May 1945, Quisling makes a run for it...
- Thread starter Cryptic
- Start date
He could TRY to pass himself as a person who never learned Latvian but I still think he would be in deep doo doo if he encountered a real Latvian.
I think a Latvian would view Quisling (claimed Latvian citizen of German descent, but with absolutely no knowledge of Latvian),as unusual but by no means so unusual that he would raise automatic suspicions. Quisling could claim he was educated in Russian under the Czarist system and spoke German at home. If pressed, he could add that he also lived with family in East Prussia for periods of time.
If subjected to close questioning (former addresses, schools, knowledge of Latvia, other ethnic German families etc), his claim would quickly fall apart. Fortunatly for Quisling, those Latvians in Germany post surrender were likely to be right wingers and not inclined to press him for details regarding his claim.
In the end, Quislings identity is very advantageous as he can subtly alter it depending on who he is in contact with: with Germans and Americans: "Well, I am mainly imperial Russian, therefore I have an accent and am not fully fluent in German- No, I was not recently fighting against you etc". With displaced Russians and Balts: "Yikes, well I am mainly German, therefore I don't speak Latvian etc. ...")
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Thanks again for the interest and tips.
October 01, 1945
The Hunter:
Aaberg reviewed what was known and had been confirmed about Quisling’s escape so far: He had left Oslo in a “fast convoy” accompanied by Norwegian SS fighters, some relatives and girlfriends. He had fled to Fyresdal, the town of his birth shortly before liberation. He then separated from Maria. Queisling is then taken in a boat by a clan of Fyredal based Norwegian travelers to Flensburg, Germany. The trail then went cold.
Reality was starting to set in with Colonel Aaberg. Fishing in large and chaotic Germany was going to require far more manpower and far more money than Oslo was willing to provide. A difficult decision was made. Aaberg assumed that Quisling was still in Germany. He would let the occupation powers search Germany while he and his men set a trap ahead of Quisling.
The hunted….
Quisling weighed his options. He needed to leave Germany- eventually somebody would recognize him and recognition in Germany meant extradition to Norway, which meant…
He took some comfort: His appearance had changed – a lot. He wore his hair shaved short as precaution against lice. Five stressful months on the run while existing on poor food and living in poor conditions resulted in a grey gaunt look – not unlike millions in Germany. Also, now purposeless former Hitler Youth regularly tore down or defaced some of the wanted posters put up by the allies – at least in the zones of the western allies.
The Swiss fascist fraternity gets a message...
Aaberg reviewed the arrangements and smiled. The Swiss private security firm had demanded top Krone, but had delivered top results. “Voluntary chats” with Swiss fascists coupled with threats of political exposure as well as exposure for real and fabricated nonpolitical “indiscretions”, had broadcast a clear message to Swiss fascist afficionados that aiding Quisling would be a bad mistake. Using Norwegian cash, the security firm had also cultivated several paid informants in place amongst the shaken Swiss fascists. All that was missing was Quisling….
Quisling - Alliances develop with “friendship to all and malice towards none”, a travel decision is made:
After a few productive business referrals, Winford arranged for a “cooperating” designator to be placed on his identity documents further solidifying his new identity. Quisling’s known association and presumed clearance by Winford also led to far less local scrutiny by increasing bored U.S. patrols.
Quisling was careful with the alliance. He never took an exploitive amount of cash (to take none would be seen as strange) from Germans to receive a valued referral to Winford. Likewise, Quisling steered away from brokering truly exploitive sex: he ensured that German women who lacked cash but had other uhmm… “assets” by which to pay Winford were of age, were at least somewhat willing and had not been mistreated. Quisling was aided by the fact that while Winford was an avid opportunistic practitioner of Blitzkrieg warfare, he was not a sex deviant. Quisling further enhanced good will towards himself by diligently expanding his medical knowledge (many questioned his patriotism, few questioned his academic abilities.) and then by tirelessly assisting displaced Sudentlanders to the best of his ability.
Winter was coming and illegal travel across mountains was going to be hard. The attempt to do so might be seen as unusually desperate and lead to a smuggler turning him in for a bigger reward. Quisling decided to winter over in the American zone and to leave Germany in the spring…
October 01, 1945
The Hunter:
Aaberg reviewed what was known and had been confirmed about Quisling’s escape so far: He had left Oslo in a “fast convoy” accompanied by Norwegian SS fighters, some relatives and girlfriends. He had fled to Fyresdal, the town of his birth shortly before liberation. He then separated from Maria. Queisling is then taken in a boat by a clan of Fyredal based Norwegian travelers to Flensburg, Germany. The trail then went cold.
