by Griff Hosker
"What the hell were you doing four hundred miles behind enemy lines?"
"Rescuing a general the Eyeties had captured."
"Where is he?"
"We sent him in our one remaining vehicle. Hopefully he will be in Torbruk by now."
He disappeared shaking his head. Polly handed me my Bergen. A Sergeant appeared. "Right lads, if you come with me I'll take you to the mess tent." As we went he looked at my shoulder badge. "Commandos eh?"
"Yes Sergeant."
"It's Company Sergeant Graham Latimer and I am guessing you have seen more action than we have. All we have done for the past few weeks is chase the Eyeties west. Some of the lads are desperate for a bit of action."
I nodded, "It is highly overrated."
"So is watching a crossroads in the middle of this shit hole!"
The rest of the Green Howards were already at breakfast and the sight of my unshaven, unkempt section drew the gaze of everyone. The Sergeant growled, "Get back to your breakfast. These are proper soldiers!"
We sat down and enjoyed hot food for the first time since the brew up in the desert. That seemed a lifetime ago. The lads who smoked enjoyed their first cigarette since then too. I could not really believe that we had extricated ourselves from such a perilous position.
The Captain returned fifteen minutes later. He shook his head, "You are a modest fellow aren't you Sergeant?" I shrugged. "These lads, Sergeant Latimer, dropped behind enemy lines and rescued General Carter and some other important officers and brought them all the way across the desert." He shook his head, "Amazing. The general could not speak highly enough of you. They are sending transport. If all goes well it should be here by this evening."
I nodded, "Thank you, sir. If you don't mind, the lads and I need a bit of shut eye. It is two days since we slept."
"Quite. Sergeant Latimer?"
"Right, follow me. We have one of the huts we cleared out. It will be cooler than a tent." He looked at my battledress. "Paratrooper eh? You have to be mad as a fish to jump out of an aeroplane."
I laughed, "Actually Sergeant you have to be mad, full stop, to be in the Commandos."
We walked across the camp. They had the mess tents and the other tents behind the mud huts and, in front of the mud huts, we saw slit trenches, sand bags and machine gun emplacements.
He was right, the interior of the hut was cool. As I lay down to sleep Gordy said, "If the General was so pleased with us why did he not send a lorry for us?"
"We were behind enemy lines. Perhaps he was arranging it. It turned out well didn't it?"
"Aye, Sarge, but only just!"
I have no idea how long we had been asleep but we were woken by the sound of gunfire. I was awake and had grabbed my gun in an instant. "Outside lads. This does not sound good."
The Corporal we had frightened when we arrived ran up. "Sergeant, the Captain sent me to wake you. We are being attacked by Italians. They have tanks and infantry."
"Right lads. Grab your weapons. Leave your Bergens here."
"We are short of ammo, Sarge and these lads only have .303."
"Then we use the captured weapons and grenades. Gordy go and see if you can get yourself more ammo and some more grenades for us."
The Howards all had their hard hats on. I could see a defensive line with sandbags. The tents were behind the huts and there was a dry river bed to the north. It obviously only filled in times of the rare heavy rain. Captain Troughton had a Bren gun there. He had four Vickers in the centre of his defences and I could see another four Bren guns being deployed. The four mortars also added their fire. Sergeant Latimer ran up to me. "Can your lads fight?"
I laughed, "Try and stop them. We are short of ammo but we have grenades. Where do you want us?"
He pointed to the two centre Vickers, "If you support the two Vickers there that would be handy."
I led my men towards the two guns. I heard the sound of the Italian guns. They were not large calibre guns. It sounded to me like twenty millimetre cannon and machine guns. As we dripped behind the sandbags and into the shallow trenches I wondered if the company had any anti-tank guns. If not then it was an error of judgment on someone's part.
Gordy ran up. He had a box of grenades in his hands. "I have ammo for my rifle and I have twenty grenades here."
With our wounded in the sick bay there were just seven of us remaining. I distributed the grenades. Ken said, "I have the ammo from the other two." He shared out the bullets and I filled one magazine in my Thompson. I also refilled the clip on my Colt. It was better than nothing and I still had my Luger and plenty of ammunition for that one.
Suddenly the two Vickers on either side of us began to fire. "Gordy, try and pick off the officers. The rest of you hold your fire until they are close enough to hit."
I counted four tanks. Only half had cannons but that was enough. Even as Gordy shot an officer urging his men on the two cannons fired at the nearest Vickers. Although the shell struck the sandbags the force punched a hole in them and the machine gun from a second one tore through the crew. The machine guns raked the mortar crews.
