by Griff Hosker
"Right sir."
He read them and grinned, "Who came up with these sir? Not that Major Taylor?"
"No Scouse, I rather think that Major General Laycock devised them. They have his sense of humour."
Sergeant Poulson asked, "Why, what is our call sign?"
"Rocket!"
Chapter 19
Our convoy left at six. We were the smallest vessel. We were even dwarfed by the landing craft which could carry a whole company. There were destroyers which raced around like sheepdogs keeping boats in line and seeking enemy submarines. There were cruisers, and as we headed north east, I saw four battleships. In the air I saw a couple of Sunderlands too. They could stay in the air for hours. Normally such a voyage would have had me in a state of high nervous energy but, as the smallest target, I felt safe enough to sleep.
Sergeant Poulson woke me at midnight. It was an inky black sky. This was not like the invasion of Sicily; there was neither wind nor rain. Major Siddons had told me that they had planned on using the Airborne Brigade again but the disaster of Sicily had made them cancel it at the last minute. This time it was the proximity of the mountains which had deterred their use. We were coming in from the sea. I blacked up and went on deck. As I did so I saw a light flashing from a destroyer. I took a swallow from my cup of tea as the launch replied.
Lieutenant Williams said, "That is our signal. We are to detach now."
We had changed the original plans. I did not doubt that Major Taylor would be unhappy but we were the ones going ashore. The original plan had been for us to land on the beach itself. I did not fancy that as the aerial photographs had shown both wire and machine guns. Instead we were going to land at the sea wall which protected the harbour. That way we could approach the beach unseen. We would destroy the wire but from the safety of the secured side. There would be sentries at the end of the sea wall but I had my Colt.
"How long to landing?"
"We should be off Vietri in three hours."
I nodded, "I would have the men who are paddling us in black up too. White faces show up at night. Either that or balaclavas."
"Not much call for those in the Med sir, but thanks for the advice. We are learning every day. We will soon be used to it."
I said, "I am afraid not, Lieutenant. The day that you think you have it all is the day you die. We are still learning and we have been doing this for three years. You know it all when you retire or they stick you in the ground. And so far I don't know of any Commandos who have retired."
I went below to make sure that we were all ready. "Three hours chaps. We are now detached so I would get on deck as soon as you are ready." I picked up my Bergen and my Thompson and went back on deck. The worry was our detachment. The launch had no radar and there was radio silence. Should a wandering E-Boat find us then the first we would know would be the crack of cannon shells into our hull. I did not want to worry the Lieutenant even more and so I kept my counsel. Having my men on deck was an extra precaution. Their ears and eyes would give warning of any danger.
Time passed slowly but it did pass and we remained unmolested. A seaman found me, "Sir," he whispered, "Skipper says could you join him on the bridge."
When I reached him the young officer pointed north. "Not long now sir."
The great mass of Italy could be seen as a darker part of the night. "Take it steady. Keep a constant speed and let's pray we hit the right spot."
Had I been with Alan I would have been confident of the correct landfall. He was a superb navigator. The Lieutenant was an unknown quantity. I went back to my men. "Better get to the boats. We will be landing soon." Our constant practice meant that they knew the sailors who would paddle them in and they all went to their stations. I was the exception. I went to the bows to watch the coast as we approached. There was a lookout there. "See anything?"
"Just the coast sir. It could be Blackpool." He paused, "Except there's no tower here!"
I caught a flash of light which reappeared a moment later. I pointed. "That's a road. There is a car ignoring blackout. Watch for the lights again and see if you can pick anything out."
The mere act of focussing on the car brought everything into perspective. He jabbed his finger forward. "There sir, five points off the starboard bow; it looks like the sea wall."
"Good eyes, lookout. Go and tell the skipper."
I now saw the breakers, small though they were, at the base of the sea wall which arced around the front of the small harbour. The lookout returned and I patted him on the shoulder as I returned to my men.
"Less than half a mile to go!"
