The Command

by Christopher Nicole

  ‘Ah, no. If there’s a war they’ll want to be on the shooting side of it. Find me some young fellow who won’t mind serving with a has-been.’

  ‘You can never be a has-been, Murdoch. There isn’t an officer in this army wouldn’t jump at the chance of serving with you. Oh, and you can take Lee, of course.’

  ‘She’ll be tickled pink,’ Murdoch growled.

  *

  Lee was, tickled pink. ‘Holland,’ she said. ‘I’ve always wanted to live in Holland. How long will we be there?’

  ‘God knows. Until something happens, I suppose.’

  ‘Murdoch, you’re all grouchy.’

  ‘It is a hundred years since anyone fired a shot in anger against Holland,’ Murdoch pointed out.

  ‘Well, thank God for that. The place is growing on me every minute. I’ll be able to see Harry whenever I like. We both will.’

  ‘It’s over two hundred miles from The Hague to Paris, my love.’

  ‘A comfortable drive,’ Lee said.

  Annaliese was less happy than Murdoch. ‘You are going away,’ she sobbed. ‘Cannot I come with you?’

  ‘I’m afraid not. It would complicate your becoming a British citizen.’ Her papers still had not come through. ‘But I’ll be only just across the North Sea,’ Murdoch told her. ‘We’ll be home almost every weekend.’

  ‘It is so close to Germany,’ she said.

  ‘And that’s another reason why you’re staying here.’ He gave her a hug. He really did look on her as his daughter, now. ‘Keeping the home fire burning.’

  A week before they were due to depart, Lieutenant Paul Standing, Royal Western Dragoon Guards, arrived. Murdoch had met him two years previously, when as the junior subaltern the young man had uttered the regimental prayer at the annual dinner. Murdoch had seen him several times since when visiting the Bath depot in his capacity as Colonel-in-Chief. ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ he asked.

  ‘Oh, yes, sir,’ Standing said. ‘The other fellows are green with envy.’

  ‘What, at you going to Holland? It’s the third most neutral country in Europe.’

  ‘Ah, sir, but with you, there’s sure to be action.’ Murdoch scratched his head; it was the first time he had ever been embarrassed by his reputation.

  Next morning who should appear but Jennifer Manly-Smith, looking very smart in her khaki uniform, with its khaki stockings and heavy brown shoes, and her khaki forage cap perched on the side of her head. She was driving a staff car, saluted as she was ushered into Murdoch’s presence. ‘Private Manly-Smith reporting for duty, sir.’

  Murdoch gazed at her in amazement. Jennie was thirty-four now, and the pretty girl had grown into a most attractive woman, her dark hair gathered in a snood on her neck. ‘For duty? With me?’

  ‘I’m your driver, sir.’

  ‘Well, I’ll be damned.’

  ‘I volunteered, sir,’ Jennie said, continuing to stare straight ahead of her. ‘I am a very good driver, sir.’

  ‘I’m sure you are,’ Murdoch said, and shouted, ‘Lee, look who’s here.’

  Lee was delighted. Now I know we are going to have a good time,’ she said.

  *

  Murdoch still felt disgruntled at having been shunted aside when he had no doubt at all he was as physically fit and mentally alert as any of the young major-generals —Alexander, Montgomery, Auchinleck — who were getting commands in the fighting forces. He was even more disgruntled by events that summer. It was the beginning of July when they finally got to Holland, to be received with grave but sceptical protocol, and they hadn’t been there a month when news arrived of the Soviet-German pact. Everyone knew this meant war...between Germany and Poland, and therefore between Britain and France and Germany. But the Dutch, charming hosts as they were, remained totally confident that they would be able to sit on the sidelines, as they had in 1914. In fact Murdoch, as soon as he got down to staff discussions, realized that his hosts were not going to be of very great use even if they did have to fight. The Dutch army mustered only eleven divisions, some two hundred and seventy thousand men, possessed no armour, and only one hundred and twenty-six planes. They had a useful navy of over seventy ships, but a large percentage of these were in the East Indies.

  Lee, however, was very content. They were given a pleasant flat in The Hague, overlooking the sea, and as they were right next door to the fishing port of Scheveningen, there was every prospect of being able to do some boating before the winter closed it; she had sailed a good deal in her youth, but Murdoch never had, so she was looking forward to being on the teaching end of experience, as it were, just for a change.