Reality was starting to set in with Colonel Aaberg. Fishing in large and chaotic Germany was going to require far more manpower and far more money than Oslo was willing to provide. A difficult decision was made. Aaberg assumed that Quisling was still in Germany. He would let the occupation powers search Germany while he and his men set a trap ahead of Quisling.
The hunted….
Quisling weighed his options. He needed to leave Germany- eventually somebody would recognize him and recognition in Germany meant extradition to Norway, which meant…
He took some comfort: His appearance had changed – a lot. He wore his hair shaved short as precaution against lice. Five stressful months on the run while existing on poor food and living in poor conditions resulted in a grey gaunt look – not unlike millions in Germany. Also, now purposeless former Hitler Youth regularly tore down or defaced some of the wanted posters put up by the allies – at least in the zones of the western allies.
The Swiss fascist fraternity gets a message...
Aaberg reviewed the arrangements and smiled. The Swiss private security firm had demanded top Krone, but had delivered top results. “Voluntary chats” with Swiss fascists coupled with threats of political exposure as well as exposure for real and fabricated nonpolitical “indiscretions”, had broadcast a clear message to Swiss fascist afficionados that aiding Quisling would be a bad mistake. Using Norwegian cash, the security firm had also cultivated several paid informants in place amongst the shaken Swiss fascists. All that was missing was Quisling….
Quisling - Alliances develop with “friendship to all and malice towards none”, a travel decision is made:
After a few productive business referrals, Winford arranged for a “cooperating” designator to be placed on his identity documents further solidifying his new identity. Quisling’s known association and presumed clearance by Winford also led to far less local scrutiny by increasing bored U.S. patrols.
Quisling was careful with the alliance. He never took an exploitive amount of cash (to take none would be seen as strange) from Germans to receive a valued referral to Winford. Likewise, Quisling steered away from brokering truly exploitive sex: he ensured that German women who lacked cash but had other uhmm… “assets” by which to pay Winford were of age, were at least somewhat willing and had not been mistreated. Quisling was aided by the fact that while Winford was an avid opportunistic practitioner of Blitzkrieg warfare, he was not a sex deviant. Quisling further enhanced good will towards himself by diligently expanding his medical knowledge (many questioned his patriotism, few questioned his academic abilities.) and then by tirelessly assisting displaced Sudentlanders to the best of his ability.
Winter was coming and illegal travel across mountains was going to be hard. The attempt to do so might be seen as unusually desperate and lead to a smuggler turning him in for a bigger reward. Quisling decided to winter over in the American zone and to leave Germany in the spring…
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A huge risk, sitting in the American Occupied Zone for months at a stretch, especially with a bloodhound like Colonel Aaberg on his trail. Still, his reason is a logical one.
March 01, 1946 A spring awakening:
Quisling resigned to leaving – objectively, he knew he had to. He had come to realize that a fugitive was never home. The winter had given Quisling a lot of confidence in his new identity as a Baltic German. With subtle spin, he could present himself as being from two or three different nations with correspondingly different categorizations by the allied forces. Also unlike other fugitives, Quisling had not merely obtained a new name; he was actually living as the new identity on a daily basis.
Never the less, it was time to go. Quisling considered Switzerland, but the Swiss were too “settled”. Though Quisling was confident that his assumed identity could withstand a certain level of scrutiny, settled nations had the infrastructure and resources to exceed that level.
Quisling’s mind turned to Italy – Italy had and always had a more frontier feel. Frontier nations had correspondingly less likelihood of serious scrutiny – though it would be wise to avoid the leftist sympathizing northern cities of Italy. Quisling, however, had no desire to remain in Italy; rather, Italy was a stepping stone to true freedom.
The Hunter:
The winter had been long, grey and frustrating. It seemed as if the entire German nation was wearing scarves and winter over coats “24/7” and on the move. Though Colonel Aaberg had initiated an effort for Norweigan teams to selectively search Displaced Person Camps in Germany, the efforts were hindered by poor road conditions, a reliance on borrowed transport, and the hard fact that interest amongst the various occupation authorities varied considerably.
The American authorities were cooperative and generous with vehicles, but tended to display little personal initiative or interest in Norway’s, hunt for Quisling. Colonel Aaberg began to wonder if in light of the booming American economy if all of the U.S. officers who volunteered to remain on garrison in Germany were also fugitives from domestic problems back home or were interested in black marketeering.
