During the school vacations, the possibility also presented itself for me to ride into the Grunewald in the
evenings. To my grandparents, I said I wanted to go to a friend's house or to the youth club, and so I was
given permission to stay out until 10.30 PM. But of course I rode my bike into the Grunewald and needless
to say, to the Americans. The scenery was always particularly exciting - sometimes pitch black, other times
bright moonlight with large, impressive shadows.
It must have just about been the fall vacation time, as the days were already considerably shorter and it
was already starting to get dark more quickly. That particular afternoon, I had already discovered a small
unit of soldiers in an area of wood not far from the waterworks that stood above the Krumme Lanke. As my
experienced eye immediately revealed to me, these soldiers were wearing the poison-green enemy uniforms and
had prepared boxes full of ammunition. I patiently watched them set up their positions. Yelling loudly,
they carried twigs that they had found lying around on the ground to their positions, almost in slow motion.
It was crystal clear to me they were building an ambush position. Of course, I spoke to several soldiers
and asked them when it would all start. They replied "tonight", so it would either be that evening, or later
that night. One of them mentioned the word "nine", so I knew it would be at 9 PM. It was a distinct
advantage that I could understand English.
As I had a few hours to wait, I rode back home, as it would soon be dinner-time. After telling my
grandparents yet again that I wanted to go and see a friend, which wasn't necessarily a fib, I rode back
to the spot I had found that afternoon. It was already getting dark as I arrived.
They were all still there, that was lucky! The soldiers were sitting around a camp fire, their weapons were
still propped up against the trees. I found myself a tree stump to sit on a short distance away from them,
and waited. From my little spot I could observe both their positions, and the area of woods opposite.
It had turned cool and I fastened my anorak right to the top. A mild wind was blowing and now and again,
acorns fell. However, what pleased me the most was that no other rivals had appeared. I nervously fidgeted
about on my seat. Finally, the camp fire was put out, the soldiers grabbed their weapons, and moved into
their positions. It was getting darker and darker very quickly. While just a moment ago, everything had
still been just about recognizable, all you could see now were rough patterns and outlines. Then it was
pitch black. Were they still there? Apart from the odd acorn falling, it was deadly silent. I thought I
could hear my heart beating, I felt uneasy. I stared into the wood, my eyes open wide. But just there, where
the positions were, a cigarette end glowed briefly. At least half an hour must have passed like this, until
sudden cracking noises in the undergrowth, about fifty yards away from me, made me jump.
Then I heard splashing noises, repeated several times in a row. What was that? In front of me in the woods,
ground flare-traps that had been fixed to the trees were suddenly set off, spreading an amazing bright
light. At almost the same time I could hear a loud hissing noise coming from the direction of the positions.
It was really scary! All of a sudden, there was a puff above me in the sky and lots of red star flares
floated down. Two single white star flares hovered for a while above the area of the forest, presumably
hanging from parachutes. It looked fantastic! I didn't dare move. I was motionless with excitement.
The flickering light produced strange light and shadow effects on the ground. And there, directly in front
of me, I recognized the outlines of figures; first two, three, then more and more. And then the very next
moment all hell broke loose! The flashes from the muzzles of the firing weapons looked like flash lightning.
The firing noise of the guns was mixed with loud orders shouted out by the soldiers in English. The
undergrowth was shaking as though a herd of elephants were charging towards me. In the positions, a machine
gun was firing non-stop, but all you could see was a giant fire-ball. After a few minutes all the fuss was
over. What remained was a strong smell of powder and a crackling noise in the undergrowth that was getting
quieter and quieter. I rode back home, overwhelmed by this experience. Without my flashlight, which in my
haste to get out there I had forgotten, I didn't dare venture into the dark forest. Thank God the light on
my bike was working. There was an exciting film still on TV so Oma and Opa didn't notice that I was home
late. I couldn't sleep for sheer excitement and I was back there again early the next morning.
How lucky I was that no-one else had experienced the wild night attack. Besides countless shells, I also
found what else had left behind the night before. I discovered two green army flashlights, empty ammo cans,
a pile cap, and a poncho in the abandoned ambush positions. What a good yield!
Mischief and dangerous carelessness