Night of the Fox

3

As commander of Army Group B, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was responsible for the Atlantic Wall defenses, his sole task to defeat any Allied attempt to land in northern France. Since taking command in January of 1944 he had strengthened the coastal defenses to an incredible degree, tramping the beaches, visiting every strongpoint, impressing his own energetic presence on everyone from divisional commanders to the lowliest private.

His headquarters seemed permanently on the move so that no one could be sure where he was from one day to the next. He had an uncomfortable habit of turning up in his familiar black Mercedes accompanied only by his driver and his most trusted aide from Afrika Korps days, Major Konrad Hofer.

On the evening of that fateful day at about the time Hugh Kelso was somewhere in the general area of the Casquets Light, west of Alderney, the field marshal was sitting down to an early dinner with the officers of the 21st Parachute Regiment in a chateau at Campeaux some ten miles from St Lo in Normandy.

His primary reason for being there was sound enough. The High Command, and the Führer himself, believed that the invasion, when it came, would take place in the area of the Pas de Calais. Rommel disagreed and had made it clear that if he were Eisenhower, he would strike for Normandy. None of this had done anything for his popularity among the people who counted at OKW, High Command of the Armed Forces, in Berlin. Rommel didn’t give a damn about that anymore. The war was lost. The only thing that was uncertain was how long it would take.

Which brought him to the second reason for being in Normandy. He was involved in a dangerous game and it paid to keep on the move, for since taking command of Army Group B he had renewed old friendships with General von Stulpnagel, military governor of France, and General Alexander von Falkenhausen. Both were involved, with von Stauffenberg, in the conspiracy against Hitler. It had not taken them long to bring Rommel around to their point of view.

They had all been aware of the projected assassination attempt at Rastenburg that morning. Rommel had sent Konrad Hofer by air to Berlin the previous day to await events at General Olbricht’s headquarters, but there had been no news at all. Not a hint of anything untoward on the radio.

Now, in the mess, Colonel Halder, commanding the regiment, stood to offer the loyal toast. ‘Gentlemen – to our Führer and total victory.’

‘So many young men,’ Rommel thought to himself, ‘and what for?’ But he raised his glass and drank with them.

‘And now, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox himself, who does our mess so much honor tonight.’

They drained their glasses, then applauded him, cheering wildly, and Rommel was immensely touched. Colonel Halder said, ‘The men have arranged a little entertainment in your honor, Field Marshal. We were hoping you might be willing to attend.’

‘But of course.’ Rommel held out his glass for more champagne. ‘Delighted.’

The door opened at the back of the mess and Konrad Hofer entered. He looked tired and badly needed a shave, his field gray greatcoat buttoned up to his neck.

‘Ah, Konrad, there you are,’ Rommel called. ‘Come and have a glass of champagne. You look as if you could do with it.’

‘I’ve just flown in from Berlin, Field Marshal. Landed at St Lo.’

‘Good flight?’

‘Terrible, actually.’ Hofer swallowed the champagne gratefully.

‘My dear boy, come and have a shower and we’ll see if they can manage you a sandwich.’ Rommel turned to Colonel Halder. ‘See if you can delay this little show the men are putting on for half an hour.’

‘No problem, Field Marshal.’

‘Good – we’ll see you later then.’ Rommel picked up a fresh bottle of champagne and two glasses and walked out followed by Hofer.

As soon as the bedroom door was closed, Hofer turned in agitation. ‘It was the worst kind of mess. All that fool Koenig managed to do was blow himself up outside the main gate.’

‘That seems rather careless of him,’ Rommel said dryly. ‘Now calm yourself, Konrad. Have another glass of champagne and get under the shower and just take it slowly.’

Hofer went into the bathroom and Rommel straightened his uniform, examining himself in the mirror. He was fifty-three at that time, of medium height, stocky and thick-set with strong features, and there was a power to the man, a force, that was almost electric. His uniform was simple enough, his only decorations the Pour le Mérite, the famous Blue Max, won as a young infantry officer in the First World War, and the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, both of which hung around his neck. On the other hand, one hardly needed anything else if one had those.