"Moore, with me!"
I rolled behind the sandbags. The crew were dead. I pushed them so that they filled the gap where the sandbags had been damaged. It was harsh but they could continue to fight even though they were dead. Their bodies would absorb the bullets meant for us. "You feed the gun." I took the helmet from one of the dead gunners. "Here put this on."
I aimed the Vickers not at the tanks but the infantry to the side. Machine gun bullets punched into the two dead Howards as I opened fire on the infantry. The Vickers is a powerful weapon and it scythed through them. It has an incredibly good rate of fire as they discovered in the Great War. More importantly it rarely jammed. The Italians concentrated their fire on us. Miraculously when the bullets hit they struck not flesh but the Vickers. Moore and I were thrown to the ground as the machine gun was destroyed. I saw that Moore's cheek was cut open.
"You are wounded."
He put his hand to his face. "It's nothing Sarge."
I rolled out of the emplacement as the leading tanks, now just a hundred yards away concentrated their fire on the gun. The other two were firing at the second Vickers. Its crew and the gun suffered the same fate. Gordy was picking off as many as he could but it was like spitting in the wind.
"Right lads. Open fire!"
The range was a little far and the smoke from the guns was obscuring the targets but we fired anyway. My Thompson clicked on empty. It was a waste of time to use my Colt. That would be a last resort. The tanks were now just sixty yards away. They had shifted their fire from the now defunct Vickers to the tents and buildings behind. Perhaps they thought that, with so little gunfire coming from our position, we were dead. I stuffed two grenades into my battle dress and holding another in each hand I rolled over the front of the sandbags and lay there. I expected bullets to thud into me but I must have been too low for the gunners to see or perhaps they could not depress the gun low enough. I rolled forward towards the advancing tanks. It might have looked dangerous but the tanks were moving at walking pace only. I pulled the pins out with my teeth and then threw the grenades just in front of the leading tank. I leapt back over the sandbags shouting. "Grenade!"
The gunner saw me then but by the time he had fired his machine gun I was behind the bodies and the sandbags. The grenades went off under the tracks of the tank and it ground to a halt. It was less than twenty yards from us and its gun could not target us. The tank itself stopped the troops behind from firing. I took out another of the grenades and sprinted to the front of the tank. There was a flap through which the driver looked. I pulled the pin on a grenade and after releasing the lever dropped it through the gap. I barely made it to the sandbags when there was a dull crump and smoke began to pour from the stricken tank. It began to burn and when the crew tried to leave my men cut them down.
Emboldened by my action the Green Howards began to hurl grenades at the tanks. Whe
n a second had its tracks damaged they began to back away, firing as they went. I lay in the charnel house that was the Vickers emplacement and sucked in air. That had been a close thing.
I heard the Captain shout, "Cease fire! Stretcher bearers!"
The Howards had suffered badly. Three Vickers had been destroyed along with their crew. I counted at least twenty corpses but we had held. Gordy and the others joined me. "Well done lads. Good shooting, Gordy."
He shook his head, "It is a good job they weren't German tanks. We would be dead now."
Captain Troughton and Sergeant Latimer came over and surveyed the wrecked positions. "Well done Sergeant Harsker. Sergeant Latimer, get some men to rebuild this emplacement and bring one of the flank Vickers and crew here."
I said, "What you need is an anti tank gun."
Sergeant Latimer said, "The grenade rifle! The way those tracks came off means we have a chance."
I stood, "Do you think they will come back, sir?"
"I don't know. We were told that the Italians were trying to flank us. There is a battle going on up north. The Germans are trying to regain the ground we captured. They have to capture this outpost. It guards the road to Torbruk from the south. I think we surprised them but they will be back." He smiled, "I don't think your lorry will be here anytime soon." He pointed to the machine gun emplacements. "Get those sand bags refilled!"
"Come on lads. There are enough rocks around here. We can put them in front of the sandbags. I reckon we need more protection. Moore, you keep a good watch on the Eyeties."
"Sarge, it's just a scratch."
"I know but I need someone to watch the enemy and you are it!"
The Italians had retreated beyond the range of our machine guns. I wondered what their next move would be. It was obvious that we could not be reinforced. I wondered if those who had been chasing us would be called in. Perhaps they would try a night attack although that was always risky. Sergeant Latimer joined me. He had a crew for the rifle grenade. It, effectively, lobbed a grenade more than a hundred yards. It couldn't hurt a tank but it could damage the tracks. It was why the Italians had retreated. Our grenades were making their tanks vulnerable. The Germans would have persevered. I had fought German tanks before.
