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A young German man was rummaging through the things left behind by his late grand-mother in the attic of her small cottage. Buried deep within an old, tattered box, he found a small leather sleeve the contents of which were over a dozen letters. The letters appear to be written to his grand-mother from his grand-father during the second world war. EGO News has managed to obtain a copy of these letters and, after careful editing, presents them here for our readers entertainment. Take a moment and immerse yourself in the life of a soldier, a man, and a romantic from a time defined by violence.
September 1st, 1940.
Dear Rabe,
The Riechmarshal and I were sitting on a plane flying to Poland to meet there with one of our Veteran squads. We shared an unexpected conversation about how you were and how our children were, and about his wife and son. We landed and were greeted by the Generalmajor and the Oberst and they drove us to the men?s camp. The men were hungry for combat, ready to strike, and Command had been more than willing to see their hunger satisfied. So, the next week we moved into Finland. The town of Clairemont is small, with a bank in the center. As we set up for our initial attack, the Marshal pulled me over and said "Doc, we'll take this town without too much trouble, just like Poland is my guess, but I can?t afford to lose you so early on. Be smart, Doc." I nodded and I went with my squad to the Eastern side of the church. We moved out and almost immediately I under enemy fire. My squad moved behind a tank but their Machine Gunner had clear line of sight just under the tank. Each round fired hit a leg, a foot, a kneecap, and when my men fell to the ground, unable to stand from the bullets in their lower bodies, more bullets found their heads and hearts. I grabbed a soldier and pulled him back. We retreated back to where The Marshal was. Nothing had gone right and the enemy had held the alley that the other squad was supposed to go through. The center of the city was ablaze with crossfire. We retreated and set up a defense on top of the bank, I was told to watch the far left alley. Our Panzerfaust, a young boy maybe 17, looked up to me "Sir, when do I fire?" I looked back at him, "Uh.. when you see the enemy." "Yes sir." He raised his Rocket and fired and almost immediately I heard screams of Americans. "Whats your name soldier,? I said. "Smilo, sir." The kid impressed me, and our defense held great for the rest of the day.
The next day we moved back into the city. My squad had been reinforced, one guy called himself Jangles. We moved forward, the damaged tank from yesterday still there. I went out first and there was no gun fire. The second squad took the house to the right, and we moved left through an arch way. I cooked off a nade and tossed it into a room with its wall missing, it was clear. As we moved to the next house my second, Ides, a young soldier who studied Shakespere and quoted the play "Julius Caeser" constantly, cooked off a grenade with me. I tossed mine into the room infront, he tossed his upstairs. We rushed in. Instantly one of my men was gunned down, but I turned and fired killing the American. We moved upstairs and a rocket flew over my head. It knocked me down but I leaned against the wall and killed that one too. We moved in and the house was clear, went back onto the street and the gun fire had died down now. I saw the Marshal's squad. "Where is the Commander?" "We dont know, we lost half our men in that mess, there is a third group on the other side, he might be there." As I was giving orders, some of the men were running their damn mouths. I had to yell at them to shut up, by then Spank had arrived. As we moved to clear out the last alley and building, a few men were gunned down and killed. One of our riflemen picked up an Allied BAR, he checked the ammo, "damn it! Its out." he threw it back down, but an explosion had thrown his rifle away. An American ran past before he could bring another rifle he had found up to shoot. By the time this happened Spank had ordered a retreat. We didn?t defend their counter-attack very well. We lost the momentum of the attack. We had a full retreat out of Finland the next day.
Love your Husband, Compton.
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September 12th, 1940
Dear Rabe,
After the failure in Finland, the Americans thought they could roll into Poland without resistance. They came to the small Port of Anzio. I wasn?t supposed to be here, but the Americans had destroyed the airfield. I had gotten back just moments after the first Allied attack. I ran out of the camp and set up in a house to the right of the fountain. I laid down and saw Jangles look over to me, he nodded. The first American walked through the doorway and I shot him. I pulled the bolt back just in time as a second walked through. He went down just as quick. The queasy feeling of killing other men was long gone by the time the fourth American dropped in the door way. By then the support patted my back and we moved back, the alley was clear and we went to support the bridge. But? by the time we arrived, Ides had already killed everyone and their brothers. I looked at him.. The man was blood drunk. I just laughed and we moved back to the fountain. We were planning an immediate counter attack.
