This was a really funny and well researched story. I enjoyed this tale because it read so much like an episode, and I could vividly see each character carrying out their part of the mission perfectly. I loved the fact that you did do your research very well for the story. I love learning new things, and you taught me things about the code breakers I had never known before. I have used the code talkers in my stories, and even had Carter as one of them, but I know next to nothing about the code breakers, other than of their existence. Thank you for teaching me something today! I also appreciate your careful writing, as well. Altogether a great effort!

I loved this- this could have been a lost early season episode for sure!

I'm always amazed by people who can write stories and barely mention Klink and not mention Schultz and make it work. And I'm blown away by your research and how you weaved it in.

I love Hogan's annoyance at Aubrey being a woman. And then naturally he gets the romance with her. I mentioned early season episode before because he seemed more surprised by women's advances early in the show rather than later - i.e. his kiss with Aubrey here is similar to his first one with Tiger in Hold That Tiger.

I grew up watching the likes of Hogan Heroes with my dad. He likes his War shows and his Westerns. From your summary I knew it was referring to War of the Worlds. Fits in well with the show that Hogan and his men would use the radio drama as a part of the break in and cause chaos for the Germans.

Loved Kinch and Newkirk's radio broadcast, it was my favourite section of the story. Reading them pretend they didn't know what was happening, Newkirk acting as the other people. You can tell they were having fun with how you wrote the chapter.

[Female code breakers! Whoever would have thought of such a thing?] - Nice touch of keeping with times. Loved Hogan's response to learning that the 'Martian' was female. Liked the others reactions to meeting Aubrey Bates as well. Poor miss Bates, getting hit on by those men with alien/mars cheesy pickup lines. Hogan getting the girl while the others missed out was very in character.

Now that the codebreaker was rescued I was wondering what could possibly go wrong, from my memory of the show, nothing ever went smoothly for Hogan and co. I see their plan worked too well! I loved that there flying disc was blown up.

You've done a good job of keeping in with the humour of the show. Didn't notice any obvious errors with spelling and grammar. Was a fun read and this story works very well as a one shot. You've tied everything off nicely.

Hi there, m’dear! This is your official review for having hit 100 points in the RLt Review Campaign! I am not completely fandom savvy with Hogan’s Heroes, I have watched some of the old shows so I know a bit about it (but not who is who, sadly) and all, so I apologize if I get something wrong. That said, on with the review!

I really love the way that you spotlight how Morse Code can sound to someone who has never heard it here: ((To the untrained ear, the tapping of Morse code could sound otherworldly, foreign.)). The clicks are very much a foreign language to someone who has never before heard it. I think as an opening hook line that this is a really great one to have gone with. I was instantly curious about what the coded message was going to be and how it was going to impact the story. That for me it is nothing but gibberish is not true for the crew of Hogan’s Heroes. To them, those clicks indicates that they are about to ((get busy)) very, very soon and that they could be in danger very, very soon after that haha

Yeah, I can imagine why ((Kinch furrowed his brow.)) here: (("I may be decoding this incorrectly, because Mama Bear says that the Germans have captured a Martian.")) I would be thinking that I had to have translated the message wrong myself. Who would immediately think that a message incoming about your enemy is because your enemy has captured something that could only be from outer space? I do love how this piece is playing upon the whole idea of there being other life forms out there. Considering that I don’t have the rest of the information to know what that Martian actually turns out to be, it puts an interesting spin on the chain of events about to unfold.

I got a serious laugh here: ((LeBeau smirked. "It certainty explains why your country's cooking is not fit for human consumption. You're all Martians.")) about why British cooking is not fit for anybody to consume: it’s made by aliens. Only aliens could eat things like blood sausage and kippers lol I do love the interplay with the characters and how they can tease about things like this. It shows how close they are and how they know not to take offense when statements like this are made. That essentially the Martian turns out to be a British woman named Aubrey Bates who is one of the best code breakers for the Allies works to add even more humor to this line because of how it opposes the idea that the British are not good for much of anything. Clearly, women like Aubrey are able to do something that not many others are able.

I like how that just: ((In theory, he had known that the chemical formula should have worked,)) because it shows how Carter isn’t exactly an expert in the bomb business and is cognizant of the fact that ((his bombs had a habit of not always behaving according to orders.)). He might tell them to blow up, but that don’t mean they are going to do so. Something can interfere and cause those bombs to remain unexploded. However, he also makes sure to specify how that ((…wasn't his fault, explosives tended to be temperamental at best.)). He’s right; things only go kaboom if the things that make them kaboom want to go kaboom. Things work out perfectly, though, and their plans allow them to safely extract Aubrey from the hands of the Germans before she can be broken.

((Newkirk was incredulous. "You'll cook British food for her but not for your ole chum."/LeBeau shrugged. "She's prettier than you."))—I got a serious laugh out of this lol I think having the men all be so at ease, despite the fact that Aubrey is the first woman they have seen in a long time, and joke around with each other like this shows that they don’t take themselves seriously and don’t feel like they need to put on any type of airs around her. They can joke and kid without worry or fear that they are going to insult her, or each other.

