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A traitor.
The lowest form of life on the planet. And, yet, this is what I had decided to become.
I made my decision while serving in Poland. I saw what Hitler wanted to do. I saw what he expected from his generals. I decided that I could not support such a system. I decided to become a traitor.
I had a unique position in the German army. I was a trained observer. My job was to enter into a battle, not to fight, but to observe the action, and report what I saw. I was to make detailed observations of how our soldiers and our units actually functioned in the heat of battle, enemy tactics, allied responses, the quality of different leaders, the advantages and disadvantages of different weapons, and any other observations that I judged to have a military use and make recommendations. My only weapon a pistol. I was supposed to use it on myself if I might be captured. I would have done it, too, if Hitler had not come to power.
I was blind like the rest of my countrymen. I wanted to believe that everything was being done for the benefit of Germany, and I turned a deaf ear to the stories that I hears. They were the ramblings of enemies of Germany wanting to cause trouble -- traitors, really. However, I saw what actually happened in Poland. I could not turn a blind eye to the bodies of civilians lined up and shot. I decided then that Hitler could not win this war.
Poland happened far too fast for me to do anything. For the next six months, Hitler moved his armies west, but there was no real fighting. When the war started, volunteers joined the army by the tens of thousands, and Hitler was busy organizing them into new divisions. I observed the intake procedures, screening, and training, and filed my reports with my supervisors. I felt dirty, contributing to Hitler's army. However, protesting would have gotten me shot. At every opportunity I told my superiors that I wanted to observe front-line combat. I felt that I could do the most good there.
I could tell that a major operation was being planned. Try as I might, I could not get an assignment to a combat unit. However, I could not find do not know if they were suspicious of me, but an assignment was a long time in coming. could have quit my job in protest, but that would have left me even more powerless to do anything.
I knew about the coming attack on Norway. Many of the other agents in my office received their assignments and flew off. When I had not received an assignment by April 1st, I knew that my request had been declined.
However, the fortunes of war created their own opportunities. One of the units serving in Norway was the 3rd Mountain Division. This light infantry unit seemed well suited for the type of rugged terrain found in Norway. There was an interest in finding out how well it was working, and I was available to do the job. By the 14th of April I was on a cargo plane heading to Oslo. On the 20th, I was on a truck entering the town of Gjovik.
I took my opportunity to sleep on the truck as best I could, so that I would be ready to work the instant I reached my destination. My orders were to report to Lt. Col. Hoberth of 138 Regiment. The next day, April 21, he would be continuing the push north to Trondheim. His immediate objective was to capture the town of Brumunddal to the north and to continue pushing on towards his destination.
Brumunddal was on a finger of water that came out of Lake Mojsa, pointing north. It was about 3 kilometers wide at the base and 12 kilometers long. My position gave me the authority to hear Hoberth's plan of attack, so that I could judge its effectiveness. Reluctantly, he arranged for me to be briefed.
During the night of April 20th, he moved I Battalion of 138 Regiment across the frozen lake to the other side of the inlet. He kept II Battalion on the east side. His plan was to move up both sides at once -- to prevent the Norweigans from setting up artillery across the inlet to hit his units and supply lines. He reinforced I Battalion with 1 Company 3 Recon Battalion (2 Bicycle Platoons and 2 PSW 221 Armored Cars), and 1 Company Abteilung z.v.b. 40. (10 Panzer IB and 5 Panzer II).
That was the group that I decided to go with. I told Lt. Col. Hoberth to put me with the armored cars. He had a clerk type of my orders and arranged for transportation.
When morning broke, I was standing in the snow next to a PSW 221 armored car. The snow was a meter deep on average, forcing the drivers to navigate around the steeper drifts, back up when the snow got too deep, then ram forward and try again.
The cars were a lot smaller than I had expected -- shorter than I was -- and looked even smaller in the snow. It had room for a driver and a gunner. The gunner operated an MG42 machine gun in an open top turret. The MG42 was one of our most popular weapons -- capable of going through a 50 round belt in less than 2 seconds, with a barrel that could be easily switched out if it became overheated. One of the nice thing about putting one of these on an armored car is that it could carry exta ammo and extra barrels. A supply truck had just driven away after replacing our empty gas cans and some field rations to replace those we had eaten.
