Corporal Cotton's Little War

by John Harris

  Cotton coughed. ‘I’m not much bothered about a gong, sir,’ he said. ‘There is one thing, though.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘I sort of promised these Greeks we’d look after their families. I’d be glad if you’d fix it with the padre, sir.’

  Kennard looked up under the peak of his cap. ‘Where do they want to go?’ he asked.

  ‘I don’t rightly know, yet, sir. Except for one. She wants to go to England. That is, I want her to go to England.’

  ‘You do?’ Kennard gave him an old-fashioned look. ‘It’s not all that easy. Has she got somewhere to go?’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘My ma would take care of her.’

  ‘Some relation?’

  ‘Yes, sir. My ma was Greek. You’ll remember there was some mention of it at the briefing. It wasn’t something I liked shouting about the ship, sir. People get to thinking you’re a Maltese or a Cypriot and they’re always stewards or canteen managers. That’s how I came to speak Greek, you’ll remember. It turned out very useful, sir.’

  ‘I’m sure it did. And this woman?’

  ‘Girl, sir. She’s not all that old.’

  ‘What relationship is she?’

  ‘Cousin, sir,’ Cotton said stoutly, staring the commander unflinchingly in the eye.

  ‘Is she now? It was a fortunate coincidence you found her, wasn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ Cotton said. ‘Very fortunate. But, then, I might have guessed. You know what these Mediterranean lot are like. Breed like rabbits.’

  ‘I hope you don’t, Cotton,’ Kennard said. ‘I don’t think I’d like to meet a regiment of Cottons. Very well, I’ll have a word with the padre. Under the circumstances, it’s the least we can do. In the meantime I’d better get over to headquarters because I’ve beard there are only fifty ack-ack guns on the island and thirty-odd obsolescent fighters. You’ll all be questioned by Intelligence, of course, and be expected to pass on everything to the admiral. To the army commander in charge here, too, for that matter. It looks like being Freyberg. Will that bother you?’

  ‘No, sir.’

  Kennard looked at Cotton’s solid bulk and unemotional face. ‘No,’ he said slowly. ‘I shouldn’t think it would.’

  As Kennard departed, Varvara and his family appeared on deck. Annoula was with them. She seemed strained and exhausted and she looked at Cotton with a worried expression. He marched straight up to her and, taking her arm, drew her aside.

  ‘It’ll be all right,’ he announced. ‘You’ll be able to go to Egypt. They’ll look after you.’

  She looked at him sadly. ‘I have nobody in Egypt.’

  ‘You have me.’

  She gave him an unhappy look. ‘No.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Egypt isn’t your country.’

  ‘It is at the moment. Alexandria’s our base. Or it will be when they chuck us out of here.’

  ‘But after that?’

  It seemed to present no problem to Cotton. ‘You can go to England. They send wives and kids home via the Cape.’

  ‘I have nowhere to go in England.’

  ‘I can give you an address. My address.’ He wondered what his mother would say when she turned up. Probably fall on her neck and burst into tears of joy.

  She shook her head. ‘Not now. Not after – not after what they did to me.’

  Cotton frowned. ‘What bloody difference does that make?’ he snorted.

  ‘Nobody would want me after that.’

  ‘I’d have you.’

  Cotton frowned as he spoke. He’d done it now, he decided. Here he was, in spite of everything he’d ever thought, bloody well opting for the one thing he’d always fought shy of – a Greek wife, Greek relations and Greek kids yelling in a foreign lingo and having their teeth knocked out by the other kids in the street because they were wops. Perhaps it’d be easier not to take his discharge in a hurry after the war. After all, there were Maltese wives in the navy and nobody minded them, and it would give everybody time to settle down a bit. And perhaps the kids would be lucky enough to turn out as big as he was.

  Annoula was looking up at him, her eyes filling with tears. To her Cotton represented security such as she’d forgotten existed. ‘You are a good man, Cotton,’ she said.

  ‘No, I’m not,’ he said bluntly. ‘My parents were Greek and, because it was sometimes uncomfortable having Greek parents in London, I ran away and joined the Marines. I even pretended I wasn’t Greek and never wrote to them much. I expect I’ll have to change if you’re there.’

