And, of course, I should have." "Sir," Hawley said, at here was a message on that... "
"I'm sure there was, and I'm sure that I should have seen it, but I didn't, so there I was with my ass hanging out. But I learned a long time ago that once part of your ass is hanging out, no further harm can be done, so you might as well let it all hang out. So I asked how come the job had been taken away from the Navy and why it was thought the OSS could do something the Navy and the Air Corps couldn't."
"Admiral, "Admiral Hawley said, "it was my decision to recall the torpedo planes.
We needed them in the Pacific. They were in Europe only because of the high priority of the submarine pens project... " The DCNO interrupted him by holding up his hand.
"No criticism was intended about that. What bothered me was that we were just as much as hanging up a banner saying, The Navy Can't Handle Its Own Problems. "' "Sir," said Admiral Hawley, "if I may say so, it wasn't considered a Navy problem. It was considered a Theater problem.
And I have been led to believe that it was given to the OSS to make that point."
"Don't hand me that crap, Enoch," the DCNO said.
"Protecting the sea lanes is the Navy's business. Submarines, friendly or hostile, are Navy vessels.
Enemy submarine pens are the Navy's business. Bombardment of enemy shore bases, either by naval gunfire or aircraft, is the Navy's business." "Yes, sir," Hawley said.
"The Air Corps wants to be its own branch of service, Enoch," the DCNO said. "And sooner or later, it will be. When that happens, I don't want the Air Corps saying, You might as well give us naval bombardment aviation, too.
They have proved that they can't handle it. Remember when we had to come in and take out the German submarine pens for them? "' "I take your point, sir," Hawley said.
"You can't blame a man for honestly speaking his mind, but I was pretty uncomfortable sitting there and hearing a man in the uniform of a Navy captain assuring me that now that the OSS had the responsibility, a handful of civilians in uniform was going to do something the Navy couldn't." He paused and shook his head, as if the memory was painful.
"I said something else I shouldn't have said," he went on. "I made smart-ass remark. An unfair and smart-ass remark. I said that I just had a hard time believing that Donovan's Dilettantes were going to be able to do something the Navy couldn't. Whereupon the Commandant of the Marines, that disloyal sonofabitch, joined the opposition."
"Sir?
" "He said, What the hell, Jake, they stole a battleship. If all else fails, they can steal the Kraut submarines. Which of course got a big laugh.
And then the Chairman asked if we could move on to something else.
And then I got control of my runaway mouth and said that all I was trying to do was offer the Navy's cooperation to the OSS in any way possible to solve the problem.
Then the Chairman indulged me. He said that he certainly appreciated the offer of cooperation and suggested that I get together with Captain Douglass after the meeting adjourned.
"Douglass told me, of course, that he would welcome any help the Navy could give the project. And he went on to say that there's still one Navy officer on the project, a lieutenant named Kennedy. His 'action officer, this man Canidy, is also a former naval officer.
He's no dummy--Douglass, I mean--and I think he understands my concern.
He said he would have word with Canidy and that there would be no objection if we beefed up our liaison staff with the project."
"I see, "Admiral Hawley said.
"So I came to see you with two questions in my mind, Enoch," the DCNO said. "First, I wanted the name of an officer of suitable rank and experience we can send over there to represent the Navy's interests, and second, in the profound hope that you could disabuse me of the notion that there is no aircraft in the Navy inventory that can do what has to be done."
"The bad news first, Admiral," Admiral Hawley said.
"The problem is the weight of explosive throw. The submarine pens have been carved out of rock and then reinforced with concrete. It's going to take tons of explosive, very precisely placed, to cause any real damage. Skip bombing has been tried, and it failed. Torpedoes you know about. If the pens could be taken out with bombs, it would have to be a bigger bomb than anything now available. A bomb far too large to be carried in any Navy aircraft. I think this flying bomb concept, turning a B-17 into an explosive-filled drone, is going to be the only answer."
"Someone has to pilot the drone from the control aircraft," the DCNO said thoughtfully. "There's no reason he cannot be a naval officer." He looked at Bitter, "Are you on flying status, Commander?" "No, sir," Bitter said.
"Medically grounded? Because of your knee?" the DCNO asked.
"Yes, sir."
"There are such things as medical waivers," the DCNO said. "Is there any reason you can see, Commander, why you could not control a drone from an aircraft piloted by this Lieutenant Kennedy?"
"No, sir," Ed Bitter said.
"Did I detect a moment's hesitation, Commander?" the DCNO asked.
"Sir," Bitter said. "The question would be whether I would be permitted to do so."
"Captain Douglass has said he will have a word with your friend Canidy," the DCNO said.
"Major Canidy is sometimes difficult, sir," Bitter said.
"Christ, Commander, he's a major. Majors, even Army Air Corps majors, do what they're told."
"Sir," Bitter said. "The thing is, he's not really a major. He's really OSS and wears a major's uniform because it permits him a certain freedom of movement. I doubt if Captain Douglass would order him to let me fly the drone.
Or if he did, that Canidy would accept the order if he didn't think it was the thing to do."