  She was also very happy to have Jennie back with her on a whole-time basis. They immediately reverted to Christian names, and went everywhere together. Nor could this raise a single eyebrow, as it was Jennie’s duty to drive the English General, or his wife, wherever they wanted to go. As Murdoch was taking his assignment seriously, however useless he felt it to be, it was Jennie whom Lee took with her when she wanted to explore, and Holland of course was as much a treasure trove of new sights and sounds and smells as India; together the two women drove up to Amsterdam, boated on the Zuider Zee, visited the old seaport of Hoorn, and then went on into Zeeland, to such delightful spots as Sneek. While Murdoch remained in the office he had been given, studying documents and making appointments to see people who always listened to him politely and then dismissed his apprehensions or ideas as impractical.

  He had been given a staff of nine, including Jennie and Standing, and also including another ATS girl, Sergeant Withie, a plump blonde who rather obviously rapidly became very friendly with every other man on the station. The Dutch assignment was clearly the perfect receptacle for people who weren’t very keen on ever having to fight a war. Murdoch did not feel this applied to Standing, but certainly to everyone else; he found his office as depressingly pacifist as the various officials he fruitlessly lobbied.

  Lee also had Jennie drive her down for a weekend in Paris, to see Harry.

  ‘Tell him it’s time to give up this writing business and join up,’ Murdoch suggested.

  ‘He is just not going to be a soldier, Murdoch,’ Lee said severely. ‘You have to get that through your head.’

  But on 3 September the holiday came to an end; following the German invasion of Poland two days earlier, Britain declared war.

  ‘I am totally wasting my time here,’ Murdoch said on the phone to Ironside. ‘I’d be better off filling sandbags at home.’

  ‘You stay where you are,’ Ironside told him. ‘Until we see how this thing develops.’

  Murdoch sighed and hung up, and went off with Lee to attend a reception at the home of the Spanish ambassador.

  When they got back to the flat, the telephone was ringing. ‘Murdoch!’ Philippa shouted down the line. ‘Murdoch, is that you?’

  ‘Yes, it’s me,’ he said. ‘There’s no need to shout.’

  ‘Murdoch, the most terrible thing has happened.’

  ‘What? Has there been a raid?’

  ‘No, there hasn’t been a raid,’ she snapped. ‘Annaliese has been arrested.’

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘A dirty great policeman arrived with a warrant. She’s an enemy alien. Murdoch, the poor girl was distraught. I am distraught. How can she be an enemy alien? For God’s sake, she came here to get away from the enemy.’

  ‘Red tape,’ Murdoch said. ‘I’ll sort it out.’

  As Lee had a hair appointment and didn’t really want to get involved with Annaliese’s problems — she regarded the girl entirely as Murdoch’s protegee, especially since the manner in which she had escaped from Germany had sunk in — he gave himself a three-day pass and took the ferry across to Harwich the next day, where he found Ian waiting for him.

  ‘I think it’s just lousy,’ Ian said.

  ‘Why aren’t you in France?’ Murdoch asked.

  ‘We aren’t ready yet. I don’t think we’re going to get across until nex
t month. So I gave myself some leave.’ He had recently been promoted major and was now adjutant of the regiment; Fergus was a captain.

  ‘Snap,’ Murdoch said. ‘Where is she now?’

  ‘In a detention centre in Taunton.’

  They drove down to London, first. The signs of war were already spreading across England; barrage balloons dotted the sky, and although there was as yet no petrol rationing, the garages were reluctant to give any car more than a few gallons.

  In London, Murdoch went to the Home Secretary. ‘Of course, Sir Murdoch,’ Sir John Anderson said. ‘These are sad times. But the girl is an enemy alien. I mean to say, her father is a well-known Nazi, one of Hitler’s most prominent supporters, and a general in the German army.’

  ‘She fled her father, because she could no longer stomach his views,’ Murdoch pointed out.

  ‘Oh, quite, and all this will be taken into consideration. I am setting up special tribunals to deal with every enemy alien in the country. They will investigate the alien’s background, record in this country, family connections, and so on. Fraulein von Reger will receive a sympathetic hearing, I do promise you, and it may well be that she will be released unconditionally.’

