Posted on 10 Aug 2025
Category: Top of The Edge, Historical Fiction
Author: Steve Vail
The Intelligence Chlodwig Fenstemacher was able to gather and provide to the SS was invaluable. On February 4, 1943, the twenty-one-year-old Oberleutnant (lieutenant) Chlodwig Fenstemacher reported for duty at the Lorient, France Flotilla (Nazi U-boat Base).
On 8 February 1943, at approximately 1600 hours, U-155 launched its fifth patrol from the Flotilla (Nazi U-boat Base) at Lorient, France. Its mission for this voyage was two-fold. First, support Fenstemacher's mission to make radio contact with the American Nazi underground and render assistance if needed to ensure he is able to reach his rendezvous point - the beach along the coastline of Kiawah Island, one of South Carolina's barrier islands just south of Charleston. The second part of U-155's mission was to head south along the US Atlantic coastline toward Cuba, and take part in an operation that had become so successful that German U-boat commanders referred to it as "The Second Happy Time" and/or "The American Shooting Season". Kapitanleutnant Adolf Cornelius Piening was eager to be done with Fenstemacher and once again do his part in sinking as many Allied and American ships as possible.
U boat 155 under the command of German Naval Kapitanleutnant Piening had been traveling across the Atlantic for 14 days most of which had been above the surface. Currently however, they were submerged and sitting still about 2 Kilometers off the coast of the SC barrier islands south of Charleston. They had arrived at this destination at approximately 1400 hours, and continued their efforts to establish radio contact with the American Nazi underground.
"Are you sure that you're on the right frequency?" Kapitanleutnant Piening was starting to lose his patients. They had started their attempt to make radio contact as soon as they got within a decent range - about 15 Kilometers out. Another hour went by. Piening was now pacing. At 1600 hours Piening called out to his special guest. "It looks like you might have to continue on with us. At least you'll get to see some action."
Chlodwig was resolute and firm as he responded to Piening's comment, "No, Kapitanleutnant. I will disembark from your vessel tonight at 2200 hours regardless of whether we contact the Nazi underground or not."
That was the best news Piening had heard all afternoon. The whole reason he was getting so edgy was because he thought that if they couldn't make radio contact with the Nazi underground, he would get stuck with that pompous clout. He took a deep breath and exhaled as he nodded approval to Chlodwig, "Very well then..."
"Come along Ranger", Cherry was speaking to her horse as she led him out of the trailer. Mr. Rackaway had already unhooked the trailer from his truck and was now assisting with Cherry lead Ranger and Blue out of the trailer. Once they had both horses out, Mr. Rackaway handed Blue's reins over to Cherry. He was a man of few words. They waved to each other as he drove away, and Cherry led the horses over the Dunes and out to the beach where Robyn and Maryanne were currently setting up the tent.
29-year-old Ralph Ford had been a proud member of the original American Nazi movement of 1933, named "Friends of New Germany" (FoNG) under the direction of Heinz Spanknobel who had been given authorization to start the group by the German Nazi leader Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess. Ralph frequently bragged about the fact that his last name was Ford. Even though he couldn't prove any bloodline connection with Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor company, that didn't stop him from making all kinds of claims that they were related. A claim that was emphatically disputed by Ralph's own parents with whom he had been estranged for some time. When Ralph spoke of his supposed cousin Henry Ford's blatant antisemitism and the fact that he was a Nazi sympathizer, his chest would puff up so that it was a wonder the buttons didn't pop off his shirt.
25-year-old Louise Ford, Ralph's wife was the first of her family to be born in the U.S. Her Parents, Walter and Erika Becker had emigrated from Germany after World War One. They arrived at Ellis Island December 5th, 1918. Louise was born 3 days later, December 8th. Unlike Ralph's parents Walter and Erika were close to their daughter and attempted to be close to their son in law as well. They believed that Adolf Hitler was a Godsend to their beloved motherland. Like many Germans of that time, they had become bitter about the sanctions and limitations that had been imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party condemned the Treaty and vowed to reverse the crippling effect that it was having on Germany's economy and morale. As far as the Beckers were concerned that alone was enough to earn their allegiance.
Ralph cursed to himself in his bewilderment as to why he was suddenly having such bad luck. He needed to be able to communicate with the U-boat as soon as it came within range, which according to messages they had received earlier in the week, would be between 1:00 and 3:00 this afternoon. However, due to a thunderstorm the night before, lightning struck the radio antenna which had been extended up through the chimney, rendering their only means of communication with the U-boat completely inoperable. Consequently, Ralph called in sick to his job at the Charleston Cigar Factory and spent the entire morning and part of the afternoon attempting to find the necessary parts to fix the radio. He returned home around 1:00 in the afternoon and spent the next 3 hours making repairs - the whole time just hoping that he could actually fix the blasted thing. As he switched it on, he was saying out loud to himself, "please work please work!" Within seconds he heard the transmission coming from U boat 155 with the coded message for which they had been waiting. Louise had the cipher and was translating the message almost as fast as it was being received. Using the same cipher, she prepared the coded message Ralph would transmit back. Once U 155 received Ralph's response they sent the signal to end all transmission. The look on Ralph's face was one of incredulity as he asked Louise to read the message over to him again. As she read off the coordinates for a second time Ralph was doing his best to pinpoint the location on the map that was now spread out over their kitchen table.
The Fords lived on a dead-end dirt road off of a road that connected River and Inland Roads on Johns Island. Their small single bedroom house was surrounded by several shacks in which the migrant workers stayed during the tomato harvest season. Currently they were all empty but, in a few months, they would be filled to overflowing by the migrant workers and their families. They both detested having to live among such inferiors, but it was the only way they could live this close to the coast on their budget. They were about 10 miles from the beaches of Kiawah Island. Ralph was half talking to himself as he made plans to pick up their new guest from the beach. "Okay, it's 6:10 now. It's going to take us at least 15 minutes just to get to the island and another 10 or more to walk down to the beach."
"Couldn't we just drive right down onto the beach?"
"I might chance that if it was daylight and I was more familiar with the area, but as it is I'm afraid I might get the car stuck in the soft sands of the dunes. Also, a car on the beach is a lot more conspicuous than a couple taking a walk. If we leave here at a little past 8:00 we'll have plenty of time to be out on the beach awaiting his signal." Knowing that their visitor would probably arrive both cold and wet from the waves that would be crashing over his small vessel, Louise gathered together several towels and blankets and threw them in the back seat of their 1938 Ford Tudor sedan. Ralph had purchased the car used from their landlord who was also the owner of the tomato farm on which they lived. He sold it to Ralph for $500.00 shortly after they began renting the property from him about 10 months earlier. Louise's parents lent them the money for the purchase but made no stipulation as to how or when they expected to be paid back. Ralph was more than a little anxious about the entire event and was now giving the car a thorough last-minute once-over hoping to mitigate any unforeseen mechanical issues that might arise.
