For one mad moment, I thought I would bound down the gangplank like a latter-day knight jumping from his trusty white stallion, after killing the dragon or black knight, sweep Heidi into my arms, (just like in one of Viktor's trashy paperbacks) and profess my love, the crowd would cheer and the rightful King would smile benignly and instantly pronounce.....
..But my faithful steed was a modern day Type VIIC U-Boat, battered and rusted by the sea. I'd completely forgotten how the landlubbers always recoil from the stench as they catch the unique aroma of over 51 unwashed men locked in a steel tube for weeks mixed with god knows what that had rotted, and the venting out of diesel fumes, when all the hatches are open. The swagger on to dry land became a stagger too, without land legs.
I suppose I looked like something more fit for the chain dogs from shore patrol to arrest, than a conquering hero.
But for all that, I was a hero. Cameras were flashing or reels turning. The crowd of soldiers, nurses and every other branch of auxilliary service only kept at bay by stern-faced soldiers enforcing a cordon.
I looked around bewildered for a sight of Heidi, but she was now lost in the throng, but of course she couldn't either get near or be seen.
A moment ago, I was in total charge of my little world, and now, in the reality we dreamt of, I wasn't.
It must have been Bruno who formed the two crews up on the quay, and urged me to the front of the parade.
Because Doenitz himself had come over to St Nazaire to see us dock safely. And was now approaching me.
In his way, he returned my salute and grasped my hand whilst leaning closer out of earshot.
"Well done, my boy"
He whispered.
"I know very well that you and your men are tired, and I'll sort that out later, but for now what's happening is just as much another part of the war effort. Now introduce me again to the men for the cameras. I know most of them anyway, but particularly the men you pulled out of the drink from U-467.
He winked.
"It's good to see you back lad, but the nation needs to see a miracle, and it won't do any harm for our lot either to know that they may not always be stranded, hein?"
"Not quite a miracle, Sir. We only saved a handful, and that was a stroke of luck because.."
"Shut up Leutnant! The Fuhrer has decreed it a miracle, and so it shall be!
We have more to talk about operationally, but that will have to wait. There are apparently more important things"
"I'm sure you have other things to think about.."
Did the Admiral wink at me just then?
"But for now, let's smile nicely for the Volkerische Beobachter, and their other Goebbels' friends in the news industry, and do this parade, Leutnant"
Lt de Bunsen, u-46
|