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Series Timeline

Revision as of 22:01, 6 May 2014 by Leoni2 (talk | contribs) (→‎1919 - 1939)
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Introduction

Series Timeline

History versus fiction ....

Hogan's Heroes was designed to be an entertaining television series, not a visual history lesson. Even so, many of those involved in its creation, writing, acting, and production were well schooled in World War II history. It should come as no surprise that one can draw rough parallels between series episodes and actual historical events in World War II. There are many references to famous battles (El Alamein, Stalingrad, Normandy), to wartime historical figures (Hitler, Rommel, Kesselring, de Gaulle, Churchill), to important Allied bombing targets inside Germany (Schwienfurt, Hamburg), and important wartime technological developments (German rockets, the American atomic bomb, Japanese kamikazes, etc.). It is possible, using these and other references within the series itself, to sort out how the series episodes occur in sequence of their conjectured historical dates, as opposed to production date or airdate.

This is a suggested chronological listing of all the episodes of Hogan's Heroes. Key items from the series and key historical events are noted for easy reference and comparison. Please consult the individual episode summaries for more detailed information.

Assumptions

The following assumptions are made, based on internal evidence within the series, in order to aid the process in coming up with reasonably consistent dates:

  • Stalag 13 opened in September 1939, not long after the start of World War II. The exact day is never stated, although a safe guess would be that it was first used to house Polish POWs - which implies a date in the middle of the month. The real-life Luft-Stalag XIII opened on 17 September 1939.
    The Sergeant's Analyst.
  • Hogan was shot down in July 1942, with Hogan's Heroes (HH) beginning their operations shortly after. This date comes from an actual historical bombing raid that fits the description given of the event.
    Hogan Gives A Birthday Party.
  • The common interpretation concerning Schultz's statement to SS Major Hochstetter in Klink for the Defense, in that he was talking about Hogan's arrival date, is incorrect
    (see footnote 12)
  • Both Hilda and Helga worked as secretaries at Stalag 13 at the same time, with Helga leaving in 1944 Casanova Klink.
  • Hochstetter first arrived at Stalag 13 at the end of 1943 as part of a SS special investigation unit operating out of Berlin.
    Heil Klink.
  • Hochstetter was reassigned to the Hammelburg Gestapo office to replace the late Kommandant Heydrich at the end of 1943.
    Everybody Loves a Snowman, implied.
  • Sergeant Baker has been present at Stalag 13, possibly as part of the Barracks 3 gang of supporting heroes, through the whole timeline of the series.
    Lady Chitterly's Lover, Part 1, implied. Baker remembers Crittendon, even though this is the only Crittendon story in which he appears.

Observations

The following observations may be of interest to anyone else interested in researching the timeline of the series:

  • No attempt has been made to reconcile dates with the actual days of the week (Sunday, Monday, etc.), because such an effort is impractical. So, if you pick up any calendar from 1942-1945 and compare it with some of the dates listed here, you might find more than a few discrepancies. Anyone who wants to go to that extent is welcome to do so.
  • Priority is given to dating information in spoken dialogue first, spoken inferences second, then dates printed on signs and other documents, then inferences in printed materials, and so on.
  • Every effort has been made to take into consideration events referenced in previous episodes or side stories that take place across several episodes. Examples include Klink and Schultz's flirting with various barmaids at the Hofbrau (multiple episodes), SS Major Hochstetter's arrival in Bavaria and his eventual appointment as regional police chief (various), the state of affairs on the Russian front (various), and so on.
  • Whenever there is a contradiction between multiple dating references within a given episode, then the spoken word is usually given the most weight in determining dates. The dialogue tends to better fit with real-word events than do the various prop signs and placards, especially the ones in the background (the infamous VERBOTEN sign, for example), which tended to be used across multiple episodes and thus can confuse any serious attempt at dating. Remember, most of these -- save the ones intended for the viewers, like the "Great Escapes of 1943" placard -- are nothing more than set dressing with authentic period props. They were never meant to be seen up close, and can thus be safely ignored for dating purposes.
  • The changing layout of the camp, buildings, other landmarks, and building interiors - such as Klink's office and quarters - across seasons is ignored. This was due to TV production requirements, story issues, etc.
  • The presence of snow is generally ignored, unless it is mentioned in the dialogue or plays a significant part in the story. This was a production decision, so wardrobes and sets would not have to reflect seasonal changes.
  • Likewise, other minor production issues - Bob Crane's prominent gray temples in the sixth season, the gradual fading of the colors of Klink's uniform, as well as Carter's (his leather flying jacket completely replaced in the sixth season), damage to the insignia on Schultz's helmet in some episodes, etc - are also ignored.
  • The same actor playing different parts in different episodes is as a rule ignored, unless some significance can be made of it. The best example of this is Howard Caine's early guest appearance as SS Colonel Feldkamp. This has been put before his semi-regular role as SS Major Hochstetter. The character of Feldkamp, an SS officer stationed in Barvaria before Hochstetter's arrival, is established by other episodes. On the other hand, Caine's second guest role as Wehrmacht artillery officer Major Keitel is placed in its proper historical context, which is after Hochstetter has already appeared on the scene. Another example is actress Arlene Martel, who had a semi-recurring role as Tiger, one of the key resistance leaders. She also played different resistance operatives in two other episodes, which some fans tend to retcon as appearances by Tiger under other names (see footnote 2). A good example of the normal situation for guest stars is John Hoyt's multiple appearances as various German officers. None of these are connected in any way, as each episode makes clear he is playing a completely different character.


Events Before The Series

c.1200

c.1440s

  • The Klink family becomes part of the poorer Prussian nobility.
    Oil for the Lamps of Hogan. He says his family name is 500 years old, "and now I will finally have some money to go with it!"

c.1840s

  • The Klink family obtains the china that it will use for special dinners and formal occasions.
    Guess Who Came To Dinner. Klink says it's over 100 years old.

1863

c.1870s (?)

  • Carter's Sioux grandfather fights alongside Chief Sitting Bull in the Indian Wars during the days of the American Wild West.
    Drums Along The Dusseldorf

c.late 1880s or early 1890s (?)

  • Alfred Hans Burkhalter is born. He has at least one sister, who is named Gertrude.
    Cupid Comes to Stalag 13. Date is an educated guess.

1893

  • Wilhelm Klink is born in Leipzig. He has at least one sibling, a brother named Wolfgang, and possibly another - a sister.
    The Gypsy, Praise the Führer and Pass the Ammunition. BTW, Klink has a middle initial, per Bombsight, but we never find out what it is. Wolfgang is named in The Gypsy. Klink has two family portraits on his desk - one of two boys and one of a young girl. The two boys are most likely himself and his brother, so it follows that the young girl is his sister. In the pilot The Informer there are actually three pictures. From right to left, these are most likely his father, him and Wolfgang, and said sister.

1896

  • Hans Georg Schultz is born.
    Killer Klink. Middle name comes from the German dub of the series.

1900

1903

c.1905-1914

1908

1909

c.1910-1918

  • Hogan admitted to being something of a wild child in his youth. Among his many accomplishments was the artful vandalism of posters and billboards.
    The Empty Parachute

1913

1914

  • Klink fails the qualifying exams for law, medicine, and bookkeeping.
    Kommandant of the Year. Ironic, because in later years he actually became a halfway decent bookkeeper. This could be seen as one of the few handicaps that he recognized and worked to overcome.
  • Klink will later have fond memories of his brief "university days" prior to the outbreak of World War I. His friend Mulendorf, who is destined to become a general during the next war, attends Potsdam with him. Also in his class are a number of other future generals, such as von Stofle, Heidelman, Kronman, and von Lintzer. Klink is give a dueling scar by von Stofle at this time. Klink's favorite instructor is one Colonel Schlessman, whose saying "authority is a dangerous thing in the hands of fools" he will remember for life.
    Hello, Zollie, The Safecracker Suite, Cupid Comes to Stalag 13, Klink's Rocket, Man in a Box
  • Klink's class is graduated early due to the outbreak of World War I. He places 95th in his class.
    Hogan's Double Life


World War I (1914-1918)

  • Klink volunteers for the fledgling German Air Force despite a lifelong fear of flying. One of the members of his squadron is the future General von Stofle, who will remember him fondly. In stark contrast, he will be remembered with contempt by the famed Blue Baron, Manfred von Richter, with whom he collides during what is later described as "a routine training flight" on 4 August 1917. Klink will walk away from the crash uninjured, while the Blue Baron will suffer from a pronounced limp for the rest of his life. The plane Klink seem to have flown the most during the war was the Fokker D.VII - a picture of which he will still have over 20 years later. His nickname among his fellow pilots is the Iron Eagle. Klink will eventually win both the Iron Cross First Class and the Pour le Merite for valor in combat - the reasons for which are never disclosed during the series. This is the start of Klink's military career.
    Hello, Zollie, Will the Blue Baron Strike Again?, The Missing Klink, How to Escape from a Prison Camp Without Even Trying, photos on wall of Klink's office, medals on uniform.
  • Schultz is drafted into the Imperial German Army. He eventually winds up in the Ardennes in the thick of the fighting, where he saves the life of Lieutenant Kammler, his company commander, during a fierce firefight. It is a deed of bravery that the future General Kammler will never forget.
    The Rise and Fall of Sergeant Schultz.
  • Burkhalter, as a young officer in the Imperial German Army, wins the Iron Cross First Class for valor in combat.
    (medals on uniform)