I love how Hogan here: ((But for all the talk about alien invasions and wars between planets, he just hoped that when men reached the stars that they would finally find the one thing that eluded them here on earth: peace.)) wants only one thing: peace. That he doesn’t even consider going after Aubrey, who just rewarded him with a kiss shows that he’s aware of how it is a time of war and that romances don’t always last during a war. Peace though is something that has a chance of lasting for more than a few months. So he wishes for that instead of something that doesn’t have a chance of making a week.

Just a few quick pointer(s):

((A fake telegram, an unassuming young women, no one would have expected her to be grabbed. And such a lovely young women, too! Even now with her soft hair piled atop her head and covered by a cap and her nice curves hidden under an oversized shirt and baggy trousers, she was still beautiful. Quick torturing yourself – she's leaving!))-Just a quick editing note: (women) should be woman since it is just Aubrey, and Quick should be (Quit).

In all, this was a really fun and imaginative piece and I greatly enjoyed reading it! Fantabulous job!

What a splendidly complicated caper - and as so many of the best stories are, it's given an extra helping of plausibility by the real-world historical details to which it's anchored. Very funny, very true to the series, and beautifully plotted. Well done!

This was clever, especially since you didn't use the line I'm sure most of us were expecting.

I do have one nitpick: Audrey was never a masculine name, so they'd have no reason to initially believe their target was a man. I believe the name you were thinking of was Aubrey.

You have woven a lot of history into this very entertaining story. Everyone had their part to play (I particularly love the broadcast). The story did t get too bogged frown with unnecessary details (how they got control off the radio station for example), and the line was perfect. This was crazy, and would have made a wonderful episode.

Really good!

You do really well with beginnings and endings: the opening lines foreshadow the plot line really well, and the ending line is very hopeful.

Great characterization of all the guys. Hogan knowing what the code means and deciding to tell his men because he’ll get the best work from them was a nice portrait of him a commander. I liked the way they all picked up on the Martian idea: Hogan gives the starting point, Kinch picks up the connection to Orson Welles’s “War of the Worlds,” and Carter gets the idea to make the bombs red so that they seem more Martian. Then they all want to show Hitler’s wrong—by fooling the Germans as much as some Americans were fooled.

Good details on how the plan comes off: Carter and LeBeau’s part with planting the bombs and the red disk, Kinchloe’s and Newkirk’s antics on the radio—especially Newkirk playing all the parts with such verve, and Hogan rescuing the girl, of course. Plenty of comedy in LeBeau and Newkirk competing for Audrey’s attention, but her reaction to them (and to Hogan at the end) was completely in line with the show. Having the Luftwaffe attack the flying disc, and nearly taking Carter and LeBeau out with it, was also a great idea.

I particularly loved how you took so many different historical backgrounds and wove them all together: the Martians (including Hogan’s perfectly period surprise at women working at such a job), the “War of the Worlds” radio drama and Hitler’s reaction to it, and Hogan’s use of the term “foo fighter” in its original context (which I hadn’t known before looking it up after reading your story!). Great historical notes at the end of the story!

This was like reading an episode - very true to the series! I'd love to have been able to watch this. It sounds like Kinch and Newkirk had loads of fun at the station (and at least this way, Gestapo repercussions on the town are likely to be minimal), Carter got to do his bit and the rescue was classic HH - with a twist in the form of a shoe!

My favourite line: "Mon Colonel, I hereby request a transfer to Mars." LOL

The story needs another reread from a fresh eye to catch some missed typos, but for the rest - absolutely perfect! Well done!

I agree with other reviewers - this does read like an episode! I can see and hear the fake radio broadcast. Great banter between the men - especially Newkirk and LeBeau fighting over Miss Bates. This bit had me laughing out loud:

“That’s a rather British name for an alien,” Newkirk said.

LeBeau smirked. “It certainty explains why your country’s cooking is not fit for human consumption. You’re all Martians.”

Women code breakers at Bletchley Park made me think of the movie "The Imitation Game". I'm glad that the contribution these intelligent women made in an era when women were just expected to be secretaries has finally been revealed.

Great story and great job with the challenge!

This really does read like an episode. Very enjoyable read. many thanks

I knew from the moment I saw the summary, that War of the Worlds would play into this somehow! And what a show, it was! The guys have really undone themselves! :D
(and I love how you added the newspaper exaggeration factor by noting that the Germans were more frightened over a new allied weapon than actual bonafide aliens. That is the more pressing concern in this war!)

I never knew about Ultra, before either. The way you worked that into this story was really great! (especially with all the alien puns) It really felt like an actual episode :D

( I should really check out that book by Duncan. It sounds really interesting! :))

That was hilarious! It really could be an episode! So many great lines, and the whole plot was so clever; only Hogan could have dreamed that up! All the guys were so in character, too, and I could actually hear Newkirk in my head during the radio broadcast.

Wonderful story, wonderfully written. I loved it!

Nice job! I knew about the Bletchley Park code breakers, but I didn't know about the branch that was dubbed the Martians. What a great way to use two bits of history and develop a typically outrageous Hoganesque plot around them!

Regarding the "War of the Worlds" panic: I've often guiltily wondered if I would have been one of the panicked crowd had I lived back then. I sure hope not...