  ‘Have you any idea how many enemy aliens there are?’ Murdoch asked.

  ‘As a matter of fact, I do: there are more than fifty thousand in the London area alone.’

  ‘And something like ten times that in the country as a whole. To process them all could take months.’

  ‘Yes, I’m afraid it is an enormous task.’

  ‘And for all that time this innocent girl is going to be locked up.’

  ‘She will be in a detention camp, Sir Murdoch.’

  ‘I’m not sure that won’t be worse,’ Murdoch growled, remembering the detention camps in South Africa.

  ‘I’m sorry, but there is nothing else I can do. You may know, and I may believe you, that Fraulein von Reger is innocent of any desire to harm this country. But I am afraid we also know that a large number of the German aliens in Britain are pro-Nazi, and even that some of them were sent here with the specific purpose of sabotaging our war effort in every way. They have to be found.’

  ‘And as they are found they are going to be locked up with Annaliese. Don’t you realize, Sir John, that if any of those people are Nazis, or Nazi agents, they will know all about Annaliese’s defection? They will give her a very hard time. They might even murder her.’

  ‘This country is at war, Sir Murdoch. You, as probably our most famous living soldier, must understand the implication of that. We are fighting for our very existence against a hideous tyranny. The comfort of one individual, even the life of one individual, cannot be more important than the life of the nation. However, I do assure you that Fraulein von Reger is receiving every protection we can afford.’

  Hitherto Ian had taken no part in the conversation. Now he said quietly, ‘Would it make a difference if Miss von Reger was a British citizen?’

  ‘Well, of course it would, Major Mackinder.’ Anderson said, somewhat wearily. ‘But she has not yet obtained her naturalization papers. I may say that the delay has been just because of her Nazi connections.’

  ‘She hasn’t had a Nazi connection in two years,’ Murdoch snorted.

  ‘Would it make her papers easier to obtain if she were my wife?’ Ian asked.

  Murdoch started to turn his head, then checked himself. ‘Your wife?’ Anderson asked.

  ‘We are engaged to be married, yes.’

  ‘I have no record of it.’

  ‘We are engaged,’ Ian said. ‘It only happened a few days ago, and with one thing and another, I have not even bought a ring. We had intended to get married next spring, but in the circumstances, we will get married immediately. Now, Sir John, are you going to refuse to grant British citizenship to the wife of a serving officer in HM forces?’

  ‘Well...’ Anderson stroked his chin. ‘Of course not.’

  ‘Then, sir, will you release my fiancée into my custody? I give you my word that we will be married within the week.’ Anderson looked at Murdoch.

  ‘He has my blessing,’ Murdoch said.

  *

  ‘Just when did you actually become engaged?’ Murdoch asked as they drove down to Taunton.

  ‘Ah...half an hour ago.’

  ‘That’s what I thought. Therefore Anna doesn’t actually know about it yet.’

  ‘Well, no. She knows I’m very fond of her.’

  ‘And is she very fond of you?’

  ‘Well...I think she is.’

  Ian was driving, so Murdoch could study the road. And a few other things. ‘Has she told you why she left Germany?’

  ‘Yes. And I have to say that if I ever get Reger in the sights of a gun she is going to be an orphan.’

  ‘Quite. Did she also tell you how she got to this country?’

  ‘Not in detail.’

  ‘She travelled from just south of Berlin, across Germany, across Holland, and then by sea to Harwich, and then from Harwich down to London, and existed in London for several days while trying to find out where I was. In fact, she only found me by the merest accident; she was standing on the corner of Greek Street, saw me going into that nightclub for Steve’s stag party, and waited for me to come back out.’

  ‘Some determination. She is a most incredibly tough girl.’

  ‘Yes,’ Murdoch agreed. ‘She made the journey, which took her several weeks, without any money.’

  ‘That must have been tricky. How did she eat?’

  ‘Ian,’ Murdoch said, ‘she earned her keep as she went along.’

  The car slowed as Ian turned his head.

  ‘I think she did a very brave thing,’ Murdoch said. ‘It’s not something everyone would have done, however. And much as I love her, and I do love her, Ian, that experience must mean that she has a few mental scars locked away. Coming across them might prove traumatic for both of you.’