Between the Wars

1919 - 1939

  • Klink rises rapidly through the ranks of the post-war German Army (Reichswehr). During this time he serves as an instructor at the German War College, where one of his pupils is a future general named Hammerschlag. His crowning achievment is to make the rank of colonel in 1923 - largely due to the influence of his brother's wife. It is the last promotion he will receive in his military career. In between the wars he will spend most of his time as a bookkeeper, until he is "borrowed" by the German Air Sports League (the disguised German Air Force) due to his flight skills. He switches services once the Luftwaffe's existence is declared and is given a full-grade transfer. Klink qualifies as a bomber pilot with the new Heinkel He-110 and serves as a senior officer with the 410th Bomber Squadron. Klink's squadron is rotated through the Condor Legion, fighting in the Spanish Civil War, and this will be the last combat action in which Klink participates. During this tour of duty, his squadron is involved in the accidental bombing of a village, and he orders them to go on their way "as if nothing happened." About this time, or not long after, Klink's eyesight deteroriates in his left eye, and he is grounded. He will wear a monicle for the rest of his life. For his valor in combat he will receive a bar to his Iron Cross and the Luftwaffe Ground Combat Badge. Klink works for a time as a Luftwaffe tower dispatcher "due to his resonant voice" at many airbases, including Stuttgart. The thing he will remember most during this brief period is his getting the chance to meet the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, in person at a party rally in Munich. The outbreak of World War II finds Klink in Berlin, awaiting his next assignment.
    The Late Inspector General, Is General Hammerschlag Burning?, Cupid Comes to Stalag 13, War Takes a Holiday, Easy Come, Easy Go, Don't Forget to Write, Kommandant of the Year, The Great Impersonation, Will the Blue Baron Strike Again?, Will the Real Adolf Please Stand Up?, The Rise and Fall of Sergeant Schultz, Man in a Box, medals on uniform. Service with the Condor Legion is implied, based on Klink's statement in Some of Their Planes Are Missing that he has not achieved ANY flight combat experience to date during World War II. He had to get those medals from somewhere, folks, and the only candidate for combat action within this timeframe is the Spanish Civil War.
  • Schultz marries a young fraulein named Gretchen. After the wedding they settle down in Heidelberg, where they have five children. Schultz leaves the military and goes into private business. He eventually becomes involved with the Schatze Toy Company, and by 1939 he will be its president. A cheerful fellow whose only vices are beer, girls, and gambling, he is a typical German businessman. In politics, he is a Social Democrat in public and an avowed monarchist in private. When Hitler comes to power, Schultz's position makes him a natural target for the Nazi Party. His business is taken from him and he is left without any income. His wife Gretchen gets a job in a munitions plant disguised as a man. Their bad situation puts a noticeable strain on their marriage. Eventually, in 1939, just before the war begins, Schultz is forced to re-enlist in order to help provide some means for his family. His age and weight bar him from the front lines, but the Reich finds his past experience useful. He is reinstated to his former rank of staff sergeant and passed on to the Luftwaffe for a posting. When Germany invades Poland, Schultz is at home with his wife in Heidelberg.
    Killer Klink, The Prince from the Phone Company, War Takes a Holiday, Top Hat, White Tie and Bomb Sight, The Rise and Fall of Sergeant Schultz, The Purchasing Plan, The Informer. Schultz's date of re-enlistment comes from Clearance Sale on the Black Market.
  • Burkhalter remains with the German Army between the wars, rising to the rank of colonel in the infantry of the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic.
    Implied, uniform. When we first see Burkhalter in The Informer, he is wearing an infantry colonel's uniform. The next time we see him, and for the rest of the series, he wears the uniform of an infantry general.
  • Wolfgang Hochstetter joins the Nazi Party in 1931. He soon finds a home in its growing SS branch, and quickly rises through its ranks. His specialty is cryptography, and he will graduate crypto school as the top man in his unit. He also sees combat prior to World War II, and for this he is given the Iron Cross, First Class.
    The Defector, The Missing Klink, medals on uniform. Most fans believe that Hochstetter earned his Iron Cross either in Poland or during one of Hitler's "peaceful" occupations of his neighboring countries, although the series itself never says.
  • Hogan is drafted by the U.S. Army for service in 1918, near the end of the war. It is the beginning of a lifelong military career. He joins the fledgling Air Corps, taking his pre-flight training in Palm Springs, Florida, and graduates third in his class from flight school. As he moves up in the ranks of the Army Air Corps, he quickly gains a reputation as an able officer, excellent pilot, and skilled strategist. Most of his assignments are in the American Midwest, where many of the Army's top flight schools and training facilities are located at this time. He will claim both Cleveland, Ohio and Milwaukee, Wisconsin as home at various times during this period and also makes regular visits to Indianapolis, Indiana. Hogan gains a reputation as a ladies' man at this time, but he never lets this interfere with his duties. It is fairly certain that Hogan first met Kinch during this time, most likely in the late 1930s or early 1940s, after Kinch had joined the Army, and Hogan will later recall going to the Army-Notre Dame football game with him. It is also possible that he might have bumped into Carter at this time, since Carter's business in Muncie was within Hogan's general area of postings. By the time the war begins Hogan is claiming Cleveland as his home, although he has been assigned to the Pentagon, which is still under construction.
    Hogan's Double Life, Easy Come, Easy Go, Hogan Gives a Birthday Party, Never Play Cards With Strangers, To the Gestapo with Love, The Battle of Stalag 13, The Prince from the Phone Company, Klink vs. The Gonculator, Will the Blue Baron Strike Again? In Easy Come, Easy Go Hogan quipped about not being promised any girls "at the induction center." His age would put his induction date in 1918, at the end of World War I, while the draft was still in effect. Hogan and Kinch discuss the football game while Kinch is disguised as Prince Maka Bana in The Prince from the Phone Company. There was no reason for Hogan to lie, since Klink wouldn't have known any better and Kinch could have easily followed Hogan's lead in establishing that "Maka Bana" knew Hogan well. Carter's home was in Muncie per German Bridge is Falling Down. While it's a bit of a stretch that he and Hogan might have bumped into each other before the war, it's at least concievable given the geography.
  • Kinch grows up in his home town of Detroit. As a teenager, he gets a job as a plumber's helper. He has a crush on the local school beauty, Carol Dukes (and she for him, although he doesn't know it), but he is too shy to tell her about it and the opportunity slips away. In spite of this, Kinch is a good athlete and is also an experienced boxer, having once fought in the Golden Gloves tournament. After graduation, Kinch finds a job working for Bell Telephone. Seeing which way the wind was blowing, Kinch enlisted in the Army (some accounts say he was drafted) and despite the racism at the time rises to the rank of staff sergeant. He apparently ran in Hogan at some point shortly before the war, and the two quickly developed a deep friendship. Hogan respected Kinch's skills, and would make sure that his Afro-American friend and fellow soldier would be with him when HH was organized.
    The Prince from the Phone Company, Is General Hammerschlag Burning?, The Softer They Fall. Hogan befriending Kinch before the war is implied. They both lived in the Midwest, they were both in the Army, Hogan was a pilot and Kinch was trained as a navigator, Kinch knows as much as - if not more - of HH's operations as does Hogan himself, and so on.
  • A youthful Peter Newkirk rises to fame as a stage magician, working British playhouses both large and small. At one point he joins up with a traveling circus. He also becomes an expert impressionist, pickpocket, and safecracker - learning the last under the tutelage of England's best, Alfie the Artist. While on the vaudeville circuit he rooms for a time with an act known as the Amazing Bloomingtons - Freddie the chimpanzee and George his trainer. Like Hogan, he earns a reputation as a ladies' man. One of his girlfriends during this period he will later describe as "a dutchess" who was "just crazy about diamonds." Not long before the onset of war, he will hook up with a beautiful and popular fan dancer named Rita Tottingham, who will remain his girlfriend "back at home" throughout the conflict.
    The Informer, The Safecracker Suite, Monkey Business, Drums Along the Dusseldorf, Diamonds in the Rough.
  • As a youth, Carter wins a snowman building contest. He also joins the Boy Scouts, and is formally inducted as a member of the Sioux Nation at the appropriate age. As a student at Rutherford B. Hayes Polytechnic, he hated the school so much that he tried to blow it up using his rapidly developing chemistry skills. He did not succeed, but he did manage to destroy the chemistry lab, the cafeteria, and the balcony in the school auditorium. Eventually, he somehow managed to stay out of trouble long enough to graduate high school, earned a degree from a local business school, and got a job running a drugstore in Muncie, Indiana. In his spare time he studies for the state pharmaceutical exam, and he has aspirations of someday becoming a brain surgeon. He even has a girlfriend, Mary Jane, to whom he will be "practically engaged" by the time the war rolls around.
    Everybody Loves a Snowman, No Names Please, Drums Along the Dusseldorf, To the Gestapo with Love, German Bridge is Falling Down, Request Permission to Escape, The Purchasing Plan, Color the Luftwaffe Red, The Scientist.
  • Rodney Crittendon earns a promotion to Group Captain (i.e "Colonel") in the British Royal Air Force, c.1930. It is the last promotion he will receive - and for largely the same reasons as Klink's career stall. The Flight of the Valkyrie
  • Alfred Burke, aka "Alfie the Artist," begins his lifelong career as a safecracker. By the time of World War II he will be the best in all the British Empire.
    The Safecracker Suite
  • The future Dr. Vanetti is a classmate of Enrico Fermi during the latter's 1920 semester spent at the University of Gottingen.
    The Assassin
  • Carol Dukes leaves America and emigrates to France, where she becomes a popular torch singer named Kumasa. She is bitter at America for the racism prevalent in the era, which would not acknowledge her talents in her homeland.
    Is General Hammerschlag Burning?

c.1932-1933

  • Robert J. Morrison, an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, has until now posed as Hans Keppel, a German-American who has open sympathy with the Nazi Party and has joined the German-American Bund. He is approached by the Abwehr and allows himself to be recruited as a German intelligence agent, thus beginning a career with the German Army that will have lasted for almost 10 years by the time he meets Hogan in Berlin. Maintaining his cover, he soon emigrates to Germany and works openly for the Nazis, renouncing his American citizenship in the process. By the time of the series Morrison will be working as a major in German Army Intelligence.
    Bad Day in Berlin. Morrison's career is somewhat at odds with actual history, but every effort has been made to make it fit as best as possible.

