Did the reward compensate for the death of my friends?

Did the reward compensate for the death of my friends?

The door bell rang. I shouted to my wife. “ I will get it.” I opened the door and there stood a British army Major and his aide-de-camp both in full uniform.

“ I trust we have come to the right address. Are you the brother of Captain Hockins and am I addressing Anthony Hockins? ”

“Yes.”

He then asked if they could come in.

“Yes, of course.”

“We have come to tell you your brother died in Norway two weeks ago on active duty. Posthumously he will be awarded the Distinguished Service Order.”

I stood there in shock. It is hard to believe. I did not know he was in Norway. Hadn't the Germans already retreated from there. How on earth did it happen?

“Your brother as you know was in the Special Forces. A small group of four were sent to Norway a month ago on a secret mission. You will appreciate that I cannot go into any details. Once in Norway they were ambushed. Three of them were killed. Your brother escaped after killing all the ambushers. Later he was found by our troops in a ditch with a bullet in his head. The military police have the affair in hand and are trying to find the killer or killers. We are deeply sorry. I understand he was not married so may I give you his personal effects. His watch, an old wallet, some money and a ring. In the near future the Special Forces will be having a memorial service for their deceased members. You will receive an invitation. Monsieur Hockins I think we should go. Again our condolences. We know you are in the war cabinet and on behalf of the armed forces thank you for your service.

“Just one more thing. Where is my brother buried?”

“He was buried in Bergen-op-Zoom War cemetery.”

They left. I just sat there in silence, numbed by the news. The devastating and brutal war was about to end…..and this happened. My dear brother had certainly done his duty. I looked with a great sense of sadness at his belongings. Thank the Lord the war had not taken away those memories we enjoyed as children playing together. I fumbled with his old wallet and looked for the secret compartment we had always joked about.There to my amazement was a folder letter addressed to me.

It read

My beloved Brother.

You find me on a very secret and important mission in Norway. We were four selected from our group of members in Special Forces. Somebody, somewhere knew we were coming. On arriving in Bergen we were ambushed. All three of my colleagues were killed. They were not only colleagues in arms but had become dear and precious friends. The letter will continue in our brotherly code I invented when we were teenagers,

I went to my desk. Twenty minutes later I was able to read clearly what he had written. The exercise of decoding his letter made me smile. Years ago he invented the code as he thought it would be fun to have a secret way of communicating with each other.

By the mercy of God I escaped after killing all the ambushers. I wandered around for a couple of days until I found a small village just outside Bergen completely empty of inhabitants. There was a large barn in the center of the village where I could hide, sleep and collect my thoughts. The barn was full of ammunition crates and guns. I lay hidden behind some crates and fell asleep. I was woken up hearing two German soldiers loading several ammunition crates and guns onto a jeep. When their loading finished, they drove off without any suspicion that I was there. I fell back to sleep. It was early evening when I awoke. My first reaction was to examine the barn more closely. There was still a sizable amount of cases containing ammunition and arms. This was definitely a secret deposit of German supplies There was no marking on the cases. I suspected a contraband deal of sorts. At the far back end of the barn I found a smaller box with a selection of dried fruit. Alongside this box were two sizerable cases padlocked. I broke the padlocks to look inside. The first case was tightly packed with hundreds of 10,000 dollar notes, the other was packed with a large quantity of 500 pound notes.

I sat there for maybe an hour eating some of the dried fruit and thinking about what I had found. Was it some divine award for killing the men that slaughtered my friends? This money could be distributed to certain organizations that help the needy and families who had been devastated by the misery of war. I immediately thought of soldier families. I felt it was my duty to try and hide the money to be collected at a later date. I decided that at first light I would go and hide the money in a nearby forest. I had noticed earlier in the day that there was a small forest just across a field at the back of the barn. When at dawn I set out with the cases it was snowing buckets.This made the task more difficult but in compensation quickly covered my foot tracts. I realized once I had finished the job I would need to write a letter to you in the event I never returned to England. You will be amused. In hiding the money I employed the same technique we often used playing a game of hiding things in the forest adjoining our parents home. Do you remember? First we created a triangle by the choice of three trees and then clearly marking them. We always thought the triangle should be about the size of a football field. One player buries something in this space. The challenger then had 20 minutes to find the object that had been hidden. The difference between the forest near our parent’s home and here in Norway is that the ground was often icy and snowy during the long winter months. Therefore, dear brother, as this is not a game I will give you specific measurements inside the triangle of where the cases are hidden. In this snow storm is not an easy task. I paced out the distances from the marked three trees where I have dug a hole and hidden the two cases. The distances from the marked trees are as follows. The first tree is to your left when you enter the forest 120 feet , The second tree moving clockwise 90 feet and the third tree 190 feet.

