The Nazi Hunters by Lewis Damien

Author:Lewis, Damien [Lewis, Damien]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2015-10-08T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Barely two weeks after being shot and injured while crossing the lines, the indefatigable Colonel Franks issued a ‘SECRET’ memo on the fate of the eighty-two men deployed on Op Loyton – Phantoms, Jedburghs and SAS alike. Just a handful were recorded as ‘killed in action’. They included Sergeant Lodge, Troopers Davis and Hall and Corporal Kasperovitch.

By contrast, thirty-one were listed as ‘MISSING, BELIEVED PW’ (PW standing for prisoner of war) or simply as ‘MISSING’. The ‘missing’ included Captain Gough, Lieutenant Dill and his ‘rearguard’ party, as well as Major Reynolds and Captain Whately-Smith – the last of the Op Loyton force to try to effect an escape. None had made it through to Allied lines.

In short, little or nothing was known about the fate of more than one-third of Colonel Franks’ force. The 2 SAS commander had failed to bring them home, but he lived in hope that some at least might have been taken as prisoners of war. Which raised the question: what might the future hold for those captives?

Against seemingly impossible odds, Operation Loyton had delivered; chaos and havoc had been spread across the Vosges. The war diary listed the impact the long weeks of raiding had had upon the main supply routes that ran through the valleys: ‘SAS attacks and demolitions have reduced enemy use of this road by estimated 50% plus . . . Due to SAS attacks and demolitions this road is no longer available to enemy traffic . . .’ Two major railways were listed as ‘knocked out by SAS; not in use’.

As Captain Hislop commented, it was only after the end of the mission that the true extent of Loyton’s impact could be gauged, including the extent of disruption and alarm to which the SAS presence gave rise amongst the Germans. ‘Troops in the area were kept in a state of permanent tension, never knowing when they were likely to be ambushed, or blown up by a mine laid on a road.’

Nothing struck fear into the hearts of the enemy foot soldiers more than witnessing their high command being targeted and killed. On Op Loyton, the SAS plan of hitting staff cars above all else had paid massive dividends. With an entire German division having been diverted to the hunt, Loyton also scored a major victory simply by pinning down thousands of German troops who would have been better deployed fighting on the front.

Viewed from this standpoint, Standartenführer Isselhorst’s Waldfest had proved something of a failure. Across the Vosges thousands of villagers had been rounded up, beaten, tortured, killed or shipped off to the concentration camps, but that had not put a stop to Op Loyton. And with the withdrawal of the majority of Franks’ men, Isselhorst and his cronies were left with only one target for their retribution: a few dozen Special Forces captives.

Colonel Franks and his fellow commanders suspected that the future for those men might well be bleak, but they had no clear idea of the fate of the ‘missing’.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.