Tale of the Raging Sea

⊰ ɪɴᴛᴇʀʟᴜᴅᴇ ⊱

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Before I met my friends in America, I thought I was a nobody. No one talked to me, unless it was orders or new instructions. I went through vigorous training and long days of stimulative test to see if I qualified as a SOE Agent. I passed the tests one by, one, but I didn't like it one bit. I felt disappointed in myself that I couldn't find my confidence. But then I met my American friends and I didn't know how much they would affect me, in the most amazing way. I found refuge among them. I felt strong. They gave me a friendship I longed for. America became another home for me. I wonder how my friends are holding up. I do not know if they know of my capture, but I am no longer in custody. I managed to escape and hide in a German house.

Here's how it all went wrong:

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My group infiltrated a small unit in the German army. Since I was the best at signalling, they put me in charge of all the radio connections. Aside from that, because of my nationality, I would've of been a dead giveaway. Secretly, I was glad I didn't have to face the Germans head on. My German wasn't as great and I was unable to stomach the thought of being so close to the enemy.  Although my German wasn't perfect, I was still able to pronounce the words correctly. Gerald, the leader of my crew, gave me a list to say and important military words on a sheet of paper. I memorized them, but whenever I had to contact headquarters in Berlin, I would get nervous. I kept the paper with me at all times, in my breast pocket. However, my French was exceptionally strong, which helped out in many cases.

We hid in a small apartment in Strasbourg, France. I lived in a constant paranoia of being found out. Every morning, I would wake up, brush my teeth, bid farewell to my crew, and sat in front of a radio until I heard footsteps and/or a knock at the door. Whenever someone knocked, I had to hid in a special compartment, along with a few French Jews we were aiding. They were very kind to me. They would ask me about Canada and I would answer their questions. I saw them more than my fellow SOE agents. It was relieving, yet nerving to know that there were people who knew the same paranoia I once had. Even so, they had it worse. I was a prisoner of war, and they weren't even human. Hitler called them 'sub-human', which by all means was very unorthodox. They were used to being silent. Even the children were silent. I never once in my life saw a child sit still for hours. It was a sad thing to live through. They asked me if the Allies were coming to rescue their people. I didn't know how to answer them, but I did the best I could. They simply nodded their heads just to agree with me. They didn't look convinced, which made it harder to live with them.

One day, I was cleaning the radio when I heard a footsteps. It wasn't a slow, normal pace. It was the footsteps of soldiers. I knew because of the marching, upbeat pace I heard during training. I heard the soldiers speaking in German, but then switch to French. I quickly and quietly took out a pistol from a drawer and backed away into the compartment. The French Jews hid behind me. Some of them took nervous breathes in and out. When we heard the door open, my blood starting pumping. It was the first time German soldiers got so close to the door. I knew it was my crew because they would silent and knock 2 times, then 3 times, then 2 more times in the same sequence. In total, it was the number of crew: 7. I didn't hear the knocks. Instead, I heard the sound of German soldiers, who were drunk, barge in laughing and speaking slurred German. I held a finger up to my lips and looked to the refugees. They nodded their heads quickly and backed more into the corner. There was a blind spot in compartment where I huddle all the Jews into. As long as no one moved, we were invisible.

They said things like "Hey, gib mir ein Bier." and mess around with the furniture. One of them fell to ground laughing, while the other sang a German song (I guessed) out of tune. They were enjoying themselves, which made me extremely mad. Oh sure, they could just barge into people's houses and drunk on patrol. That was immediate incarceration for me. I kept watch, peering into the living room from a crack in a painting. If its one thing I learned about drunk men, they always spot out. One of them saw me peering and squinted his eyes. I gulped slightly and very slowly took off the safe lock from my pistol. It felt heavy in my hand and my arms began to shake. It was the first time I ever had to ready a gun in enemy territory. I certainly didn't want to kill either, but it had to be done. I held up the gun to the wall and stood very still. The ditsy German soldier deliriously gave me a vacuous smile, and heaved himself up from the floor. He started to walk towards the compartment. I gained a few found confidence and placed my index finger on the trigger.