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Authors: John McCallum
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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.
15
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
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.
15
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
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