Читать онлайн «Hide and Seek: The Irish Priest in the Vatican who Defied the Nazi Command. The dramatic true story of rivalry and survival during WWII.»
Автор Stephen James Walker
STEPHEN WALKER
HIDE & SEEK
THE IRISH PRIEST IN THE VATICAN WHO DEFIED
THE NAZI COMMAND
THE DRAMATIC TRUE STORY OF RIVALRY
AND SURVIVAL DURING WWII
Contents
Chapter 1 - APPOINTMENT TO KILL
Chapter 2 - DESTINATION ITALY
Chapter 3 - ROME IS HOME
Chapter 4 - SECRETS AND SPIES
Chapter 5 - THE END OF MUSSOLINI
Chapter 6 - OPERATION ESCAPE
Chapter 7 - OCCUPATION
Chapter 8 - TARGET O’FLAHERTY
Chapter 9 - CLOSING THE NET
Chapter 10 - RAIDS AND ARRESTS
Chapter 11 - RESISTANCE AND REVENGE
Chapter 12 - MASSACRE
Chapter 13 - CLAMPDOWN
Chapter 14 - LIBERATION
Chapter 15 - CONVICTION AND CONVERSION
Chapter 16 - KERRY CALLING
Chapter 17 - DEAR HERBERT
Chapter 18 - THE GREAT ESCAPE
Chapter 19 - GOODBYE
Chapter 20 - ROME REVISITED
Picture Section
About the Author
Copyright
At the military hospital everything was quiet. In the small hours those tasked with watching the patients had little to do. During the day the building was a different place. Then, the corridors and rooms which looked out towards the Colosseum were alive with the sound of people. At night the atmosphere seemed almost reverential and, for those watching the clock until the sun rose, the pace of life was slow.
It was a holiday week in August. From the windows of the complex on the Caelian Hill, night staff could look down on the lights of Rome. The city beneath was asleep, unaware of the drama that was about to unfold.
After midnight, in a room on the third floor, Anneliese, a blonde-haired woman, was spending time with her elderly husband, who was being treated for cancer. The pair were about to embark on the most dramatic hours of their married lives.
For a few moments they stood by the open window. Outside, apart from the sound of an occasional passing car, the night was still. Then the plan began in earnest. Carefully Anneliese manoeuvred her frail husband, dressed in his best suit, towards the doorway. He was skeletal, weighing not much more than seven stone.
Gently she shuffled him across the floor holding his arm as they moved towards the landing. Weeks of planning were now at risk as she made her way down to the ground floor. Holding him close, Anneliese helped her husband negotiate each step. On the ground floor the guard was not around so they quickly made their way outside. Then they made their way to a hire car which had been parked close to the building. She told him to get into the back of the car and lie down and when he was inside she covered him with a blanket.
She put her bags in the car alongside some fresh flowers, turned on the car stereo, lit a cigarette, and drove slowly to the main gate. With her passenger well hidden, she approached the security barrier, the sounds of the radio filling the air. Her early-morning departure did little to raise suspicions. The staff were used to seeing her coming and going at all hours, and she had built up a friendly rapport with most of the hospital workers. She had planned everything and as usual had left a bottle of good German wine for one of the guards. She had also told the gate staff what time she would be leaving. If she could make her visit seem normal she knew her plan had a good chance of succeeding.