Lieutenant Thomas Waldschmidt, the commander of 1 Company, rode with one of the armored cars. He was a tall man, nearly 6'4", who seemed to have been unnaturally stretched to that size. When I showed up with instructions to accompany his unit, he assigned me to the second of the armored cars and told me to stay out of his way. His attention was fixed on the hillside ahead. He seemed to be listening for the Norweigans as much as he was looking for them.
Ahead of us, there was a nice, tall, rocky hill too steep to climb, and a draw ahead and to the left. According to my map, there was a mine up in that valley and, beyond that, a mining town where we expected to find our first resistance. In the snow, our two platoons of infantry were having trouble keeping up with us, so we left them behind. Behind us and to the left, in a small mountain estate, Captain Herrmann of 3 Recon Battalion took command of this part of the advance, reporting to Lt. Col. Holberth.
The radio crackled. Capt. Herrmann ordered us ahead to scout out the mine, and 1 Company to dismount and follow us by foot.
The drivers turned northwest, following the south bank of a stream that was nearly frozen. The gunners turned their turrets to face the far bank. With my binoculars, I looked for signs of the enemy, but I found none. When we got to a bridge over the stream, we went across. One car went across alone, then stopped. Then the car that I was riding on joined it. We could see the mine ahead and to the left. We would need infantry to check it out. In the mean time, we watched. One PSW kept its machine gun aimed at the building. The other faced the steep hillside to our right. With my binoculars, I just looked everywhere.
Behind us, on the south side of the bridge, truck after truck showed up. Each dropped off a squad of infantry, then retreated south to the estate. Within moments, we had 200 infantry organizing themselves on the far side of the river.
The first platoon to get organized crossed the road in squads and spread out on our side of the gully. Lieutenant Weitzer of 1 Company came over to the armored cars to speak with Lieutenant Waldschmidt. Weitzer took natural command of the two groups; his platoon of 50 soldiers seeming to have natural priority. He commanded Waldschmidt to move ahead with the soldiers and to provide cover as well as covering fire for the troops.
I heard the big guns behind us, the whistle of shells high overhead, then the eruption of flame ahead that blew out windows and parts of buildings around the mine complex. It was a light barrage, enough to tell any occupants to keep their heads down while the armored cars and I Platoon approached the complex.
I got off of the armored car and walked behind it, keeping the car between me and the complex.
The infantry crossed the open quickly and moved up to the complex on a wide front. Each squad in each platoon had a target -- a building, a collection of vehicles and machines, a pile of mine tailings. They hit their different targets all at the same time, and found nothing there. All was quiet.
The road that the armored cars was on continued past the mine and up into a draw.The two crews decided to continue up the road to see what was there. It entered into a sparse forest. The armored cars moved slowly, each hugging a side of the dirt road, one a few yards behind the other.
I had a radio, which I used to send any particularly useful and urgent observations back to headquarters. I also knew the code, so I could make out what others were saying. I heard the distant sound of machine guns, then heard through the radio that the Norwegians had drawn first blood. A platoon of engineers was heading north along the lake shore, just on the other side of the hill to our right, when Norwegians on a nearby hill. They took some casualties and were forced back. Hoberth's 2 Company along with 5 Company (the engineers) immediately started deploying to deal with the threat.
When the infantry gave the all-clear signal, we started up the valley. II Platoon scouted the path ahead for us. Soon they came back with a report that the route along the bottom of the gulley had been mined. They did not have any trouble seeing signs of the mining. The Norweigans had apparently planted them the night before.
Capt. Hermann ordered us to split up. The armored cars with II Platoon and III Platoon would climb the right (east) side of the valley, while I Platoon and IV Platoon moved up the left (west) side of the valley, avoiding the mines at the bottom.
On our side, the difficulty was in getting the two armored cars up the side of the hill.It was covered with trees and ice. I decided to walk up the slope rather than ride up a vehicle that was at risk of turning over.
