Chapter 8

Tony Meets a New Love

Tony was now seriously anxious about how he would get back home to the UK. He knew that his name would be reviled all round the free world. He was very much alone in enemy territory and common sense told him that he would not be completely trusted by anyone in the Nazi regime. The only thing he could do would be to go along with the charade, and hope that somehow, somewhere, opportunity would come his way. Soon the time came, when he was told he was fit enough to leave hospital, and that he would be going to a recuperation centre. His wounds had fortunately healed quite quickly, and he very politely said goodbye, and thanked the nursing staff for being so good to him. He did not know if or when he would ever meet Janine again, as he had not heard from her for a few days.

He was helped to dress in his new uniforms by another wounded naval officer, who helped him get used to his new uniforms, and so resplendent in his new naval uniform, he was taken by car, closely escorted by two motor cycle outriders and two drivers in the car to the convalescence centre.

It was a long exhausting ride to the Black Forest and his spirits sank as he knew that he was a long long way away from the coast and escape to England. Each hour took him farther and farther away from home and escape. Getting back to England now seemed a forlorn task. He realised that he was still not fully fit, as he found the journey very exhausting, and he slept fitfully for a large part of the way. It was a long boring tedious journey through very wet winter countryside. The rain fell constantly for the whole of the journey. They had to have an extra escort through Holland because of the threat of partisan activity, and it was pointed out to Tony by the officer in charge of the escort, that he was now number one on the partisans' hit list. The journey took just over nine hours. It took them three days to complete the whole journey.

He arrived, and found that he was in a rehabilitation unit for German Officers, in a little town called Unterjoch on the Austrian border. There were about twenty officers from the different services, who had been wounded, or had been seriously ill. The centre was not officially a Lebensborn hostel, but there were a number of girls, who he understood were on the Lebensborn programme, who were resident, and who had been paired up with some of the officers. As soon as they were pregnant they would be shipped out, and replaced by fresh volunteer girls who were willing to provide pure Aryan children for the fatherland.

When he was approached by the head nurse he found that he had been paired up with a very blonde and a very actively fit girl whose name was Mona. Tony was pleasant to her, and enjoyed her company on a social basis, she looked after him in most other ways, but he pleaded that he still suffered some discomfort from his wounds, and did not feel that he could do her justice in the bedroom. He felt that in the past few weeks, he had slept with too many women for a variety of reasons, and to some extent after the tiring journey he was feeling rather disinterested.

He enjoyed the views and the fresh air of Unterjoch when the rain stopped and went for little strolls in the village, always with an escort. Being in a mountain range and quite high above sea level, the rain had turned to snow and some of the officers were allowed to go skiing.

Tony was very nervous about being allowed to mix freely for the first time with other German Officers; he was not sure what sort of reception he would receive. In fact he soon found that he received a very mixed reception, many of the officers pointedly ignored him, or made very sarcastic remarks in his hearing, about traitors, one army officer actually called Tony a traitor to his face.

He stopped Tony and said "Herr Nash many brave men die on both sides in this war- no-one likes war, but very few are gutless enough to change to the winning side halfway through. I am told you won the Victoria Cross. I have no doubt, that you killed many of my countrymen, who were, or are German heroes in doing that. Mein Herr in my opinion you are utterly contemptible."

Before Tony could make any sort of reply, a soft female voice spoke from just behind him "No doubt Herr Nieumier I am sure the Fuhrer will be glad to hear your opinions. It takes a brave man to change sides in a conflict like this, and it seems to me, that you have a very loose mouth, and are totally unaware of the circumstances of this case. Perhaps you feel safe enough behind your desk in a pay office, to voice such an opinion, but I am sure that a man with such outspoken views about heroics, will be most welcome on the Russian front. So Mein Herr I will gladly pass your comments and your unbounded enthusiasm for active service on to the proper authorities."

The army officer concerned scampered away, looking very unsure of himself. Turning Tony saw the reason why. He found himself face to face with one of the most elegant, gorgeous women he had seen for a very long time. She was quite tall, slim and a very beautiful specimen of German womanhood. She smiled at him showing perfect white teeth.

"Guten Abend Herr Nash, ich bin Frau Elizabeth von Epp"

She was dressed in a fawn raincoat which was soaked by the almost constant rain. Her face was flushed, and her eyes sparkled in anger, obviously leading to her outburst at the unfortunate officer who had been on the receiving end.

Taken by surprise, Tony bowed slightly, and taking her gloved hand he kissed it. She blushed slightly, and turning towards the silent group of officers who were close enough to be watching and listening to the conversation. "For your information gentlemen Herr Nash won the Victoria Cross, for his bravery in saving lives, by defusing a mine lodged on the casing of the boat he commanded, not for taking lives, as our desk bound hero here has suggested. He has also spent a large part of his life here in Germany, his mother was German and he went to school in Berlin. He has a Grand mother in Berlin and many other relatives as well. Some of whom are serving in the Waffen SS."

Turning to Tony she smiled, and said in quite a loud voice. "I apologise for my lateness Herr Nash, but I was delayed because of the weather. I was sent by the Fuhrer, to take you to Berlin when you are fit to see your grandparents, and then we go on to Burchesgarten when you are fully fit. My uncle the Fuhrer, is looking forward to meeting you and talking to you in depth."

As her remarks were absorbed by the watching group of officers, they melted away quite quickly, and they were left all alone. Turning towards Tony again, she said. "Perhaps Herr Nash you will be kind enough to escort me to dinner, after I have had a chance to have a bath and change. I understand that I am in the adjoining room to yours"

Tony was only too pleased to accept her invitation, and together they walked back to their rooms on the second floor. Later they had a very pleasant dinner, and he found that Elizabeth was very pleasant and interesting company. She had a good command of English although he insisted that they spoke German, as he needed to bring his German up to speed. She kept the conversation on a very light level, and during the next week they became almost inseparable. They had most of their meals together, and they walked and talked for hours in the adjoining forests and mountains. Very often ending up in a nearby Gasthaus for a meal.

Tony suspected that she had been sent especially to look after him and he got several significant hints that she was looking for a much closer relationship, he decided however to play dumb, and see what happened. They had the use of a military car and driver, and they enjoyed driving to the adjoining forests, and walking in the woods in the area of Ulm. A trip to nearby Austria and to St Gallen was also very enjoyable He found that she was a war widow, having had her husband killed in a raid over England, he was surprised to find that she did not seem to show any bitterness towards the British.

Eventually he explained to her that he had been married to Anne-Marie, for just short of three weeks and that she had been assassinated on the orders of the Gestapo. He explained that as time went on they found that they were in some ways rather incompatible, and they had both agreed privately that it would have been totally wrong to continue their marriage. Of course Tony knew this was far from the truth, but he thought it was probably the right thing to tell Elizabeth at the time.

Gradually, despite Tony's reservations, romance gradually entered into their relationship, although Tony held back from making any overt moves, and tried hard not to get involved. But Elizabeth was a master of seduction, and she made all the first moves, and after two or three nights of exchanging kisses in the hallway before retiring to bed, she eventually pulled him into her room.

Although Tony made a faint but futile protest, as Elizabeth turning swiftly undid his jacket throwing it on to a chair and then she undid his belt and pushed his pants to the floor.