Hofer emerged in a bathrobe toweling his hair. ‘Olbricht and a few more up there are in a blue funk and I don’t blame them. I mean the Gestapo or the SD could be on to this at any time.’

‘Yes,’ Rommel conceded. ‘Himmler may have started life as a chicken farmer, but whatever else you may say about him he’s no fool. How was von Stauffenberg?’

‘As determined as ever. He suggests you meet with Generals von Stulpnagel and Falkenhausen within the next few days.’

‘I’ll see what I can do.’

Hofer was back in the bathroom pulling on his uniform again. ‘I’m not so sure it’s a good idea. If Himmler does have his suspicions about you, you could be under close surveillance already.’

‘Oh, I’ll think of something,’ Rommel said. ‘Now hurry up. The men are laying on a little show for me and I don’t want to disappoint them.’

The show was presented in the main hall of the chateau. A small stage had been rigged at one end with some makeshift curtains. Rommel, Hofer and the regimental officers sat down in chairs provided at the front; the men stood in the hall behind them or sat on the grand staircase.

A young corporal came on, bowed and sat down at the grand piano and played a selection of light music. There was polite applause. Then he moved into the song of the Fallschirmjäger, the paratroopers’ own song, sung everywhere from Stalingrad to North Africa. The curtains parted to reveal the regimental choir singing lustily. There was a cheer from the back of the hall and everyone started to join in, including the officers. Without pause, the choir moved straight into several choruses of We March Against England, an unfortunate choice, Rommel told himself. It was interesting to note that no one tried singing the Horst Wessel. The curtain came down to a storm of cheering and several instrumentalists came on, grouped themselves around the pianist and played two or three jazz numbers. When they were finished, the lights went down and there was a pause.

‘What’s happening?’ Rommel demanded.

‘Wait and see, Herr Field Marshal. Something special, I assure you.’

The pianist started to play the song that was most popular of all with the German forces, Lili Marlene. The curtains parted to reveal only a pool of light on a stool in the center of the stage from a crude spotlight. Suddenly, Marlene Dietrich stepped into the light straight out of Blue Angel, or so it seemed. Top hat, black stockings and suspenders. She sat on the stool to a chorus of wolf whistles from the men and then she started to sing Lili Marlene, and that haunting, bittersweet melody reduced the audience to total silence.

A man, of course, Rommel could see that, but a brilliant impersonation and he joined in the applause enthusiastically. ‘Who on earth is that?’ he asked Colonel Halder.

‘Our orderly room corporal, Berger. Apparently he used to be some sort of cabaret performer.’

‘Brilliant,’ Rommel said. ‘Is there more?’

‘Oh, yes, Herr Field Marshal. Something very special.’

The instrumentalists returned and the choir joined them in a few more numbers. There was another pause when they departed and then a steady, muted drum roll. The curtain rose to reveal subdued lighting. As the choir started to sing the song of the Afrika Korps from the side of the stage, Rommel walked on. And it was quite unmistakably he. The cap with the desert goggles, the white scarf carelessly knotted at the neck, the old leather greatcoat, the field marshal’s baton in one gloved hand, the other arrogantly on the hip. The voice, when he spoke, was perfect as he delivered a few lines of his famous battlefield speech before El Alamein.

‘I know I haven’t offered you much. Sand, heat and scorpions, but we’ve shared them together. One more push and it’s Cairo, and if we fail … well, we tried – together.’

There was total silence from the body of the hall as Colonel Halder glanced anxiously at Rommel. ‘Field Marshal, I hope you’re not offended.’

‘Offended? I think he’s marvelous,’ Rommel said and jumped to his feet. ‘Bravo!’ he called and started to clap and behind him, the entire audience joined in with the chorus of the Afrika Korps song, cheering wildly.

In the makeshift dressing room next to the kitchen, Erich Berger slumped into a chair and stared at himself in the mirror. His heart was beating and he was sweating. A hell of a thing for any actor to perform in front of the man he was taking off, and such a man. A name to conjure with. The most popular soldier in Germany.