It was a rough trip. The vehicle had to find a path between the trees and among the rocks. The driver had to drive that path. Every once ina while, one of the cars would slip on the icy ground or spin up a loose rock that would cause it to lose its traction. It took nearly an hour to climb just a few hundred meters. II Platoon kept up with us, keeping an eye out for the enemy and for more mines.
I listened on the radio as other elements of I Battalion (2 Company and 5 Company) came under fire on the other side of the hill to our right. They were trying to find the snipers that had fired down on the road, killing a few engineers from 5 Company. In the trees, they stepped into the line of fire of an enemy rifle platoon. Apparently, they took some hits.
The battle was not going nearly as well as I had hoped or expected. My mental tally had something like 2 dozen casualties so far on our side.
Then, I heard the hiss of a rifle bullet whizz by just overhead. Rifles. Machine guns. They were firing up at us from the bottom of the valley. A soldier ahead of me spun around and fell face down into the snow. Another soldier, I could tell, the bullet entered his jaw and hit the inside of his helmet on the way out. Our armored cars spun their weapons to the left, but had trouble depressing the weapons enough to actually fire into the bottom of the valley. The bullets splashed snow on the far side of the valley.
When the soldiers hit the dirt the deep snow literally swollowed them entirely. They had to stick their heads up like gophers to see what was going on.
Further up the slope on the west side of the valley, IV Platoon got a good look at what was happening. Then, they came under fire from machine gun nests ahead of us and to the right -- shooting across the valley. Still, IV Platoon maintained discipline and focused its shots on the infantry squad below us. The Norweigans, hiding from our gunfire, found themselves in the open against the weapons fire coming at them from the opposite direction. They had no choice but to retreat out of the crossfire.
The firefight lasted just a few seconds, yet it left the hill bloody. II Platoon was effecitvely out of the fight as soldiers became more interested in saving their friends than in fighting the enemy. Yet, the enemy did not give them a break. Ahead of us, up the slope a ways, enemy machine gunners turned their weapons on us. In addition to helping their friends, , while we worked on saving their friends We ended up with seventeen casualties. The platoon became more interested in saving the lives of those who were wounded than fighting Norweigans. They were no longer in this war. III Platoon was just behind them. They would be coming up to take the lead until II Platoon could get itself organized again.
III Platoon came forward to help out. I could see the danger in that. Earlier, I had heard the popping of Norweigan mortars. Their shells landed on the other side of the hill to our right. We would be a tempting target of opportunity.
Our armored cars opened up on the machine gun nests. The steady rattle of the MG42s competed with the slower rhythem of the enemy weapons. But they had the advantage of hiding among rocks and trees, and they were firing down on us.
I was hearing information from IV Platoon to the west of us that there were about 100 enemy soldiers ahead of us, between us and the town. They had the enemy under fire, but we had to move ahead with caution -- as if we did not have enough to worry about.
Indeed, the enemy mortars did fire, but their shots fell short. They seemed to be targeting IV Platoon across the gully to our left rather than us, for which I was thankful. However, the machine gunners ahead and to our right were targeting us. They kept our soldiers hiding behind fallen trees rocks, and armored cars.
IV Platoon then developed another problem -- enemy infantry on its left flank.
At this point in the battle, we were moving forward in three groups. Group 1, which I was a part of, was moving up a mountain valley. We had split up to avoid the mines we had found on the bottom of the valley, with I and IV Platoons moving up the west slope, while II and III Platoons moved up the east slope, accompanied by a pair of armored cars. We appeared to have run into a company of enemy infantry, including machine guns at the top of the hill to our right and enemy mortars. They chewed up II Platoon pretty badlym knocking it out of the war while they cared about their wounded.
There was a hill on our right that descended to an 3 kilometer inlet of a lake. On the other side of that hill, 3 and 5 Company, reinforced by two platoons of tanks, had just captured the remnants of about 70 enemy soldiers who were trying to delay their advance. They suffered their share of casualties, but they were still on the move.
Then, on the east side of the inlet, II Battalion was moving forward. They had encountered no resistance so far.
That was, until a squad of enemy infantry attacked the middle of their column. They hit the column along a chain of empty halftracks that had only recently unloaded their infantry, and a platoon of engineers moving up from the rear. The engineers and machine guns on the halftracks drove the enemy infantry back into the hills.
