Jonesing for a Knife (Frank, Hasburg)

[Anton Maas]

Country: Tunisia

Current Time: 1300
Weather Conditions: Hot, dry, and sunny

Major, Heil Hitler.”

The Afrika Corp officer stopped on the stair leading into the old mud bricked hut that currently acted as his office. Standing on the second step allowed him to tower over the plainclothes man that had gave him a bent elbow salute, which he returned, “Heil Hitler. But civilians aren‘t allowed to..” His lips froze as his eyes stared at the little metal disc the man held out.

”You Major Stempf?” Gustav Messer asked as he slid the identification disc back under his suit. The officer nodded, nervously and Gus continued, ”I’m looking for the roster of the 3rd Panzergrenadiers. I was told you would had them.”

“Yes… I would… Normally, but we have been busy packing everything up, the frontline is getting closer everyday.” Cautiously his reply, and the Major’s eyes narrowed, “Can you tell me what this is about?”

”No. But what you can tell me is the way to their barracks.” Gustav grabbed the other man’s elbow and brought him down to his eye level, and they both began to walk through the village streets, crowded with soldiers and vehicle rushing in every direction. One man in the crowd began shouting the Major’s name, and both men stopped, and turned. It was an Obergefreiter, with a rifle slung on his back, and running towards them. “Major Stempf,” he spoke once he was able to catch his breath, “You ordered me to inform you if anyone from outside the division should arrive.”

“Yes, I already know the Gestapo are here!” The Major growled and gestured towards Messer, who let out the tiniest of grins. He wasn’t big on letting people know when or where he was coming or going, so had entered the base in a truck full of reinforcements.

“No… not them. A car from Tunis just arrived. The Sicherheitsdienst.”

Gustav’s hand tightened into a fist. He loathed the SD. They were basically the eyes and ears of the Party. Having one around was like having the Fuehrer constantly watching over your right shoulder, and Himmler over your left. Gus would have to get his inspection done quickly, before the SD could get their hands all over it.

“Major, the barracks?” Gus impatiently picked his white hat off his head and fanned away the heat with the wide brimmed felt.

“Oh, right. Obergefreiter, show our friend from the Sicherheitspolizei the barracks of the 3rd Panzergrenadiers. I must go back to my own work.” And with that, the Major returned to his office, as the guard took Messer the other way down the street, through the continuing traffic of men and machines, to the building functioning as the barracks.

[Franz Albrecht]

Thirst was always present in the desert sun. The rippling mesas of sand shimmered as far as the eyes could see. The valleys were hot and unforgiving, heat waves lingered several feet off the ground. A warm breeze blew into Albrecht's face as the Kubelwagon sped down the road leaving a long dusty trail behind them. The engine hummed, the vehicle jerked as the driver switched gears sending them forward even faster. Franz glanced over at the man driving his vehicle, he wore a tan/olive Wehrmacht issue uniform, clean shaved with a light green cap on his head. He was watching the road but looked relaxed, almost as if he enjoyed the ride. Albrecht lifted a rag from his lap and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. His goggles were covered in dust but at lest it provided protection for the eyes.

The Untersturmfuhrer had just arrived in country a week before. His new position in Tunis was to assist the gestapo in any matters that require their attention. The SD were a deployable ally and could be counted on more so then the Army units serving in the area. When Franz had arrived he did so in his "Grey" uniform but was issued a North Africa style 'Olive' color tunic and breaches. The insignia had been converted to resemble a uniform of the Sicherheitsdienst however there was an error with the collar tabs, instead of one being blank as it should be, the letters SS were clearly displayed on the right side. On the left Franz's proper rank. At least they had gotten that right, as for the sleeve diamond he had to sew that on himself. This really made one feel welcome in a new area of operation.

There was no conversation between the driver and Franz for most of the ride, except when he would update the officer on how much longer it would take. So far his information had turned out to be shit, according to him, "it wasn't much farther, only around the next bend" for the last four hours. Albrecht was growing tired of hearing these lies, the driver could tell he wasn't used to the sun and was miserable. The Wehrmacht soldiers skin was brown, some spots were bright red and sun burnt. Franz glanced at his own hands thinking to himself that maybe a slight tan wouldn't be a terrible thing, him and his friends in Austria would lay by the lake and get some sun after hours of swimming. The only thing he was swimming in at this point was his own sweat, "How much farther?", he said loudly over the engine, the driver leaned toward him, "Not much farther, just up here a little bit.".

