THE INVESTMENT OF OOSTERBEEK

lying at last on wooden beds. 'The blood-soaked clothes which I was still wearingwere beginning to stink.' When finally hewas carried through a park to an operatingroom, it transpired that the surgeon whohad been working non-stop for 24 hourshad left to get some rest. Eventually,another came and operated on him. Muel-ler, like all German wounded, was fearfullyaware that field doctors tended to believethat it was only worth while in humanterms to administer blood and plasma toseriously injured soldiers because they wereless likely to return to active service. AllMueller could remember before passing outwas the doctor's caustic comment to anurse that 'this chap is drinking up all ourether'. After the operation he remained in ahallway marooned with all the other hope-less cases until, thankfully, he was movedto a general ward containing the otherwounded. Survival was, for the first time, apossibility.The next step was transference to ahospital train. 'I had a nice place by thewindow,' he remembers. At 2000 hours thetrain pulled out under the protective coverof darkness; he was going home to Ger-many. Soon, however, he 'was awakenedunpleasantly by some jerking and jolting'.The train had been derailed 'and our coachhad an awful list'. Wounded patients werepainstakingly transferred from the derailedcoaches and spread in the corridors of thoseremaining. A new locomotive began shunt-ing them rearwards. This, too, was blownup, 'probably by mines', and this was notall:

'Simultaneously our train came undera hail of bullets. Since ours was a redcross train, there were no weaponsinside, and we were all helpless.'

Two flat rail cars mounting anti-aircraftguns puffed up with another locomotiveand beat off the partisans. But, as Mueller

recalled, 'we were in a real mouse-trap'.There were destroyed rails to both theirfront and rear. Their discomfort continued:

'There was beautiful sunshinethroughout the day, and enemyfighter bombers dived down on ourtrain countless times. It was by nomeans a pleasant feeling. Our medicscame through the coaches and told us,especially the lightly wounded, not toleave the train under anycircumstances, as the pilots may get afalse impression and attack the trainafter all. The pilots were more decentthan the partisans, and they flew offagain every time without firing.'

It took until 30 September to get across theRhine. The following day the train dividedand transported Mueller to a field hospitalin southern Germany, thirteen days fromthe time he had first staggered into hiscompany aid post.Back in the Oosterbeek perimeter furthernegotiations, this time cleared by Bittrichthe IISS Corps commander, led to thedeclaration of a two-hour cease-fire tocome into effect at 1500 hours on 24 Sep-tember. During this period, up to 1,200wounded British POWs were taken out ofthe pocket and transported to German hos-pitals. It was not easy to confine thefighting to areas outside the truce, because,as SS-Corporal Dombrowki saw, 'the trucewas only valid within this corridor; fightingstill carried on around it'. The irony of thesituation was not lost on the SS Engineers,Dombrowski remarked:

28

'The pause to hand over the woundedreally emphasises what a nonsense waris. We all checked our watches and itbecame quiet, the British paras cameout. Words were exchanged and a fewcigarettes thrown across. We hadplenty to offer as many of their

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