I have written this letter on my return from hiding the cases. I intend to leave my hideout within the hour continuing my journey to complete the mission. It will be difficult without my comrades. If I never come back to England and by chance you get this letter and find the money I leave it to you as to how to distribute it. The war has been brutal. There will be many people in need of help. As a family we have always done our duty in respect for our country.

God bless you dear brother, your wife and children.

The village name is Slrandafgellet, near Bergen. Now you know the code between us finally might serve an important role.

I sat there thinking about my brother, his engaging smile, his enthusiastic approach to life, his laughter that could light up a room. How, we will miss him. My thoughts were interrupted by my wife entering the room.

‘Who was at the door?”

“ Two Army officers with the tragic news that my brother has been found dead in Norway. They brought me his personal belongings and the news that he is to be awarded the DSO.”

My wife sat down suffering from her breathing making odd noises. “What tragic news.”

“I rushed over to her and gently tapped on the back. Her breathing slowly returned to normal.”

“Feeling better?”

She nodded.

“Amongst his personal belongings was his old wallet where I found a letter addressed to me. Here, read it. I have translated the code we used between us as teenagers. My brother was always fascinated by spy novels and secret messages and codes. His absence from our lives will always leave a note of eternal sadness.

The room went silent while my wife read the letter. My right hand stroked our dog in my search for the comfort of the animal's warmth. What seemed like an eternity my dear wife stopped reading. “Just tragic.” She paused before continuing.

“His letter is an extraordinary piece of writing. It has all the fear and anxiety of a person hiding from danger at the same time the uplifting sense of him doing his duty. It is also a kaleidoscope of the folly and brutality of war. Special Forces, secret missions, traitors, brutal killings, hidden weaponry, and tainted money. I do hope we can find the money. It would compensate certain families from suffering the hardship of war. What are you going to do/?

I will go to the War Office and see one of my friends who is a top official. I will ask him to arrange a visit for me to Bergen. I will of course show him my brother's translated letter. I intend asking him to arrange for a couple of army men situated in Bergen to help try and locate the money. I believe the army still has a small contingent there. If the money is still there I will insist it is given to various charities dealing with the war. A large portion should go to the army.

Three weeks later I was welcomed by Major Springfield, a man with a mustache that must have been the pride of his regiment. He took me to my brother's grave and then onto the place where they found my dead brother's body. I lunched at the officer's mess. After lunch in the Major’s company plus two soldiers we drove in a lorry to the village my brother had indicated. We easily found the large barn my brother talked about. It was empty. All of us then traipsed to the forest across the field covered in deep snow. It took about ten minutes to find the three trees with heavily marked signs on their barks. The triangle was found. I called out the measurement and directed one soldier to pace them out in the triangle. At the junction of the measurements the soldiers started breaking some ice that had formed on the forest floor before digging. Ten minutes later they had found the cases with the money. My brother generally won the forest game we used to play.

Three weeks later I received a letter from the War Office thanking me for my role in locating the money. In acknowledgement of your brothers and your part in this episode the board of trustees have awarded your family 10% of the found money. We enclose a check for that amount.

Enclosed also was a list of all the various charities and organizations where money had been distributed. The army was top of the list.

I was so astonished I dropped the letter, but thankfully I still had a very handsome check in my hand. Our dog had quickly picked up the letter and scamped out of the room.

David Nutt November 2025