Raymond DeBaets lit another cigarette, his thin frame and even thinner hair seeming oblivious to the cold. He exhaled a mixture of smoke and frost that swirled around tired green eyes. His younger brother Eddie, more massive and darker complexed, with a full head of brown hair stood next to him drinking the last of a pint of the local beer. Raymond looked up into the cloudless sky that had shown so much promise earlier that night. A mission that he had hoped would be their salvation had turned sour and possibly could mean their death sentences. Raymond was afraid, terrified, the kind of fear that takes over the body and mind. He had tasted that fear before when he and his brother served in Léopoldville. The Congo... he could remember the faces, the haunted faces of the Congolese; always the enemy, ever the hunted. Now, as the two stood on the station platform at the Köln Bahnhof, they were the ones chased. In the distance stood the city's majestic cathedral silhouetted against the clear night's sky. It had been built to house the remains of the Three Kings. A beacon to offer hope and strength to the believers. Right now, Ray mond's prayer was that the Wehrmacht corporal would return their forged papers and let them board the night train to Brussels.
The brothers worked as machinists in their father's shop in Brussels. They hated the job, and they hated him for making them stay. On a frigid January day, while he was barking out orders to Eddie, the father's heart gave out. The two decided to join the army rather than carry on the drudgery of the family business. Their dreams of adventure were crushed when they arrived in the Congo. Belgium's colony of exploitation for rubber, copper, and later uranium. Their only rewards were the heat, malaria, and patrols to deal with in-surgents. By the time they returned to Belgium in early 1940, the landscape of Europe had changed. The Nazis had disposed of Poland, and Europe was at war. The government declared their neutrality and hid behind the Koningshooikt-Wavre Line, the impregnable defense that would stop the Germans. On the 10th of May 1940, the Panzers came out of the Adrienne forest, and in 18 days, it was over. For the Belgians, there would only be a long dark winter.
The Corporal standing between the Brothers and the train scrutinized their papers. He scowled as if smelling shit that he didn't feel like cleaning up. He took his time read-ing, occasionally glancing at the two. Raymond tried not to look the guard in the eyes, and prayed that Eddie would not provoke him. The tickets were for arrival at Gare du Nord. The train had only a brief stop in Liege. Raymond's nerves were on edge, but he knew that he had to keep the situation under control and keep a tight rein on his brother, whose explosive personality, was especially evident when he drank.
Raymond was the older, smarter of the two. It was to him that the British first made contact. When Belgium fell, the lucky troops were able to escape with the British at Dun-kirk; the unlucky ones, like the brothers DeBaets, were prisoners of war. Most of the captured soldiers went to camps in Ger-many, but those with critical skills such as machinists were pressed into serving the German war effort. The brothers were sent to Köln to work at one of the many synthetic fuel depots that ringed the city. In the spring of 1941, the British flew a massive raid again the Kölnische Gummifaden Fabrik tire and tube factory, reducing it to a cinder. Afterwards, the Germans took great care to conceal their factories. Of the many forays the Royal Air Force mounted, very few bombs hit their intended targets. They were more successful at killing civilians.
The Royal Air Force's Bomber Command attacks on the plants were frustrated by the weather, their own strategy of high-altitude night bombing, and of course the Luft waffe. The RAF's attempt to drop a commando unit to act as pathfinders for an attack ended in disaster. Their mission was relayed to the Germans, and the men captured.
It was a lowly flying officer at High Wycombe who came up with the idea to use Belgian workers as saboteurs. Inquiries were made to the government in exile in London, and through the Resistance, they came up with Raymond and Eddie De-Baets. The local Resistance leader was not enthusiastic about the brothers for the mission. He argued that they had no real qualifications or experience. The British were willing to take a gamble on them because they had worked at the factory, and were unknown; less apt to caused suspicion.
In late November, the British parachuted one of their agents into Germany to make his way to Köln and contact the brothers. Major Hugh Griffin had served as an intelligence officer in the embassy in Paris, before being assigned to Special Operations Executive. Through his years in Paris, he had acquired, a Frenchman's prejudice toward the Belgians that made him reluctant to take on the mission. He wanted only to protect his career, and he was the right choice for his masters. He spoke both fluent French and German, and looked more Aryan than most German-born, sporting blond hair, a ruddy complexion, and a girth that divulged his love of beer. It was easy to imagine him in lederhosen.
The brothers had been alerted that someone from the Resistance would be contacting them, and it would be a mistake not to cooperate. They knew the Belgian Underground was riddled with informants, and worried they would be betrayed and captured. But it was Eddie who convinced his brother this might be an opportunity for them.
They met the Major in the tiny room they rented not far from the factory. Its twin beds, a small table next to an even smaller window, and cold-water sink left little space for entertaining. The trash was full of empty wine bottles, and the ashtrays overflowed. The dirty light blue walls were made even more depressing by the naked overhead bulb, which gave off the only light in the room.