Quisling’s new alpine home:
South Tyrol: Quisling breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time in since his flight, he was in an area that was not crawling with allied military units – well at least not dyed in the wool allies. The crossing from the U.S. zone in Germany to the U.S. zone Austria had been easy and done in the open. Quisling’s U.S. issued identity documents were glanced at by a bored American Corporal and he was waived through after giving a vague reference to “relatives in Vienna”.
The crossing from Austria to South Tyrol was not as easy, nor was it truly difficult. After being assured that there were few, if any, Italian patrols off the main roads, Quisling hired a local mountaineer to guide him up and around a known Italian paramilitary check point.
Though there were Italian paramilitary patrols in the streets of Tyrolean towns, the Italians and the Tyroleans seemed to have both accepted the obvious- On a macro level Tyrol would remain part of Italy, but would also retain local autonomy. At Quisling’s micro level, that meant that Italian Para- military police and the locals simply stayed out of each other’s way and left each other, and by extension, the German speaking Quisling alone. Neither the Italians nor the Tyrolean’s wanted to be on the receiving end of more avoidable violence after the most destructive war in history.
LTC Winford chats with an ally…
Former Master Sergeant Andreas Laresen stifled a smirk as he took in LTC Winford of Cavalry and the newly commissioned paintings behind his desk of JEB Stuart, and of course, Winford himself heroically astride a Stuart tank - both rendered in perfectly stiff, cold National Socialist realism. He then dismissed the lingering buxom German “receptionist” curtly. He had learned to strip such types of officers of any and all support before asking for "assistance". At the moment, Winford, was engaged in negotiations with the artist (another “she”, of course) for a painting of Nathaniel Bedford Forrest. No doubt, Larsen mused, that the portrait painter’s past experience with Waffen customers gave her the insight needed to do an especially accurate rendition of Forrest.
Negotiations completed, Larsen now had Winford’s divided attention…
Quisling resigned to leaving – objectively, he knew he had to. He had come to realize that a fugitive was never home. The winter had given Quisling a lot of confidence in his new identity as a Baltic German. With subtle spin, he could present himself as being from two or three different nations with correspondingly different categorizations by the allied forces. Also unlike other fugitives, Quisling had not merely obtained a new name; he was actually living as the new identity on a daily basis.
Never the less, it was time to go. Quisling considered Switzerland, but the Swiss were too “settled”. Though Quisling was confident that his assumed identity could withstand a certain level of scrutiny, settled nations had the infrastructure and resources to exceed that level.
Quisling’s mind turned to Italy – Italy had and always had a more frontier feel. Frontier nations had correspondingly less likelihood of serious scrutiny – though it would be wise to avoid the leftist sympathizing northern cities of Italy. Quisling, however, had no desire to remain in Italy; rather, Italy was a stepping stone to true freedom.
The Hunter:
The winter had been long, grey and frustrating. It seemed as if the entire German nation was wearing scarves and winter over coats “24/7” and on the move. Though Colonel Aaberg had initiated an effort for Norweigan teams to selectively search Displaced Person Camps in Germany, the efforts were hindered by poor road conditions, a reliance on borrowed transport, and the hard fact that interest amongst the various occupation authorities varied considerably.
The American authorities were cooperative and generous with vehicles, but tended to display little personal initiative or interest in Norway’s, hunt for Quisling. Colonel Aaberg began to wonder if in light of the booming American economy if all of the U.S. officers who volunteered to remain on garrison in Germany were also fugitives from domestic problems back home or were interested in black marketeering.
Quisling’s new alpine home:
South Tyrol: Quisling breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time in since his flight, he was in an area that was not crawling with allied military units – well at least not dyed in the wool allies. The crossing from the U.S. zone in Germany to the U.S. zone Austria had been easy and done in the open. Quisling’s U.S. issued identity documents were glanced at by a bored American Corporal and he was waived through after giving a vague reference to “relatives in Vienna”.
The crossing from Austria to South Tyrol was not as easy, nor was it truly difficult. After being assured that there were few, if any, Italian patrols off the main roads, Quisling hired a local mountaineer to guide him up and around a known Italian paramilitary check point.
Though there were Italian paramilitary patrols in the streets of Tyrolean towns, the Italians and the Tyroleans seemed to have both accepted the obvious- On a macro level Tyrol would remain part of Italy, but would also retain local autonomy. At Quisling’s micro level, that meant that Italian Para- military police and the locals simply stayed out of each other’s way and left each other, and by extension, the German speaking Quisling alone. Neither the Italians nor the Tyrolean’s wanted to be on the receiving end of more avoidable violence after the most destructive war in history.
