My Experience of the Border War
All schools had been closed for quite some time, because of constant air attacks and artillery fire. The roads through Zweibruecken were used to supply the front fighting troops in France with food and ammunition. At first, listening to breaking news three to four times a day on the radio was thrilling. Radio stations would interrupt their regularly scheduled broadcasts to give us updates. As the war dragged on, it became less and less interesting, because newscasters no longer announced that German troops had successfully taken this or that city, and that Germany submarines had sunk many British and American ships. Now, the breaking news reported German troops retreating. This was a prime reason for me to look into other adventures.
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Downtown Zweibrucken before the war |
About 800 yards away from my parents’ home, the little creek Bickenalb (originating in France) merges with a somewhat larger river, the Hornbach. The Bickenalb carries crystal clear water, and my friends and I would fish there once in a while for trout and crayfish, without permission. Suddenly, about another 800 yards upstream, something secret was happening. There were excavations going on behind wooden walls. “What could this be?” we all wondered. After a week, I found out. Covered with green camouflage nets were four anti-aircraft batteries. Each battery had four guns on one gun mount. In German, it is called Vierlingsflack. The gunner sat on the gun mount and directed and fired the four guns simultaneously. He could turn the gun mount 360 degrees, like a merry-go-round. The four guns firing simultaneously made the bullets cross each other at a certain height, and it was very effective. Sometimes the soldiers allowed me to take the gunner’s seat and to turn it. This happened only when there were no pre-warnings of fighter plane attacks and when the guns were not loaded. Like all war equipment, it was very fascinating to me.
I normally walked early in the morning to this installation, which looked quite harmless. I walked along the little Bickenalb Creek, watching light fog over the meadows, seeing the trout in the water, and appreciating the meadow flowers. Even as a boy, I loved nature and I made many trips with my father and brothers through the hilly, wooded areas and beautiful valleys around my hometown.
Another reason for me to visit the soldiers and their guns was the hope of getting a bite of their breakfast or leftovers, sometimes even a small piece of chocolate. Unlike civilians, soldiers still had enough good food. We had food stamps, but food was not always available, and there was no chocolate at all during this time.
The anti-aircraft batteries were installed on one side of the winding Birkenalb. On the other side was a steep wooded hillside. About 120 feet above the creek was a big old wooden cabin. This cabin had been a restaurant before the war, with a large barn-type building behind it. Both buildings were used for banquets, weddings and other gatherings. Now they housed soldiers. As they were mostly hidden by trees, the fighter planes could not easily see them. When the main alarm sounded in advance of incoming fighter bombers, the soldiers ran quickly down the little hill, and in a matter of minutes they were ready to shoot.