After 1933 but before 1939

  • Klink takes his aging mother on a canoeing excursion as part of a Strengh Through Joy summer trip. While on the trip, he will lose a pillow that was embroidered by her with Colonel Schlessman's saying about authority.
    Man in a Box
  • The future Lili von Schieder, a British intelligence agent, is inserted into Germany as a wealty ex-patriate socialite.
    D-Day at Stalag 13
  • Lady Valerie Stanford, a gifted British electronics expert who is thought by many as somewhat unstable, goes to Germany to further her education. She will remain there after war breaks out.
    The Big Dish. It's possible that Lady Stanford was part of the Cliveden Set; ref. Lady Chitterly's Lover.

1936

1938

  • Stalag 13 begins construction. It is built on a small plain near the city of Hammelburg.
    Implied. The closeness of Hammelburg is shown in multiple episodes. Also, the camp already had to be built or at least partially built by 1939 in order for it to begin accepting prisoners at war's start.


World War II (up to the start of the series)

1939

  • LeBeau is drafted into the French military. He will eventually wind up as a corporal in the ground support services of the French Air Force.
    To the Gestapo with Love, implied. In real life, the French began full mobilization shortly before the outbreak of World War II. One of the few things we never see LeBeau do is fly a plane.
  • Germany invades Poland; World War II begins.
    1 September 1939, actual historical date
  • Klink is in Berlin when the war breaks out. Schultz is at home in Heidelberg with his wife. Since neither is fit to serve in front-line combat, both are reassigned to a new prison camp that is opening just outside of Hammelburg.
    The Rise and Fall of Sergeant Schultz
  • Burkhalter, at this time a colonel, serves as an infantry commander during the Polish campaign, and distinguishes himself in combat. For this he will received the 1939 Clasp to his Iron Cross, First Class, and will also receive a Wound Badge.
    medals on uniform
  • Hochstetter distingushes himself during the Polish campaign, and is wounded in combat. For this he receives the 1939 Clasp to his Iron Cross, a Wound Badge, and the War Merit Cross.
    medals on uniform
  • Stalag 13 opens for business (mid to late September?). Wilhelm Klink will be its one and only commandant, and Hans Schultz will be its one and only senior staff sergeant. Klink is also given an adjutant, although there will be many others in the years to come. The camp is still incomplete, but is planned to have a maximum capacity of some 1500 prisoners. It will never achieve this due to the needs of the war, housing at most only 100 or so, with the rest of the camp being walled off and used most of the time as a storage depot. Among the things that never get built is any kind of real medical facility, even for the guards, although the prisoners themselves will establish a basic infirmary.
    The Sergeant's Analyst, Clearance Sale on the Black Market, comparison of the camp map on Klink's office wall with the one Carter later makes for Hogan and the actual exterior sets. The lack of on-site medical facilities is mentioned off-hand in some episodes, most notably Bad Day in Berlin and How to Catch a Papa Bear. The prisoners having their own infirmary is implied by Sergeant Wilson, who was HH's medic, per Operation Briefcase. The planned size of the camp is confirmed by two things: the map in Klink's office, and the fact that he orders 5000 wooden plates for use - presumably by the prisoners - in Hogan's Hofbrau. The wall separating the built part of the camp from the unbuilt part can be seen in many episodes; if you look out its gate, you can see the main gate of the camp. Beyond this wall is where the motor pool was relocated in later seasons; hence the notion of the area being used as a storage depot. Some fans have theorized that the wall may have actually been put up during the war, due to the events of The Flight of the Valkyrie. The real reason it was there was to hide the employee parking lot during long shots of the lot, from the gates, where the camp exterior sets were located. The actor who plays Klink's adjutant in The Informer is never named, and is unique to the episode. However, it does establish that Captain Gruber was a later addition to the staff of Stalag 13.
  • Karl Langenscheidt, a corporal in the Luftwaffe ground forces, is assigned to Stalag 13 as a camp guard.
    Langenscheidt is a recurring background character.
  • Hilda and Helga, two local Barvarian women, are assigned to Stalag 13 as secretaries to Colonel Klink. Hilda is the senior secretary, and Helga the junior. Both initially resent their jobs, and Hilda will later say that she was ordered to take it, but they make the most of it.
    The Informer, Hogan Gives a Birthday Party. Helga is very eager to help HH and appears to have been far more involved in their operations than Hilda. She is the only one of Klink's two secretaries who knows about the tunnels, for example. Hilda lives not far from Stalag 13, per It's Dynamite and Hogan's Trucking Service. She is able to walk home and one of the area maps seen in the series shows a small village or garrison within walking distance of the camp. The fact that she was ordered to work at the camp she notes herself in Klink's Rocket.
  • Oskar Schnitzer, a Hammelburg dog kennel owner and qualified vet, earns the contract to provide guard dogs for Stalag 13. He has deep hatred for the Nazis, as does his entire family, and will be ripe for recruiting once HH shows up during the war.
    Implied. Schnitzer is a recurring background character. Members of his family show up now and again in various episodes, always helping him and HH in whatever misson is underway.
  • Newkirk is drafted into the British military. He eventually winds up as a corporal in the RAF, working with ground support personnel.
    Implied. Newkirk mentions the draft in Hold That Tiger. He is familiar with aircraft but is not a pilot, ref. Hogan Gives a Birthday Party. This implies that he has worked with them at some point.

1940

  • Burkhalter will serve a brief stint in the Luft Stalag organization at this time before being transferred to a combat assignment. It is during this time that he will meet and begin his relationship (you can't really call it friendship) with Klink.
    implied
  • Klink will be briefly reunited with Mannfred von Richter at the Second Battle of Verdun, during the fall of France.
    Will the Blue Baron Strike Again? The producers probably intended the WWI battle but this is impossible due to the date of the accident that injured von Ricter's leg. What Klink was doing at the Second Battle of Verdun is anybody's guess, but the dialogue says that they last met at Verdun. That's another likely candidate for where he got his Luftwaffe Ground Combat Badge, since he made clear in Some of Their Planes Are Missing that he was not involved in any aerial combat during WWII. Alternatively, some fans have speculated that Verdun was the place where Klink and von Ricter had their crash during World War I.
  • Newkirk is assigned to the British Expeditionary Force and sent to France. He is captured by the Germans during the fall of France, probably in May of 1940.
    I Look Better in Basic Black. Newkirk has been a POW longer than any other member of HH.
  • LeBeau is captured near Salon, France, not long before France surrenders to Germany - most likely in June of 1940. At first he is a prisoner of the Gestapo, who at one point string him up by his thumbs during interrogation. Eventually, he is turned over to the Luftwaffe for incarceration in a POW camp.
    Cuisine à la Stalag 13, Bad Day in Berlin
  • Having for once enough sense to see which way the winds of war are blowing, Carter enlists in the U.S. Army Air Corps. By the time that America joins the war, he will have risen to the rank of technical sergeant. His specialty is explosives. On the other hand, his good friend Charlie is a draft dodger, who will hide under the front porch of his home for two years until the draft board catches up with him.
    Don't Forget to Write, rank patch on uniform
  • Dr. Henri DuBois (no relation to Maurice DuBois) and his daughter Marie are captured by the Germans during the fall of France. As he will admit later, he keeps them both alive for the next three years by pretending to collaborate with the Germans, wasting his time frittering away on useless experiments.
    The Scientist
  • Lt. Maurice DuBois, a fighter pilot with the French Air Force, is shot down by the Germans two days before the surrender of France. He is forced to bail out over Belgium. Reasoning that he would be more easily captured if he tried to go back to France, he insteads sneaks into Germany. He will lend his talents to the French and German resistance movements for the next few years.
    Nights in Shining Armor. DuBois gives the date in the episode. DuBois is a semi-recurring character in the series.
  • France formally surrenders to Germany.
    22 June 1940, actual historical date.
  • Dr. Suzette Lechay, a prominent French expert in synthetic fuels, is taken prisoner by the Germans. She is quickly shipped off to Germany to help with its own synthetic fuel production efforts.
    Hogan and the Lady Doctor