II Battalion had reached a place where the road north climbed up over a forested ridge. The trees and the steep slopes would put the two platoons of tanks at a disadvantage, so they brought 1. Company (II Battalion) to climb the slope with them.
IV Platoon and I Platoon of 1. Company, I Battalion, on our left across the valley, pulled an excellent maneuver. Enemy soldiers had attacked IV Platoon on the left. I Platoon was behind them, in the trees and up the slope of the valley. I Platoon swung left until they were above the attackers able to look down on their position. The two platoons then drove the enemy back with heavy losses. They even left some of their wounded in the snow field below to be captured.
I and IV Platoons chased their quarry across a stream and into some trees on the other side. While the Norweigans retreated, they left a trail of dead and wounded soldiers until there were only a handful left. The two platoons did not give them a moment's rest, and even brought down an artillery barrage on the trees.
Meanwhile, the two bicycle platoons that made up the rest of 1 Company, 3 Recon Battalion, the unit that owned the two armored cars I had hooked up with, were approaching. They had left their bicycles behind and were coming up on foot, using the paths that we had cut for them. This meant that the rest of 1. Company (I Battalion) could join I and IV Platoons to the left.
On our right, 2 and 5 Companies were catching up with us. Together, we were almost ready to make an assault on the small mining village that was laid out in the valley ahead of me.
The village had a ridge of high ground behind it and its hill to the left. On the right side of the high ground, above a cliff, I barely made out a set of hastily constructed machinegun nests. Those guns would be able to command the approaches to the entire eastern half of the city.
I put my glasses down and leaned back against a tree. My first inclination was to do nothing and to let the machine guns do their worst to the Germans. Then, I considered what an important observation such as this would do to help me get future assignments on the front line. I picked up the radio. "Battalion, this is Owl. I have spotted a machinegun guns hidden on the hills northeast of the mining town. Map coordinates zero seven one eight. Repeat, coordinates zero seven one eight. Also, there are wagons in the center of town, coordinate zero five one nine. They may suggest artillery in the area. Over."
Of course, I gave them this information in code.
We were waiting for 2 Company and 5 Company and the tanks of 1 Company Abteilung z.v.b. 40. (10 Panzer IB and 5 Panzer II) that travelled with them to catch up on the east side of the hill. Then, we would charge the town together.
Across the river, II Battalion had dealt with the enemy soldiers that had attacked their column, driving the enemy back into the mountains where they were forced to surrender. The forward elements climbed their ridgeline -- tanks and infantry combined. They found none of the enemy as they went up, but found the enemy on the other side. The Norweigans had fallen several trees across the road and were waiting on the other side. 1 Company (II Battalion) and 2 Company Abteilung z.v.b. 40 fired down on the enemy and drove them back away from the roadblock, then called engineers forward to deal with the obstacle.
The machinegunners above the hill to our right finally succumed to our fire and retreated. We were ready to enter the town, as soon as 2 and 5 Company had moved up, and as soon as I and IV Platoons had dealt with the minor menace on our far left. The remnants of the enemy platoon had charged into a nearby copse of trees, trailing blood and leaving dead and wounded behind them. IV Platoon gave relentless pursuit. As soon as they entered the copse, I heard the result. There was a hail of gunfire -- machine guns, rifles, grenades. As quickly as IV Platoon had entered the trees, they left again, this time carrying their own wounded with them.
I rushed over to Lieutenant Waldschmidt and pointed off to the trees, shouting, "1 Company just hit something big over there." We could still hear the guns, but the fighting had died down significantly. "Maybe a battalion. Maybe more!"
Waldschmidt did not appear interested. He radioed the information back to headquarters, then turned his attention back to the town directly ahead of him, the town he had been ordered to help capture.
I still could not see what 1 Company had encountered. I could only hear them. It was by the sound of the gunfire that I judged that there had to be more than a company of infantry in there. I pulled my map out quickly and yanked off my gloves. There was a road over there -- an easy way to get a battalion of infantry into the town.
