"The Lord usually punishes our sins and stupidities straightaway". Whether the Americans knew this saying,
I don't know, but even today I think back to one particular experience and it still makes me smile. I had
come across some soldiers, and they were setting up their positions along a horse trail.
Some of them were acting particularly restless and agitated. I quickly noted the reason for their behavior.
Swearing loudly, the soldiers kept beating each others' uniforms. They had obviously not yet realized that
their positions were situated directly on a so-called "ant path". It made sense for the little forest
dwellers to draw attention to themselves in their own way, in the form of painful bites. I showed the
Americans the ant path which led directly towards a nearby ant-hill. I certainly hadn't expected or
intended what happened next. All that the soldiers could think of was revenge. Several of them gathered
around the ant-hill, one of them held a light gray practice grenade in his hand. After he had dug a hole
into the hill, just above the surface of the ground, I guessed what they were planning and carried myself
off to a safe distance. Shortly afterwards, just what I had been fearing happened. The soldier with the
simulator jerked at the pull-out fuse and stuck the explosive device into the hole that had been prepared.
To my astonishment, the GIs only stood back a few yards, as the grenade exploded loudly after a shrill
whistle.
After the thick white cloud of smoke had dispersed, I was able to see that where the ant hill had been
there was now only a smoldering hollow. And it was raining ants. Thousands of tiny red forest ants rained
down amongst dry foliage and dirt onto the baffled soldiers. I couldn't stop my laughing. Just like in a
movie, the Americans performed a kind of Red Indian dance, screaming loudly amongst each other. "Fucking
ants"....those words I heard over and over. The soldiers were covered with the little creepy crawlies. As
they had all taken their helmets off, the little creatures weren't just on their uniforms, but on their
necks, under their collars and in their hair as well. I'm sure the troops felt the consequences of their
stupidity for a long time afterwards. The little forest dwellers did actually manage to put a whole platoon
of soldiers temporarily out of action. In any case, the GIs who were affected were certainly taught a lesson
that they no doubt didn't forget in a hurry.
On one occasion, my day ended unluckily, when I left a U.S. unit and, following the sound of the shots,
suddenly found myself amidst the German riot police. They too carried out regular blank cartridge practices
in the Grunewald. At that time, the riot police were still equipped with the old allied infantry weapons.
With the riot police, drill and routine still prevailed, unlike with the Americans. But it still looked
rather funny whenever the "pillars of the people", as we called them, marched past in their out of fashion
overalls. On their heads they wore either their tight blue or their green soft caps. Because the riot
police usually picked up their expended shells by themselves, we were spared the bother of having to search
for them. On that particular day, the young police men obviously didn't feel like collecting up their brass
themselves. Instead, laughing, they took my brass that I was transporting as always on my bike carrier, and
then left their own expended cartridges lying around on the ground. Well, like I said, it all went wrong!
Another story springs to mind for this chapter. The soldiers particularly liked horse trails, because they
had more peace and quiet and were hidden from nosy observers. Normal visitors to the Grunewald, whether by
foot or on their bicycles, avoided these sandy trails because of the inconvenience. Of course it was quite
clear that the Americans couldn't get rid of me and my rivals that easily. There weren't many horse riders,
but whenever soldier and horse crossed paths, it usually ended in chaos. Many horses reared up and bolted
whenever they suddenly spotted well-camouflaged GIs. It was a particularly foolish idea to then open blank
fire, which the soldiers often did simply out of mischief. One time I watched a soldier fire a whole
magazine in one long burst at a horse, just for fun. The surprised female rider was sent flying out of her
saddle and fortunately landed on the soft and churned up sandy ground. The GI had a rather stupid expression
on his face as the woman jumped up and suddenly started to whip him all over with her riding crop. Wow, she
really was upset! His comrades, who in the meantime had caught the startled horse and were holding onto him,
really made fun of him, and so the day had gone all wrong for this joker as well. Still in a very bad mood,
the woman who had endured her sudden, unplanned dismount, continued her unforgettable ride.
Another day I experienced an unusual incident in the Grunewald. For a moment I thought I was in an action
movie scene, but it was reality! Like always in the afternoon, I spent my time in the forest looking for
Berlin Brigade troops. That day I was on foot, hiking down a sandy trail towards Havelchaussee. Opposite of
the AVUS, an American recon platoon was conducting field training. There were a bunch of jeeps with mounted
M-60 machine guns and 106mm recoilless rifles. Several times I'd heard automatic weapons firing. Suddenly
the firing was very close to me. A moment later, a big black 4-door Wolga sedan came from my front with
high beamed headlights blazing and horn blowing. What the hell was that?! Inside the car I recognized
four Soviet soldiers in uniform, wearing their big well known round hats. They almost ran over me! The car
passed at high speed, leaving a huge cloud of dust. I barely had time to jump to the side of the sandy
trail! Following the Soviet car, at about 50 yards, were four or five U.S. recon jeeps, their M-60 machine
guns firing blanks in long bursts at the Wolga! No doubt, the gun jeeps chased that "spy vehicle" out of
the Grunewald, but the GIs probably didn't realize that they had risked their lives! It's difficult to
imagine what could have happened if another military vehicle had come from the opposite direction of that
escaping Wolga, blocking its way! The dirt trail was only about 5 feet wide. The Soviets were probably
unarmed and I do not know how they'd been ordered to defend themselves if they became trapped! I'm told
that Soviet guards at their training sites carry live ammo only. That made it easy for unauthorized
people in their training areas to get shot. Thank the Lord, nothing bad happened! About half a mile ahead,
the Soviet car finally reached the paved Havelchausee and sped away towards the British sector. As I was
picking up all the expended M-60 brass, which was spread down the trail for about 400 yards, the recon
jeeps came back; their crews laughing loudly. For them it had been a fools game only. Soviet military cars
were always sneaking around U.S. Army facilities, but I had never before and after seen them in the
Grunewald. That day for the Soviets had definitely "all gone wrong".
Remembering a friend