1941

  • Burkhalter is one of many German officers who participate in Operation Barbarossa - Hitler's spectacular yet ultimately doomed effort to conquer all of European Russia. He will later describe the opening day of the campaign as "the most fun" he ever had in his life. Later, though, as the seasons change and Russian resistance stiffens, the hard fighting takes its toll on him. His brother-in-law and fellow officer, Otto Linkmeyer, is lost in combat and declared missing in action. He witnesses firsthand the power of the Russian winter and the horrors of winter fighting with troops not properly equipped to do so. He is wounded in the closing days of Barbarossa and sent back to Germany to recover in a rest camp. For his valor in combat he will receive the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross.
    "The Informer," "Will The Blue Baron Strike Again," "Cupid Comes To Stalag 13," et al, medals on uniform. He is constantly reminding Klink about the horrors of the Russian front, which he saw for himself.
  • Hogan is assigned to work at the Pentagon, despite the fact that it is still under construction. This assignment will be changed once America enters the war.
    "Klink Versus The Gonculator," "Will The Blue Baron Strike Again?"
  • Kinch joins the U.S. Army - or is drafted, according to at least one account. His old flame Carol Dukes, now living in France, is aware of this. He will eventually rise to the rank of staff sergeant. He is befriended by Hogan around this time or not long after.
    "Is General Hammerschlag Burning," rank on uniform. Friendship implied in multiple episodes.
  • Newkirk is sent to Stalag 13. He is the first of the future members of HH to arrive there.
    "The Flame Grows Higher," "I Look Better In Basic Black"
  • LeBeau is sent to Stalag 13.
    "Cuisine A'La Stalag 13. He arrived after Newkirk because of his being detained by the Gestapo for a time.
  • Victor Minsk arrives at Stalag 13.
    "The Informer," also implied by historical events. He can't arrive until Operation Barbarossa, during which he was most likely captured.
  • Baron von Schieder, the future Chief of the German General Staff, marries his wife Lili. He has no idea of her true identity as a deep cover British intelligence agent. The British have cut all contact with her, fearing for her life, thus leaving her alone and isolated in a land full of enemies. Marrying von Schieder provides her with at least some sense of security.
    "D-Day At Stalag 13"
  • The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, forcing the United States to enter World War II.
    7 December 1941, actual historical date.

1942

  • On 19 January 1942, the American Eighth Bomber Command is established in England at Fieldstone. Its primary mission is to fly daylight bombing raids against German targets in Europe, while the RAF continues with its night bombing campaign. Commanding the Eighth is General Aloysious Barton. Attached to the Eighth is the 504th Bomb Group, commanded by Hogan. Hogan's second and chief of operations is Lt. Colonel Pruitt. Among the missions he will fly before he is shot down is a bombing raid against a secret U-boat base at Bremen.
    "Hogan Gives A Birthday Party," "The General Swap," "The Meister Spy," "Easy Come, Easy Go," "To The Gestapo With Love," "Two Nazis For The Price Of One." In real life the 504th was not formed until the middle of the war, but it obviously existed at this point in the world of the series.
  • A plan is hatched to help downed Allied airman escape German hands by running an underground network out of the most unlikely of places: a German POW camp. Hogan is placed in charge of making this plan work, and his good friend Kinch is his first recruit. The plan is for them to allow themselves to be shot down during a future bombing raid, after which they will be sent to the camp in question and set up their organization - code-name Unsung Heroes. The choice of code name is ironic, since due to their situation they must never receive public credit for their work. Hogan's orders are to help Allied prisoners to escape, cooperate with friendly forces, and use every means to injure, harrass, and sabotage the enemy. The POW camp in question, that will serve as their base of operations, is Stalag 13.
    Implied. Code name comes from "How To Cook A German Goose By Radar." Kinch's presence is difficult to reconcile with the racism prevalent in the American military at the time, but one can probably credit Hogan's personal charm with winning the day. Most likely, he pointed out that Kinch would become the first black POW of the war, and that would be quite a prize in Hitler's hat - thus explaining the startled stare that Biedenbender gives Kinch later on in "Hogan Gives a Birthday Party. Hogan's orders with regards to HH are given in various forms in "Request Permission to Escape," and "The Collector General." Hogan roughly confirms his own date of insertion in "Axis Annie," Klink confirms it in "Operation Hannibal," and Hogan does it again in "Rockets and Romance."
  • Hedy von Behler, daughter of General von Behler of the Fuhrer's strategic planning staff and a member of the anti-Hitler conspiracy, begins feeding the Allies high-grade intel on German troop movements. "Operation Hannibal"
  • Lady Valerie Stanford begins helping the Germans advance the state of their radar techology, which is not as advanced as the British.
    "The Big Dish"
  • General Biedenbender, one of the Luftwaffe's top officers, begins taking note of the combat tactics of the 504th Bomb Group. He learns that its commander is Hogan, and begins planning a way to use the man's own tactics against him.
    "Hogan Gives A Birthday Party"
  • Carter's friend Charlie is finally caught by the draft board.
    "Don't Forget To Write."
  • As planned, Hogan and Kinch are shot down during an American daylight bombing raid - most likely the one on Hamburg on 28-29 July 1942. Biedenbender's fighter squadrons are at hand doing the shooting, and the proud German general claims credit for downing Hogan. Hogan and Kinch are soon sent to Stalag 13, where they quickly set up HH by recruiting the prisoners incarcerated there. To their delight, they find that the prisoners have already dug a number of escape tunnels, and they work this into their own plans.
    "Happy Birthday Dear Hogan," rest implied. Date of Hogan's shoot-down comes from an actual historic bombing raid that roughly fits the event as described in the series.
  • Among Hogan's recruits for HH at Stalag 13 are the men that will become his key support personnel in the months and years to come: Newkirk, expert thief and voice impersonator; LeBeau, whose wide-ranging talents prove most useful, especially his cuilinary wowing of their warders; and Minsk, HH's first tailor.
    "The Informer"
  • Among Hogan's recruits for HH from the camp personnel and local Germans are Helga, Klink's junior secretary; and Oskar Schnitzer, the camp dog provider - whose regular trips in and out of the camp are critical until the tunnel network can be finished. Through them, he makes contact with the German and French resistance movements, and they aid him in his efforts. Two others on whom Hogan is working prove harder nuts to crack, but he eventually wins them over. They are Hilda, Klink's senior secretary; and Schultz, senior camp sergeant. Hogan will later comment that "it took six months for us to convince Schultz to look the other way," but he soons wins Hilda as he did her junior Helga. Schultz's co-operation with HH will later convince Corporal Langenscheidt to behave in a similar manner. Thanks to the help of his personnel and contacts - and with Schultz, Langenscheidt, and Klink's secretaries turning the obliging blind eye - Hogan is able to get HH up and running on a operational basis within two months - right under Klink's nose! Even so, some of his more ambitious plans, such as regional sabotage, have to wait a while longer.
    Implied. Hogan talks about Schultz's recruitment in "Happiness Is A Warm Sergeant," and Schultz agonizes over his predicament in "Anchors Aweigh, Men of Stalag 13." Schnitzer's co-operation is established in the pilot episode, "The Informer," as is Helga's. Langenscheidt's cooperation with HH is first seen in "Art For Hogan's Sake." We know that not all the tunnels were finished due to "Bad Day In Berlin," because the tunnel to Klink's quarters is implied to be unavailable in that story. Most of the tunnel network was in place, though, per "The Informer." Many fans have surmised that HH found and expanded a small cave system that ran under the camp. This theory would certainly explain how they got so many tunnels that were so large in so short a time! HH doesn't appear to commit its first act of overt sabotage outside the camp until late fall of 1942, in "The Tower."
  • The events on which "The Informer" is based appear to take place in early September of 1942.
    This was the series pilot and has several minor differences from the series proper. I won't go into these here, save that in this story Carter is an officer, a lieutenant rescued by HH and sent back to England. I'm assuming this is a different Carter even though both are played by Larry Hovis. Its inclusion in this timeline is for reference purposes only.


Between Pilot and Series

  • Klink receives at least one new medal, which he will wear from this point on. This is the last he will earn until he receives the Citation of Merit, Second Class, in 1944.
    Comparison of the uniform he wears in "The Informer" with the one he wears in the series proper. Somebody in production probably reasoned he didn't have enough shirt salad for a colonel. He was awarded the Citation of Merit by General Stauffen in "Operation Briefcase."
  • Burkhalter is promoted to the rank of general and placed in charge of the Luft Stalag Organization.
    "Kommandant of the Year" is the first episode productionwise in which Burkhalter's new rank is mentioned, although he does not appear himself. When we next see him, he is wearing a general's uniform. Also, Burkhalter's position as head of the Luft Stalag Organization is mentioned several times in the series.
  • Carter arrives at Stalag 13, the last of the HH team to arrive. He is brought in by Hogan himself.
    "Request Permission To Escape," "Hold That Tiger," implied


Other Events of Note (1943-1945)

  • The labor shortage in Germany becomes so severe that by 1942 Klink is authorized to accept volunteers from his prisoners.
    Information Please. Important for understanding why Klink would occasionally offer work to HH, and even pay them for it.
  • Captain Fritz Gruber is assigned as the new second-in-command at Stalag 13. He will remain there, save for occasional leaves of absence forced upon him by General Burkhalter for various reasons, for the rest of the war.
    It is not certain exactly when Gruber arrived, but he was definitely at the camp by early 1944. Gruber was a semi-recurring background character beginning with the third season.