LTC Winford chats with an ally…
Former Master Sergeant Andreas Laresen stifled a smirk as he took in LTC Winford of Cavalry and the newly commissioned paintings behind his desk of JEB Stuart, and of course, Winford himself heroically astride a Stuart tank - both rendered in perfectly stiff, cold National Socialist realism. He then dismissed the lingering buxom German “receptionist” curtly. He had learned to strip such types of officers of any and all support before asking for "assistance". At the moment, Winford, was engaged in negotiations with the artist (another “she”, of course) for a painting of Nathaniel Bedford Forrest. No doubt, Larsen mused, that the portrait painter’s past experience with Waffen customers gave her the insight needed to do an especially accurate rendition of Forrest.
Negotiations completed, Larsen now had Winford’s divided attention…
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Dementor
Banned
There is a problem with Quisling getting to South Tyrol: he would have to enter either the French or the British zone to be able to cross into Italy (the American zone also bordered Italy, but there is no road there). I'm not sure, but I think that at this point there were still controls on the inter-zonal borders in Austria. So he would have to undergo additional border checks and the French or British might not be as negligent as the Americans.
Thanks for the tip. I"ll do some research and see if Quisling can get to South Tyrol with a minimum of scrutiny. Though I think his assumed identity can with stand moderate scrutiny, he still needs to avoid the more "Quisling aware" British and the more physically rough French occupation forces.
Too masterful by half.
About half of all US ETO combat casualties were incurred in 1945 in Germany. "Tigers, Panthers, and Elephants" might be nearly extinct, but there were still lots of Wehrmacht and SS diehards with 88s, sniper rifles, mortars, machine guns, and panzerfausts. Even at the very end some Germans fought hard: one U.S. Armored Division crossed the Elbe in late April, and was pushed back across the river by a German counterattack.
Besides which, Signal Corps personnel were attached to the divisions and battalions; he could get his Cavalry badge anyway. He wouldn't see as much combat as a tank or armored car crewman, but he'd probably get shot at or shelled a few times. If he wants a "safe" position that still counts as "combat", artillery looks like the best bet.
Nick P
Donor
I'm half expecting him to meet up with a young woman of German descent, marry her under his false name and get her pregnant. They eventually end up back at her family home in Berlin where two boys are born in the late 1940s. In 1960 the boys learn of their fathers true history.
The eldest son decides to seek out his missing father 'somewhere in the east' while the youngest stays with his mother in West Berlin. They become separated by the Soviets building the Wall.
As each of them turn 18 they join their national armies, do well, get promotion and we next hear of them committing terrorist outrages in the US...
http://diehard.wikia.com/wiki/Simon_Gruber
http://diehard.wikia.com/wiki/Hans_Gruber
Thank you for your interest in the time line.
Being attatched to a combat unit would not allow Winford to wear combat branch insignia. He would still be classified as a Signal Corps officer (not very "sexy" given his political ambitions). He would, however, be allowed to wear the divisional patch of the combat unit. Also, most Signal Corps officers assigned to anything above batallion (regiments and divisions) would see little, if any combat - even if Winford stretched the definition of "combat".
I disagree about allied casualty rates. D-Day, the Bulge, Hutegrin(sp) forrest all occurred prior to late January 1945. Likewise, so did much of the initial fighting to breakthrough the Siegfred Line. Though die hards continued to resist, the number of U.S. units in Germany was also growing every day -leading to on average, less involved combat for each unit.
In short, I think January 1945 was statistically a good time for Winford to make a sudden transfer request to a combat branch (with the possible exception of infantry) with out his motivations for the request looking too obvious. As you pointed out though, such a transfer would still carry risks.
Good point about artillery meeting Winford's needs. As a side note though, I dont think the U.S tried to cross the Elbe in strength.
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I'd be surprised if any Western Allied forces ever tried to cross it at all; I thought it was a demarcation between the Western and Soviet zones of interest as agreed to at Yalta. So I guess both sides, Soviet and Anglo-American-French, occasionally veered over, in hot pursuit of some disintegrating unit, but Eisenhower did not want to give the Russians the impression we would be doing any claim-jumping.