"Hmmph," the DCNO snorted. "Well, let me put it this way, Commander.
When those submarine pens are taken out, I want them taken out by naval officers. Preferably by Navy officers in Navy aircraft. But in any event by Navy officers. How you arrange that, I leave up to you.
If necessary, start singing sauld Lang Syne' and Anchors Aweigh. Do I make my point?". j_.
"Yes, sir," Bitter said "I'll do my best, sir I'm grateful for the chance "
"How soon can you leave for England?" the DCNO asked
"Immediately, sir," Bitter said The DCNO sat for a moment tapping the balls of his fingers together
"I think the way to handle this, Enoch," he said, "is to put the Commander on temporary duty That way, if it becomes necessary, he can hoist your flag And you can approve his application for waiver of physical condition and get him back on flight status "
"Aye, aye, sir,
"Admiral Hawley said stake a couple of days at home, Commander," the DCNO said
"And then get yourself to England You know whatxs expected of you " "Aye, aye, sir," Bitter said [SWO] 115arburg "D d-r Lah -rmasy 31 December 1942 Hauptsturmfuhrer Wilhelm Peis had had to consider the possibility that once he actually met Fraulein Gisella Dyer, Standartenfuhrer Johann Muller might not like her Or that he would be put off by her negative attitude More than once Fraulein Dyer had for gotten her situation She did not in these moments become openly defiant But with some alcohol in her she tended to lose her sweetness and innocence and turn into a flippant and sarcastic bitch Obviously, Standartenfuhrer Muller had to be entirely pleased with the evening Peis hoped there would be an opportunity afterward to discuss his future with the Standartenfuhrer Peis had nothing specific that he wanted from the Standartenfuhrer, he simply wanted the Standartenfuhrer to look upon him favorably There was no overestimating the influence of a Standartenfuhrer SS-SD on the staff of the Reichsfuhrer-SS in Berlin A favorable--or unfavorable--word from a man like that in the right ears would have a pronounced influence on his career A few little words could mean the difference between staying here with maybe a nice promotion or being assigned to the Eastern Front Peis had to keep reminding himself that underneath, Muller was probably a man much like himself, that Muller had in fact o
nce been a lowly Wachtmann on the Kreis Marburg police A man didn't change his spots, even if he came to wear the corded silver epaulets of a Standartenfuhrer Since he was a man, he wanted to spend a couple of pleasant hours on New Year's Eve over drinks and dinner with an attractive young woman And afterward he wanted to snuggle up with her in bed It was little enough for him to expect of Peis, and he would likely be annoyed if things didn't go well Because of the very real possibility that Fraulein Dyer might show up in one of her difficult moods, Peis considered that it might be best for her not to show up at all and to solicit the help of Frau Gumbach Frau Gumbach operated a whorehouse near the Bahnhof, a regular whorehouse with resident whores She also had available a dozen women who operated outside the law--that is, who didn't have the prostitute's yellow identity card These girls were available by appointment to men who could not afford being seen in the whorehouse, or picking up whores in bars or along the street The problem was that Standartenfuhrer Muller had expressed a specific interest in Fraulein Dyer If Fraulein Dyer did not appear at supper at the Kurhotel, Standartenfuhrer Muller might conclude that Peis was saving her for himself It would not be desirable for Muller to harbor any such suspicions When he telephoned Frau Gumbach, she assured him that she understood his dilemma perfectly and that it would be her pleasure to help She knew just the girl She had been bombed out of her home and employment in Kassel and the Hessian Labor officer had sent her to work in the aircraft engine plant in Marburg Not only would she be pleased to make a little extra money, but she would like the opportunity to associate with important people "You're not suggesting that I pay her?" Peis asked incredulously "of course not, Herr Hauptsturmfuhrer, Frau Gumbach said She was fully aware that Peisxs friendship kept her house open and her girls free not to avolunteer" to become manual laborers for the Todt Organization "I will, of course, give her a little something, but you should consider this to be a simple gesture between friends
"Pll be in the parking lot behind the Cafe Weitz at quarter to seven," Peis said Frau Gumbach was usually reliable, but he wanted to see the girl from Kassel before he took her to the Kurhotel to meet Standartenfuhrer Muller He then called Fraulein Dyer and invited her to spend New Year's Eve with himself and Standartenfuhrer Muller. Muller, he pointedly told her, was a very important officer from Berlin. He asked her to be at the Kurhotel at seven. If he was not yet there, she was to wait for him at the bar.
He did not offer to pick her up. Riding the streetcar and then walking almost a kilometer up the hill to the Kurhotel through the snow would give her time to reflect on her situation.
THREE] Gisella Dyer was twenty-nine years old. She was tall and rather large-boned, the kind of woman described as "statuesque" by those whose perceptions of statues are based on the baroque school.
That is to say, she had broad shoulders and sturdy thighs, large, firm breasts and buttocks, but little fat.
Gisella Dyer and her widowed father lived in a large and comfortable house close to the ancient fortress and later abbey that had been seized from the Papists and turned into Philips University by Philip, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, after his conversion to Protestantism by Martin Luther.