I took out my Colt and fitted the silencer. I had my Thompson strapped to my Bergen. Its time would come. We knew we had arrived when we stopped and the Lieutenant allowed the stern to drift around. It made launching easier and escape quicker. We quickly lowered the dinghies and we began the slow steady paddle towards the sea wall. Four of us did not paddle. Each of us crouched in the front of the dinghy with a ready Colt. I could not see any sentries but that did not mean that they were not there. We had instructed the sailors to wait by the wall in case they needed to take us closer. We had to play this part by ear. We paddled towards the beach side of the wall. The wall itself was twenty feet high. Made of huge blocks of stone we could scale it, even without ropes. Emerson and Crowe had the ropes in case they were needed.
As we edged closer I heard voices and they were German. The sound of the sea stopped me from making out their words but they were Germans and the speakers were smoking, The smell of their tobacco drifted over to me. Jamming my Colt into the shoulder straps of my Bergen I stepped on to the slippery rocks. My rubber soled shoes managed to find purchase on the weed covered stones. I moved to the wall and began to ascend. There were four of us and that would be enough to overcome however many men we found. I put my hands on to the top of the wall. They had been blacked up too. I eased my head up. There were three sentries. I glanced down the wall. The fourth was marching toward the town. He was a couple of hundred yards away. I saw that Sergeant Poulson and Lance Sergeant Hay were in position and I nodded.
Drawing my gun I stepped up and pointed my Colt at the Germans. I hissed, in German, "Keep still and you will live!"
One said, "Kommando!" and raised his gun. The phut from Bill Hay's pistol pitched him to the sea below. He hit the rocks first and made barely a splash.
I walked to the other side and saw a ladder. "Sergeant, tell the sailors to go around the other side we have three prisoners for them. Bill, take their weapons from them."
He nodded.
I spoke German, "You two climb down the ladder, now." I waved the Colt at them. They had seen one of their comrades die and they complied.
"Sir, the other Jerry."
I glanced around. The last sentry was walking towards us. His head was down and his rifle was slung over his shoulder. Levelling my Colt I walked towards him. I was thirty yards from him when he lifted his head. "Hands up or you will be shot." He hesitated and I fired a bullet a yard from his foot. His hands came up. I turned, "Bill, when the prisoners are secured, follow us. The rest of you, on me!"
I walked down the sea wall. I kept my Colt in my hand. For the time being we needed silence. I risked a glance at my watch. It was fifty minutes until the invasion. We had to move quickly. My deviation from the plan had been the right one. These sentries might have seen us and raised the alarm. As I neared the end of the wall I saw a machine gun post just below me. If was fifty yards away and facing the sea. They would not see us. There were two men in it. That was our first target. I waved my hand to lead my men beyond them so that we could make our approach from the road. It was the direction which would arouse the least suspicion. Once past them I signed for Polly and Scouse to follow me and for Gordy to take the rest along the road. They all knew what to do: eliminate the opposition.
I walked up behind the two Germans. They were talking about a local Italian girl who was free with her favours. They laughed. Our approach had bee
n silent. I put the gun to the back of one German's head, "Hands up or you die!"
His hands came up. The second looked at me, and the gun and he obeyed too.
"Take off your helmets!" They looked at me uncomprehendingly. "Now!"
As they did so Fletcher and Poulson hit them with their saps. "This will be our headquarters. Scouse set up the radio and tell them where we are." I saw the telephone cables which I assumed ran to the Headquarters building. I took my dagger and cut them. I moved down the beach leaving those two to tie them up. The next machine gun post had been dealt with. I could see another but it was two hundred yards down the beach. I waved Gordy over, "Take four men and clear the wire."
I was left with Bill Hay, Fred Emerson and Roger Beaumont. I waved them back to the road. We were silent as we walked down. I could see that there were three more machine gun posts but the next one had four men. We approached from the road. This time we were unlucky. One of them turned and saw us. As he opened his mouth to shout I shot him twice. As he fell the other three turned around. Their fatal error was to try to swing their gun around. Four silenced shots killed them. I changed the clip in my Colt as we headed for the last two. I glanced at my watch. The landing craft would be less than half a mile out. Soon they would be either seen or heard and we had still two machine gun posts to deal with.
