by Conor Bender
Cutter watched in fascination as the commandos took care of their own. This brotherhood was something absent in SOE. He respected them for their daring, but respected them more for the love and affection they showed each other.
Cutter continued to watch them until the rocking of the boat and fatigue dragged him into a heavy sleep. When he finally awoke it was to Sergeant Callum kicking his foot.
“Oi, spooky, we’re home.”
Cutter looked around in confusion. Talia was already awake and standing. Cutter struggled to his feet, careful not to further injure his shoulder.
“Welcome to England.” He walked up to Talia.
“Are you sure they won’t send me back?”
“I’m sure,” Cutter lied. He honestly had no idea how he was going to convince Hambro to let her stay.
As they clambered onto the docks of Newhaven, Cutter spotted Hambro and Atkinson waiting for them on the road.
“Oh shit.”
A huge, toothy grin spread underneath Atkinson’s mustache as he spotted Cutter. “Home is the soldier, home from the war.” He walked up and shook Cutter’s hand. “Good to see you Arch. The boss is pissed, so tread lightly.” He said the last part softly so Hambro wouldn’t hear and turned to let Hambro greet Cutter.
“Arthur, it seems you brought a stowaway.”
“Well, I figured leaving her would only compromise us. Her entire cell was killed this morning.”
“SS?”
Cutter nodded.
Hambro nodded and locked his bespectacled eyes on Talia. “What is your name?”
“Talia Crevier.”
“Tell me what happened, Ms. Crevier.”
Talia looked at Cutter for guidance. Cutter nodded to her and she started to explain in English the past few days of how Amsel had captured and tortured Durand and had started to systematically execute every member of her cell. When she finally finished, Hambro took his glasses off and started to clean them. He did so silently, and when he finished he turned and looked at Cutter. “So Amsel is dead?”
“Killed him myself.”
“You did the right thing. Ms. Crevier will be thoroughly reviewed, but if everything is as she says, she will be granted asylum.”
Cutter couldn’t believe his ears but didn’t betray his emotions. “So what now?”
“You’ll come back to London for a thorough debrief and we will go from there.” Hambro motioned to the car that was waiting for them.
Cutter nodded and couldn’t help but grin. He looked at Talia. The look on her face was a combination of relief and joy.
“Monsieur Hambro, what is to happen to me after a debrief?”
Hambro’s features softened for an instant, but quickly returned to a blank facade. “Mademoiselle Crevier, what is it that you want?”
Talia didn’t say anything for a long moment. She understood his question and looked over at Cutter, as if appraising his life. Cutter’s work had brought him to the gnawed and frayed edge of his wits; had brought him to the breaking point. Was it something she wanted for herself? She had an opportunity to seek asylum in England and wait out the war, or she could contribute in a way few women could. She pivoted her gaze back to Hambro and locked eyes with him, making him blink. “I want to fight.”
CHAPTER 16
THE MARTIAL CIRCUS
Hambro strode into the War Office and made his way down to Mountbatten’s office. As he walked, he couldn’t help but notice the buzz of activity inside Combined Operations. News of Jubilee’s failure had done little to stifle the mood, as staff ran to and fro with sheaves of documents under their arms, and service-members went about business as usual. As Hambro waded through the office space of the senior leadership he couldn’t help but notice that most of the people running about were new. Christ, looks like Jacobs wasn’t the only one who jumped ship, Hambro thought as he looked around.
Almost immediately after Jubilee, Commander Jacobs had quietly reached out to Hambro asking about a possible reassignment to SOE. Hambro had eagerly granted the talented commander his wish. It was rumored that Montgomery had also poached two operations planners as well.
Mountbatten’s unwillingness to collaborate with adjacent organizations, but instead ramrod his plans through political subterfuge, had done little but alienate Combined Operations from other parts of the War Office. As a result, any member of Mountbatten’s staff who wasn’t a sycophant was looking for any excuse to escape Combined Operations.
Hambro shook his head at the thought of Combined Operations, a novel organization with potential to be an effective force against the Nazis, being run by stuffy, incompetent bureaucrats. It truly was a travesty of the British military. He didn’t let his contempt for the organization show as he smiled at Mountbatten’s secretary, handed her his coat, and waited for her to let Mountbatten know that he was there.
“Mr. Hambro! My dear fellow, how are you?” Mountbatten cried as he was let into his office.
“I’m well, Dickie, thank you, and you?”
“Very well. I’ve been in meetings all morning coordinating planning for future operations. How goes it with SOE?”
Hambro shrugged. “We’re staying busy. Montgomery asked me to help develop some of his war plans.”
“Wonderful. Is there a role for Combined Operations?” Mountbatten asked in a conspiratorial tone. “With the success of Jubilee, we are a hot commodity.”
“The success of Jubilee?”
Mountbatten looked at him in confusion. “Yes, the success. Jubilee did exactly what it was meant to do. It flushed out the Luftwaffe and gave Leigh-Mallory the ability to cripple their air force.”
