Eddie opened the door of the caravan with some difficulty, but he had been alerted to the sound of a woman’s voice screaming in the back. He found a young woman in the advanced stage of labour and then understood the urgency of the situation.
The gypsy man had been thrown free of the van as it tipped over. He had struck his head on a stone and was still dazed as he staggered to his feet. White-faced and haggard, he manfully did his share in dragging the caravan free of the ditch and placing it upright on the road again. The horse had been tethered to a gate at the other side of the road, so the soldiers helped the gypsy to put it back in the shafts again. The gypsy gripped the hands of each in silent gratitude, then jumping in his van, began to brandish his whip again.
The woman had stopped screaming, Eddie hoped she hadn’t passed out, as they watched the vehicle careering along in the distance. All were hoping that he had the kind of luck that would see his wife safely at the hospital in time.
Walking back after a few glasses of wine at a place a little further, the three men turned into the fields where they were camped. There was a noisy argument going on between two men outside one of the tents.
“I’ll mark time on you, me lad,” Eddie heard one yell.
“Not if I can help it, yer an eejit,” came the reply.
Eddie and the other men walked on. They had learned to mind their own business when battles broke out between the men, especially on a Saturday night. They’d had a good briefing once by one of the Irish sergeants, who seemed to be full of wisdom.
“No politics and no religion and yer can’t go wrong with that.”
The whole camp was in an uproar the next morning, as it appeared that someone had stolen the wheels off the Major’s jeep. Eddie emerged from his tent to find everyone talking in groups instead of going about their business as they normally did. The jeep had been left propped up on oil drums and the main speculation was how had the thieves achieved it? They could not have got the wheels through the gate during the day, as someone would have seen them and at night time the gate was well guarded. The guards were prepared to swear that no one had passed through the gate in the hours of darkness.
Speculation was rife; everyone had an answer. The culprits, if they came from inside the camp, must have planned it well ahead and it had been a well-kept secret, but Eddie’s own theory was that they must have used the boat. To load it with the wheels and float it down the river would have been a simple matter and there could have been a shed or something where they could have stored the loot.
Other items had gone missing from the camp previously, so Eddie supposed that the wheels would be hidden until the receivers could safely dispose of them and then make a nice profit. To Eddie’s mind it meant that the thieves must be in collusion with some soldiers.
The drivers from the camp were talking amongst themselves in the lorry compound when the sergeant who had been responsible for the jeep came up to them. He pointed to his sleeve which normally displayed the three stripes denoting he was a sergeant, saying that he had lost his stripes because of the bloody business. He was back to the ranks, one of the boys like them again. They stared at him in silence as they didn’t know what to say.
He didn’t get his stripes back until a few months later, he served as an ordinary driver, but he was always talking about the theft. Eddie, who was on loan for a while to that section, felt it was becoming an obsession and the drivers steered clear of him. He was always probing, asking questions and seizing on any clue that may lead to the thieves’ identity. It made the men feel nervous, they could unwittingly betray a comrade, a much more serious offence.
Later, whilst back in action, he earned his stripes again, but one of the unsolved mysteries of the war was who had stolen the wheels off the Major’s jeep?
Eddie was recalled back from the driving job soon after when the Major had decided that his men needed the services of a barber again. He was kept busy on that first week of duty, but when he had finished, he had to go back to Louvain again.
He liked Louvain, it would have been a nice place for a holiday in peacetime. He was ordered to take over the store-man’s duties, whilst the soldier went on his leave back in England.
One evening after Eddie had turned in for the night, two soldiers knocked on the store room door, wanting him to go along with them to sell used boots and blankets to the local people.
Eddie declined and was asked by one of them if he would like his head kicked in.
“Do you want to try and do it now?” Eddie said, knowing that these were a couple of bullies and should be fighting up the line instead of making a nuisance of themselves. The fellow backed off, noticing that Eddie had picked up a cricket bat, though at the time he wondered what it was doing there. The men slunk off and Eddie reported their threat to the Major, who had them packed off on active duty.
The platoon was billeted in a school-house and Eddie got to know the caretakers who lived in a cottage down the road. The old lady was very charming and practiced her English with Eddie if he was passing by. She told him that when she was a young girl during the First World War, she had learnt her English from the soldiers who were stationed in Louvain.
One day as she was talking to Eddie, she pointed to her pretty niece who was standing talking to a young soldier nearby.
“Yvette seems to be very taken with this soldier,” she said. She glanced back at Eddie and asked him directly. “Do you know anything about him?”
Eddie groaned inwardly. He knew that the soldier was married with two young children. He was in a dilemma, but he was determined to get it over with now.
“Are you talking about the man that is talking to your niece? He will have probably told her that he has a lovely wife and family.”
He saw the old lady’s face change as he spoke, but it was better she knew then than later. There were plenty of unattached men that the niece could get friendly with. The old lady kept her own counsel and Eddie didn’t get any repercussions from telling the truth.