1 Company pulled back and set up positions where they could fire at the battalion as it eithe rcame out of the woods or made a move to enter the town. Meanwhile, 2 Company and 5 Company, over the hill on our right, were getting ready to enter the east side of the mining town. The road into town had been blocked, and the Norweigans were creating a sizable line of defense on at side of town. Elements of 2 company and 5 Company advanced to take out the road blocks and let the tanks through. While they did, 2 Company took some casualties setting up defensive fire. However, the barracades came down and the tanks' route into the mining village opened up.
We were ready to start our battle for the town.
I had fallen behind the front lines of our assault. I needed to be closer to the front particularly if, as it seemed, we were going to be getting very close to the enemy. I counted at least a company of infantry lined up in town against us, supported by machine guns at the top of a hill on the far right. I grabbed up my binoculars and my radio and I followed in the tracks of the armored cars of 1 Company 3 Recon Battalion.
On our left, the enemy battalion that appeared to have been fighting its way into town was holding back. Perhaps they did not know what they were up against, but they were throwing away an advantage. 1 Company (I Battalion) was solidifying a line between the enemy and the town, and was on the verge of cutting the road. A couple of enemy platoons had tried to move down the road into town, but 1 Company was able to cut them apart.
3 Recon Battalion was moving right up to the edge of town when I caught up with them. They were facing small-arms fire from the troops up ahead. The two cars went ahead side by side, with about fifteen meters between them. The infantry tended to bunch up behind them. Somebody on the other side got smart and fired at the bunched up infantry froma building off to our right. Three of them went down immediately.
The driver of the armored car had no idea what was happening and continued forward. This left the platoon dealing with wounded out in the open. Additional gunfire ripped through the mass of troups. Their sergeant starting yelling at them, "Spread out! Spread out!" The soldiers were torn between heading for cover and tending to their wounded, all of whom had fallen in the same area.
When Lieutenant Waldschmidt finally noticed that one of his platoons had been shot up, he stared for a moment, then shouted into his radio. Seconds later, both armored cars sped up, charging into town, with the infantry running to keep up. The Norweigans in the town were firing back. I could tell by how heavy their rate of fire was that they were severely outgunned.
Our squads hit the houses hard while the armored cars moved between the buildings and onto the main street of town. When I got close, I saw that we were not, in fact, fighting Norweigan soldiers, but British soldiers. I had known that they had been landing on the western shores of Norway, but I did not think that the British would have moved them down here to fight just yet. My guess is that they would try to secure the ports on the west coast first, and they had not done that yet. If they had, I would have heard about it.
They were here to reinforce the delaying action.
I radioed this information back into headquarters.
The English cleared out of the town as fast as we entered, running up the hill on the north side and out of site. Once the English broke and ran, so did the rest of the town's defenses. To our right, I could see Norweigan and British soldiers clearing out of the rest of the buildings and scampering up the snow covered hillside. They carried no heavy weapons with them -- nothing larger than a machine gun. Either they had left the heavier weapons behind or they never had any.
Lieutenant Waldschmidt commanded his troops to secure the area, then he radioed back for instructions. I had told him that there was an enemy battalion on our left that 1 Company (I Battalion) was keeping at bay. This made it dangerous to chase British soldiers up the hill.
We got reinforcements as we waited; the tanks of 1 Company Abteilung z.v.b. 40. (10 Panzer IB and 5 Panzer II) rolled in behind us.
The town was ours. However, the high ground along the north edge of the town now belonged to the enemy. The soldiers who had run from the town wasted no time setting up another line of defense from the high ground where they could fire down on us. One of the platoon leaders, running up to Lieutenant Waldschmidt, took a bullet to the leg and went down. One of the machine gunners took a bullet to the shoulder. Then, to my utter amazement, one of the enemy squads came back down the hill and charged back into the buildings on the east side of the village -- buildings we had not yet occupied. Some who had been driven back off the hill, now came back around the eastern side of the hill.
1 Company Abteilung z.v.b. 40 revved up his tanks and moved into the eastern side of town. The MG42s on the Panzer IBs and the 20mm guns on the Panzer IIs simply blew apart anything that looked like it might hold an enemy soldier. Moments later, the enemy squad was once again going back up the h ill.
