed snoring away and here was I in the middle of the bloody woods wondering if I would reach the camp before dawn and praying that our guard was a sound sleeper. Fear spurred me on a bit
faster and eventually I reached the edge of the woods. After a carefully reconnoitre of the camp area, I made my way to Joe’s trap door in the perimeter fence. The camp lights all seemed to
be spotlights focused on me, but I forced myself to move through the gap, carefully closing it behind me. A slow crawl followed to the toilet hut door, which I inched open and then crawled in.
Frantically lifting the trap door, I moved quickly down into the tunnel and replaced the floor above me. Then I fainted. The relief of not having to concentrate on my movements had finally caught
up with me. I could have quite happily gone to sleep in this little piece of no-man’s land. When I came to, I completed the operation and very quietly undressed and slipped into my bunk. In
no time I had passed into oblivion.

After the success of the first trip, the amorous outings became a regular routine. The only time they were curtailed in any way was due to weather conditions. When there was
fresh snow on the ground after roll-call, it wasn’t practical to risk making obvious tracks. After it had been well beaten down around the compound, however, I did go out in the snow. But
when there was heavy cloud cover I also had to stay at home. One night I went out and everything went well until I entered the cover of the trees and it was totally dark – a blackness I had
never experienced in my life before. It was like being inside a black velvet box inside a room with no windows or lights. After the first few yards of entering the woods I realised it would be
impossible to go any further and when I turned round to go back I began to wonder how I was going to get out again. I had to resort to going down on my hands and knees and feeling for the path,
then slowly inching forward until I was clear of the trees and the camp lights came into view.

Moonlit nights were also a problem as it could be too bright, and the combination of moonlight and snow made it impossible to go out. The best nights for travelling were the clear starlit nights
with no wind, when visibility was fair and there were no strange noises to disturb my concentration. On such nights it was exhilarating to be on the move and clear of the camp and not to be a POW
under constant surveillance.

It was on such a night that, having reached the shelter of the trees, I had the strangest feeling that something was wrong. I stopped, listening and watching for any movement, but everything
seemed to be normal. The feeling persisted so I stepped off the path and squatted under a big fir tree and waited, breathing very gently. It didn’t take long to spot the large man-sized
shadow going along the path in the direction I should have been taking. My brain raced with possible explanations of this new development. The only solution was to wait a couple of minutes and turn
back into camp. When I explained to Jimmy, Joe and Bill James what had transpired, we came to the conclusion that the guard had spotted me on one of my trips and, instead of doing a body-count in
the barrack-room, had decided to follow and find out where I was going.

The guard in question at this particular time was a very nice bloke. Tall, good-looking and softly spoken, he had told us that he would do any boot repairs we required as this was a hobby of
his. In return we were to give him no hassle. In fact he was so pleasant to have around that when we heard his wife was coming to visit for a weekend, we had a whip-round of odds and ends from our
Red Cross parcels so they could have a tasty couple of days. It was strange to see this strapping big soldier with tears in his eyes, and it was worth it to see the smile of thanks from his wife.
This same guard asked me to treat a nasty boil on his wrist because if he had returned to his Depot for treatment the chances of his being returned to our camp were slim. So, for both our sakes, I
took on the job. In about a week, after treating it with a strong-smelling ointment, I extracted the big root, leaving a large hole which healed up nicely in about another week.

Having said all that, I have no doubt that he would have had no hesitation in doing his duty and reporting us to his seniors had he found us breaking any of the rules. So it was agreed that
there would be no more ‘flying’, as Bill called it, until further notice. It was during this time that it became clear what harm my love life had done to my nervous system.

Everything was fine for the first five nights that I stayed at home doing nothing but being bored. This should have had a good therapeutic effect on me but my hormones set up their own protest
and almost killed me. We had turned in as usual after roll-call and I settled down to sleep after lights out, having spent a good healthy day in the beautiful mountain air. All went well until
about two o’clock in the morning – the time I usually returned from visiting Traudl. Suddenly I was wide awake, but never in my life had I been so wide awake. The intense awareness of
noises in the far distance was frightening and my whole body began to react to this super-sensitivity. Progressive palpitations followed and I felt that my heart was going to explode. Within
seconds of waking I was in such a state that I felt that death could be the only conclusion of this attack.

But after reaching its peak, the attack slowly eased off and I lay in my bunk, drained both mentally and physically, and gradually slipped into a deep dreamless sleep. In the morning when Jimmy
called me to get up, I told him what happened and asked him to report me sick as I felt totally incapable of work. However, after a day of complete rest, I recovered and almost forgot what I had
been through. We discussed the possibility of restarting nocturnal outings but it was agreed that it was still too soon after the last incident, so I signalled this information to Traudl on her
next walk through the village. To this she gave me an understanding nod and a disappointed pout.