‘Not bad, Heini,’ he said softly. ‘Mazel tov.’ He took a bottle of schnapps from the drawer, drew the cork and swallowed some.

A Yiddish phrase on the lips of a corporal in a German Fallschirmjäger regiment might have seemed strange to anyone who had overheard. His secret was that he wasn’t Erich Berger at all, but Heini Baum, Jewish actor and cabaret performer from Berlin and proud of it.

His story was surprisingly simple. He had performed with success in cabaret all over Europe. He had never married. To be frank, his inclinations ran more toward men than women. He had persisted in living in Berlin, even as the Nazis came to power, because his aging parents had always lived there and would not believe that anything terrible could ever happen. Which it did, of course, though not for a long time. As an entertainer, Baum was of use to the Reich. He still had to wear his Star of David on his coat, but a series of special permits kept him afloat and his parents with him, while all around them their friends were taken away.

And then there was the fateful night in 1940 when he had arrived at the end of his street, coming home from cabaret, in time to see the Gestapo taking his mother and father from their house. He had turned and run, like the coward he was, pausing only in a side street to tear the Star of David from his coat. He was forty-four years of age and looked ten years younger on a good day. Nowhere to go, for his papers told the world he was a Jew.

So, he’d caught a train to Kiel with the wild idea that he might be able to get a ship from there to somewhere – anywhere. He’d arrived just after one of the first of the devastating RAF raids on that city, had stumbled through the chaos and flames of the city center, searching for shelter as the RAF came back for a second go. Lurching down into a cellar, he’d found a man and a woman and a twelve-year-old girl dead, all from the same family he learned when he examined their identity cards. Erich Berger, his wife and daughter. And one thing more. In Berger’s pocket were his call-up papers, ordering him to report the following week.

What better hiding place could a Jew who was afraid to be a Jew find? Sure, he was ten years older than Berger, but it wouldn’t show. To change the photos on the two identity cards was simple enough so that the body he dragged out to leave in the rubble of the street to be found later was that of Heini Baum, Jew of Berlin. It had been necessary to obliterate most of the dead man’s face with a brick, just to help things along, but after what he’d been through that part was easy.

How ironic that it was the paratroops he’d been inducted into. He’d been everywhere. Crete, Stalingrad, North Africa, a nice flashy hero in his Luftwaffe blouse and baggy paratroopers’ pants and jump boots, with the Iron Cross Second and First Class to prove it. He took another pull at the schnapps bottle, and behind him the door opened and Rommel, Colonel Halder and Hofer entered.

It was midnight and Hugh Kelso had never been happier, up at Cape Cod at the summer bungalow, sitting on the veranda in the swing seat, reading a book, a cool glass to his hand and Jane, his wife, was calling, on her way up from the beach, her face shaded by a sun hat, the good legs tanned under the old cotton dress, and the girls in swimming suits and carrying buckets and spades, voices faint on the warm afternoon air. Everyone so happy. So very happy. He didn’t feel cold anymore, didn’t really feel anything. He reached out to take Jane’s hand as she came up the steps to the veranda and the voices faded and he came awake, shaking all over.

It was pitch dark and the sea wasn’t as rough, and yet he seemed to be moving very fast. He pulled down the zip on the flap with stiff fingers and peered out. Only a slight phosphorescence as the water turned over and a vast darkness. His eyes were weary, sore from the salt water. For a wild moment he thought he saw a light out there. He shook his head, closed then opened his eyes again. A mistake, of course. Only the never-ending night. He zipped up the flap, lay back and closed his eyes, trying to think of Jane and his two daughters. Perhaps they would come back again?

Although he didn’t know it, he had already drifted something like seventy miles since leaving Lyme Bay on the Devon coast and his eyes had not deceived him. What he had just seen through the darkness was a momentary flash of light as a sentry at the German guard post on Pleinmont Point on the southwest corner of the island of Guernsey had opened a door to go out on duty. To the southeast, perhaps thirty miles away, was Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands. It was in this general direction that the freshening wind bore him as he slept on.