She met him again before the platoon moved out and, as they said goodbye, she gave Eddie a present for his wife. He had a strong feeling she wanted to say something, but instead she kissed him in Continental fashion on two cheeks. He opened the parcel later to find a beautiful lace-trimmed handkerchief.
“She got the message,” said Eddie to himself with a smile.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Back with the regiment, Eddie was on rifleman’s duty again. His company was now in the area of the Escaut canal and their aim was to cross over it and join up with another company on the other side.
Their orders were to clear the area so that bridging could begin. This they did without much trouble, moving after this to an area north of a village to await further orders. When they moved again, it was across the border into Holland.
Heavy mortaring and shelling had to be endured before they came to a wood, which had been their aim to reach. The wood was very thick in parts, so in places it was almost impossible to move through it. In other parts the thickets were non-existent, but everywhere there were signs of German occupation.
Their own Company Major had been wounded and so a Major with a rich Irish brogue came to take over. He walked with a limp and with the aid of a stick, as he had been injured in an earlier campaign. He was very handsome with black, wavy hair and blue eyes. His Irish brogue was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Their sergeant had marched the platoon up to the doors of a small convent and as previous arrangements had been made, a nun let them into the courtyard to await the arrival of fresh orders and the new officer.
The Mother Superior came out in person to invite the men into the kitchen. Once in the kitchen, she motioned them all to sit at the table and she asked the sisters working in the kitchen to make them a meal. They looked to her for instructions on what to make them.
She suggested that the nuns make apple and pear fritters, which they willingly did, and soon the men were eating them hungrily, findin
g them delicious.
Eddie, who was a little more watchful than the others, saw that they were using up their meagre ration of flour.
The sergeant returned with the new Major and after being presented to the men, he gave them a briefing. They had to penetrate the enemy zone to find out if a certain bridge had been blown up, as this knowledge was essential to the forward plans. They were told to look for a railway line and a signal box as landmarks on the way to the bridge.
They set off from the convent, moving forward and using what cover they had available. They came to some rough common land that was covered in thick stubbly grass. A hedge ran along one side and the soldiers made for this as they intended to use it as cover.
They had hardly been there a few minutes when a burst of fire opened up, sending them running behind the hedge for cover. They all threw themselves to the ground and Eddie could feel the bullets going over his head, as he lay with his face pressed into a clump of dock leaves.
A calm Irish voice reassured the men, telling them to lie flat for a while, then each man was to try and make his way back to the convent. The soldiers listened carefully to what he said, then all of them jumped to their feet as one, forgetting his words of warning. They all bunched together, making a black silhouette against the darkening sky. It may have been a miracle, or the height of the hedge, that prevented a massacre.
Eddie stayed with the Major. By this time his experience had taught him the dangers of mass exodus. The new man was furious, he swore he would send every man back for re-training. The two of them stayed there for a while until they felt sure it was safe to move. Only then and very cautiously did they make their bid to move away.
The Major was still determined to execute his mission and get the necessary information back to H.Q., so the two men moved forward and found that the bridge was still intact and, on the way back, they encountered some snipers who had been out on the same mission as themselves. The Major was ordered back to his own post at Headquarters once his work had been completed, but unfortunately on the way back his jeep overturned and he was killed. They were all very upset in the company. Although he had only been with them for a short time, he had earned great respect from those who had been in contact with him.
The Mother Superior welcomed the soldiers back. Eddie had been so touched with her kindness that he had made a special trip to see the cook so that he could replace the nun’s rations. They were delighted by his thoughtfulness and invited him to take part in the rosary service they were holding that evening.
The Mother Superior took him aside after the service and said to him, “I knew that you would return and I see a long life ahead of you and much work for you to do.” Eddie could only agree with what she had said, as he felt as if ‘someone up there’ had been looking after him. As each day had dawned he had thought to himself that this could be his last on earth, then in the evening, the fact that he was still there constantly amazed him.
About a day’s march from the convent and some miles behind the front line, Eddie had a brilliant idea for making himself a brew of tea. An empty biscuit tin with one side bashed in and a number of empty butter tins with lids and bottoms cut off, provided a few yards of piping when threaded together. He had concealed the pipes, which would take the fumes away under the earth, with an old bush thrown over it and he used special candles which heated without smoke. He had successfully heated some water for his first brew and was about to enjoy drinking it when the Major from one of the other companies happened to be passing by.
“What’s that you’ve got there, Dockerty?” he asked, standing there with one eyebrow raised quizzically, as he stared hard at the impromtu stove and the collection of butter tins leading from it, his keen eyes noting the tea.
“It’s for making myself a brew of tea, Sir,” Eddie said, standing to salute the Major, something he never forgot to do now.
“Well, I think the whole damn thing should be patented, Dockerty. In fact, I’ll put you in charge of making the tea for the incoming patrols. Well done, soldier.”
