The Way of War Pt. 10

Chapter 30

All the men were present inside the hotel lobby. Jack came over to see him, "I understand from Bobby, I'm to command our Jeep, Boss."

Shaun smiled, "Make sure you bring it back in one piece."

Sues' patrol gathered around him. "You're going to be in the landing party then, Boss?" Titch asked.

"Yes, me and Cookie, you'll take your orders from Bobby and Bill, so don't let me down," Shaun grinned.

The trucks arrived and they climbed into them, Shaun's truck had the canopy down. Once they were on board, the rear was closed up.

When the truck stopped, the back was unlaced and a Chief Petty Officer stood outside. "If you can get your men inside, Sir?" he asked Shaun.

Once inside the wooden Nissan hut he addressed Shaun again. "If you can ask your men to change into the clothes provide, Sir, I'll show you around. You'll find your room through the door at the end."

The clothes turned out to be naval ratings shirt and trousers, his and Tim's were Sub Lieutenant's shirt and shorts in white. The CPO showed them where the washhouse and latrines were, telling them their meals would be brought to them, adding, "The Commodore said for you to keep indoors has much as possible, Sir."

When he left, Shaun finally had a chance to look around their new home. The hut was about thirty feet long by twelve feet wide. At one end, six bunk beds had been placed with foot lockers at the end of them. At the other, tables and chairs had been provided. His and Tim's room was through a door at the end by the bunk beds. Two beds with a cabinet dividing them and two small wardrobes were at either side.

"Be it ever so humble," Tim said, dropping his valise on one of the beds. Shaun chuckled as he began to unpack.

Over the next few days they received their overalls, skull caps and gym shoes. A Sargent from the SAS brought their side arms and showed them how to attach the silencers, warning them that the range would be reduced owing to the silencers, "You'll need to get in close when you use them." On another occasion he showed them how to slit a man's throat.

He started off by asking if either of them had ever killed a man close up. Finding out they hadn't, he continued, "You are going to have to steel yourself to do it, any hesitation could mean death to you and your men."

He demonstrated how to place the palm of the hand over the victim's mouth at the same time pulling his head back hard then slicing the left side of the throat, "You have to do it fast, before he can retaliate. Now, you are going to see a lot of blood, it will be all over your hand and arm. You may feel like gagging but you mustn't relax your grip until you are quite sure he's dead."

They practiced on each other until the SAS Sargent was satisfied.

Shaun and Tim spent hours sharpening the commando knives. Later they were shown where they could fire their Browning's. Cookie was busy checking the time pencils and plastic explosives. He reported to Shaun, "They should give us twenty five minutes give or take two minutes either side, Boss. We'll need to stick two in each block to be on the safe side."

Tim and Shaun went over the attack plan with the group until each man knew what was expected of him.

Commodore Silverman visited them on the fourth day. "Gentlemen, I'm sorry for your imposed isolation but it was necessary due to the amount of enemy agents who keep this facility under observation. The RAF are laying on six Wellington aircraft and it has been impressed upon them about the timing of their arrival. You will be embarking on the submarine tonight at twenty-two-hundred-hours. It will submerge once you are on-board and proceed underwater from the harbour. All that remains is for me to wish you all luck."

He took Shaun to one side, "Shaun, I don't need to tell you to be careful, as I know you don't want to break my daughter's heart. I understand that a wedding is in the offering when you get back."

Shaun looked surprised, stammering, "Yes Sir."

Silverman chuckled "It's all right, you have my permission." He shook hands with all of the men before leaving.

On the submarine, they were shown to the rear of the boat by a Lieutenant. He showed them the ten horsepower outboard motor, "It has an electric start and has been adapted to run very quietly," he explained showing them. "When we surface, we'll inflate the boat for you. All you need to do is climb in, the skipper will sink the submarine slowly and you will float free. But we need to do it fast, Jerry has E Boats patrolling this stretch of coastline."

He left them as they began to apply the black face cream.

"You look lovely," Cookie said to Tim, who gave him the 'V' sign in return. They checked their weapons and haversacks, then sat back to wait.

Shaun took out his cigarette case and looked at the photograph of Sharon, wishing they could have smoked aboard. The time seemed to drag by as each man was lost in their own thoughts.