Well, I know of one case where Western forces got there first even though it was in the assigned Soviet zone--the buried V-2 construction facility supplied with forced labor from Camp "Dora" where Von Braun and team worked the inmates to death was in the Russian zone, but Americans in "Operation Paperclip" were there before the Soviet units actually arrived, and I believe it was French units that initially occupied the place and swept out any remaining Reich resistance. (Von Braun and most of his team escaped a mandatory suicide order from the SS and hid out until they could find some Americans to surrender to). Once the Americans offered the German rocket engineers a deal they liked they were told where to find information buried away and rushed to dig it up and whisk it off west just hours before the Red Army showed up.
So yeah, I suppose there might have been some brief Yankee excursions over the Elbe, but they'd have backed out as soon as the first outriders of the Soviet force showed up. Mostly the plan was to stop at the limit of the assigned zone, and I think the units that did that did not have long to wait before their Soviet counterparts arrived on the other side of the frontier.
usertron2020
Donor
Shevek23
Actually, once it became obvious that the Germans were throwing everything they had towards the approaching Soviets, and were doing little beyond an attempt to hold the Elbe River Line against the Western Allies, Eisenhower asked permission of the Soviets to temporarily advance forward in certain specific sectors of the future designated Soviet occupation zones. Once Ike had made it clear that his forces were NOT going to go anywhere near Berlin, Stalin was only to happy to grant permission for US forces to advance into those zones (1) in a very limited fashion, as they would be entering non-strategic sectors.
1) Extreme Western Czechoslovakia (Pilsen (2)) and the Leipzig sector, all territories the Soviets would get eventually anyway. But NOT Dresden and especially NOT Berlin.
2) Pilsen was not allowed to celebrate their liberation from the Nazis by the Allies until the Fall of the Berlin Wall!
Actually, once it became obvious that the Germans were throwing everything they had towards the approaching Soviets, and were doing little beyond an attempt to hold the Elbe River Line against the Western Allies, Eisenhower asked permission of the Soviets to temporarily advance forward in certain specific sectors of the future designated Soviet occupation zones. Once Ike had made it clear that his forces were NOT going to go anywhere near Berlin, Stalin was only to happy to grant permission for US forces to advance into those zones (1) in a very limited fashion, as they would be entering non-strategic sectors.
1) Extreme Western Czechoslovakia (Pilsen (2)) and the Leipzig sector, all territories the Soviets would get eventually anyway. But NOT Dresden and especially NOT Berlin.
2) Pilsen was not allowed to celebrate their liberation from the Nazis by the Allies until the Fall of the Berlin Wall!
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All, thanks for the continued interest and corrective comments.
An ally's silence tells of Quisling…..
Msgt / Investigator Rolf Laresen’s interrogation skills were honed. First, he showed only family photographs of Quisling to Winford with out explaining who the man in the photo was. He immediately noted Winford’s vaugue responses: “maybe, “possibly”, “not sure but…”
The last photo was Quisling in uniform. Larsen watched Winford pale. Winford then developed an urge to offer Laresen a drink. Laresen declined the offer and watched Winford rapidly pace the room several times, before pouring himself a double. Now Winford was stammering and evasive: He would never knowingly issue papers to any Nazi. Pointing at the photo of the uniformed Quisling, Winford adamantly declared that he had never seen Quisling. Larsen took in the shaken Winford, the large, ornate “liberated” desk, the expensive rug underneath the desk, and the expensive pen set on the desk. He knew the obvious.
To his credit, Winford recovered quickly. His mind raced through the options: To admit his knowledge of Quisling would be immediate professional ruin and future political ruin. If Larsen had proof of the sale, then American MPs would be there, not a Norwegian. Likewise, there was no recording of his stammering and Quisling / Gruber had not been seen lately.
Winford's final answer to Laresen:
A recovered Winford then gambled and took the political way out: Giving Laresen his blandest smile, he assured him that Quisling had not been seen, promised all possible assistance, and then abruptly ended the interview. Msgt Rolf Laresen gave Winford a crushing handshake, looking him in the eyes; he assured Winford that he would require more assistance. Winford winced, gave a pained smile and then hurriedly declared how busy he was with his occupation duties.
Amended journey of Quisling to South Tyrol (Geography taken into consideration)
Quisling faces Geographic reality:
Quisling confirmed the bitter geography again. A journey to South Tyrol from the small portion of the American Zone extending to the Italian border would involve at trek of at least 60 miles through the high mountains in early spring. Not only was there the weather and logistics to worry about, but even attempting to hire a guide for such a trip would be seen as suspiciously desperate. Quisling resigned himself to facing another scrutiny at a border crossing. British scrutiny was out of the question.