Hambro looked at Mountbatten in shocked anger. “How the bloody hell can you consider Jubilee a success? We suffered around two thousand casualties, nineteen hundred forty-six captured, one destroyer destroyed, and one hundred aircraft. In return, the Germans only lost a submarine, forty-eight aircraft, and around five hundred casualties. The only objective that was successfully seized and destroyed was Lord Lovat’s!”
“I believe those numbers to be incorrect.” Mountbatten’s facial muscles tightened, but his confident facade remained intact.
Hambro eyed him coolly but chuckled, “I’m sure that’s what you told the PM.”
“The PM agrees that this raid had valuable lessons learned in preparation for the invasion.”
“Theoretical reasoning always is a safe harbor for those unwilling to accept their mistakes.”
“Mr. Hambro, is there a reason you are here or did you just come to speak ill of the dead?”
Hambro glared at Mountbatten, but didn’t take the bait. He had learned much from watching Mountbatten over the past six months, and had learned when he was about to step into a political bear trap. “Yes, I came to tell you that Operation Torch is on schedule and at this time we will not be requiring Combined Operations’ support.”
“Nonsense, I have two commando units participating.” Mountbatten waved his hand dismissively.
“Yes, but they will be falling directly under General Anderson.”
“What game are you playing at?” Mountbatten’s face turned crimson as he struggled to control his emotions. “On whose authority?”
“On the PM’s,” Hambro said simply. “After Jubilee, I recommended that commando units be more heavily incorporated into regular army units. The PM agreed. Tactical control of commando units until further notice will be with the commanders on the battlefield, not someone behind a desk in the War Office.”
Mountbatten’s mouth opened and closed multiple times in stupefied shock before he spoke. “You had no right, you—”
Hambro moved to stand up, a glimmer of a grin peeking out the corner of his mouth as his own bear trap snapped closed. “Dickie, my recommendation: Sit this one out. Let the commanders win the war.” He didn’t wait for a retort, but turned on his heel and left the room.
As Hambro left Mount
batten’s office he couldn’t help but smile. For once a little political maneuvering may have done some good. Hambro wasn’t proud of it, but he knew it had to be done. He strode out of the War Office, his eyes following various personnel as they scrambled through the hallways to meetings as operational planning was conducted.
Staff jobs were a necessity Hambro understood all too well. He hated to admit it, but the War Office served a vital purpose even though it often took two steps forward and one step back. He doubted many of the lessons learned from Jubilee would make it out of the locked cabinets inside Combined Operations. For all the lessons Mountbatten cited as making the raid worthwhile, the most valuable ones pertained to the gross blunders in preparation and planning by Combined Operations. To acknowledge such mistakes would be an admission of incompetence by Mountbatten, and for that reason alone the most valuable lessons worth learning from the raid would never be revealed.
Hambro trudged out of the War Office into the motor pool and found his driver waiting for him. “Where to, sir?” Sergeant Monmoth asked as he climbed into the car.
“Back to HQ.”
Sergeant Monmoth gave a wordless grunt and sped away.
Hambro watched as they passed a city block of burned-out buildings. The shattered windows and crumbling brick walls served as a reminder of what the SOE was fighting for. He watched as a young woman helped a group of men sift through the rubble for survivors. The hard, determined look on her face reminded Hambro of Talia Crevier. She had left a lasting impression on Hambro when he had first met her at the docks. Her willingness to contribute after barely escaping Normandy with her life was inspiring. It was the people like her that gave him encouragement. People like her and Cutter were the reason Hambro believed they would defeat the Nazis.
THE END
Acknowledgments
Writing Jubilee was a passion project for me that started while on a deployment to Sicily in 2017. What started as a writing exercise, slowly expanded into a novel and developed into something that I eventually wanted to publish. That said, if it weren’t for a handful of people who had the patience and diligence to work with me, Jubilee would have never come to fruition.
Special thanks to my wife, Jacquelyn, whose love and patience was invaluable. I cannot count the number of times she was asked to reread the countless drafts that were written, safe to say it was more than a few dozen. Without her, this book would be wasting away in a folder on my computer.
My editor, Michele Rubin, and the people at Cornerstones US. Thank you for providing vital insight regarding character arcs, development, and motivations. Your guidance in navigating the editing process as well as helping me develop a publishing strategy was invaluable.
To my parents, thank you for instilling in me an aggressive appetite for reading. If it weren’t for you I would never consider writing as a hobby.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Conor Bender, born in Atlanta in 1990, went to the College of Charleston and graduated in 2013 with a degree in Classics. Upon graduation, he commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Corps where he served as a logistician and foreign military advisor for six years. In 2019 the Marine Corps Gazette published an article from him, and it encouraged him to begin work on Jubilee. Mr. Bender currently resides in Dallas, Texas.