The Series Proper

Annotations

HH - Hogan's Heroes, aka the Unsung Heroes, et al.
xx - exact dates uncertain

early - early part of the month
mid - middle of the month
late - late part of the month

C - continuity reference from another episode or other episodes
D - chronological reference in dialogue
H - historical reference, either mentioned or is focus of story
P - real-world historical figure appears as part of the story
V - visual dating reference of some kind

1942 Episodes

Episode Title Conjectured dates Comments
1x01 The Informer (1) 8-10 September 1942

C - on-screen caption dates episode to 1942

Start of series proper (gap to allow for Carter's arrival, Burkhalter's promotion, et al)

Episode Title Conjectured dates Comments
4x21 Up In Klink's Room 19-22 September 1942

H - Operation Sizilien referenced by Hogan's contact; FALSE. This episode is most likely in the wrong spot - Contact NEVER references Operation Sizilien (Sept. '43, not Sept. '42). He specifically says, "Battleship Tirpitz is making a run for the open sea tonight. If she gets loose in the MURMANSK CONVOYS they are finished!" - That means Tirpitz was leaving port to return to sea duty ... The Murmansk Convoys ran before Aug. '42, from Sept. '42 to Mar. '43 and then picked up again in Fall of '43. This episode happens either in March '42, July '42 (both too early for HH Involvement, based on this timeline) 23 OCT '42, or some time after 28 DEC '42. Tirpitz was active in the March '42 Convoy (Operation Sports Palace), then was down for 3 months because of fuel. The next was in July '42 (Operation Knight's Move) but was discovered and turned back. On 23 October, the ship left Bogenfjord and returned to Fættenfjord outside Trondheim, where it remained for repairs. On 28 December, Tirpitz began sea trials. She conducted gunnery trials on 4 January 1943. It could be at multiple times in '43 or '44 ...

1x30 Cupid Comes To
Stalag 13 		23-25 September 1942 C - Frau Linkmeyer's first appearance
V - unique set for VIP quarters (Klink's?)
2x15 Information Please 26-30 September 1942

D - "He's [Klink] never taken a furlough."
H - labor shortage in Germany

3x09 Hot Money 1-6 October 1942

C - first use of a wire recorder in the series
D - first time Kinch ever got a sample of Klink's signature

4x11 Bad Day In Berlin 7-11 October 1942

D - Morrison's personal history
H - implied reference to Gestapo activities in Russia, 1942

5x06 The Kommandant
Dies At Dawn 		12-15 October 1942

C - SS Major Feldkamp's first appearance
P - Field Marshall Albert Kesselring

2x29 The Top Secret
Top Coat 		16-20 October 1942 C - first time Hogan impersonates Klink
5x07 Bombsight 21-25 October 1942 H - Nazi radio guided bombs
6x27 To Russia
Without Love 		26-30 October 1942 D - Burkhalter mentions the officers' (Halloween?)
costume party
H - German plans to relieve Stalingrad

1-episode gap covering 31 October to 1 November 1942

Episode Title Conjectured dates Comments
5X18 The Tower 2-5 November 1942 ---
2x18 The Great
Brinksmeyer Robbery 		6-9 November 1942 H - Klink listens to a BBC broadcast giving news
about the final phases of the Battle of El Alamein
5x21 Standing Room Only 10-14 November 1942 C - Klink is manipulating the camp's finances in order
to support his extravagant lifestyle
H - second bombing raid on Dusseldorf
4x08 Color The
Luftwaffe Red 		15-19 November 1942 C - Schultz has never seen Carter and Newkirk act
H - Burkhalter alludes to fighting in Russia
H - The Gestapo insists that England is losing the war
6x01 Cuisine A'la

Stalag 13

last two weeks of
November 1942 		H - General de Gaulle's famous 1940 wartime speech
H - mention of the West Wall (i.e. Atlantic) fortifications
5x09 The Big Gamble early December 1942 C - SS Major Feldkamp's second appearance
H - The Battle of Stalingrad
6x17 That's No Lady,
That's My Spy 		mid-December 1942 H - The Battle of Stalingrad
V - begins to snow heavily during episode

2-3 episode gap covering Christmas 1942

1943 Episodes

Episode Title Conjectured dates Comments
5x18 The Softer They Fall 26 December 1942
to 2 January 1943 		C - Langenscheidt's first appearance
D - Bruno fought in a Luftwaffe boxing championship
"on the 31st" of the month
4x07 Never Play Cards
With Strangers (2) 		2-6 January 1943 D - Goering's birthday "is Saturday night"
6x02 The Experts 7-10 January 1943 H - Germany suffering from manpower shortages,
especially in Russia
H - German command post at Zossen

2-3 episode gap covering 11-19 January 1943

Episode Title Conjectured dates Comments
4x06 Man's Best Friend
Is Not His Dog 		20-23 January 1943 H - shortly after RAF bombing raids begin on Berlin
6x21 Kommandant
Gertrude 		24-28 January 1943 C - Frau Linkmeyer appears
H - Battle of Stalingrad mentioned
1x07 German Bridge Is
Falling Down 		shortly after start of
Chinese New Year
(5 February 1943) 		D - both Carter and LeBeau allude to the date
1x25 Psychic
Kommandant 		February 1943 D - explosives are left over from "German Bridge Is
Falling Down"
1x26 The Prince
from the
Phone Company 		February 1943 H - strong German presence in North Africa implied
(latest possible date for such)
5x13 The Great
Impersonation 		February 1943 C - happens before "It Takes a Thief ... Sometimes"
and "Hogan Goes Hollywood"
4x09 Guess Who Came
To Dinner? 		February 1943 H - Hogan mentions the fall of Stalingrad
(30 January 1943)
1x18 The Gold Rush March 1943 -----
2x26 The Most
Escape-Proof Camp
I've Ever Escaped From 		6-8 March 1943 H - bombing of the U-boat pens at Toulon
1x19 Hello, Zollie 9-13 March 1943 C - The Gestapo begins its investigation into HH
H - final months of the Afrika Korp's existence
(Rommel is already gone)
2x21 The Swing Shift March 1943 D - "The Fourth of July will be a little early this year"
H - "Black Thursday" Schweinfurt raid is planned
1x04 The Late Inspector
General 		March 1943 C - prior to "The 43rd - A Moving Story"
D - over 200 attempted escapes from Stalag 13
D - 20 years since Klink's promotion to colonel
2x01 Hogan Gives a
Birthday Party 		first two weeks of
April 1943 		D - Hogan's birthday occurs during this episode
(reply to Biedenbender, "It is my birthday ....")
2x24 Killer Klink April 1943 C - first time Schultz is seen taking a furlough
3x07 How To Win Friends
And Influence Nazis 		April 1943 H - Sweden's unique situation during World War II
2x19 Praise The Führer
and Pass the
Ammunition 		April 1943 D - Klink's birthday occurs during this episode
("Today I am 50 years old")
1x25 The Safecracker
Suite

May 1943

C - first time HH becomes aware of an anti-Hitler
conspiracy within the German military
H - initial roundup of the anti-Hitler conspirators

2x17 The General Swap May 1943 C - first time an Allied general is imprisoned
at Stalag 13; first time that Hogan gets outranked
as senior POW at Stalag 13
1x03 Kommandant Of
The Year 		May 1943 D - Carter claims he'd "been back by June -
July at the latest"
4x14 Man in a Box May 1943 C - some time before Dusseldorf underground cell is
broken up, per "Everbody Has A Brother-In-Law"
D - Hogan jokes about the Russian front
5x15 How's the Weather? the week leading
up to 17 May 1943 		D - Klink took command of Stalag 13 four years ago
(number of candles on his anniversary cake)
H - Operation Chastise, aka the "Dambusters Raid"
4x12 Will The Blue Baron
Strike Again? 		18-21 May 1943

C - Langenscheidt appears
D - Hitler's birthday "was last month" (20 April)
H - The Second Battle of Verdun

2x23 Everyone Has A
Brother-In-Law 		22-26 May 1943 C - The Gestapo "is arresting everyone in Dusseldorf"
D - shortage of officers on the Russian front
4x02 Klink Versus
The Gonculator 		27-29 May 1943 -----
5x26 Klink's Escape first week of
June 1943 		-----
1x15 Reservations
Are Required 		6-9 June 1943 -----
5x16 Get Fit Or Go Fight 11-17 June 1943 D - Klink's physical is set for the 17th
D - Gestapo pressure on the underground increasing
D - "We Germans stopped making Russian front
jokes last November"
3x29 Monkey Business (3) late June 1943 D - Hogan alludes to the Russian victory at Stalingrad
D - Hogan jokes about Burkhalter helping to plan
the new winter campaign

Gaps amounting to 12 episodes or so total, at any time, during the summer of 1943

