The Hangman of Prague
In the days of war and Nazi conquest
Deep in the heart of the Third Reich
Was a man so cold and ruthless
That the fuhrer proclaimed had a heart of Iron
Hangman Heydrich ruled a nation
Of several million innocent Czechs
Controlling them with an Iron grip
Signs of resistance spelled their death
Himmlers deputy performed with efficiency
The darker parts of Nazi ideology
Together at Wannsee with Eichmann at his side
Heydrich sowed the seeds of Jewish genocide
The blonde beast filled with swagger
Gave authority for eugenic science
Obeying the orders of a ranting fanatic
By preparing the gene pool for an Aryan nation
But the exiled Czech government could see the threat
Of Heydrich's idea of work efficiency
By bribing with food, the enslaved nation
Increased industrial output was part of the equation
Training Czech agents to take him out
A suicide mission but important to all
They were flown to Czechoslovakia under hostile skies
Knowing to assasinate a tyrant was a ticket to die
Parachuted into countryside where the resistance were placed
They were driven into Prague to plan their tactics
Finding that the hangman took the same car route
The assasins with weapons soon took note
Waiting in a street at a precarious bend
They eagerly awaited their target
Just as the car came round the corner
One of the agents fired but the machine gun jammed
Knowing he was in danger Heydrich fired back
But a bomb was thrown which instantly ignited
The agents plan soon turned into a bit of a debacle
Leaving clues behind with their guns and a pedal cycle
The injured beast was taken to a hospital bed
Where he soon succumbed to poisonng of the blood
The blonde beast of the SS soon lost his life
In Prague marshal law was declared the city suffered strife
The agents in danger took refuge in a church
Where they were given sanctuary of mind
But they were soon betrayed by one of their own
One of the agents confessed to the gestapo of their shameful crime
Confined in the church, the agents were surrounded
By SS and gestapo filling the group with terror
Soon confined in the chapels cellar
They were faced with drowning, till they mercy killed one another
With the perpetrators dead the city could breathe
With all restrictions lifted, Prague could relax
But reprisals in Lidice was the price to pay
For the murder of a Nazi henchman the blood letting was great
M.C. Newberry
Thu 17th Oct 2013 14:21
Extraordinary how the best laid plans and the
rigorous training can be ruined by something
so mundane as a "jammed" weapon. Having read
accounts of this mission, I'm amazed that an
automatic weapon had no immediate heavy calibre
(.45 ??)revolver back-up...as the latter was
rarely prone to failure. Even Colonel Colt's
famous old Peacemaker was made with tolerances
allowing it to fall into mud and dust and fire without failing. The grenade that drove foreign matter into Heydrich's body was literally "hit and miss", in retrospect and
his subsequent death from the blood poisoning
that resulted was certainly more chance than design.
The ghastly Nazi revenge at Lidice was "par for
the course" as far as reprisals for killing
their personnel (let alone such a prominent
hate figure) was concerned. They did this sort
of thing all over the place in occupied
territories.