by Griff Hosker
As soon as it neared us Gordy had more chance of hitting something. He fired a couple more shots and hit the vehicle. On the third shot he shouted, "Got you, you bugger!"
I could not see what he had hit, "What were you firing at?"
"I was aiming for the flap the driver uses to see. I hit inside. That bullet will have rattled around in that tin box."
As if to prove his success the half track veered to the right so that Gordy could not hit that spot again. He began to fire from his elevated position into the back of the half track. The effect was the same. The bullet pinged off the metal and I saw an arm flung in the air as he hit one of the occupants.
The damaged half track had disgorged its men and they were running to follow the half track.
"Gordy!"
He switched targets and brought down another two before they made the safety of the half track. We had an impasse. If they turned to approach from head on then Gordy would continue to cause casualties. We, on the other hand, could not move. We were both stuck. The German Commander had had enough of taking punishment and there was a sudden fusillade as the Germans opened fire. It was long range for a rifle without a scope. We ducked back behind our stone defences. It would take a really lucky shot to hit us and I hoped that they did not have a sniper with them.
The day wore on. Polly had sharper ears than the rest and he said, "Sarge. I can hear lorries. They are coming from the west."
Sure enough there were. I took the binoculars and scanned the horizon. There were two trucks of Italians. They were being reinforced. Gordy took out another clip of ammunition. "Do you think they will send anyone to help us?"
"I don't know, Gordy. We have no idea what problems there are or how long it will take them to reach our lines. Let's just say we have to rely on our own resources and get ourselves out of this fix." I pointed to the Italians who had pulled up next to the half track. "I think you will need to discourage these Eyeties too."
He nodded and snuggled into the stock of his rifle once more. The Italians and the Germans began to move forward using whatever cover they had to hand. "Hold your fire lads. Let Gordy thin them out a bit. Have your grenades ready. We hold them until dark and then head back across the desert."
There was a crack as Gordy fired his first shot. The officer waving the Italians forward fell. The others went to ground. I saw a German officer urging them to advance. He fell to Gordy's next shot. I think they realised, at that point, that we only had one rifle. They rose as a line and began to run towards us.
Ken murmured, "That's put the cat amongst the pigeons."
Gordy did his best and every bullet found a target but they were closing with us. Moore said, "Now, Sarge?"
"Hold your fire. And use short bursts. We have no spare ammo."
The Germans and the Italians were firing wildly as they ran. I did not mind. They were wasting ammunition and were in no danger of hitting us. They gained in confidence when we did not fire. I think they thought we had run out of bullets. When they reached the road, less than eighty yards from us, I shouted, "Fire!"
Eight Thompsons opened up. The first ten Germans and Italians fell and the rest dived to the ground. They had learned that we still had bullets. They began to slither back.
"Hold your fire."
They were harder to hit and we could not afford to waste bullets. My aim was to stop them advancing and wait until dark. We held the advantage at night. They pulled back behind their vehicles once more taking their wounded with them. Ten dead bodies lay between us. Another fourteen or so had crawled and limped back to the security of their vehicles.
I studied the lorries through my binoculars. "Gordy, can you try to hit the petrol tank on one of those Italian trucks?"
"I'll have a look." He peered through his telescopic sight. "It's possible."
"Just try three bullets. It might worry them."
What worried me was the prospect of either more aeroplanes or more trucks. We were holding the thirty or so who remained before us but any more and we would be in serious trouble. Gordy hit the petrol tank with the first bullet but nothing happened. "I hope it isn't a diesel!"
I looked at the tank through my glasses. Petrol was pouring out. If nothing else we were emptying the tank. "Try another." I was staring at the petrol when Gordy fired his second shot. The explosion was so bright in my binoculars that it made me pull my head back. Within a minute the truck was a blazing inferno and they had to move the second Italian vehicle to prevent it being burned as well. That cost them one man when Gordy sent a bullet into him.
Then someone behind the vehicles took charge. I saw the enemy split into two and move to encircle us. Gordy could only fire at one group and they were at extreme range.
"Ken, take half of the men and position yourselves to the east. They are going to try to flank us."
"Poulson, Connor, Moore, with me!"
"The rest of you find a better position to the west. Gordy keep sniping."
I took out my Luger. I now had almost as much ammunition for that as I did for the Colt and the Thompson. I laid four hand grenades before me. I had one more swig of water and then I watched.
Once they had divided our firepower they began to move forward. They kept large spaces between them and that lessened the advantage of the machine gun. This time, when they fired they did so in a measured manner. They kept our heads down. I heard Harry Gowland cry out.
Are you hit Harry?"
"A bit of rock hit my face. I'll be fine. I saw the bastard who did it. He is a dead man!"
Gordy said, "That's it Sarge. I am out of ammo." He took out his Colt.
When they were fifty yards away and advancing more confidently towards the lower rocks I shouted, "Let them have it!" I squeezed off two bullets at one man who ducked down and then I waited for him to pop his head up. He obliged and I sent three bullets towards him. One of them must have hit him for he fell back.
I heard a shout and Harry said, "George has been hit."