  ‘Perhaps they won’t want me.’

  ‘I think they will. I think my ma will fall over herself to get you in the house. I’ll write and tell ’em you’re coming.’

  She stared up at him, moisture sparkling on her lashes, and her face split in a smile that was trusting, happy, relieved and joyful all at the same time. Cotton’s stolid heart thumped as he realised how beautiful she could be when she tried. Then her face became grave again, meek almost, and dutiful.

  ‘Very well, Cotton,’ she said.

  Jesus, he thought – and oddly enough for the first time it didn’t shock him – she sounds like Ma.

  Epilogue

  On 28 April 1941, only a few days after Loukia’s return, confirmation of Corporal Cotton’s opinion came when Winston Churchill signalled to General Wavell in North Africa to suggest that an airborne attack on Crete should be expected.

  ‘It seems clear from our information,’ he said, ‘that a heavy airborne attack by German troops and bombers will soon be made on Crete… It ought to be a fine opportunity for killing the parachute troops.’

  Churchill’s view was not an unreasonable one but unfortunately the garrison was far from sufficiently equipped to meet the attack, which came on 20 May. The first parachutists and the first airborne troops in gliders were killed almost to a man, but more arrived and their final capture of Maleme airfield was the turning point of the struggle. A German attempt to follow up with caiques from Milos, however, met with disaster. Four British cruisers – one of them Caernarvon and four destroyers got among them, as Loukia had off Cape Kastamanitsa, and sank almost every one by gunfire or ramming, including the Italian destroyer which was escorting them. A second convoy was attacked on the same day and the Germans made no further attempt.

  Because the attack on Crete had been expected, it cost the Germans one-third of their airborne invaders – 12,000 to 17,000 men – together with 170 troop-carrying aircraft. Never again did they risk their air division troops in so hazardous an operation. Their commanders had grown older and more cautious overnight because the cost of victory had proved too high, and in the end Hitler turned his parachute regiments into infantry. Although the British were thrown out of Crete, they had blunted one of Hitler’s most effective weapons, and it has always been believed that Crete delayed Hitler’s attack on Russia so long he was just too late to capture Moscow before the Russian winter set in. The following year the German decline began.

  As for Cotton and Annoula Akoumianakis, their story perhaps supplied the happy ending that was not immediately obvious in Crete. After an exhausting journey through a variety of refugee camps in the Middle East and South Africa, Annoula finally reached London the following year, when, as Cotton had suspected, she was swept delightedly into the Cotonou home. Being Greek, she was literally held captive by Cotton’s mother until Cotton himself, wearing three stripes and a DSM for what he’d done on Aeos, returned from the Middle East to enjoy survivor’s leave after Caernarvon had been sunk by a German torpedo.

  He remained in England as an instructor until the time came for the British to return to the Greek islands in 1944. Rather to his surprise he was commissioned because of his ability to speak Greek. He even managed to pick up an MC – ironically enough for leading the attack on Kalani when Aeos was reoccupied. A little startled by his unexpected success, he remained in the Marines until 1955, when – still considered to be a
bit regimental – he retired as a captain. For a year or two he did various jobs. Then, in 1960 when the tourist boom got going, Bisset, whose languages had landed him a job with one of the larger British travel firms, got in touch with him and he found himself appointed as Greek representative with a base in Athens. So that, in the end, accepting his Greek origins with far less trouble than he had ever expected, he got the best of both worlds.

  Synopses of John Harris Titles

  Published by House of Stratus

  Army of Shadows

  It is the winter of 1944. France is under the iron fist of the Nazis. But liberation is just around the corner and a crew from a Lancaster bomber is part of the fight for Freedom. As they fly towards their European target, a Messerschmitt blazes through the sky in a fiery attack and of the nine-man crew aboard the bomber, only two men survive to parachute into Occupied France. They join an ever-growing army of shadows (the men and women of the French Resistance), to play a lethal game of cat and mouse.

  China Seas

  In this action-packed adventure, Willie Sarth becomes a survivor. Forced to fight pirates on the East China Seas, wrestle for his life on the South China Seas and cross the Sea of Japan ravaged by typhus, Sarth is determined to come out alive. Dealing with human tragedy, war and revolution, Harris presents a novel which packs an awesome punch.