The klaxon from the building a hundred yards to the right alerted us. The German radar had picked up the ships. We raced towards the nearest machine gun. Bill and I shot them but the last machine gun knew we were coming and they fired a burst. It was early and it was wild. We dived into the machine gun emplacement. Freddie swung the already cocked gun around and fired in the direction of the other Germans. His was a more measured burst and both fell dead.
"Hay, take Beaumont and man the last gun. Swing them around to face the land."
I turned to Emerson. "It looks like you and me on this gun. You happy about that?"
He grinned, "Yes sir! Let the bastards come. I have a full mag and my Thompson."
"I will use my Thompson. Give me a shout if you have a problem." I laid out half a dozen grenades. Turning around I grabbed a couple of potato mashers from the dead Germans. There was nothing I enjoyed more than using German weapons against Germans.
The German weapons above us were intended for ships at sea. They were bigger guns. We were the defence against infantry. I heard a German voice shout, "There are a handful only! Destroy them!"
I shouted, "Here they come! Our lads will be here soon! Hang on chaps!"
There were only a handful of voices but the 'Yes sir!' from my left and right put steel into my spine. This was my section and we could take whatever the Germans threw at us. Four captured German machine guns fired as the rest of the company designated to defend the beach attacked us. They stood no chance. We had four machineguns and seven Thompsons. It was a wall of steel thorough which they tried to attack. I just emptied my Thompson.
"Reloading sir!"
As soon as I heard Emerson I hurled first one, then a second and finally a third grenade. "Grenade!"
Fred and I threw ourselves into the sand. The shrapnel tore into the advancing Germans. I peered over the sandbags. I was grateful that the Germans had prepared their defences well. There were bags to the rear. I sprayed the bodies which littered the ground to our front. The one or two cries told me that I had hit their wounded. I heard the cracks of hand grenades to my left and right. My section was doing what it was trained to do. Behind me I heard the sound of engines as the landing craft powered into the beach. I knew we had not cleared the wire behind us but, closer to the sea wall, we had.
I saw a German rise to throw a grenade. My burst cut him in two and he fell back. His grenade scythed though his companions. I reloaded my clip and took the pin from a grenade. Our weak spot was the unmanned gun to my right. I saw eight Germans run towards it.
"Fred, you are on your own!" I paused only to pick up my last two grenades.
I ran towards the Germans. I hurled the grenade and then threw myself to the ground. I emptied the Thompson blindly and then drew my Luger. The grenade went off and I heard screams and cries. When the sand settled I held my Luger two handed. Less than twenty feet from me was a German Major. I fired three shots into his head and then shot the two men on either side of him. I took a potato masher from my battle dress. I could hear the Landing Craft. They were within shouting distance. We just had to hold on a little longer. I threw the German grenade as high as I could. I was lucky. I dived to the ground. It exploded in the air; the concussion washed over me. I rose and fired the last of my bullets at the Germans I could see.
I stood and loaded another clip into my Thompson. I ran, screaming, at the Germans. I swung the Thompson from side to side. I had no doubt that the Germans would have seen our weak spot and sent the last of their defenders to it. My machinegun tore through the Germans who were less than twenty feet from me. My gun clicked empty and I drew my Colt. I had reloaded it. It was bizarre; I fired the silenced weapon and Germans fell wondering what had killed them. I took out another grenade and running forward, threw it as far as I could. I dropped into the sand. The explosion was so close that I felt the shrapnel whip through the air just above my head. I rolled on to my back and changed the magazine on my Thompson.
I stood and saw Germans cowering. I shouted, in German, "Surrender! Now!"
Slowly, at first, hands came up and the shell shocked survivors stood. I didn't know what to do. There were fifty men in front of me. Then Bill Hay and Gordy Barker were next to me and their Thompsons were pointing at the Germans.
"On your knees!"