Episode Title Conjectured dates Comments
5x19 Gowns By Yvette early July 1943

C - Frau Linkmeyer appears
H - operational dates for the Meillerwagen

1x23 The 43rd -
A Moving Story 		early July 1943 C - after "The Late Inspector General"
D - over 291 attempted escapes so far
3x13 An Evening
of Generals 		11-15 July 1943 C - conference is to be on the 15th, but the
banquet Klink is to sponsor is on the 14th
V - "Great Escapes of 1943" poster
6x07 Kommandant
Schultz 		late July 1943 C - Langenscheidt appears
H - Schultz's training may have been part of
the early round of Fall Valkyrie orders
3x10 One In
Every Crowd 		August 1943 C - before "Diamonds In The Rough;" Williams is
named as a Gestapo mole in the latter episode
1x16 Anchors Aweigh,
Men of Stalag 13 		August 1943 D - The Allies have invaded Italy
H - Operation Husky has already happened
1x06 The Prisoner's
Prisoner 		late August or
early Sept. 1943 		D - "Christmas is three months away!"
The Flight
of the Valkyrie 		September 1943 C - Colonel Crittendon's first appearance
C - Crittendon recaptured at episode's end
V - situation map in Hogan's office
1x02 Hold That Tiger 24-27 Sept. 1943 C - Tiger's first appearance
H - initial deployment of the Tiger Mark II tank
H - Klink may have alluded to the failed Soviet
assault on Kaniv at the start of the episode
1x24 How To Cook A
German Goose By
Radar 		28-29 Sept. 1943 D - Allied armies are "moving north"
H - Allied invasion of Italy is underway
1x22 The Pizza Parlor early October 1943 C - Major Bonacelli's first appearance
H - sometime after the surrender of the south of Italy
2x06 The Rise and Fall of
Sergeant Schultz 		early October 1943 -----
1x32 Request Permission
To Escape 		10-14 October 1943 H - "Black Thursday" bombing raid on Schweinfurt
5x04 The Gasoline War late October 1943 H - Allied invasion of France has not yet happened
V - It snows during this episode (out of season?)
1x12 The Scientist late October 1943 H - Germany's production of synthetic fuels
1x20 It Takes A Thief ...
Sometimes 		November 1943 C - first time SS is able to tie HH to its activities
1x31 The Flame Grows
Higher 		November 1943 D - both Newkirk and LeBeau have been
POWs for two years
1x28 I Look Better In
Basic Black 		8-10 November
1943 		C - tunnel to Barracks 4 collapes during episode
D - ends day before Armistice Day (November 11)
2x02 The Schultz Brigade November 1943 C - happens after both "Cupid Comes To Stalag 13"
and "The Safecracker Suite"
1x21 Is There a Traitor
in the House? 		November 1943 H - reference made to defection of Rudolf Hess
(10 May 1941)
2x10 A Tiger Hunt In
Paris (Part 1 of 2) 		17-19 November
1943 		C - Captain Gruber's first appearance
(mentioned, not seen)
C - Tiger appears
C - Marya's first appearance
H - parallels to actual Allied agent Diana Rowden
2x11 A Tiger Hunt In
Paris (Part 2 of 2) 		20-26 November
1943 		(see part 1)
1x11 Happiness Is A
Warm Sergeant 		end of
November 1943 		-----
2x20 Hogan and The
Lady Doctor 		end of November
to early
December 1943 		H - German synthetic fuel program
3x26 How To Escape
From A Prison
Camp Without
Really Trying 		early
December 1943 		D - events from "A Tiger Hunt In Paris" are mentioned
1x08 Movies Are Your
Best Escape 		5-8 December 1943 D - Hogan states at beginning "Today is a national holiday
[in America] - repeal of Prohibition."
2x05 The Battle of
Stalag 13 		December 1943 C - SS Colonel Feldkamp killed at end of episode
2x07 Hogan Springs December 1943 C - follows "A Tiger Hunt In Paris"
C - emergency tunnel is flooded for a time
3x27 The Collector
General 		December 1943 C - recent snowfall has caused Klink's roof to leak
2x16 Art For
Hogan's Sake 		December 1943 C - Langenscheidt appears, "sees nothing"
D - "a few weeks" prior to Goering's birthday
2x22 Heil Klink December 1943 C - Tiger appears
C - first appearance of SS Major Hochstetter
1x10 Top Hat, White Tie,
and Bomb Sights 		13-17 December
1943 		D - Agent Willie's drop is set for the 17th
2x25 Reverend
Kommandant Klink 		late December
1943 		C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
3x14 Everybody Loves
A Snowman (4) 		late December
1943 		C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
C - no tunnel available to Barracks 4
3x24 What Time Does The
Balloon Go Up? 		late December
1943 		C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
V - tactical map in Klink's office
3x28 The Ultimate
Weapon 		24-30 December
1943 		V - tactical map in Klink's office
6x04 Lady Chitterly's Lover
(Part 1 of 2) 		30 December 1943
to 1 January 1944 		C - Colonel Crittendon appears
C - Baker remembers Crittendon from previous visits
H - The Cliveden Set
6x05 Lady Chitterly's Lover
(Part 2 of 2) 		1-2 January 1944 C - SS Major Hochstetter appears, with a new uniform (4)
C - Crittendon sent off to England at episode's end
H - soon after the Battle of the Barents Sea
H - the Pinsk Massacre is alluded to twice
(only Holocaust reference in whole of series)

1944 Episodes

Episode Title Conjectured dates Comments
3x02 Some Of Their
Planes Are Missing 		2-5 January 1944 D - Just prior to Goering's birthday
5x10 The Defector (2) 6-9 January 1944 C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
D - Eisenhower "is arranging" for D-Day
5x03 The Klink
Commandos (6) 		9-11 January 1944 C - Marya appears
D - Bastille Day is close at hand
1x09 Go Light On
The Heavy Water 		11-14 January 1944 H - 600-plane USAAF daylight bombing raid
on 11 January 1944
3x04 Sergeant Schultz
Meets Mata Hari 		15-29 January 1944
(7) 		C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
D - Hochstetter says, "In the past year ...."
V - Hochstetter wears plainclothes for first time (4)
3x23 Axis Annie 16-21 January 1944 C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
1x13 Hogan's Hofbrau 21 January to
1 February 1944 		C - Klink is made aware of HH's activities for first time
H - redeployment of the SS Liebstandarte
4x18 My Favorite
Prisoner 		1-5 February 1944 C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
D - Hogan has been a POW for two years
H - Abwehr still in existence
5x23 The Sergeant's
Analyst 		6-9 February 1944 D - Schultz has been a camp guard for five years
D - c.f. "Clearance Sale on the Black Market"
3x18 Is There A Doctor
In The House? 		10-11 February
1944 		C - Klink's flirting with the Hofbrau barmaids
C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
4x20 Klink's Old Flame 12-16 February
1944 		C - Klink's flirting with the Hofbrau barmaids
1x14 Oil For The
Lamps Of Hogan 		17-23 February
1944 		H - start of bombing of German synthetic fuel plants
3x05 A Funny Thing
Happened On The
Way To London 		24-25 February
1944 		C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
H - Allied recon flights of French coast prior to D-Day
6x08 Eight O'Clock
And All Is Well 		26 February to
2 March 1944 		C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
3x20 Sticky Wicket
Newkirk (2) 		3-5 March 1944 C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
2x13 Don't Forget
To Write 		6-12 March 1944 H - rise in Luftwaffe casualties on the Russian Front
3x22 Duel of Honor 13-16 March 1944 H - anti-Hitler conspiracy
H - Abwehr still in existence
2x03 Diamonds In
The Rough 		17-20 March 1944 C - direct reference is made to Williams from
"One In Every Crowd;" we learn he was a Gestapo mole
2x08 A Klink, A Bomb,
and A Short Fuse 		20-21 March 1944 H - Luftwaffe issues new Enigma code keys
3x17 Two Nazis For The
Price Of One (8) 		22-28 March 1944 C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
H - USAAF 504th Bomb group (Hogan's old command)
3x25 LeBeau And The
Little Old Lady 		29 March to
2 April 1944 		C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
C - The Gestapo is in the process of breaking up all
underground cells in the area, and many arrests have
been made. The breakup of the original Hammelburg
and Dusseldorf cells at this time is implied by this and
subsequent episodes. (8)
4x26 Happy Birthday,
Dear Hogan 		3-5 April 1944

C - Hogan's birthday
C - direct reference is made to the breakup of the
Hammelburg underground cell (8)

4x22 The Purchasing Plan 10-15 April 1944

C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
C - Klink is manipulating the camp's finances in order
to support his extravagant lifestyle
H - Hiler's birthday is imminent, per Klink

15-17 April 1944 - Unfilmed adventure with Tiger, as mentioned in "Operation Tiger" (10)

Episode Title Conjectured dates Comments
1x17 Happy Birthday
Adolf 		18-20 April 1944 D - Hitler's birthday (20 April)
5x12 The Antique 20-22 April 1944 D - Normandy landings are planned
1x29 The Assassin 22-25 April 1944 C - Colonel Crittendon appears
C - Colonel Crittendon recaptured
2x12 Will The Real
Adolf Please
Stand Up? 		26-28 April 1944 P - Adolf Hitler (impersonated by Carter)
6x10 It's Dynamite 29 April to
5 May 1944

C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
D - Normandy landings haven't happened yet

2x28 Colonel Klink's
Secret Weapon 		6-13 May 1944 H - SS Liebstandarte redeploying to Normandy
3x08 Nights In
Shining Armor 		13-17 May 1944 D - Hogan has been a POW for 2 years
D - DuBois has been with the resistance for 2 years
6x11 Operation Tiger 18-21 May 1944 C - Tiger's final appearance (10)
2x30 The Reluctant
Target 		22-27 May 1944 D - Germans are stockpiling for a new offensive
4x04 Hogan's Trucking
Service 		27-29 May 1944 C - Colonel Crittendon appears
C - Colonel Crittendon recaptured
3x06 Casanova Klink 29 May to
2 June 1944 		C - about two weeks before "Unfair Exchange"
C - Hilda's departure implied by dialogue
C - Frau Linkmeyer appears
3x03 D-Day At Stalag 13 3-6 June 1944 H - D-Day invasion at Normandy, France