The attack went just as quickly, and just as successfully. The main part of the force went through the alley toward the Church, and Ides was seperated from the squad. We moved forward without him. I feared the worst but at the end of the day he was waiting for us in a cafe by the Church. He had gone through the bridge and killed every man there, single-handedly. The hell of it is he did this twice, in the second attack to push them off the beaches. Within two days, the Americans were pissing their pants back to Finland.
Love Compton.
P.S. What I would give to see you and the kids?
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May 23rd, 1941
Dear Rabe,
Today we've just succeeded in taking Norway. My unit moved across the sea from Denmark in order to reinforce the units already engaged. The town of Harrington was small, and there were three ways for us to move and take the city. The first was on our left, it consisted of a large Stable barn of some sort followed by a small tunnel, a wheel and bridge, with another house across the way. The second was through an open court yard in the middle of the town, the third was under the church and up the right side of the town. Our first ventures into the city were devastated by poor communications between the teams going through the tunnel and through the field on the left side of the town. By the time the men in the tunnel realized they were supposed to keep moving, the team in the field had been killed. It was almost a slaughter. We had to use reserves to push and break the left side. We moved and took the middle, but what was left of the American defenses were too strong and our CO had pulled us back, he felt we had hurt them well enough that we could push them out the next day.
We stopped a counter-attack pretty easily with a more spirited defense. Again we took the left flank, this time more easily as the enemy didn?t seem to commit many men to the area. As we moved forward on the left, a small team on the right moved parallel to us. Our sniper was gunned down by a Machinegun and there?s nothing more demoralizing than losing a sniper, our Eyes on the Enemy, and a good friend of mine, too... Another soldier picked up the rifle and was gunned down. The Generalmajor happened to be at that location and picked up the rifle to my astonishment. He took pot shots at the Machine Gun when both the Generalmajor and the American gunner realized there was a Wehrmacht trooper behind him. He began to yell the location of the Machine Gun at the troop, who couldnt hear him well and began searching the area. Finally fed up with it, the Generalmajor took another shot, killing the American Machine Gun. That was the momentum needed for us to win the attack and we took control of Finland with in the week.
Love Compton.
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July 4th, 1941
Dear Rabe,
I write this to tell you that I am fine, but that we have lost Italy. After our victory in the North, our Furher sent us south into Italy with news of a coming Allied attack on the beaches of an Italian town known as Palmero. The town layout was awkward and we couldnt seem to gain momentum to drive them off the beaches and back to Africa. When it seemed we had them beat, they stormed our middle defenses obliterating them with quick, precise movements. By the time I had realized where the screams of my men were coming from The Oberst was pulling me back telling me we had to move. Before I knew what was happening we were pushed out of Rome, and out of Italy back into Austria. This style of attack was uncommon for the Americans. Like raging animals they came at our lines. I hope not to see that much more often?
Love Compton
P.S. I might have leave soon, depends on how badly the Commander needs me. I miss you and the children very, very much.
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August 1st, 1942
Dear Rabe,
I write to you in fear of my job, and in fear of what I have done. The Commander had to be in Berlin for a conference with the Furher, and he had left me explicit instructions on what he had wanted to do for the attack to take back Italy. Earlier, before the first battle the Stabsfeldwebel came up to me and explained a situation neither one of us quite understood. Intelligence had led us to believe that this was the main attack of the Allied Forces, that if we drove them back into Africa no major attack into Austria could occur. Turns out that somehow the Allies made it possible. I can?t.. quite remember all the details now, but it had made me furious when I had learned it, so furious that my judgment leading men into battle had been corrupted by rage. The Commander had given me two sets of instructions, one for defending the town and one for attacking it when the enemy?s attack had waned. Honey, I can?t believe what I did next, but I did it? I had mixed up the strategies in the heat of the fight? sending my men on offensive assignments when the situation called for defense? By the time I had realized I sent a team of soldiers, men I had served with for almost 2 years now, into a death trap.. It was to late. I watched them die because of my stupid mistakes. Thankfully the Commander came back the next day. I told him of my mistake and he patted me on the back, he said it was a hard lesson to have learned? and it was? I may have cost us the war, at the very least Italy. We fell back into Austria two days later.