Rommel leaned on the mantelpiece and stirred the fire with his boot. ‘So, the others would like me to talk with von Stulpnagel and Falkenhausen?’

‘Yes, Herr Field Marshal,’ Hofer said. ‘But as you point out, one must take things very carefully at the moment. For such a meeting, secrecy would be essential.’

‘And opportunity,’ Rommel said. ‘Secrecy and opportunity.’ The clock on the mantelpiece chimed twice and he laughed. ‘Two o’clock in the morning. The best time for crazy ideas.’

‘What are you suggesting, Herr Field Marshal?’

‘Quite simple, really. What is it now, Saturday? What if we arranged a meeting next week at some agreed rendezvous with von Stulpnagel and Falkenhausen while I was actually supposed to be somewhere else? Jersey, for example?’

‘The Channel Islands?’ Hofer looked bewildered.

‘The Führer himself suggested not two months ago that I inspect the fortifications there. You know my feelings about the military importance of the islands. The Allies will never attempt a landing. It would cause too many civilian casualties. British civilian casualties, I might add.’

‘And yet they tie up the 319 Infantry Division,’ Hofer said. ‘Six thousand troops in Jersey alone. Ten thousand service personnel in all, if you include Luftwaffe and Navy people.’

‘And yet we’ve poured so much into them, Konrad, because the Führer wants to hang onto the only piece of British territory we’ve ever occupied. The strongest fortifications in the world. The same number of strongpoints and batteries as we have to defend the entire European coast from Dieppe to St Nazaire.’ He turned and smiled. ‘The Führer is right. As commander of the Atlantic Wall, I should certainly inspect such an important part of it.’

Hofer nodded. ‘I see that, Herr Field Marshal, but what I don’t see is how you can be in two places at once. Meeting with Falkenhausen and Stulpnagel in France and inspecting fortifications in Jersey.’

‘But you saw me in two places earlier this evening.’ Rommel said calmly, ‘both in the audience and on stage at the same time.’

The room was so quiet that Hofer could hear the clock ticking. ‘My God,’ he whispered. ‘Are you serious?’

‘Why not? Friend Berger even fooled me when he came on stage. The voice, the appearance.’

‘But would he be intelligent enough to carry it off? There are so many things he wouldn’t know how to handle. I mean, being a Field Marshal is rather different from being an orderly room clerk,’ Hofer said.

‘He seems intelligent enough to me,’ Rommel told him. ‘He’s obviously talented and a brave soldier to boot. Iron Cross First and Second Class. And you mustn’t forget one important thing.’

‘What’s that, Herr Field Marshal?’

‘He’d have you at his shoulder every step of the way to keep him straight.’ Suddenly Rommel sounded impatient. ‘Where’s your enthusiasm, Konrad? If you’re that worried, I’ll give you a few days to prepare him. Let’s see, it’s Saturday now. How about descending on Jersey next Friday. I’m only thinking of thirty-six hours or so. Back in France on Saturday night or Sunday at the latest. If Berger can’t carry it off for that length of time, I’ll eat my hat.’

‘Very well, Herr Field Marshal. I’ll notify the Channel Islands that you’ll be arriving next Friday.’

‘No, you won’t,’ Rommel said. ‘We box more cleverly than that. Who’s the commander-in-chief?’

‘Major General Count von Schmettow. His headquarters are in Guernsey.’

‘I’ve met him,’ Rommel said. ‘Good officer.’

‘With a reputation for being pro-English, which didn’t do him any good in some quarters,’ Hofer said.

‘On the other hand, the fact that he’s Field Marshal von Rundstedt’s nephew certainly helped there. Who’s military commander in Jersey?’

‘I’ll check.’ Hofer took a file from his briefcase and worked his way down a unit situation list. ‘Yes, here we are. Colonel Heine is military commander.’

‘And civil administration?’

‘The important people there are Colonel Baron von Aufsess and Captain Heider.’