Shaun sensed the change in motion of the boat as men rushed by them. They were surfacing. The Commander of the submarine came back to wish them luck and said he would be waiting for their signal to pick them up. A rating unfastened the hatch and they climbed out onto the deck.

The inflatable was ready for them as they climbed in. The submarine slowly sank beneath them, L/Cpl Powers took control of the outboard, steering towards the dark outline of the shore.

On shore, Titch drove the Jeep with Prof giving directions.

"Ok Titch," Prof said, "pull up over here." He glanced behind to see that the other Jeeps had halted. Prof climbed out, pulling the Barr and Stroud rangefinder out and setting it on his shoulder. He looked again at the other Jeeps, seeing men unloading the mortars.

He waited until Sargent McNought and the other five men arrived at his Jeep, each carried either a barrel, tripod or base plate, all had a backpack with two 10lb bombs in them. They set off with Prof leading, moving swiftly but quietly. After about twenty minutes, Prof signalled to halt behind a sand dune. The men lowered their loads to the ground, grateful to be relieved of their burden.

Prof climbed the sand dune. At the top he took out his binoculars and focused on the entrance to the air base. There was some illumination bleeding from the buildings that housed the guards and the radio shack. Prof glanced at his watch, 2:52am. He assembled the range finder and focused on the radio shack adjusting it until the images merged then read off the range in the right eye piece. He jotted it down on his note pad and added the compass bearing with the legend '1st Target.'

He repeated the same procedure for the sandbagged, 30mm Quad cannon on the left-hand side of the entrance, adding '2nd target.' He followed with the right-hand side Quad cannon as the '3rd target,' adding its coordinates in the legend.

He slid back down the dune to where Sargent McNought had already assembled the mortars, each base plate was resting on sandbags to give a firm support.

"Here are the coordinates, Sargent," Prof whispered."

Although it was cold, Prof was sweating, he wiped it away with his scarf.

McNought glanced at the notebook, and gave instructions to Cpl Burr, then both of them bent to carry out adjustments to the mortars.

"We'll fire all the mortars on the radio shack first, once that's destroyed, we will each concentrate on the gun positions. I'll take the left-hand one and Cpl Burr can take the right-hand one," Sargent McNought explained to Prof.

"The MG34's are about twenty feet in front of the Quads, can you adjust for them?" Prof asked.

"Well, it'll be a gnat's cock of an adjustment," Sargent McNought chuckled. "You'll have to shout down the corrections so we can adjust.

Prof nodded, he glanced down at the row of mortar shells lined up, ready to fire as he made his way back up the dune. At the top he checked his watch, 3:10am. Suddenly, he heard the drone of aircraft engines somewhere off in the distance. A siren began to wail and the airbase plunged into darkness.

***

Just before the breakers began, Shaun and Tim slipped over the side, swimming in a slow breast-stroke. He felt the sand in his hand as he inched forward up from the beach. He paused, checking his watch, 3:10am, five minutes to go. He faintly heard the sound of aircraft approaching and then the wail of a siren. What few lights were on, were suddenly switched off.

Keeping perfectly still in the darkness, Shaun searched for the sentries. He took a deep, calming breath when he saw one of them light a cigarette, passing the light to another shadowy figure. They said something to each other, then separated. Shaun followed the glow from the cigarette of the first man, noticing Tim was going for the other man.

Shaun knew he was going to have to kill a man in cold blood. His conscience troubled him, but he knew it was necessary for the safety of his men and the mission.

It was over very quickly, just as the SAS Sargent had said; hand over the mouth, pull back the head and slash the carotid artery. He could smell and feel the hot blood as it gushed from the throat, holding fast as the sentry thrashed momentarily. He lowered the body down, glancing to see if Tim had finished. In the gloom, he saw Tim's shadowy figure wave. He turned to face the sea, giving the signal to come in with the red torch light. Then washed his arms and hands in the sea.

The inflatable was pulled up on to the beach and the men began their bent over rush up to the flight line. Cookie handed him his satchel then gave one to Tim. Suddenly they heard the sound of mortars and seconds later the explosions.