On our left, I was still worried about the enemy battalion that was over there. I suggested to Lieutenant Waldschmidt that some of his units get to some higher ground so that they could direct artillery to our left. He agreed, and sent some spotters to find a good vantage point. They succeeded, but they ended up being spotted themselves. Enemy mortar shells came down among them. Shrapnel blew apart one soldier and wounded two others. Yet, those who remained confirmed my report of a heavy enemy concentration to the west.
"We're staying here for a few minutes," Lieutenant Waldschmidt told 1 Company 3 Recon Battalion. "Find some cover."
The soldiers grumbled as they looked for good places to hide. Staying put was an invitation to artillery. II Platoon, up the hill where it could spot for the artillery, had taken a few direct hits. Medics had gone up the hill to take care of some of the survivors. Lieutenant Waldschmidt joined them and took control of the radio.
2 Company and 5 Company were ordered to clear the enemy off of the hill to our right, overlooking the village. 1 Company had orders to move west and engage the enemy units discovered there and report on their size and composition. We were ordered to be ready to aid 1 Company if they needed help.
1 Company moved forward under the protection of a heavy barrage involving approximately twenty artillery pieces. They found the enemy disorganized and ready to run at the first provocation, which they did. As they fled, they left their mortars behind.
On our right, 2 Company climbed the hill and quickly swept the enemy forces off of it. Everything on our side of the hill was secure. This prompted Col. Hoberth to order the artillery up and to establish the mining town as our new forward headquarters. Once they were ready, the next phase of the attack would be to go over the ridgeline north of the village and down into the next valley.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the inlet, II Battalion with its reinforcements were getting ready to move in on the town of Brumunddal itself. They had cleared out all opposition south of the town. 2 Company (II Battalion) was circling around to the right to approach the town from the east. 1 Company was in the center, ready to move over a ridgeline and down the other side into the town. 3 Company was following the shore line on the west.
We waited in almost complete calm. There were occasional skirmishes along the line. Some enemy units tried to come over the ridge above us, but we chased them back. There was also firing on the right side as the enemy tried to outflank us. However, these battles were brief.
We also lobbed some shells over the hill, firing blindly at whatever was on the other side. Meanwhile, II Battalion on the other side of the inlet was shelling Brumunddal with everything it had, probably turning the town into a useless wreck. Refugees would be streaming out of town, heading north. That was a part of the plan. They would be blocking the roads, and blocking reinforcements, helping to isolate the town.
While we waited, a halftrack showed up with food, water, and ammunition. The armored car crew refilled their ammunition pens and their gas tanks. It was a pleasant little breather. Then the orders came. We were to go over the hill and down the other side. Command expected that we would find very little resistance. They assumed that we had already wiped out all of the organized resistance in our area and the rest of the day would be just mopping up.
Our move was coordinated with II Battalion on the other side of the river, which would be moving forward to occupy Brumunddal at the same time. They might be getting some resistance.
I needed to be where I could come across some enemy soldiers. I had hopes that being with the scouts would put me in that type of position. So far, the only enemy we encountered immediately ran from us. The fighting was going on to my left and right. I thought about migrating to another unit, but risked being shot by people who did not recognize me.
The orders came to move out.
1 Company (I Battalion) had the left flank. Their job was to go over the forested hill above the west side of town, down the other side, and take the upper end of the next valley. They had the longest and hardest climb, so they started off first. However, they met only sparse resistance from some enemy infantry that had retreated from the town -- resistance that was immediately suppressed.
2 Company (I Battalion) had the right flank, with 3 Company (I Battalion) behind them. Their job was to take the forested hill on the right, then descend the other side and take the mouth of the valley -- where the stream emptied into the lake. There was a small fishing lodge at the edge of the lake just over the hill that was strategically located. In fact, 2 Company met with some heavy fire as it crested the hill, mostly from that fishing lodge. I Platoon took the lead, fired a few shots, then retreated from the enemy fire. Then, the remaining three squads went forward. They held their ground and poured an even greater volume of fire down on the enemy.