  The car gathered speed again. ‘Are you advising me not to marry her because she’s been to bed with a few other men?’

  ‘I am not advising you,’ Murdoch said. ‘You are old enough to make your own decisions. I am putting you in possession of all the facts. There is also the fact of your career.’

  ‘Billy Rostron isn’t going to object.’ Rostron was the new colonel, Destry having been promoted to brigadier. ‘He’s met Anna, and likes her. So does Coralie. As regards the future, this war can’t last very long. Then we’ll all be friends again, just as you and the Regers became friends again after 1918. Any more objections?’

  Yes, Murdoch thought. The biggest objection of all: if Annaliese loved any Mackinder, it was himself. But he didn’t dare say it. ‘No.’

  ‘Then I am going to marry her.’

  ‘To get her out of a detention camp, or because you love her, warts and all?’

  ‘Because I love her, warts and all. I think I fell in love with her when we were there in 1933. I have thought of her ever since. I love her, Dad.’

  ‘Then you have my blessing,’ Murdoch said. ‘And I’ll tackle your mother.’

  *

  ‘You have got to be joking,’ Lee said. ‘My son, marry that tart?’

  ‘Our son,’ Murdoch reminded her. ‘Is going to marry the girl with whom he is in love.’

  ‘A German?’

  ‘So what’s wrong with being a German?’

  ‘Only that they’re trying to kill us.’

  ‘Anna isn’t trying to kill us, Lee. And if you’d just simmer down you’d see that they really are a perfect match. Heck, when we were in Germany you were in favour of it.’

  ‘And you weren’t. It’s a crazy old world, isn’t it?’ She smiled. ‘Okay, so I was being heavy. I’d better nip across to Bath and have a chat with them both.’

  *

  Murdoch went across too, for the wedding, which took place a week later. In all the circumstances it was a small affair, but Annaliese looked radiant.

  ‘Oh, Uncle Murdoch,’ she said,
‘this is the happiest moment of my life. Actually to belong to you...I mean, your family.’ She flushed as she gazed at him.

  He held her close, kissed her on each cheek. ‘He loves you very much,’ he said. ‘And he’s half my age. Don’t be a chump and spoil it all.’

  Yet he felt somehow guilty as he watched them set off for their brief honeymoon. Suddenly it seemed that all the fame of which he had been so proud, the glamour which had surrounded his youthful exploits, and which had made people either love him or hate him, was coming home to roost.

  He took the opportunity to visit the Admiralty, where Churchill had been reinstated almost the day war broke out.

  The First Lord was not in a good mood. ‘I knew we were unprepared, but this situation is ridiculous,’ he growled. ‘Everyone is in a complete twitter. Here we have one of our submarines torpedoing another...do you know, there were only two survivors from Oxley?’

  ‘I didn’t know anything about it,’ Murdoch said. ‘It wasn’t in the papers.’

  ‘Well, it’s not the sort of thing you put in the papers, is it? And then the German U-boats are having a great time with our shipping, knocking it off all over the place. We’ll get it right, but it’ll take time. And we don’t know how much time we have. And then, these farcical raids over Germany, dropping leaflets. Are we fighting the Hun, or supplying him with toilet paper? As for that French ‘offensive’ in the Saar, it’s a joke. They seem to have met no opposition, so they are withdrawing again. My God, the French army should have smashed their way right into the Ruhr, and dug in there, while Hitler’s people were all in Poland. Without the Ruhr he’d have been in trouble from the start.’ He sighed. ‘All of these are mistakes which are going to cost us dearly. How are things in Holland?’

  ‘Quiet,’ Murdoch said. ‘I have never felt more like a square peg.’

  *

  Things remained quiet in the west as the winter dragged on. Philippa wrote to complain that the standard rate of income tax had gone up from five shillings and sixpence to seven and six. By the first week in October the British Expeditionary Force of one hundred and sixty-one thousand men, together with twenty-four thousand vehicles and tanks, had safely been transported to France and was moving up towards the Belgian border. By then Poland had finally been crushed out of existence and everyone was expecting a German assault in the west, but it didn’t happen. Things were so quiet it was almost uncanny, as Murdoch discovered when Jennie drove him down to see how the lads were getting on.