  The Claws of Mercy

  In Sierra Leone, a remote bush community crackles with racial tensions. Few white people live amongst the natives of Freetown and Authority seems distant. Everyday life in Freetown revolves around an opencast iron mine, and the man in charge dictates peace and prosperity for everyone. But, for the white population, his leadership is a matter of life or death where every decision is like being snatched by the claws of mercy.

  Corporal Cotton’s Little War

  Storming through Europe, the Nazis are sure to conquer Greece but for one man, Michael Anthony Cotton, a heroic marine who smuggles weapons of war and money to the Greek Resistance. Born Mihale Andoni Cotonou, Cotton gets mixed up in a lethal mission involving guns and high-speed chases. John Harris produces an unforgettable champion, persuasive and striking with a touch of mastery in this action-packed thriller set against the dazzle of the Aegean.

  The Cross of Lazzaro

  The Cross of Lazzaro is a gripping story filled with mystery and fraught with personal battles. This tense, unusual novel begins with the seemingly divine reappearance of a wooden cross once belonging to a sixth-century bishop. The vision emerges from the depths of an Italian lake, and a menacing local antagonism is subsequently stirred. But what can the cross mean?

  Flawed Banner

  John Harris’ spine-tingling adventure inhabits the shadowy world of cunning and espionage. As the Nazi hordes of Germany overrun France, devouring the free world with fascist fervour, a young intelligence officer, James Woodyatt, is shipped across the Channel to find a First World War hero…an old man who may have been a spy…who may be in possession of Nazi secrets.

  The Fox From His Lair

  A brilliant German agent lies in wait for the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France. While the Allies prepare a vast armed camp, no one is aware of the enemy within, and when a sudden, deadly E-boat attacks, the Fox strikes, stealing secret invasion plans in the ensuing panic. What follows is a deadly pursuit as the Fox tries to get the plans to Germany in time, hotly pursued by two officers with orders to stop him at all costs.

  A Funny Place to Hold a War

  Ginger Donnelly is on the trail of Nazi saboteurs in Sierra Leone. Whilst taking a midnight paddle with a willing woman in a canoe cajoled from a local fisherman, Donnelly sees an enormous seaplane thunder across the sky only to crash in a ball of brilliant flame. It seems like an accident…at least until a second plane explodes in a blistering shower along the same flight path.

  Getaway

  An Italian fisherman and his wife, Rosa, live in Sydney. Hard times are ahead. Their mortgaged boat may be lost and with it, their livelihood. But Rosa has a plan to reach the coast of America from the islands of the Pacific, sailing on a beleaguered little houseboat. The plan seems almost perfect, especially when Willie appears and has his own reasons for taking a long holiday to the land of opportunity.

  Harkaway’s Sixth Column

  An explosive action-packed war drama: four British soldiers are cut off behind enemy lines in British Somaliland and when they decide to utilise a secret arms dump in the Bur Yi hills and fight a rearguard action, an unlikely alliance is sought between two local warring tribes. What follows is an amazing mission led by the brilliant, elusive Harkaway, whose heart is stolen by a missionary when she becomes mixed up in the unorthodox band of warriors.

  A Kind of Courage

  At the heart of this story of courage and might, is Major Billy Pentecost, commander of a remote desert outpost near Hahdhdhah, deep among the bleak hills of Khalit. His orders are to prepare to move out along with a handful of British soldiers. Impatient tribesmen gather outside the fort, eager to reclaim the land of their blood and commanded by Abd el Aziz el Beidawi, a feared Arab warrior lord. A friendship forms between the two very different commanders but when Pentecost’s orders are reversed, a nightmarish tragedy ensues.

  Live Free or Die

  Charles Walter Scully, cut off from his unit and running on empty, is trapped. It’s 1944 and though the Allied invasion of France has finally begun, for Scully the war isn’t going well. That is, until he meets a French boy trying to get home to Paris. What begins is a hair-raising journey into the heart of France, an involvement with the French Liberation Front and one of the most monumental events of the war. Harris vividly portrays wartime France in a panorama of scenes that enthral the reader.

