Chapter Three Hundred Sixty-One
17th January 1944
Abwehr/SKA Camp, Judenbach, Germany
Oberst Walter Koch had been sent to take command of the independent 28th Fallschirmjäger Regiment, also known as the SKA/Hellcats. He had been warned by General Holz that the independent Regiment had a different way of doing things and was known for taking on the most difficult and dangerous missions. He was greeted by a man who introduced himself as Stabsfeldwebel Schafer. “Welcome to Judenbach, Sir” The Stabsfeldwebel said, “I don’t envy you for the shoes you are attempting to fill.” That was a rather blunt way to have phrased that but Koch had been informed that the man he was replacing was a legend of sorts.
When Koch had been briefed he was told that signal intelligence had confirmed that Oberst Heinz Thorwald had been killed in action after being run to ground by a team of Siberian trackers backed up by an Infantry Regiment and an Artillery Brigade after completing the mission. Still, Thorwald had made them pay a heavy price for that. The action had also revealed something that the leadership of the SKA had only suspected. The Russians had been assembling teams with the special purpose of hunting them.
This had also come at a bad time for the 28th Regiment. The XO had recently been promoted which meant that the Regiment’s Operations Officer had been left in charge during Thorwald’s absence. It had been mentioned that the Operations Officer was not being considered for officially commanding the Regiment due to being too young and junior in rank for that to happen in spite of being politically connected. Koch understood that, this war had created a large number of potential boy generals. At the same time, he was hoping that he wouldn’t find himself dealing with what amounted to a politician wearing a uniform. Koch had also been warned by General Holz that the Operations Officer, a Major von Mischner, would take some getting used to but hadn’t elaborated as to why.
“If you could tell me where Major von Mischner is, Staber?” Koch asked. He would have thought that the acting commander would be here in person.
“We weren’t expecting you until later, Sir” Schafer said, “We received the first of several new helicopters and she wanted check it out.”
A what had arrived? She? What was going on here?
Koch heard a chopping sound and engine sounds growing closer. Then a strange aircraft flew into view. It seemed to float on the air as it set down in the parade ground settling down on the landing gear that were the only part that was familiar to Koch. A couple of people got out of the helicopter and were walking towards the administration building talking to each other. An Officer and a Noncom, as Koch watched the officer took off her helmet revealing red hair that was in a braid that hung down her back.
“That’s Major Katherine von Mischner and Oberfeldwebel Matthias Schmied, Sir” Stabsfeldwebel Schafer said.
Koch had heard that there was a young woman somewhere in the Luftwaffe who happened to be a highly decorated Officer but he’d not made the connection until now. Now that same woman was under his command. General Holz was right, this would take some getting used to.
“There aren’t any issues that come from having her around…?” Koch asked, trailing off as he saw Schafer’s demeanor change slightly. He knew that he was still an outsider here and every unit had unwritten rules that even commanding officers needed to be cautious of.
“The Major von Mischner is one of us, Sir” Schafer said, “And she has always taken great pains to keep the personal and professional separate. Her detractors would rip her apart if she ever did otherwise.”
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Later at the instructors table Kat was sitting there eating her dinner when Schafer approached her. She was happy that the responsibility of running this surly outfit had fallen to someone else. Luckily this had also fallen late in the training cycle so the disruption was minimal. If Thorwald had gotten himself killed a month from now they would have been in a real fix.
Kat had been avoiding dealing with what had happened by throwing herself into the work. No one would argue that the helicopter didn’t present a large number of possibilities that had to be explored. She had spent all day, every day working on that. If a squad with their weapons could be…
“I asked you how you are holding up Kat?” Schafer asked, “You were a million miles away.”
“I’m fine” Kat said, “We can’t fall apart just because one of our teams came to grief.”
Thorwald wasn’t just a team leader. He had been one of the original team that was the SKA before it was the SKA. Thorwald had been unorthodox, not really valuing rank or advancement, just wanting the satisfaction of the perfect shot or out witting enemies. That had made him persona-non-grata among the more tradition bound of the Military but perfect for the SKA.
“One thing I won’t miss though” Kat continued, “Is losing friends.”
“You think you will be able to quit this life?” Shafer asked.
“I’d like to think that I will” Kat said, “Go back to what I was before.”
“Before?” Schafer asked incredulously, “For you there never was a before.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kat demanded.
“I seem to recall a certain redheaded schoolgirl having a lot of fun writing dirty love letters at the direction of Juan Pujol-Garcia so he could use them to blackmail a Soviet General” Schafer said. He smiled when he saw Kat blush, she clearly remembered the content of those letters.
“Now that you are no longer responsible for this lot you can go into town and meet your boyfriend on Sundays again” Schafer observed.
That deepened Kat’s blush. There were times when being in this outfit seemed like that it meant that she had several hundred big brothers. “He’s on assignment” Kat said, “And he’s just a friend.”
“A man who comes all the way from Berlin to Judenbach more than once wants to be more than just a friend” Schafer said smugly.
Just then the new Oberst walked in speaking with one of his aides.
“Word is he was an Officer in a Bavarian State Police before the war” Kat said, changing the subject.
Schafer didn’t comment but the sidelong look he gave Kat suggested his current opinion of the new CO.
