GERMANY: Cry Havoc

Zero hour had struck. British tanks led the charge, Tommies swept in behind them. Their objective: Berlin’s lavish, tree-shaded Tiergarten, center of the city’s morbidly flourishing black market.

Panicky operators scattered in all directions before His Majesty’s forces. Some 2,000 people, mostly German civilians and some British soldiers, were caught. Prize catch: a Russian major general.

Fifth columnists had infiltrated the enemy’s ranks before the British struck, assuring the arrest of some of the most notorious dealers, including the heads of the silk-stocking racket and the jewelry trust. A cigaret girl, who tucked most of her merchandise in her underwear, demanded immediate release because she had a date with a G.I.

By week’s end, the Tiergarten had regained its dignity. But business still boomed in the Russian zone.