Well Franz was outraged, about to explode he opened his mouth when suddenly the sound of a plane engine roared behind them. A shiver went straight up Franz's spine as he spun around in the seat, Damn it, the cloud of dust behind the Kubelwagon wouldn't allow him to get a good view of the approaching aircraft that had just dropped out of the few clouds in the blue sky. Glancing at the driver who was looking casually in his mirrors Albrecht shouted, "Faster! It might be Tommy's!". The sound of the engine got louder as louder as Franz's body trembled in fear, then the aircraft passed overhead as they came over the top of a sand dune. To his relief, two large iron crosses were visible under each wing of the plane. While adjusting himself in the seat, the SD officer let out a sigh of relief, to his surprise the driver was still acting normal, calm as if nothing had happened.

Albrecht could not figure out why the army soldier had not panicked as he had?, perhalps Franz was not used to the front anymore.The battle against fugitives and undesireables was his current mission, it kept him quite busy. The only way he could make sense of the situation was if, the soldier had been able to determine the origin of the plane by the sound of it's engine. That had to have been it, if not, this man was not afraid of death. Ahead of them dozens of Wehrmacht soldiers rushed about, tanks, trucks, tents everywhere. The scene stretched for about a 1/4 mile. The driver slowed down as they passed through the main entrance to a small village, "Here we are Sturmscharfuhrer, this is the base camp of the 3rd Panzergrenadier battalion, Afrika Korps.", Franz nodded slowly while buttoning his olive green tunic over his brown shirt, he then reached around his waist locating his belt buckle which he connected. Franz opened the door stepping out of the vehicle. His legs were stiff, Albrecht was in a rather sour mood, evident by the scowl on his face as he scanned the area. Slowly he turned back to the Kubelwagon giving a nod, "Thank you".

[Wilhelm Hasburg]

Hot. That was the only word on an weary Panzergrenandier mind. The blazing sun North African son had no mercy on him this day. No mercy on anyone. The heat beamed down on himself and the sand dunes. So much sand everywhere, it could drive an man insane walking across all the piles of nottingness.

Wihelm sighed. The Tommy's planes were painfully accurate where blowing our suppiles to hell and the sand, Wihelm thought as he sadly shuffled around an pile of sand with his foot. Stopped any good plants from growing, and the heat and lack of water and food stopped anything execpt the damned cammels from thriving.

The Soldier's mind wondered back to his assignment. He was assigned to his current post to watch for two High ranking officers. Gestapo or something like that. He was to greet the men in front of the barracks, invite them inside and answer all their questions. After that mission was done he would go back with his company and prepare to fall back to a new defensive, from the advancing Tommys.

His hand grasped his canteen, fingers wrapped around the cool, wet , source of relief from the inespaceable heat. He instantly knew it was only a quarter of the way full, roughly. Taking an large greedy gulp of water, savoring the crisp cool liquid sliding down his thorat. He splashed the remaining bit of water on his face.

As he sat down by the side of the barracks his mind flickered back to the Gestapo men. Why would two high ranking officers, leave their leather padded seats in Berlin to visit his slice little slice of hell? There seemed to be notting treasonous or suspious happening recently. Why send two Gestapo officers?

Wihelm took off his sweat soaked cap and brushed down his matted blond hair. He wished it was the way it was back in the begining of Hitler's rule, where the ecomonoy was back up and running. The restrictions on the poor jewish populance wanst so bad and most of all- he was back, releaxing at home, Berlin. But still he had a job to do, defending his home.

Soon Wihelm spotted two notable figures in the hazy distance. They seemed a little more well dressed then most of the other Soldiers. Figuring they were problary the Gestapo officers he was informed of, The Grendiar pushed himself off the hot dusty sand. Slided his worn out cap securely onto his head and stood strongly by the barracks enterance. Ready to give the inevitable 'Sieg heils!' to the advancing officers.

[Anton Maas]

Although he had wanted to missed the Sicherheitsdienst’s representative, it was not meant to be. As the guard led Gustav through the base, their path to the barracks passed by a parked kubelwagon. As they neared, Gus cursed at the figure emerging from the vehicle, and officer dressed in a weird SS uniform. And Gus knew there were no SS troops in North Africa, so the officer had to be the SD man the guard had mentioned.