"Doc, go and see to him." I took the pin from a grenade, released the lever and hurled it high into the air. "Grenade!"
We were in as much danger as the enemy from our grenades and all of us buried ourselves into the rocks. The grenade exploded in the air sending shrapnel into the enemy ranks. On the other side I heard Ken shout, "Grenades!" as he and his three men hurled their grenades at the same time. There were four ragged explosions and then screams.
Gordy and Connor shouted, "Grenades!" as they both launched their bombs. I stayed hunkered down as the concussion from two bombs sent shock waves towards us. When the smoke cleared I raised my Thompson. The enemy were falling back. I fired a short burst. We watched as they ran back to their vehicles to lick their wounds.
"How is Lowe?"
"He has been hit in the arm. He will live."
"And I can still fight, Sarge!"
"Gordy you and Connor get down and see if there are any weapons we can get. I will see Ken." I moved carefully through the rocks. "How are things over here?"
"Polly was hit in the hand. It is not serious. They fell back when we used the grenades."
I looked at my watch and then the sky. "It will begin to get dark in an hour. We move out then."
"Isn't that a risk, Sarge?"
I pointed to the north. "We go across the sand. They have one half track and we can hear that coming. If they follow then we ambush them." I shrugged, "It's not much of a plan but if we stay here then they will bring more men and we will be prisoners."
Gordy had found a machine gun and three rifles. Connor had five cartridge pouches and half a dozen stick grenades. I nodded. "That is better. Right lads. As soon as it is dark we leave here quietly and head north across the sand. Have a good drink now and get some food inside you. I don’t think they will come soon. They will probably wait until dark. Use your parachute cords and the stick grenades to booby trap the rocks. Doc, take George and go to Polly. He is wounded. I want the three of you on the north side. While it is sti
ll light look for markers to help us in the dark."
"Right, Sarge!"
I had my Silva compass and we had a torch we had found in the Kübelwagen but I did not want to show the enemy where we were. I tried to guess what my opponent would be doing. He would not want to signal his intent of attacking me in the dark. He would wait. We had a small window of opportunity to slip away before they had begun to cover the killing ground before us. I needed to buy my men some time. Our two wounded would slow us down somewhat.
Gordy slithered next to me. "Booby traps all in place."
"Good. Give me one of those captured rifles."
He handed me one. "Have you something in mind?"
"Just a little idea. Listen I want you to go to Ken. Have him take his men to join the Doc. I don't want the enemy to see us. When you come back let them see you moving toward me but don't get shot."
I could see he was intrigued but he just nodded. "Right Sarge." He paused, "That leaves just you here."
"I know. Tell Ken that I want him to start north east as soon as it is dark. He is to ignore whatever happens here."
As Gordy slipped away to the left I raised my head and moved to my right. As I had expected there was a flurry of bullets. I ducked down and moved down towards the dead Germans and Italians. Looking east I could see the sky becoming slightly darker. It would not be long now. I saw the nearest dead Italian. I darted forward as though I was trying to get something from him and more bullets came my way. I had been moving back before the first bullet struck and I made my way, unseen back to my original hiding place. I heard bullets striking the rocks to my left and knew that Gordy was on his way back.
"They are on their way. What have you planned then, Sarge?"
"I reckon they will come over as soon as it is dark. I want to confuse them. I am going to fire my Luger and my Italian rifle. You do the same with your weapon. I will shout in German and you shout, 'We are surrounded. We surrender.' Then we pull out in the dark."
"What do you think that will achieve? I can't see it myself."
"If we were attacking Germans and we heard British weapons and then the Germans saying that they surrendered what would you think was happening?"
He nodded, "That some of our lads had come to our aid."
"And they will come over expecting the position to be safe. I want them to walk into the booby traps. We need to delay them long enough so that they lose us in the dark. Now move to your left and let them see you. I will do the same to my right." I took off my comforter and, raising my head moved eight feet to the right. Another fusillade rattled amongst the rocks sending small slivers of stone flying. One scored my cheek. I put my hand there and felt blood.
When I got back Gordy said, "Have you been hit, Sarge?"
"Just a scratch." I looked at the sky. "Not long now. Get ready." I was becoming used to these African sunsets. An English one could sometimes take almost an hour. Here you were lucky if they lasted ten minutes. Once it was dark I was certain that I heard movement. "Ready?"
"Yes Sarge."
I pulled the trigger on my Luger and shouted, in German, "Now! Attack." I fired my rifle and Gordy did the same.
Gordy shouted, "We surrender! We surrender!"
"Let's go!"
Having scouted our escape route we moved quickly around the rocks. Gordy led. He knew where Ken and the others had been. Behind me I heard orders being shouted in Italian and German. We had just reached the bottom of the rocks when I heard the first booby trap go up. There was a rattle of gun fire as they fired into the dark. Gordy pointed to the north east. I nodded and, using the stock of my rifle wiped our prints away as I walked backwards. In daylight they would be easy to spot but I hoped, in the dark, that the enemy would be confused. There was another volley and a scream. They were hitting each other. Confusion reigned. After twenty feet or so I turned around and we began to jog. There was a second explosion and then a third.