The three of them huddled around the small kitchen table. There were no introductions nor pleasantries. Griffin started it off.
"There is an important mission that we need your help with. It will be low risk. You smuggle a device into the factory where you work, plant it on one of the fuel tanks, and then get out." The Major slapped his hands together as if it would be that easy.
Neither brother said a word. They found the Hun to be a tolerable employer, while it was the British that had abandoned the Belgians at Dunkirk and left them to the Stukas and prison camps. If not for their profession, the brothers would be wasting away in some forced labor camp. In dealing with the British, they couldn't forget General Pownall's assertion that, "We don't care a bugger what happens to the Belgians."
They had weighed their choice: refuse the mission, or go along with an English plan. Knowing the way the British worked to say no would mark them as traitors and most certainly earn them both a bullet in the head from their country-men. On the other hand, if captured, the Germans were known to make life incredibly unpleasant for their prisoners.
The brothers waited a second before making it clear to the Major that their interests were not patriotic. Whatever the deal was to be, it had to include money and freedom. The demand did not faze the Major. Griffin pulled out a pack of American Chesterfields and lit one while he studied the two brothers. Blowing the white smoke into their faces, he replied, "How much money, and escape to where?"
"250 Pounds Sterling," answered Raymond, "each," with Eddie adding, "And escape to Britain."
The Major put out his half-smoked cigarette and took another out of his pack, the brothers noting that he didn't offer them one. He let the room fill with silence as he thought the demands over, the two becoming anxious. Their shadows played on the wall in the dim light. Of course he would pay them the pittance they wanted. He was prepared to pay more but would not offer these petty criminals anything beyond what they asked. Lighting his cigarette, then flicking a piece of tobacco off his tongue, he said nonchalantly, "Half now, and when you complete the job, we'll pay you the other half in London." He seemed to be merely hiring laborers.
A look of triumph crossed their faces. "What is it you want from us?" Raymond asked.
Griffin laid out the plan for Operation Pathfinder, so simple that he believed even these two could follow. The brothers will receive an incendiary device with a timer. They need to smuggle the bomb inside the factory where they work, place it on one of the fuel depots, set the timer, and leave. It must explode at midnight on December 6. An hour later, 100 Lancasters will commence their bombing runs, guided by the fires that will result from the explosion the brothers set off.
"The Germans expect something from the outside, but their security on the inside is lax. Can you do this?" asked the Major.
Ray mond ran his hand through his hair. "There is still a matter of searches before entering, and guards, and of course we will need to come up with an excuse to leave the building and set the bomb."
"Can you smuggle the bomb into the factory, set the timer, and escape without drawing attention?"
The Brothers looked at each other, but again it was Raymond who spoke. "It will be difficult, but not impossible. We will need money for bribes."
"Money that doesn't come out of our share," Eddie quickly interjected. "What is important to us is how will you get us out of the country?"
"As you said, difficult but not impossible. Evacuation by air is dangerous but even more so from Germany. You must find your way back to Belgium. December 6 is St. Nicholas Day, people will be traveling to spend the holiday with their families. We will supply you with identity cards and travel documents. Your cover story is you are embarking on a 2-week holiday leave. Once in Brussels, the Underground will hide you and bring you to the extraction point."
"And the explosives? Where do we collect them?" asked Eddie, "And we will need a pistol."
Griffin ignored the demand. "In the next few days, you will be contacted. Follow your directions to the letter."
"By who?"
"They will identify themselves by asking you for a light for their cigarette. You reply: I gave up smoking when my mother died. They will counter with: I should have when my Grandmother died." Eddie went to write down the sequence but was quickly admonished by Griffin, "Write nothing down, you fool! Remember the tiniest mistake could mean your deaths."
"Just remember who's the one putting us in great dan-ger." Eddie angrily shouted back. Raymond placed his hand on his brother's arm to calm him down.
"Dangerous?" asked Griffin, pushing away from the table. "Of course it is dangerous. Do you think I'm going to pay you for dicking around?" He unbuttoned his coat and took out his wallet, giving view to the Browning automatic he had tucked in his belt. He counted out 250 pounds sterling in large bills and placed it on the table. "Half now, half when the job is complete."
After the Major left, the two stood at the table, looking at the bills. They had never seen so much money at one time in their lives.
Raymond DeBaets wondered how many more times the corporal would go through his papers; did he detect a flaw in the forged documents? It was cold on the train platform, but he patiently answered each question, praying his brother would do the same. Finally, a guard from inside called him to come and help interrogate a family that had missing documents. Without saying a word, the Corporal handed the brothers back their papers and walked away. They quickly boarded the train, squeezing by people with luggage looking for seats. They arrived at their small compartment and open the door, their relief turning to surprise when they realized their traveling companions were four nuns.