‘And the inhabitants themselves? Who are their representatives?’

‘There’s an organization called the Superior Council of the States of Jersey. The president is the bailiff of the island. A man called Alexander Coutanche.’

‘Good,’ said Rommel. ‘This is what we do. Send General von Schmettow a signal ordering him to hold a coordinating meeting in Guernsey to consider the implications for the islands of the invasion of France threatened this summer.’

‘And you want them all there?’

‘Oh, yes. Military commander Jersey, the civil affairs people, the bailiff and his lot, and whoever’s in charge of the Navy and Luftwaffe contingents in the islands.’

‘Which will leave only junior officers in command.’

‘Exactly.’

‘There’s not too much flying in and out of the Channel Islands these days. The RAF are far too active in that area. It’s usual to travel between the islands by sea and at night.’

‘I know,’ Rommel said. ‘I’ve taken advice on that point from Naval Headquarters in Cherbourg. Tell von Schmettow to call his meeting for next Saturday. In the circumstances they must travel either Thursday night or in the early hours of Friday to make sure they get there. I’ll fly in on Friday morning in the Storch.’

‘A risky flight, Herr Field Marshal.’

‘For you, Konrad, and Berger, of course, not for me.’ Rommel smiled with a kind of ruthless charm. ‘The first thing they’ll know about my arrival is when you ask the tower for permission to land at the airfield.’

‘And what will von Schmettow think?’

‘That the whole thing has been a deliberate ploy so that I can make a snap inspection of the military situation in the island and its defenses.’

‘That’s really rather clever,’ Hofer said.

‘Yes, I think it is.’ Rommel started to unbutton his tunic. ‘In the meantime, I’ll meet with Falkenhausen and Stulpnagel at some quiet spot and get on with it.’ He yawned. ‘I think I’ll go to bed. See that signal goes to von Schmettow in Guernsey tomorrow. Oh, and speak to Colonel Halder first thing in the morning. Tell him I’m much taken with Corporal Berger and want to borrow him for a while. I don’t think he’ll make any difficulties.’

‘I doubt it, Herr Field Marshal,’ Hofer said. ‘Sleep well,’ and he went out.

Dougal Munro slept on a small military bed in the corner of his office at Baker Street that night. It was about three o’clock in the morning when Jack Carter shook him gently awake. Munro opened his eyes instantly and sat up. ‘What is it?’

‘Latest lists from Slapton, sir. You asked to see them. Still over a hundred bodies missing.’

‘And no sign of Kelso?’

‘I’m afraid not. General Montgomery isn’t too happy, but he has had an assurance from the Navy that the E-boats couldn’t have picked survivors up. They were too far away.’

‘The trouble with life, Jack, is that the moment someone tells you something is impossible, someone else promptly proves that it isn’t. What time is first light?’

‘Just before six. That should make a big difference to the final search.’

‘Order a car for eight o’clock. We’ll take a run down to Slapton and see for ourselves.’

‘Very well, sir. Are you going back to sleep?’

‘No, I don’t think so.’ Munro stood up and stretched. ‘Think I’ll catch up on some paperwork. No peace for the wicked in this life, Jack.’

At six o’clock on that same morning, Kelso came awake from a strange dream in which some primeval creature was calling to him from a great distance. He was very, very cold, feet and hands numb, and yet his face burned and there was sweat on his forehead.

He unzipped the flap and peered out into the gray light of dawn, not that there was anything much to see for he was shrouded in a sea fog of considerable density. Somewhere in the distance, the beast called again, only now he recognized it for what it was – a foghorn. Although he didn’t know it, it was the Corbiere Light on the tip of the southernmost coast of Jersey, already behind him as the current swept him along. He sensed land, could almost smell it and, for a little while, came back to life again.

He could hear waves breaking on an unseen shore, and then the wind tore a hole in the curtain and he glimpsed cliffs, concrete gun emplacements on top. The place, although it meant nothing to Kelso, was Noirmont Point, and as the sea fog dropped back into place, the current carried him into St Aubin’s Bay, close inshore.