They all dropped. I heard a cheer from behind me and Number Two Commando raced ashore. Major Siddons appeared next to me. "Thanks, old chap! Do you mind if we do a bit now or do you want to win the war all by yourself?"
I turned and smiled, "Be my guest!"
As he passed me he said, quietly, "Bloody magnificent! Worth a V.C. at the very least! " Then he shouted, "Come on Number Two Commando! Let's get into this war! Captain Dawkins secure the prisoners!" With a roar the Commandos raced up the beach passing the stunned Germans. Overhead the RAF began to attack the gun positions higher up the valley.
I patted Fred on the shoulder. Come one, Emerson, let's get the others. This time we don't get to go home on the 'Lady Luck'."
I waved my hand for Hay and Beaumont to join me. Both were exultant as they approached me. We marched down the beach towards the others. I saw the line of landing craft lined up on the beach. More were already coming in, heading for the gaps on the beach. When I saw Sergeant Poulson leading the rest of my section towards me I couldn't help the smile on my face. We had taken the beach and not lost a single man.
Gordy Barker shook his head, "You haven't changed have you, sir? You could have been killed in that mad charge! If we had done anything like that we would have been on jankers and no mistake."
"Well I wasn't killed, Mother Riley, so you can stop worrying! Now let's catch up with Number Two."
I heard firing and the sound of grenades from up ahead. I had reloaded my Thompson. Scouse had his radio, Gordy had the bazooka and Smith the rockets. The three of them were behind the rest of us. I knew it galled Gordy but their time would come.
There were a handful of dead Germans at the crossroads in the main street. Some Commandos emerged from the railway station with ten more German prisoners. We headed up the hill towards the pass. I began to run. Major Siddons had moved quickly. There was a danger he could move too far and become isolated. A hundred yards from the pass itself we found the Major and his men. They were taking shelter in the ditches at the side of the road.
I dropped next to him. "Problem, Major?"
He nodded, "An armoured car up ahead. He has us pinned down and we have no armour." He pointed to the steep valley sides. "I have sent Sergeant Perkins with a section to work their way around the flank. We need armour really."
I smiled, "No, sir. You need Number Four Commando." I
turned and whistled. "Sergeant Barker, Private Smith, get your bag of tricks ready. There is an armoured car ahead."
"Right sir!"
"How far up the road is it?"
"A hundred yards. If you get to the bend then they use their machine gun." He looked at Gordy, "What is your sergeant doing?"
"Using a present we got from the Rangers." The two of them ran up. Smith had two rockets ready. I turned to Emerson, "You and me will go to the bend, fire a burst and take cover in the ditch on the left. That will give you the chance to hit it with the rocket."
"Sir."
I dropped my Bergen as did Freddie. We ran up the road to the bend. Through the trees I could see the armoured car and the men next to it. What we were about to do was not as risky as it sounded. A moving target is hard to hit especially if it is firing back at you. We had just twenty feet to cover. "Right Emerson, on three, one, two , three!"
We burst across the road spraying our Thompsons wildly. I threw myself into the ditch as bullets from the armoured car shredded the trees and branches above my head. Emerson lay on top of me. He rolled off and we both reloaded. I held the gun above my head and fired blindly up the road. Emerson did the same. We drew more fire and then I heard the whoosh of the rocket and the armoured car exploded in a ball of fire. I jumped to my feet and ran up the road, firing from the hip as I did so. Fred was next to me shouting obscenities at the Germans. Once again our firepower cowed them and the survivors stood, dazed with their hands in the air. I saw the charred corpses of the armoured car crew. I suspected they had been dead before they burned but the acrid smell of burned human bodies was not pleasant.
Sergeant Poulson and my men reached me before Major Siddons. "Scouse, radio the General and tell him the pass is secured and we are moving on to our next objective."
Major Siddons shook his head at the sight of the dead Germans. "A handy weapon. I can see you are more resourceful than us."
"It is handy, sir but the problem is you have to kneel less than a hundred yards from the enemy. That was why we had the diversion. I have radioed Headquarters, sir. Target number two now?" I took my bag from Polly.