6-10 June 1944 - Second half of "No Names, Please" (9)

Episode Title Conjectured dates Comments
5x05 Unfair Exchange 10-14 June 1944 C - Frau Linkmeyer appears
C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
C - Frau Linkmeyer "was here two weeks ago"
(ref. "Casanova Klink")
3x11 Is General
Hammerschlag
Burning?
 15-20 June 1944 H - Paris has not yet been liberated
2x14 Klink's Rocket 20-23 June 1944 H - Start of V-1 and V-2 attacks on England
6x16 The Meister Spy 23-24 June 1944 H - before USAAF 504th Bomb Group is reassigned
H - Operation Cobra
5x01 Hogan Goes
Hollywood 		25 June to
3 July 1944 		C - Buckles played at the Hollywood Canteen two years ago
H - The Hollywood Canteen opened in 1942
4x16 Who Stole My
Copy of
Mein Kampf? 		4-9 July 1944
3x15 The Hostage 10-14 July 1944 C - Marya appears
C - LeBeau requests that the bombing be done
on Bastille Day
3x01 The Crittendon
Plan 		14-17 July 1944 C - Colonel Crittendon appears
C - Major Hochstetter appears
H - German rocket attacks on England
2x04 Operation
Briefcase 		18-20 July 1944 H - The July 20, 1944 attempt to kill Adolf Hitler
4x13 Will The Real
Colonel Klink
Pleast Stand Up
Against The Wall? 		21-23 July 1944 H - The Berlin Express
6x14 The Dropouts 24 July to
6 August 1944 		C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
H - German plans to fit their rockets with atomic warheads
5x11 The Empty
Parachute 		7-9 August 1944 C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
5x25

Crittendon's
Commandos
(11)

12-16 August 1944 C - Colonel Crittendon appears
C - Crittendon goes to England at episode's end
H - Field Marshall Rommel wounded in action 07/14/1944
P - Field Marshall Erwin von Rommel (off-screen)
3x30 Drums Along
The Dusseldorf 		17-18 August 1944 C - bow and arrows used by Carter
H - German jet aircraft now flying
3x16 Carter Turns
Traitor 		19-21 August 1944 C - Newkirk has Carter's bow and arrows
H - development of soman nerve gas
5x14 At Last! Schultz
Knows Something 		22-28 August 1944 C - comes before "How To Catch a Papa Bear"
H - German atomic weapons research
6x12 The Big Broadcast
(12) 		29-30 August 1944 C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
6x13 The Gypsy 1-2 September
1944
6x03 Klink's
Masterpiece 		3-17 September
1944 		C - Corporal Langenscheidt's last appearance
D - Takes 2 weeks to dig emergency tunnel back out
4x01 Clearance Sale on
the Black Market 		10-15 September
1944
4x03 How To Catch a
Papa Bear 		18-21 September
1944 		D - Hogan has been a POW for two years
4x05 To The Gestapo
With Love 		22-23 September
1944 		C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
H - weakness of Siegfried Line at this point in time
4x23 The Witness 24-26 September
1944 		C - Marya appears
C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
C - probably follows "Klink vs. the Gonculator"
H - V-2 rocket program
H - British battleship HMS Duke of York mentioned
4x25 The Return of
Major Bonacelli 		26-30 September
1944

C - Corporal Langenscheidt is mentioned
C - Major Bonacelli's second and final appearance
C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
C - same AA guns as in "The Big Dish"

4x24 The Big Dish 1-4 October 1944 C - same AA guns as in "The Return of Major Bonacelli"
H - bombing of the Munich rail yards 10/04/1944
4x15 The Missing Klink 5-7 October 1944 C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
H - The Berlin Express
3x19 Hogan, Go Home 8-12 October 1944 C - Colonel Crittendon's final appearance
C - Crittendon recaptured at episode's end
H - The Berlin Express
6x19 Klink for the
Defense (13) 		13-15 October 1944 C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
D - Schultz's "I think it was November ..." statement
6x09 The Big Record
(14) 		16-30 October 1944 D - Luftwaffe attack to start on the 21st
H - Operation Market Garden
2x09 Tanks For The
Memories 		17-21 October 1944 H - the midget tank may have been part of Germany's
Eintwicklung advanced tank program
6x22 Hogan's Double
Life 		23-25 October 1944 D - statistics on Hogan from six months back
5x20 One Army at
a Time 		26-29 October 1944 H - actual record of the [10]4th Panzer Division
5x17 Fat Hermann
Go Home (15) 		30-31 October 1944 C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
H - Reichsmarshall Herman Goring's obsession with art
H - Karinhall, Goring's estate
5x22 Six Lessons From
Madame LaGrange
(17) 		1-4 November 1944 C - First appearance by Lily Frankel
C - SS Major Hochstetter appears
C - Hochstetter is arrested by Burkhalter for
"dancing with a prisoner"
5x02 The Well 5-8 November 1944 D - "Germany is locked in a death struggle ..."
D - London wants new Luftwaffe codes for Christmas
6x20 The Kamikazes
Are Coming 		9-12 November 1944 C - final appearance of Marya
H - kamikazes (16)
H - second-generation German rockets in WWII
4x17 Operation Hannibal 13-16 November
1944 		D - Hogan has been a POW for two years
D - The war is going badly for Germany
D - Hogan fears Heidi might get frostbite (winter weather)
3x21 War Takes
a Holiday 		17-18 November
1944 		C - Final appearance of SS Major Hochstetter, who is
recalled to Berlin by his superiors at episode's end
(final fate remains unknown)
6x06 The Gestapo
Takeover 		19 November to
2 December 1944 		C - Klink has cleaned up the camp books by this date,
removing all evidence of his earlier doctoring
5x08 The Big Picture 3-6 December 1944 C - some time after "Opeation Briefcase"
4x19 Watch The Trains
Go By 		7-12 December
1944 		C - Frau Linkmeyer's final appearance
D - Otto Linkmeyer has been MIA for three years
6x15 Easy Come,
Easy Go 		14 December 1944
to 2 January 1945 		D - Dates given in episode itself
H - USAAF P-51D Mustang
H - Rolls-Royce Merlin engine used in P-51D

1945 Episodes

Episode Title Conjectured dates Comments
6x23 Look at the (18)
Pretty Snowflakes 		4 January 1945

H - The Battle of the Bulge
D - A blizzard is mentioned in the on-screen dialogue
V - Heavy snow everywhere

Up to 8 episodes from most of January 1945 through mid-February 1945

Episode Title Conjectured dates Comments
5x24 The Merry Widow early February 1945 C - The Allies are advancing ...
D - Kinch says, "The melt and snow are giving us trouble ..."
3x12 A Russian
Is Coming 		20-22 February 1945 C - The Russian Air Force is within flying distance
C - The Russian Army is getting closer every day
H - After the Soviets occupy Poland
6x24 Rockets or
Romance 		23-25 February 1945

C - last appearance of Lily Frankel
C - Hogan has been a POW for three years

H - Klink claims the Allies will be stopped before Munich
is captured (which it was on April 30, 1945)

The rest of 1945 is clear up to Stalag 13's liberation date - but there is one historical event of note during this period.
(H - General Patton's first failed attempt to liberate Luft-Stalag XIII occured near the end of March 1945 - hence the late February 1945 date for the end of the series in this timeline.)


After The Series

1945
- Luft Stalag 13 is liberated by the US Army's 14th Division
6 April 1944 - date of liberation for real-life Luft-Stalag XIII.


AFTER THE WAR (all speculation, of course)....
- Hogan marries Hilda and moves to Cleveland, Ohio.
The Top Secret Top Coat, To the Gestapo with Love

- The Hogans visit Hollywood at the personal invitation of actor Byron Buckles.
Hogan Goes Hollywood

- Kinch is reunited with Carol Dukes, aka Kumasa.
Is General Hammerschlag Burning? She promised to return to America after the war.

- Kinch is reunited with Prince Maka Bana's wife during a visit she makes to Toledo, Ohio.
The Prince from the Phone Company. Just how he worked things out with himself, Kumasa, and the princess would be a story in and of itself!

- Newkirk is reunited with his long-suffering girlfriend, fan dancer Rita Tottingham.
Drums Along the Dusseldorf, Is There a Traitor in the House?

- LeBeau adopts some of Stalag 13's former guard dogs as his own.
Operation Briefcase

- After a period of detention by the Allies, possibly even incarceration for his actions during the Spanish Civil War, Klink returns to civilian life. He is spectacularly unsuccessful in his efforts to start his own business, despite ambitious plans for working in the armaments industry in postwar Germany. Eventually, he humbles himself and begs a bookkeeping job from Schultz, his former sergeant.
Easy Come, Easy Go, War Takes a Holiday, Kommandant of the Year

- Schultz is restored to the presidency of the Schatze Toy Company, which he held before the war.
War Takes a Holiday.

- HH holds a reunion in London. This is most likely the last time all of them meet together in person.
Sticky Wicket Newkirk. One can but surmise that they might have invited their German friends to attend. What a reunion it must have been, if so!