1 Company (Abteilung z.v.b. 40) went over the saddle in the center. When 2 Company (I Battalion)started taking fire on the right, the tanks in 1 Company (Abteilung z.v.b. 40) turned their turrets to the right and started hitting the fishing lodge and the surrounding buildings. Their fire helped the remaining three platoons from 2 Company (I Battalion).
We were behind 1 Company (Abteilung z.v.b. 40). I wondered whether Lt. Col. Hoberth had decided to give us a break, since we were the first unit to have entered the village and took a fair number of casualties from enemy fire coming down the hill behind the village.
Across the river, II Battalion was starting its attack on the town of Brumunddal. The radio was reporting amazing success. They had cleared the ridgeline and managed to drive the enemy back from the edge of the town below without any casualties. They reported that the town was filled with enemy soldiers. We had a squadron of stukkas overhead. II Battalion gave the coordinates for some strong points in the city and called the planes down to add to their artillery. The German artillery, according to reports from II Battalion, had already done significant damage to the town.
All things considered, Lt.Col. Hoberth expressed satisfaction with our progress so far. We had lost approximately 50 soldiers dead and wounded so far, while the enemy's losses were approaching 400 according to our best estimate.
We continued our success by going over the hill and reaching the bottom on the other side without taking any additional casualties. The fishing lodge had become a pile of ruin. It was the only target worthy of our artillery, so our mortars and artillery guns blew it apart. There was also an enemy platoon on the hill across the valley. As our armored cars and bicycle infantry cleared the ridgeline we were given coordinates for the enemy unit and brought it under fire. Our firepower, combined with the firepower of 1 Company to our left, and 1 Company (Abteilung z.v.b. 40) as it descended the slopes, silenced the enemy stronghold and gave us uncontested control of the valley.
In just a few minutes we had uncontested control of this valley. Our next obstacle was a huge, heavily forested hill between us and yet another valley.
The tanks of 1 Company (Abteilung z.v.b. 40) moved off to the right flank to go up the road on the lake shore, rather than go over the hills. This put 1 Company (3 Recon Battalion) back in front in the center. However, we were going to try to take our two armored cars through the forest. This meant slow going as the infantry scouted a reasonable path.
On the way over the hill, we chased some enemy soldiers ahead of us. They would fire and retreat, then fire and retreat, but they did not hit anybody. One platoon was sent ahead to keep the retreating enemy occupied while the rest weaved their way through the trees. I joined the platoon moving ahead in the hopes of catching up with some of the enemy soldiers.
I had no luck. We crossed the hill and entered the next valley without any serious combat. Our line was still very much intact, with 1 Company (I Battalion) on our left, 2 Company and 3 Company (I Batallion) on our right accompanied by 1 Company (Abteilung z.v.b. 40). We all reached the edge of the forest together and looked out onto into the next valley.
This was the last valley we would have to fight through. Where it reached the lake -- currently out of sight behind some trees -- there was a bridge. We were to use that bridge to cross the river and join up with II Battalion.
II Battalion was reporting that it had nearly finished clearing out the town of Brumunddal with light casualties, and was busy chasing the remnants of the garrison north. If we could get across the bridge quickly enough, we could cut off their retreat and force a surrender. However, the Norwegians had thrown roadblocks up in our way. Our engineers were coming up to deal with them, but that promised to take a little bit of time.
The valley we had just entered ended in a bridge across the inlet over to our right, behind a line of trees and buildings. To our left, there was a road that circled around a hill and ended at another mine complex. Lt. Col Hoberth decided that 2 Company, 3 Company, and 5 Company (I Battalion), plus 1 Company (Abteilung z.v.b. 40) could take the bridge. He ordered 1 Company (I Battalion) and 1 Company (3 Recon Battalion) up the road to take a look at that mine. The recon battalion had a natural claim to lead the way, so I climbed up onto the second of the two PSW 221 armored car and prepared to move out into the lead.
There was some fire coming down at us from the hillside to the north. 1 Company (I Battalion) took care of them while we got into position. We got in a nice long, widely disbursed line with 1 Company (3 Recon Battalion) in the lead and 1 Company (I Battalion) marching up behind, moving slowly.