The three of them began to run up past the aircraft, noticing the others placing the blocks on each of the enemy planes. Cookie peeled off at the next to last aircraft, then Tim took the last. Shaun continued until he reached the camouflage petrol dump. He placed two explosive blocks at either end of it and two under the fuel browser with two pencils in each block crushing the copper tubing that activated them.

The sound of the fire-fight was deafening, with mortar shells going off combined with the ripping sound of enemy MG 34 machine guns and the pounding throb of the 30mm Quads. All this over the top of the big Browning's and the chattering sound of the Vickers Ks added to cacophony.

He waved to Tim, who was crouched under the air intake of a Stuka as he went past, and then motioned to Cookie as he headed for the third plane in line.

He found the explosive block in the air intake and crushed the copper tubes and attached the pencils into the block. Cookie rushed to his next target, as Shaun he hurried towards his next aircraft. Tim was just finishing setting his charge as he went by. And so they continued down the line.

Cookie was making for the inflatable, whilst Tim finished off on another Me109. Shaun waited for him at the edge of the runway, when he suddenly heard, "Achtung, Haltan!" When he swung round, a German soldier was running forward with an MP40 in his hands.

Shaun began to draw his pistol when the soldier opened fire. The bullets stitched across Shaun chest hurling him backwards, he vaguely heard soft Phut, Phut, Phut, and then Tim was bending over him.

Suddenly Cookie was there, and between the two of them, they dragged him back to the boat. Shaun was barely conscious, finding it extremely hard to breathe through the pain that lanced through him.

He must have passed out, for when he opened his eyes again he aboard the submarine. He tried to speak, but Tim told him to take it easy and be still. "The aircraft have all been destroyed and the petrol dump with them."

He looked at Tim and managed to mumble through the pain, "How bad is it?"

"You were shot four times, by all accounts you should be dead, but this saved you." He held up Shaun's cigarette case. It was distorted by a large dent in its centre. "The bullet didn't penetrate but it did break three of your ribs, according to the ship's Doc. You've still got two inside you, they'll take them out when we get back." Shaun nodded and slipped back into the black abyss.

He could vaguely hear sounds and see distorted images, he tried to speak but his lips seemed fused together. He groaned as someone moved him, then he would fall back into the comforting blackness.

For three days, Shaun's life hung in the balance, but slowly he began to respond to treatment. On the fourth day he opened his eyes. A nurse was bending over him, he tried to speak but his lips seemed stuck. "Would you like some water, Captain?" the nurse asked. He managed to nod.

After he had a little water he began to be aware of his surroundings. He was in a room with a drip stand by his bed, his chest was bound by dressings as were his arm. He tried to sit up but the pain stopped him. The door opened and the nurse returned with a man in a white smock.

"Good afternoon, Captain Ramage, I'm Commander Watson, the doctor who operated on you. You gave us all a hard time when you first came in, but I'm pleased to say you are on your way to recovery now."

"Where am I?" Shaun managed to ask.

The Doctor smiled, "You are in the Naval Hospital in Alexandria. You were pretty badly shot up, one of the bullets punctured your left lung, that's why you are having difficulty breathing. It's been repaired but needs to heal now. You also have three cracked ribs, a bullets hit you in your right arm, it didn't break the bone but tore up your muscle somewhat. A fourth bullet grazed the right side of your chest, unfortunately you lost a lot of blood in the process."

Shaun smiled weakly, "Thank you Doctor."

The doctor turned to the nurse, "I think Captain Ramage can have visitors now, but only for ten minutes at a time. He still need lots of rest."

After the Doctor had left, the nurse gave him more water. "There's been a WREN Second Officer driving us all crazy wanting to see you. Do you want to see her?"

"Oh, yes please," he mumbled.

The nurse smiled, "I'll phone her office, she may be able to see you tomorrow. She as to come up from Cairo."

Chapter 31

The nurse provided more pillows to enable him to sit up in his bed the following day. The hours seemed to drag for him until he finally saw Sharon's hat through the glass partition of the door as she talked to the nurse. Then the door opened and she was standing there, her eyes brimming with tears.

She came over to the bed and looked at him, "Hello," she whispered, smiling.

"Hello darling, have you missed me?" he replied.