  The Lonely Voyage

  The Lonely Voyage is John Harris’ first novel - a graphic, moving tale of the sea. It charts the story of one boy, Jess Ferigo, who winds up on a charge of poaching along with Pat Fee and Old Boxer, the men who sail with him on his journey into manhood. As Jess leaves his boyhood behind, bitter years are followed by the Second World War, where Old Boxer and Jess make a poignant rescue on the sand dunes of Dunkirk. Finally, Jess Ferigo’s lonely voyage is over.

  The Mercenaries

  Ira Penaluna, First World War pilot, sees his airline go bankrupt in Africa and grabs at the chance to instruct pilots in China. But Ira hasn’t reckoned on the beat-up, burnt-out wrecks he is expected to teach his students in, or on the fact that his pupils speak no English. Though aided and abetted by an enthusiastic assistant, an irresponsible Fagan and his brooding American girlfriend Ellie, Ira finds himself playing a deadly game, becoming embroiled in China’s civil war. The four are forced to flee but the only way out is in a struggling pile of junk flown precariously towards safety. Will they make it?

  North Strike

  It is 1939. The Royal Navy urgently needs information about German raiders. There is only one place to get it…the port of Narvik and only one man capable – Magnusson. A story of the daring, outrageous exploits of a spy rescuing British prisoners from the Altmark and swept up in to the German battle for Norway.

  The Old Trade of Killing

  Harris’ exciting adventure is set against the backdrop of the Western Desert and scene of the Eighth Army battles. The men who fought together in the Second World War return twenty years later in search of treasure. But twenty years can change a man. Young ideals have been replaced by greed. Comradeship has vanished along with innocence. And treachery and murder make for a breathtaking read.

  Picture of Defeat

  It is 1943 and Naples has been looted by the Allies and Axis powers alike, its priceless art treasures coveted by some of the most corrupt criminal minds in Europe. But under the orders of Field Security, Tom Pugh must save the paintings of Detto Banti, no matter what the cost. In this tantalising read, one man stands against a tide of wilful destruction and greed, trying to save a past for the people of Naples’ future.

  The Quick Boat Men

 
Edward Dante Bourdillon is a man whose fate is linked to the oceans. His parents perished on the waves and, brought up by his uncle who owns a boatyard, Edward leads a life in love with the sea. That is, until he sinks his uncle’s yacht. Soon our hero is bound for Cape Town on an old tramp steamer. From earthquakes to shipwreck, it seems his fortune is turning sour until forgiveness and World War One looms on the horizon.

  Ride Out the Storm

  The Allies, faced with a shameful defeat, are trapped between the onslaught of the mighty German army and the tumult of the ocean waves. Those that do not die face capture and surrender to the Nazis. But only nine days later more than a quarter of a million men have been rescued and placed safely on the shores of England, saved by an amazing assorted flotilla of barges, tugs, rowing boats and dinghies. This is the incredible story of a mass exodus across the Channel. John Harris tells the miraculous story of Dunkirk.

  Right of Reply

  Struggle, scandal and mutiny run riot in Right of Reply, set in the 1970s in a whirlwind of a political crisis. An invasion is planned by a convoy of British troop ships sighted off the coast of West Africa. A Khanzian base is at stake. The British claim sovereignty but sedition is in the air. Can the British government turn back before it’s too late? John Harris leaves us on tenterhooks.

  Road to the Coast

  It’s South America and a fugitive Englishman is caught in a military revolt against a tyrant. Harry Ash is a wanted man, fleeing the police and revolutionaries. After being bombed, he meets a beautiful woman, Grace Rodrigo, and steals a car to take her with him before realising they have a stow-away who could very well endanger their entire escape plan. John Harris pulls off a triumph of an action-packed narrative full of the kind of tension that will have you on the edge of your seat.

  The Sea Shall Not Have Them

  This is John Harris’ classic war novel of espionage in the most extreme of situations. An essential flight from France leaves the crew of RAF Hudson missing, and somewhere in the North Sea four men cling to a dinghy, praying for rescue before exposure kills them or the enemy finds them. One man is critically injured; another (a rocket expert) is carrying a briefcase stuffed with vital secrets. As time begins to run out each man yearns to evade capture. This story charts the daring and courage of these men, their rescuers and a breathtaking mission with the most awesome of consequences.