An accolade indeed, except each morning when the patrols came in, Eddie had a hard job keeping up with demand and he was glad to leave his tea maker behind when the company moved on.
The water waggon arrived and the men were able to have baths. There was very little water to wash the soap off, but at least the soldiers felt a little cleaner. A change of clothing was issued too, but Eddie was reluctant to hand over his homemade socks for washing, which Irene had sent him, but he took the fresh socks anyway and washed and dried his own.
The platoon marched down the road to a small village. Eddie was feeling sleepy, as he and three other men had been on reconnaissance duty the night before. Stealing quietly through the night, they had lain concealed at the back of a stone wall and watched with incredulous eyes as another platoon of men with a sergeant put up their arms and surrendered after they had been caught in an ambush. Within the hour, the Germans were packing up their kit and loading a horse and cart with the unlucky soldiers. This had been reported back to H.Q. and next day their platoon was ordered to move into the village.
Eddie talked to the leader of the men who had been on another patrol. He said that they’d been making a house to house search in a village which looked as if it was deserted. At the far end of the village the slim figure of a young woman appeared. She came out of a house and stood in the doorway looking down the street at them for a moment or so. The men hurried down the street, looking around them as they went, then followed her into the house. They were just in time to see her heading down some cellar steps and quickly followed her. As they got to the bottom of the steps they saw her climbing out of the basement window and, realising she may be a decoy, they ran across the cellar and climbed out of the window themselves. Within seconds, guns had opened up by the enemy, who were hidden in a place nearby. No one would have lived to tell the tale had they not followed her, as substantial damage was done to the house.
The girl had disappeared from sight. It was as if she had never been there.
The officer in charge of the company issued orders for his men to clean up. Boots, kit and all gear were to be given a once over and then they were to assemble in the square to give a good impression to the people in the village where they were to be billeted.
After the display they found themselves to be billeted in the local schoolhouse. They found it very chilly in there, but they rummaged around until they found some wood and made a fire. They had to be careful not to make much smoke, as the Germans might shell the village if it looked different from usual.
There were no beds, of course, just a rough, hard, wooden floor, with the wind blowing through the gaps between the planks. Eddie said after the war had ended that he never did recover from his army days: he possessed the coldest bottom in the district – a legacy from sleeping rough.
The cook’s truck came up next day and brought welcome supplies. He fetched them some army blankets, which they used to sleep on, as well as to cover themselves. They had a hot meal of meat, vegetables and potatoes and also one treacle pudding to two men. The cook would bring supplies and any news he could pick up as well.
This day he had a word of warning. There was a well-dressed schoolmarm who was to be left severely alone. She had been collaborating with the Germans while they had occupied the village before and she was hoping to get on the same good terms with the English.
She had gone up to the cook’s wagon and asked him for rations, speaking to him in perfect English, but she had made a few suggestions to him which had given him a bit of a shock. He expected a schoolmarm to be the model of propriety and this young lady was not.
The head scarf slipped from her head as she talked to him and whether it was the Germans or the villagers that had cropped her hair, he couldn’t say, but it made her stand out amongst the rest as a collaborator with the enemy.
Eddie was used to eating well at home and sometimes he crossed the Major, who had firmly stated that the co
mpany should live on their rations. The regiment was stationed some miles away from the river Rhine at the time when Eddie fell from grace.
They had dropped back while other troops passed through their lines, as often happened. They all enjoyed the break as the weather had turned warm. They sunbathed and went swimming and Eddie was able to pursue his favourite occupation, looking for food.
They were in farming country, with many farmhouses around, but they were nearly all deserted. He looked around an abandoned farm where hens were clucking and strutting around the yard. Eddie caught several of them and took them back to the billet. By the evening he had organised a few of his mates and they proceeded to pluck the birds, and Eddie, ever resourceful, had found an old washing boiler in one of the outhouses, as the cooking range in the farmhouse had been smashed to pieces.
Eddie set to work with some old bricks, mud from the tracks in the lane and a corrugated sheet. He fixed a washing pot in the centre and soon had a fire going. The birds cooked all night and by the morning, the flesh just fell away from the bones.
The hungry men gathered around the pot as soon as they could and ate the birds with relish. They didn’t turn up for breakfast and it just happened to be the day that the cook was giving them bacon and eggs!
The Major tucked his stick under his arm and set off to find the absentees. He found them sitting around in front of the makeshift cooking range enjoying the last of the chicken. He took in the scene at a glance and said, “Find Dockerty for me.” Eddie had looked out of the window and spotted the Major coming, so he had disappeared.
When he was finally found and brought in front of the Major, he got a first class lecture on the subject of living on the land. The Major ended with the words, “You have killed the birds who laid the golden eggs.”
Eddie was very penitent and he promised not to go hunting anymore, but secretly he was amused that the cook had been before him on the previous day to collect the eggs.
Shattered Dreams Page 17