Tears started to run down her cheeks, as she bent and gently kissed him. She pulled up a chair and held his hand, just looking at him. "How did the mission go, did we destroy the airbase?" he asked.

She nodded, "Completely, all your team returned safely."

"What about Bobby, has there been any word about his team?"

Her face became grave, "Shaun, you must stop getting excited, you have to rest and recover darling. I'll have to go in a moment."

She kissed him before she left, promising to return.

***

Gradually Shaun grew stronger, Tim and Cookie came to see him. By now they had allowed him out in a wheelchair to sit in the garden. On the sixth day, Bobby came to see him. He was out in the garden having a cigarette.

"Those things will kill you," a voice said behind him. He turned and Bobby was there.

Shaun laughed, "You mean they'll save you," he chuckled, holding up his badly dented cigarette case. "So when did you get back?" he asked.

"Two days ago," Bobby replied.

"From all accounts it was a complete success?" Shaun asked smiling.

Bobby's face grew sombre, "Not quite, Shaun, I hate to tell you this, but Jack, Titch and Sammy are dead."

Shaun's face went white, "How... w-why?" he stammered.

"The Prof saw it all from the sand dune. The Jerry's had manned one of the 30mm quads after we had killed the original crew. Thinking it was toast, we were concentrating on the MG34s. Jack must have seen it, he moved out from behind the dune to get a clearer shot at it. A MG34 opened up on them. They must have all been hit hard. Prof said Titch must have floored the accelerator and drove straight at the 30mm with Jack firing the 50 calibre, they rammed it and the whole lot exploded. There was nothing we could do. I'm putting the three of them in for the VC."

Shaun was stunned, "Jesus... how about the rest, any other casualties?"

Bobby shook his head, "I'm sorry Shaun, I know you had all been together for a long time. Tim and the others know about it but were warned not to tell you until you were stronger. If they had not taken that gun out, then we would have had more losses."

Shaun sat consumed with grief after Bobby left. Those men had been like brothers to him, and their deaths weighed heavily on his conscience.

When Sharon visited him, he asked her if she knew about it. "Yes darling, I knew, but we were advised not to say anything until you were stronger."

Later, Ted and Commodore Silverman visited him while he was out in the garden.

"Captain Ramage, on behalf of myself and the General Staff, I have to thank you for the sacrifices you and your men endured while executing this rather brutal and dangerous mission. It was a complete success, denying the enemy of much needed resources. General Montgomery began his attack the day after the raid, and by all accounts is pushing Rommel back now."

Shaun smiled sadly, "Thank you Sir, I'm sure the survivors will appreciate your remarks."

Ted coughed, "Shaun, we have confirmed the request for the VC for Jack, Titch and Sammy, in fact all of the Z Patrol will get awards."

Shaun nodded, "I need their address's Ted, so I can write to their folks."

Ted nodded, "I'll get them for you."

Commodore Silverman said, "I'm informed that it will be many weeks before you are fit, Captain. You will need to recuperate. There is a small villa by the beach, just outside of Alexandria. You will be transported there and I've assigned an Officer to take care of you." There was the faintest hint of a smile on his face as he said it.

The following day, the Prof came to see him. He now sported Sargent's strips. They upped all the Patrol's non-commissioned men a rank, or so he was told. "So, I can't call you Prof anymore, what is your Christian name Sargent?"

He looked mildly embarrassed, "It's Jeremy, Boss," he murmured, "but if you don't mind, I'd still like to be called Prof?"

"Just what happened with our Jeep?" Shaun asked.

Prof hesitated before replying, "Jack attacked the 30mm, but he had to move out from cover to do so. If they had got it going they could have wiped out the entire force. The mortars had knocked out the other one. Anyway, Sammy and Jack concentrated their fire on it, but one of the MG34's opened up on them. I think Sammy was killed in that first blast, Jack had blood all over his chest and Titch was badly wounded too. Jack screamed something to Titch, and the Jeep flew at the 30mm, all the time they were being raked by the MG34s. They must have been dead when they rammed the gun. The Jeep exploded, destroying the 30mm. It was the bravest thing I've ever seen, Boss."

Shaun was quite, "So, there's only you and Cookie left from 'Sue' now?"

Prof smiled, "And you, Boss."