Love, Compton.
P.S. Give my love to the kids. Keep well, my dear.
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August 28th, 1942
Dear Rabe,
My first letter after the delightful surprise of seeing you for my birthday. It meant a lot to me, I can still smell your perfume on my jacket. Unfortunately, the men can too and it?s driving them crazy. The Allies made their first move into Austria about 3 days after you had gone back, on the 26th. The town of Donner was centered on a destroyed Tiger and a small field. That?s where we set up our defenses. The Americans thought their veterans from the Italian campaign could waltz into Austria, but our men were just as hardened from Italy and Finland and we pushed them back into Italy. I write to you now a happy man, happy that my mistakes in Italy had not led to a defeat here.
Love Compton,
P.S. So much death and destruction, I fear that only these letters keep me sane. I hope to return to you one day still a man, intact and broken not by these toils of war.
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December 9th, 1942
Dear Rabe,
Sorry I haven?t written as much lately. We've been under constant attack in Italy, I fear for my life sometimes, but I am still here. I?m sad to say we've lost Italy once again. The Americans used a similar tactic as they did before and retook the beaches and soon the entire country. The Commander was not pleased in the Command Staff, nor the general ranks. We were caught unprepared, Rabe, and it is an awful feeling to lose men... You are my rock in these hard times, my dear.
Love Compton
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December 26th, 1942
Dear Rabe
Tell the little ones I?m sorry I had to miss Christmas this year, tell them I will bring them gifts soon. I met with the General to discuss where we should focus our attack. We both agreed that the northern territories were much more vulnerable than those in the south. We renewed our fight in the north,but I?m sad to say that we did not take control of Sweden. The winter broke some of our equipment, along with some of our men... the Commander thinks I am a weak leader. Attacks in the north were my responsibility and he took control shortly before the engagement. None of my strategy was used, dear. I fear I may be replaced soon. With any luck, they?ll put me on a desk in Berlin. Closer to you, closer to home?
Love Compton.
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March 3rd, 1943
Dear Rabe,
I?ve got quite the story for you love. We've spent the last week or so planning to attack a small town in Great Britain as the prelude to taking the entire country. As we were loading the troops into the transports to cross The Channel, a messenger ran to us and told us the Furher had changed the attack plans on us suddenly. This flew the Commander into a rage. He refused to take his troops into a town we had not prepared for.
Afterwards, he pulled me aside, we sat together in his office in Paris, he looked to me and said, "When I win this war, Generaloberst.. I do not plan to let that man try to lead me anymore.? I questioned him, and he just looked to me. I nodded. I believe soon the Reich will be under new leadership? a leader I trust. As always, I miss your touch and long for the day we reunite.
Love Compton
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July 6th, 1944
Dear Rabe,
After the battles and skirmishes in other countries, the Commander has decided now is the time to strike, and kill, the Allied forces in Great Britain. We moved across the channel and hit a town called Dorf. The balance of the battle was even for the entire week we were fighting. It came down to a gutsy call to use the old American tactic I told you about in Italy. As we planned our next attack I looked up and met the eyes of the Command Staff. "Remember Italy?" They all nodded, "It?s time we show the Yanks how fast WE can move.? It was agreed. At first the troops were alarmed and said it was suicide, just like the Russian tactic that so often led in the deaths of hundreds at a time. The Commander replied with, "if you don?t feel like attacking at full speed, tell me now so I can shoot you in the head myself." It shut them up quickly. The attack was surprisingly effective. We had never cleared a town so quickly or with such deadly force. In the aftermath, I personally thanked each dead yank I came upon for inspiring us with their strategy. At least they got something right.