When we got to within a kilometer of the mine we could see it up the winding road. Through my binoculars, I could see enemy soldiers moving around. However, they appeared to be leaving the complex. I had the driver of the vehicle that I was riding request a stop, then I trotted forward to tell Lieutenant Waldschmidt. He nodded that he had heard, then ordered the column to continue moving forward. I decided to walk the rest of the way, and kept pace in the tire tracks left behind the first car.
Earlier maneuvering had placed the tanks of 1 Company (Abteilung z.v.b. 40) and 2 Company (Abteilung z.v.b. 40) on opposite sides of the bridge north of Brumunddal that linked the two sides of the inlet. He ordered the tanks to charge ahead and take the bridge by attacking both sides at once. I listened through the radio as the tanks moved in, and the enemy infantry holding the bridge had surrendered.
With this, Lt. Col. Hoberth had come to the conclusion that we had broken the defenders. He ordered troops into column to begin the march north, to see how far we could get before evening. He did not yet order the infantry to mount up, but he ordered the artillery hitched up and ordered the troops to progress forward on the road, ignoring the remnants of enemy units that had retreated into the hills. Rear-area soldiers would come up behind us to take care of these threats.
Our job, however, was not yet done. We were right in front of the mine complex. It looked deserted, as far as I could tell, but I saw frequent glimpses of enemy infantry behind the mine. I warned Lieutenant Waldschmidt. He gave the order for his infantry to attack the complex. Lt. Col. Hoberth granted us a few rounds of artillery support before the last of the guns got hooked up or loaded onto trucks and wagons.
I charged ahead with the rest of 1 Company (3 Recon Battalion). I still needed to find and arrange to be alone with an enemy soldier if I was going to complete my own mission.
When we got to the mine complex, I was embarrassed to discover that there was no enemy waiting for us. Apparently, what I had seen was signs of the enemy retreating. Past the mine, we found ourselves looking down on the main road north of Brumunddal. We were at the tip of the inlet. The rest of I Battalion was coming up the road on the far end, after having crossed the bridge. If they were driving any enemy soldiers ahead of them, they should pass below us. I wanted to get down there.
As soon as I thought of it, a group of enemy soldiers broke from the trees at the bottom of our hill and made a run for the road. For an instant, I thought that this would be my opportunity. However, the two bicycle platoons firing down from their vantage point shot every one of the retreating infantry. Lieutenant Waldschmidt to block any further chance of enemy units retreating up the road.
There were other enemy troops coming up the road. They had completely broken. Some had dropped everything, including their weapons, in their attempt to escape the column of Germans coming up the road. When they discovered that we were ahead of them, many turned and ran up the hill as fast as they could.
I felt that this was my best chance. I hopped off of the PSW 221 and let Lieutenant Waldschmidt lead 1 Company (3 Recon Battalion) in scouting the road going north. I went into the hills. I found tracks of soldiers who had fled. There were not many. Some of them had lost the will to fight. However, I only needed to find one who did not to end my mission. At least they would find the papers on my body.
I saw movement; three enemy soldiers up ahead. They were trying to find a vantage point where they could look down on the road, where they could get some information on what was coming. With their attention on the road, I was able to walk up behind them.
I took my pistol out. One of the enemy soldiers had his rifle ready. Another was looking through binoculars, while the third took down notes. When I got near enough, I took aim at the armed soldier and fired two quick rounds into the middle of his back. The other two reached for their weapons, but I shouted at them to stop. If they did not understand my words, they understood my situation. I trained my weapon on the senior officer. Then, I slowly reached into my vest and pulled out the packet of papers I had been carrying. It contained a complete list of the units involved in the march, the names of their commanding officers, the types of weapons they carried, and some special notes about their training. I tossed these on the body of their dead friend, then backed away. When I got a safe distance from them, I turned hurried back to the road.
I made it back. Orders had come through for the infantry to mount up. The unit was on its way to Lillehammer further up the road. They would win that battle the next day.
We ended up with under 60 casualties – killed and wounded. The allies lost around 700, counting only the bodies, those that were in our hospital, and those that were assembled to be transported to prisoner of war camps.
My job here was done. I only had to write up my report, submit it to my superiors, and wait for my next assignment.
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AAR - West Front - "And We Shall Stand" - 
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