Their Fizz- Band of brothers

The Camp

Flo turned around as she heard the engines of the trucks arriving, she shook her head at Liebgott as he climbed out and asked with his expression what was going on.

She watched as Winter's walked closer to the fence that separated them, her boys all looked confused, she was confused herself, a quick look at the men told her they were all undernourished and ill, were they POWs? If so, she was scared for James and what horrors he had gone through, at this moment though her focus was on these men.

Flo could barely look, she felt sick with dread, but as Winters gave the order for the gates to be opened, she had to remember her duty, as Gene came up behind her gently turning her round and slowly leading her into the compound. 

As they walked closer the smell kept alerting Flo to the fact she wasn't dreaming. Her men walked slowly ahead of her while she focused on putting one foot in front of the other, somehow she knew she hadn't seen the worst of this horror yet. 

Through the gates she saw the men in the striped clothes crying and hugging the men, entering herself, Gene immediately left her to go and tend to a man who was skin and bones on the floor while another boy cried over his body. Flo stood and took in her surroundings until one of the inmates gently cupped her face and planted two kisses on her cheeks, then promptly fell to the gravel floor. Flo kneeled beside him and spoke in German, asking him what was wrong, but he didn't understand her, Vest came up to her with a bucket of water and handed her a cup which she gave to the man, who took a couple of sips and then spoke in a language that she hadn't heard.

As she was about to try again, Winters called her over to help translate one of the other inmate's explanations, she joined the group that consisted of the higher ranks. The man talking spoke german luckily, Liebgott did most of the translation and Flo listened as he repeated the words "He said the guards left this morning. They burned some of the huts first, with the prisoners still in them. Alive. Some of the prisoners tried to stop them. Some were killed. They didn't have enough ammo for all the prisoners so they killed as many as they could before they left the camp. They locked the gates and went south" Lieb explained, a pained look on his face as Speirs pointed out "Someone in town told them about us", Lieb nodded his head as Winters spoke "Can you ask what kind of camp is this? Why are they here?", Lieb repeated the question in German to the man who replied and Liebgott repeated "I don't know what that word means. Undesirable, unwanted, disliked?" Lieb struggled to find the right meaning as Flo ran through her brain trying to think of the word. 

Nix asked "Criminals?" but both Lieb and Flo shook their heads as the man started talking about how they were normal men with normal jobs and then he said "Juden", Flo looked wide-eyed at Lieb as he froze as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, so Flo translated softly "They're Jews", the man continued while Flo continued translating "Poles and Gypsies" and then the man reported something that made Flo even sicker to her stomach. 

"The woman's camp is at the next railroad stop," Lieb said for Flo as the man started to cry and Flo wrapped her arms around him, comforting him. The next hour was a blur as huts full of people were found, remains of the burned bodies were discovered, and medical attention was provided as was food and water. After an hour Col. Sink turned up and directed Winters to send Florence along with 3 men to the women's camp to help who they could, they had dispatched nurses there but they wouldn't be along for another few hours and medical attention was needed. 

Flo nodded her head as Winters spoke to her and she wiped her eyes that had been threatening tears all day, "Who is going with me, Sir?" she asked hoping it was people she liked. Winters started walking towards the gate and told her "I've selected Bull, Hefron, and Lipton, they should be good support and hopefully will be able to gain trust from the women", Flo nodded and made her way to the truck that was laden with food and water for them to take, accepting Lip's hand she made her way onto the truck, and the men watched the small group set off not knowing what was in store for them. 

****

The truck rolled back into the town past 1 am as the group of 4 slowly made their way off the truck and into HQ where all the officers had waited up for them. As they made their way in, the officers could see it had been a difficult time for them, Flo was covered in blood and mud, while the men had all sorts over their uniform, Nix held out his flask and the first one to drink was Flo followed by Lip who held up the flask in a toast "To freedom to be whoever you want to be and may anyone who tries to stop it get what they deserve", Nix replied "Amen".

"Was it the same as the other camp?" Winters asked, his voice thick with emotion as he watched Flo take her helmet off and shake her plaits out and start nodding along with the others as Bull took his cigar out for a minute and say "Worse", at this Flo stood up and whispered she was going to bed, no one stopped her as she made her way out the building. 

Everyone looked at each other until Spears spoke up "Well....how was she?", Babe immediately replied "Fucking fantastic....she didn't bat an eyelid" and the rest agreed as Bull replied "She's got balls that girl"

***

Flo lay in bed wide awake, listening to the men snore as her stomach cramped up again and again giving her either the signs of her period or that she was going to be sick again, the thoughts in her head made her believe it was the latter. The things she had seen today....the things a woman could do to another woman......that a human could do to another human. 

She had held a stillbirth today...she found the baby in a water trough as she was looking for some clean water, the little boy had just been left there, he had no chance, Flo didn't think he had been dead 2 hours and for that she would always feel guilty. If she had acted on her odd feeling when they arrived in the town sooner, or if they had communicated with the prisoners quicker then the baby might be alive. 

It was these repetitive thoughts that kept her up all night, all the what ifs that were going around her head. What if Europe had realized sooner what Hitler was doing? What if she had been a translator instead of a nurse, she might have discovered what was going on sooner and they could have been prepared for the camps? What if Hitler had never been born? It was an endless circle. 

***

The next morning, the boys provided comfort the only ways they could as they all knew Flo wouldn't talk about her experiences or how she feels. So they give her a cup of tea every hour, they give her a handkerchief they found with a daisy on which they all know is her favourite flower, they make her work in the med hut and not go back to the camps to show the red cross where they are, they ensure she has lunch  and dinner first and they try......try to provide comfort. 

But Flo knows they all need comfort, not just her. She racks her brain to think of something for them all to let off steam. Everyone was edgy...and they were all letting the villagers bear the brunt of their anger, she agreed to letting the villagers bury the bodies, they all knew what was going on and turned a blind eye. 

Doc Roe was helping Flo pack up the med suplies which had dwindled down and taking stock of what they needed which as always was just about everything. They were moving to a new town called Tielen, further into Germany, although Flo wasn't sure how much more of Germany she would be able to stomach.

As they were loading the truck, Vest came running up to Flo, "Fizz! Fizz! You have a letter!" He said excitidly as he handed her the envelope that she knew was from Libby, she looked at Gene who grinned and jerked his head as she kissed him on the cheek and ran off to open her letter, when the call came for them all to get on the truck. Sighing she tucked her letter away and was helped up as they started the journey.

***

As they arrived in Tielen, Flo jumped down and looked around at the bomb site that was the town. So many people were sat looking at what was their home or trying to clear some of the rubble.

A group of musicians were playing what she recognised as Beethoven, it was beautiful and she was entranced as she sat on a pile of rubble as some of the men gathered around her and she opened her letter.

"Hitlers dead" Flo vaguely heard Nix say as a far off voice in her mind.

Hitler was dead....but so was her brother.