The sky behind was suddenly lit up as a flare was launched. Gordy and I threw ourselves to the ground and did not move. It seemed to take an age for the night to become dark again. As we had had our faces in the sand our night vision had not been affected. I knew that the Germans and Italians would have none. They did not try a second flare and I hoped that we had lost them. I rose and tapped Gordy on the shoulder. Ten minutes later I heard a hissed, "Over here, Sarge."
I headed in the direction of Ken's voice. I whispered, "Everyone safe?"
"Yes Sarge but you had us worried."
"Do you have a line in mind?"
"Yes Sarge."
"Then we keep going for an hour. Doc, you determine the pace. You have the two wounded and you know the pace they can maintain."
I heard George whisper, "We are fine Sarge."
"Go."
Night is never truly black and we were able to walk quite quickly. I remained at the rear and I looked at the footprints I passed to make sure we were not deviating from a line. Every now and then I stopped and listened. I could hear in the distance the sound of engines. That was good. If they were using their vehicles then the odds were they were on the road and we were getting further away. Ken stopped after an hour.
"Get some water."
I took out the compass. "Gordy, get your body here in front of me." I put my Bergen to the side and, kneeling down shone the torch on the compass. I could see that we had been going east north east. I mentally corrected the line. Switching off the torch I said, "Gordy, you bring up the rear. I reckon we can make three miles an hour. We stop every hour or so to check we are on course. We should reach the front lines in about six hours. We might have to wait until dawn to cross over. Our lads might have itchy trigger fingers."
I led with Lowe close by. "You let me know if you can't keep up."
"It's just my arm Sarge. I can still walk."
Bill Becket's voice warned, "You have lost blood. Let me know if you feel dizzy eh? Don't be the hero!"
Each time we stopped I used the torch to check that we were still heading in the right direction. We had been travelling for four hours when Lowe collapsed. Doc cursed, "I told him to tell me. Sarge, have you the torch?"
He shone the torch on the wound. It had opened. He looked at me. "I'll rebind the wound. We'll have to carry him."
"Get your parachute out. We'll use that for a litter. Harry, empty Lowe's Bergen and share it out with everyone else. Moore, you take his guns." As they did as ordered I peered to the south. There appeared to be no pursuit. By dawn they would have a spotter aircraft looking for us. As far as they knew the General was still with us. That would keep them looking for us. We could do without this delay. I reckoned we were two thirds of the way home but carrying Lowe would slow us down.
"Gordy take the rear. I will take the point. We swap over with two of you every ten minutes. Let's go."
George Lowe was a muscular man and he was heavy. Our speed was cut dramatically. After an hour we had all had a turn with the wounded man. He had woken and told Doc he was fit enough to walk. "You are fit enough when I say so, Lowe. Lie back and enjoy the ride."
The sky in the east began to lighten. We stopped to change carriers and I looked at the map. The terrain was largely featureless but I detected to the north east a cluster of buildings. Was it British held? It was still too dark to tell. "We head for the buildings ahead. When we get close I will go with Ken and have a look see."
As we neared the buildings I smelled smoke. They were inhabited. The dawn was definitely breaking. I waved for the section to lower Lowe to the ground and, slipping off my Bergen, I waved Ken forward. There were a few scattered rocks and scrubby bushes and we used them for cover. I heard voices. They were too indistinct to make out the nationality. I cocked my Thompson. I had about eight bullets left. I waved Ken to the right and we approached the low wall which surrounded the mud huts.
I listened carefully. I heard a door creak open on the other side of the wall. I dared not lift my head. Then I heard, "Get that kettle on while I have a pee!
"
I grinned and stood. "I hope you have spare mugs because I am gagging for a brew!"
Chapter 17
When the Corporal had recovered his composure I discovered that we had stumbled upon a British outpost. It was a company of the Green Howards. They were dug in and guarding the road. While Gordy went to fetch the rest of the section I was taken to Captain Troughton who commanded the depleted company. "Where in God's name have you come from, Sergeant?"
I pointed south, "We lost our vehicles twenty miles south west of here."
"But that is the desert and, the last time I heard, the Italians still held it."
"They do sir. We were dropped behind enemy lines at El Agheila."
"Good God, that is four hundred miles away!"
"Something like that."
The Corporal handed me a mug of tea, "There you are Sarge. You fair put the willies up me back there."
"Sorry, Corporal, but we have spent the last few days dodging Germans and Italians. We did not know where the front line was."
The Captain nodded, "It is here. We are at the very southern edge of the British lines. Our job is to guard this crossroads. This is the back way to the coast. All of the action is going on north of us. General Wavell is in command."
Just then my men came in with the wounded Lowe. "Have you a doctor, sir? We have wounded men."
"Of course. Corporal, take the wounded men to the Doc." He looked at me. I will radio Headquarters and tell them about you. Who are you?"
"Sergeant Harsker Number Four Commando."
He nodded, "Well you are just in time for breakfast. I am guessing that you have been on short rations."
"You could say that, sir."