Quisling learns of the Kinder, Gentler French in Austria:
In contrast to Germany, local Austrians informed Quisling that the French were the gentle occupier. It was the French who quickly affirmed that Austrian and German were not synonyms. Likewise, it was the French who also quickly restored the customary rights of Tyroleans to bear arms and also selected Austrian youth with potential to attend French camps where they were not only de programed, but also undoubtedly instilled with respect for France.
Quislings foray to the French Zone
Quisling’s first attempt had left his shaken. French troops accepted his American issued identity documents as a “DP” and then ordered him off the train. After a curt interrogation, Quisling was held for a day and deported back to the American zone in Austria. Quisling since learned that “DPs”, particularly relatively healthy single males, were now seen as stability threats to Austria and thus potential headaches to the respective allied administrations. Fortunalty, Quisling second attempt to enter the French zone via farm tracks was successful. His crossing to South Tyrol was much easier.
An ally's silence tells of Quisling…..
Msgt / Investigator Rolf Laresen’s interrogation skills were honed. First, he showed only family photographs of Quisling to Winford with out explaining who the man in the photo was. He immediately noted Winford’s vaugue responses: “maybe, “possibly”, “not sure but…”
The last photo was Quisling in uniform. Larsen watched Winford pale. Winford then developed an urge to offer Laresen a drink. Laresen declined the offer and watched Winford rapidly pace the room several times, before pouring himself a double. Now Winford was stammering and evasive: He would never knowingly issue papers to any Nazi. Pointing at the photo of the uniformed Quisling, Winford adamantly declared that he had never seen Quisling. Larsen took in the shaken Winford, the large, ornate “liberated” desk, the expensive rug underneath the desk, and the expensive pen set on the desk. He knew the obvious.
To his credit, Winford recovered quickly. His mind raced through the options: To admit his knowledge of Quisling would be immediate professional ruin and future political ruin. If Larsen had proof of the sale, then American MPs would be there, not a Norwegian. Likewise, there was no recording of his stammering and Quisling / Gruber had not been seen lately.
Winford's final answer to Laresen:
A recovered Winford then gambled and took the political way out: Giving Laresen his blandest smile, he assured him that Quisling had not been seen, promised all possible assistance, and then abruptly ended the interview. Msgt Rolf Laresen gave Winford a crushing handshake, looking him in the eyes; he assured Winford that he would require more assistance. Winford winced, gave a pained smile and then hurriedly declared how busy he was with his occupation duties.
Amended journey of Quisling to South Tyrol (Geography taken into consideration)
Quisling faces Geographic reality:
Quisling confirmed the bitter geography again. A journey to South Tyrol from the small portion of the American Zone extending to the Italian border would involve at trek of at least 60 miles through the high mountains in early spring. Not only was there the weather and logistics to worry about, but even attempting to hire a guide for such a trip would be seen as suspiciously desperate. Quisling resigned himself to facing another scrutiny at a border crossing. British scrutiny was out of the question.
Quisling learns of the Kinder, Gentler French in Austria:
In contrast to Germany, local Austrians informed Quisling that the French were the gentle occupier. It was the French who quickly affirmed that Austrian and German were not synonyms. Likewise, it was the French who also quickly restored the customary rights of Tyroleans to bear arms and also selected Austrian youth with potential to attend French camps where they were not only de programed, but also undoubtedly instilled with respect for France.
Quislings foray to the French Zone
Quisling’s first attempt had left his shaken. French troops accepted his American issued identity documents as a “DP” and then ordered him off the train. After a curt interrogation, Quisling was held for a day and deported back to the American zone in Austria. Quisling since learned that “DPs”, particularly relatively healthy single males, were now seen as stability threats to Austria and thus potential headaches to the respective allied administrations. Fortunalty, Quisling second attempt to enter the French zone via farm tracks was successful. His crossing to South Tyrol was much easier.
Now that would be an ending worthy of alot of special effects, especially if a shadowy, multi generational group of fanatical neo nazis with a stolen Soviet Atomic weapon angle could be worked in...
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I was somewhat mistaken - 38% of all ETO casualties and 35% of ETO KIA were Jan-May 1945. A few were in France, the rest in Germany. Data from
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Supreme/USA-E-Supreme-E.html
About 1/3 of those were in January, but that still leaves 1/4 of the overall hits taken. The rate isn't that much less.