Unteroffizier Adolf Claus hastily buttoned his tunic as he ran along the trench. He was a big man, and despised running, but the sentry’s tone had been urgent. He rounded the corner, where the sentry had indicated. Sure enough, there was a man caked in mud, sat on a crate and calmly smoking a cigarette given to him by one of the platoon.
“What the Hell is this?”, demanded Claus.
“He just climbed into the trench from no man’s land”, spluttered one of the enlisted men, “He says he’s a German flyer, Corporal”, put in another.
Claus eyed the stranger suspiciously, “A German flyer, eh?”, he said, “Prove it”
The man smiled, then stood to remove his flying jacket. Sure enough, beneath was the uniform of a German officer, buttons glinting in the moonlight. Claus immediately stood to attention, his back ramrod straight despite his paunch, and saluted smartly, “I’m sorry, Sir! We have to be careful”
The flyer returned the salute, “It’s perfectly all right, Corporal”
“You understand, Sir, that I shall have to telephone HQ, just to check”, the corporal added apologetically.
“I fully understand”, replied the pilot, “But if you would be so kind as to also inform my unit that Leutnant Herman Jager is, once again, reporting for duty”
* * *
Well, there’s a turn-up for the books! We weren’t expecting to see Lt. Jager again, even after he survived being shot down, as he was on the wrong side of the lines. We rolled to see if he would make it back, with a result of 1-4 meaning he would be caught and would spend the rest of the war in a POW camp, a 5 meaning he would evade capture for another week and we’d roll again next time, and a 6 for him to make his way back. Against the odds, I rolled a 6. To be honest the chances of surviving being shot down and making it back are about 11%, which is probably too high, but we quite like the mechanism as it really gives those ‘Boys Own’ moments.
In view of his heroics, Lt. Jager will get an Iron Cross 1st class to go with the 2nd class awarded for his special mission.
That said, although he will rejoin his unit he will be without an aeroplane until a replacement comes. When it does, I suspect our young hero will be getting an eindecker.
Bloody Betancourt 