Gustav let the Obergefreiter return to his post, they were just across the street from the 3rd Panzergrenadiers’ barracks. But there was a chance Gus wouldn’t go the last few meters anyway, since the SD officer could probably do the investigation all on his own. Normally in this situation, Gus would have turned around and returned to the Stapostellen, they certainly knew he worked alone on simple inspections. But there was something familiar about his rival in green, a memory from Messer’s past. So he walked over, no harm in finding out who the man was before returning to his office and it’s ceiling fan, after all.

”Franz Albrecht?” Looking closer, it turned out that the SD man was actually Messer’s old NCO, back in his short stay in the Allgemeine SS. Gus cheerfully, or as cheerfully as he could be, called out his comrade’s name and stepped in for a hearty handshake.

”I bet you didn’t expect to find Gustav Messer down here in North Africa. Hell, I’m surprised to find myself here.” He laughed as the handshake was released, and he began to instinctively adjust his uniform. Although still, a plainclothes suit made him feel underdressed. ”If I knew you were here, I would have dusted off my old Allgemeine uniform.”

Suddenly, he leaned in close to the Untersturmführer, ”I can guess why you’re here. From what I hear…” Gus patted on his gold lapel pin, to signify that it wasn’t just him hearing things, ”This whole company could join the Luftwaffe, with how high they are all. And the 3rd Panzergrenadiers are supplying it all”

[Franz Albrecht]

Franz turned his head from left to right inspecting the landscape. There were rows of mud huts, some of which were linked together while others stood on their own. Some random Merchant establishments lined the streets, however they were hardly streets at all compared to the City. Overall North Africa was a majestic place, unlike no other the young untersturmfuhrer had ever seen. The route along the Mediterranean coast had been the highlight of the journey for Franz. It was rich, green, with many resources such as cotton, dates and olives. Those are just a select few of the items that thrive in the area.Further inland the climate was known to be more, hostile.

Albrecht stood there baking in the sun. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of movement approaching from behind. The untersturmfuhrer turned to spot a Heer soldier leading a well dressed gentleman toward him. Raising an eyebrow Franz thought to himself, "Now what could that be about?". As the two men got closer Franz lifted a black leather brief case out of the Kubel placing it at his feet. The untersturmfuhrer removed his goggles and tossed them in the back seat of the vehicle.

After a closer inspection, Albrecht noticed a gold party pin on the left side of the gentleman's suit jacket. Many people wore these pins every day, it meant only one thing, you had ties to the Nazi party. Given the current status of events in the area, Franz was led to believe that the gentleman could likely be representing the Geheime Staatspolizei here in North Africa. While waiting quietly by the kubel Albrecht's gaze caught that of the 'Civilian' looking man, after a moments pause Franz remembered him, it was Gustav Messer from the good old days.

The Untersturmfuhrer grinned upon hearing his name. As Gus moved in Franz met him in the middle grasping his hand in a firm but friendly manner. Messer then spoke, "I bet you didn’t expect to find Gustav Messer down here in North Africa. Hell, I’m surprised to find myself here.”

Albrecht laughed casually, his eyes shifted to the Obergefreiter then back to Gus. With a joyful expression Franz spoke, "It has been a while Gus. I didn't think to see anyone familiar, honestly.". Messer continued the conversation, ”If I knew you were here, I would have dusted off my old Allgemeine uniform.” Franz continued to grin, "Ah, The good old days. I miss them dearly. Many things have changed. Nothing between old friends of course, just politics.".

Franz was glad to see a familiar face in North Africa. The only other Gestapo men he had seen were miles away in the city. The German army showed little to no respect for the SS. The army was aware of the brutality displayed in the East. Word traveled fast, usually with the soldiers who were assisnged to new posts due to a transfer or injury. The army however knew it's place and did not interfere with state business. That however did not change the view of the many soldiers who filled the Reich's Heer ranks.

Gustav leaned closer to Franz. Albrecht listened carefully, ”I can guess why you’re here. From what I hear…” The SD Untersturmfuhrer glanced at the Wehrmacht soldier who was just out of earshot. The soldier was not paying direct attention to the two men. He simply moved his feet around in the sand at ease. ”This whole company could join the Luftwaffe, with how high they are all. And the 3rd Panzergrenadiers are supplying it all”

Albrecht nodded slowly, he noticed Messer tapping his party pin. Referring to himself, as "We", meant that he was in fact a Gestapo agent. Quietly Franz replied, "My superiors are aware of these transactions but up till now, no investigation has taken place. So they send me down here to conduct a detailed and very careful examination. Under the command of the Gestapo who will be heading up the operation.".

Franz grinned once more, "I suppose that's where you come in old friend?".