Footnotes

(1) The VERBOTEN sign on the outside of Barracks 2 has a printed date of 13 December 1944 (Monkey Business). This must be ignored, as it directly contradicts the date given in the caption at the start of The Informer (Germany 1942). Also, this sign can be seen in every episode for the rest of the series. Remember what was said about set dressing with authentic period props? This is the best example of that.

(2) The location of Never Play Cards With Strangers in this timeline is meant to allow those fans who so wish to effectively retcon it as a Tiger story. Remember, in Hold That Tiger, Hogan didn't know who she was until she identified herself. He then rolls his eyes and groans, "You're Tiger." This can be interpreted by those in the retcon camp as him recognizing her from the previous mission. This can't be done with The Defector, since a different underground agent is involved (Gretchen Klemmetz) and Hogan never identifies her as Tiger throughout the episode. Still, for those who want to retcon The Defector as a Tiger episode, you might swap it with Sticky Wicket Newkirk, so as to better fit with Tiger's depature to England (Heil Klink) and eventual return (Operation Tiger).

(3) The date listed for Monkey Business is for convienence. It could take place at any time during the 12-episode window that occurs during the summer of 1943. Ignoring the issue of the VERBOTEN sign on Barracks 2 (see footnote 1), the only two things we known for sure is that it is post-Stalingrad and pre-"winter campaign." That leaves a lot of wiggle room for anyone who needs it.

(4) When we first meet SS Major Wolfgang Hochstetter, he appears to be part of a special investigation unit operating out of Berlin. This is based on his dialogue in Heil Klink and the next few episodes (where he answers directly to SS Reichsfuhrer Himmler), and also his uniform. In Everybody Loves a Snowman, he tells Klink that Kommandant Heydrich, chief of the Gestapo office in nearby Hammelburg, was killed in a bombing raid. This position was soon awarded to Hochstetter, which gave him a franked rank higher than Klink (due to his SS ties) despite his being only a major. Hochstetter's appearances have been arranged it so that viewers will notice his collar insignia changes starting with Lady Chitterly's Lover, and he will also occasionally wear plainclothes, as befitting his new office, starting with Sergeant Schultz Meets Mata Hari. Due to dating issues there may be one or two episodes in the current order where Hochstetter wears his pre-reassignment uniform in a post-reassignment story, but every effort has been made to keep these abberations to a minimum.

(5) It proved difficult to find a good arrangement for the many guest appearances by everyone's favorite British idiot, Colonel Crittendon, because he gets sent home to England twice. The only way I found to get around this was to leave a sizeable gap for him to decide he wasn't going to sit on the sidelines anymore and get back in the war. You must admit - he was stupid enough to do just that, and with that ever-loveable smile on his face. Heigh-ho, and all that! Lady Chitterly's Lover was the best vehicle for this, as he is still a POW and still gung-ho about every POW's duty being as the story unfolds to escape - just like he was in his early episodes - and he gets sent home to England at story's end. This also helps explain his change of attitude toward HH's operations demonstrated in The Assassin, the next episode in chronological order.

(6) Productionwise, The Klink Commandos was made after The Hostage. That is why Klink already knows about Marya. He first met her in person in that episode. Chronologically, though, this should come first per Marya's dialogue. She discusses the Russian role in the anti-Hitler conspiracy, which mandates a date before the attempt on Hitler's life - 20 June 1944. The Russians weren't brought in until late in the conspiracy game, although they were aware of it. Those fans who prefer to maintain the internal continuity of the Marya episodes might prefer to move it to mid-January 1945, where there is room for additional episodes. Remember, in The Klink Commandos it is snowing heavily by episode's end and the cold is an issue during the story. Also, the premise of the suicide squad makes better sense with a late date, since by the end of 1944 the desperate German army was getting soldiers from anywhere it could.

(7) Axis Annie takes place during the first part of the gap that occurs between the opening of Sergeant Schultz Meets Mata Hari and the rest of the episode. The first part of Hogan's Hofbrau fills the remainder of this gap, and the rest - where Klink has to pay up on his pledge - follows immediately after the end of Sergeant Schultz Meets Mata Hari.

(8) By the end of Two Nazis for the Price of One, HH has pretty much destroyed the Gestapo investigation against them that started all the way back in 1943, during the events of Hello, Zollie. All of the Gestapo's major officers in the area save Hochstetter are either dead or disposed of, and there is no longer any solid evidence connecting HH with all of the sabotage in the vicinity. Hochstetter and the new Gestapo chief in Dusseldorf respond as you might expect - they begin arresting all suspects ... which leads naturally into LeBeau and the Little Old Lady and Happy Birthday, Dear Hogan. This also helps explain what happened to the original members of the Dusseldorf underground, as implied by the subsequent events of Operation Tiger and How to Catch a Papa Bear.

(9) The first part of No Names Please happens "better than a month" before the second part, per Hogan's dialogue about the radio. The second part takes place after the Allies have landed at Normandy - late in the afternoon on the same day, per my timeline, so as to better fit with Hochstetter's rage over the news story.

(10) In Operation Tiger, Hogan mentions among other things a mission that HH did with Tiger about a month earlier, during which Tiger saved his life. Hogan's description does not fit with any other Tiger story in the series, so a gap has been made for it. This is a period of 48 hours, more or less, beginning on the night of 15 April 1944 and ending sometime during the evening of the 17th or the wee hours of the morn of the 18th. There was just enough room after collating and resequencing the episodes for the first half of 1944 to leave this gap open.

(11) Rommel was supposed to visit Stalag 13 in an earlier episode, but that took place off-screen after story's end. He never really appears in this story, although the sheet-draped body of a captured British officer is mistaken for him. Still, because of the unique nature of this episode and its historical ties, he is given credit for appearing in it.

(12) This has to do with the fake underground cell, code-named North Star, that is featured in How to Kill a Papa Bear. Hogan learns from the underground that one of their agents was captured and injected with truth serum in order to make him tell everything he knew. Not long after, the Dusseldorf branch of the Gestapo captured the last two members of the underground there and forced them to start a new cell - North Star - with their own agents working undercover in order to find the mysterious "Papa Bear," whom they had been seeking for the better part of a year. North Star is first mentioned by name in The Big Broadcast, although HH had no idea at the time it was a bogus group.

(13) In Klink for the Defense, Schultz seems to say that Hogan has been at Stalag 13 for three years, and that "I think it was November" when Hogan first arrived. This is contradicted by the presence of Hochstetter in the story. The only way to get around this would be to push out the date of Hochstetter's downfall to 1945, which creates a whole new set of consistency issues. To that end, viewers should note the last of what Schultz said: to wit, "I think it was November." Hogan actually arrived in the summer of 1942, as implied by Hogan Gives a Birthday Party, and the series doesn't start until September 1942. Therefore, Schultz couldn't have been talking about Hogan's time served. Otherwise that would date this episode to the summer of 1945, long after Stalag 13 had been liberated!
There is a better way to account for Schultz's statement. He might trying to say, in his this-is-the-Gestapo-so-I-must-be-thorough way, of how America got into the war in order to answer Hochstetter's question, "Since when is he [Hogan] running this camp?" It was in November of 1941 that Japan committed itself to launch an unprovoked war against America. Japan hurriedly concluded a mutual assistance pact with Germany in support of its plans. Pearl Harbor happened on 7 December 1941. Hogan was an officer in the American army at the time ... and you can follow Schultz's tortured logic from there. That's why Hochstetter is so quick to scream, "QUIET!" at Schultz. He didn't expect a history lesson.

(14) Per Klink's dialogue, two weeks pass before the final scene of The Big Record takes place. The next three episodes take place during this two-week interval.

(15) The date given for Fat Hermann, Go Home assumes, in the HH world, that Goering began an early evacuation of some of his most prized art treasures from his estate at Karinhall and that the Russians got wind of it. In real life Goering emptied Karinhall on 8-13 March 1945, then had it blown up a month later on 28 April so that none of his possessions would fall intact into Russian hands. This can't take place on the real dates because of Hochstetter being in the story -- thus mandating a date no later than Hochstetter's last appearance (War Takes a Holiday, mid-November 1944) Thus, this has been dated as of the last Hochstetter stories, in an attempt to at least approach the historical date.

(16) In actual history, the Japanese word "kamikaze" did not pass into Western usage until the Battle of Okinawa. That began on 1 April 1945, some five days before the real-world Luft-Stalag XIII was liberated by the Allies. The presence of Hochstetter in this story also mandates rolling back the date somewhat. Actually, kamikazes were used by the Japanese as early as the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October of 1944, but they didn't get imprinted on the American consciousness until they were employed in numbers against the Okinawa invasion forces some seven months later. The episode date in this timeline assumes that the word became famous in the HH world after Leyte Gulf.

(17) Hochstetter actually gets arrested by Burkhalter near the end of Six Lessons from Madame LaGrange for "consorting with the enemy" - in this case, learning how to dance from LeBeau. This timeline assumes that Burkhalter couldn't make the charge stick, although it took a while for the Gestapo and the German officer corps to sort everything out. It put Hochstetter under a cloud, though, with both camps, and leads naturally to his ultimate downfall as depicted in War Takes a Holiday.

(18) Look at the Pretty Snowflakes is unique in that all of its events take place within a single calendar day. That makes it the shortest, so to say, of all episodes in the series. To the Gestapo with Love takes second place as the shortest story - it takes place within a single 24-hour period but is split across two calendar days - and How to Cook a German Goose by Radar is a close third.

series timeline by Richard Mandel - reprinted and modified by permission of the author

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