Love, Compton
P.S. The war is waning, my dear. I sense it won?t be long until I am back with you. Give my love to the kids, as always.
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Novermber 25th 1944
Dear Rabe,
I may reach you before this letter, but the war is finally over. The Americans attacked a small landscape in France with some of their tattered forces. I was shocked to see them capture the area and drive us off. I do not think we had the will to fight any longer. We are ragged. This war has depleted our spirits to a level that most fear cannot be recovered. Two days ago, the Americans surrendered and a cease fire was issued to all German forces. The war is finally over. Absent the gunfire and explosions of the battlefield, I have reflected more on my involvement in this war in the last two days than I had the last few years. To be a man engaged in such a bloodthirsty venture as combat? I cannot help but think that I return to you now a ruined man. I am certainly no longer the man you married. I feel like a shell of that man, stripped of my humanity by four years of never-ending bloodshed. When you see me next, my dear, do not think less of me for the things I?ve done, for the lives I?ve taken and the lives I?ve lost. I do not wish war on any man, woman, or child on this Earth, and I hope that you can forgive me for taking a part in this terrible evil.
Love, Compton
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After the Final Battle in Europe: Axis Command Staff
Furher(RiechMarshall)Hasse "Spank" Wilms (1895-1985) served as the Furher's right-hand until December of 1944. After learning of the atrocities Hitler was committing to the people of Jewish faith, he planned an attempt on Hitler's life. The RiechMarshall successfully assassinated Adolf Hitler, and having earned the respect of the other Generals for nearly single handedly taking control of all of Europe, he was quickly appointed the new Furher of the 4th Reich at which point he stopped all inhumane acts against the Jews. A treaty was issued with America and her allies in which the terms were the Americans left Europe and Northern Africa, and in return the Wehrmacht would not go to the Pacific. The Furher's armies proceeded to take control of Western Russia, stopping after capturing Moscow and Stalingrad. After the end of the war in 1953, Furher Wilms re-created the Government of Germany modeled after America's own Government. He is one of the most celebrated heroes of Germany to this day; a statue was erected in his honor and stands in Berlin still. Stepping down as Leader in 1955, he retired staying with his wife until his death in 1985. He had 3 children, all grown and with children of their own at the time of his death.
Generaloberst Dr.Claus Compton (1900-2003) served as the RiechMarshall's right-hand until the Marshall was appointed Furher, at which point Compton took control of the armies and lead the successful invasions of Russia. He stayed with his wife, Rabe, for the remainder of his life. He and Furher Wilms remained friends for the remainder of their lives as well.
Generalmajor Gottlob "Bad Brain" Zeiher (1915-2008), called Bad Brain due to his unruly tactics and remorseless kills during the war. Generalmajor Zeiher stayed with Compton during the Russian Campaign of the World War. Afterwards he stayed in politics where he earned the nickname "The Silent Senator" for his uncanny ability to remain quiet as a politician.
Oberst Edel "Death Keeper" Ingenhoven (1920-1963) was a young man at the onset of the war. He was only 16 when he enlisted in 1936 and within 3 years had gained the respect of RiechMasrhall Wilms and was dubbed Oberst of the army at the age of 19. Some people felt he was too young to lead, but over the course of the war he proved his worth. He was Compton's third in command during the Russian Campaigns and afterwards followed Generalmajor Zeiher into the political arena. There, he was an outspoken man unlike his colleague Zeiher. Edel lead with both his words and actions and after the step down of Furher Wilms, he ran for President of the German Democracy in 1956. He served a full 4 years as president, then another 3 in his second term. In his course as president, Edel became close friends with President John F. Kennedy.
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All accounts in the above are fictional. Thanks to Compton for another great write-up.
All accounts in the above are fictional. Thanks to Compton for another great write-up.