The house had been her grandfather's, and he had left it to Gisella's father and mother, but it was no longer entirely theirs. She and her father (her mother had died when she was fourteen) lived in four large rooms, with private bath, on the second floor, twenty-five percent of the house.
The rest of the space had been requisitioned (temporarily, until victory) by the Housing office and was now occupied by three families and a bachelor, an engineer at the Fulmar Werke.
Her grandfather had been Professor of Mathematics at Marburg. Her father was an instructor in metallurgy in the College of Physics. If it had not been for the War/ National Socialism (which were in Gisella's mind interchangeable), her father would have been Professor of Metallurgy.
And three years ago, Gisella would have become Gisella Dyer, D. Med.
But with National Socialism, there had come "Party considerations." In addition to one's academic credentials, one needed the blessing of the Party in order to be promoted to a distinguished position. Prof. Dr. Friedrich Dyer's academic credentials were impeccable, but he was not in good standing with the National Socialists of Stadt und Kreis Marburg. Quite the reverse.
Professor Dyer had been opposed to the Nazi Party from the days when it had been just one more lunatic, amusing fringe party. He had thought then--and worse, said--that it was more dangerous than other batty groups primarily because of its intellectual dishonesty. The National Socialist belief in "Aryanism" and
"Aryan Purity" especially aroused his contempt.
In the fall of 1958, he had made unflattering remarks about Professor Julius Streicher, the Party's virulent anti-Semite intellectual, in the presence of some people he innocently thought of as friends. They had promptly reported him to the Sicherheitsdienst.
In the course of the investigation that followed, it was discovered that he had illegally transferred funds to Switzerland and was planning not to return to Germany after a seminar to be held in Budapest.
The Sicherheitsdienst officer who conducted the investigation was SSOBERSTURMFUHRER Wilhelm Peis, a former Kreis Marburg policeman whose Party affiliations had led to his duties as deputy commander of the SS-SD office for Stadt und Kreis Marburg.
Peis summoned Gisella to his off fice, offered her a glass of Steinhager, and then outlined to her the severe penalties she could expect her father to suffer. The least of these was punishment under the criminal statutes. But it was more likely that he would be tried under the enemy of the state" laws before a "People's Court." If that happened, he certainly--and she herself more than likely--would be sent off to a concentration camp. On his release he would be permitted to make his contribution to the New Germany with a forester's ax or a laborer's shovel.
Peis then matter-of-factly let Gisella know there was a way out of the predicament, She would undertake to keep her father on the true National Socialist path, she would report regularly to Peis treasonous or defeatist statements made by their friends and associates, and she would come, when he wished, into his bed.
Gisella gave only passing thought to refusing him.
If Peis wanted her, he could have taken her right there and then, ripped her clothes off, slapped her into submission, and done it on his office couch. To whom could she have complained? The SS-SD was the ultimate law in Stadt und Kreis Marburg an der Lahn, and Peis was the number-two man in the SS-SD there. The question she faced was not whether Peis would have her body, but how to make the circumstances most advantageous to her and her father.
She went that afternoon to Peis's apartment, allowed him to get her drunk, and fell into his bed.
An honorable man after his fashion, Obersturmfuhrer Peis lived up to his end of the bargain. The charges against her father remained' unconfirmed, under investigation." As long as she behaved, her father's well-being was assured.
After the initial novelty passed, Peis required her to perform only infrequently. He had other young women similarly indebted, plus a small harem of others who considered it an honor to share the bed of an SS-Obersturmfuhrer. Whenever he did send for her, it was less a hunger for her body than a desire to humiliate her. He made sure she was aware of this.
Gisella now realized that if she had been clever enough to pretend that she welcomed his attentions, he would more than likely have grown bored with her. But she hadn't been able to do that, and Peis sensed her contempt.
This he repaid with humiliation.
Six months after he originally called her into his office, she became a kind of occasional gift from Peis to his friends or else to someone he wanted to watch. By then, he had been given command of the Marburg SS-SD.
One evening he "invited" her to take dinner with him at the Kurhotel on the mountainside south of Marburg.
The Kurhotel, a small, recently built, Bauhaus-style building, was the nicest place around and Peis liked
to be seen there in the company of' respectable" young women. He had "invited" her there before, after supper there would be a session in a room set aside by the management for Peis's use.
He was not there when she arrived, so she took a seat alone at one of the tables in the barroom to wait for him. When the waiter appeared, she ordered a glass of white wine. When the waiter returned, he had a bottle of Gumpoldskirchner 32 wrapped in a towel in a basket.
"Compliments of His Excellency, Fraulein Dyer," the headwaiter smirked.
"I beg your pardon?" He nodded toward a table across the room. Three men sat there, an Arab, a Nordic blond, and a huge Negro. She had seen them before both here and at the university, where they were known, somewhat derisively, as "the Arab Prince and his boyfriend." The boyfriend, a rather good-looking young man--a very young man--caught her eye and raised his glass.
W E B Griffin - Men at War 3 - The Soldier Spies Page 17