We completed our defences and the cooks brought us hot soup and stale bread. It went down well. Suddenly Moore shouted out, "Sarge! German half track. It looks like the one that was chasing us the other day and there is an Italian lorry too. And a Kübelwagen. "There was a pause. "They are pulling field guns. They look like three inch jobs."
Sergeant Latimer said. "That is a problem. They may not be very big but they can blast us out of these holes any time they like."
Captain Troughton joined us. "Well Sergeant Latimer. What do we do?"
"We can't pull out, sir. Those tanks might not be very fast but they could easily catch us. If we stay then they will winkle us out."
"We need the guns destroying."
Sergeant Lambert shook his head. "You'd not get near them, sir."
We all looked west. After a moment or two I said, quietly, "We could."
"What?"
"We could sir, my Commandos. It's what we do."
"But we have no explosives. How would you blow them up?"
"We wouldn't. All we have to do is destroy the wheels. They can't fire if they have no wheels." I pointed to the dead Italian bodies around the destroyed tank. "I am betting they have grenades on them and we can use them. We can use some of the petrol they have for their vehicles and when the grenades go up they will ignite the petrol and the wheels will be destroyed. The explosion will probably damage the barrel too."
"But your men… they must be exhausted."
"I will just take four, sir." I could see the doubt on their faces. "If we do nothing then they will fire in the morning when they are set up. They may even have a pop this afternoon. Sergeant Latimer is right; we can’t stand against artillery, tanks, and infantry. We are outnumbered as it is. Our only hope is to do what they don't expect and attack them.
"Anything we can do?"
"Have some men close to those wrecked tanks. If we are followed then we will need some help."
"Right then. You had better select your men."
I whistled and my six men joined me. "Five of us are going over tonight to destroy those Italian guns." It was a measure of their confidence that none of them questioned the suggestion. "Gordy, you and Ken will be with me. Polly and…."
"Can I come, Sarge?"
I looked at Moore. "Connor has more experience."
"I know and I am never going to get it this way am I? Look I know I came over as a cocky little Cockney but I want to be part of this team. I know you have been looking out for me and giving me safe jobs. Let me do my bit, Sarge. I want to be part of this section. I figure I have earned the right to be treated the same, eh Sarge?""
I saw Gordy and Ken nod. "Right. Becket and Connor, the Sergeant is sending out some men to the tank to cover us when we return. I want you two there with them."
They nodded.
"Now get blacked up. We take Colts and knives. We are going to take hand grenades and we will search the dead, after dark, for their grenades. We will blow the wheels off the guns. Polly will stand guard while Curtis and I set the charges. I want Gordy and Moore here to get some petrol. I want the whole thing to go up like a Roman candle."
We had to remember to black up our legs and arms too. The grenades we carried in haversacks we got from the Howards. I took my Luger as I had more ammunition for that. I gave my spare ammo for the Colt to Gordy. I sharpened my dagger while I could.
There was a sudden double crack and a cloud of smoke as the two guns fired. They had them on a slightly higher piece of ground above their camp. It meant they were protected from a frontal attack by three tanks, a couple of trucks and a half track. We would not be using the front door!
They were ranging the guns. Their first shots were long but after three or four they managed to hit the huts. They were empty. Luckily for us night fell and they stopped firing. I suspect they did not have confidence that they could hit us in the dark or perhaps they were short of ammunition too. I was just grateful that they had stopped. As soon as it was dark we took our leave of the Howards. "Good luck, Sergeant."
Sergeant Latimer shook my hand, "Don't worry. We'll be there waiting. I won't leave you to hang out to dry."
We crawled along the ground towards the burnt out tank. It was too much to hope that any explosives had survived. We crawled to the bodies. Something scurried away. It was a rat. Our bullet holes made easy entrances to the human body. I found three grenades on the first body but none on the second. By the time I reached the last one I had a total of five. The others headed for me and we crawled north. There was a dry river bed there. It was not deep but it meant we could walk crouched rather than crawling. Had I been the enemy commander I would have had a sentry there. It would not have done them any good for we would have killed him but it showed slackness on their part.
I stopped for I could hear Italian voices to the left. I peered over the top and saw a fire with half a dozen soldiers seated around it. I saw from its glow that the vehicles were just behind them. I slipped back down and continued our journey. When the voices faded I risked another look. We were level with the slight rise and I saw the snouts of the two guns. I climbed up and waved to the other others. Drawing my dagger we made our way to the guns. The ground was full of small rocks and it rose steadily to the artillery. I heard voices. They had left guards with the two guns. As we waited for our eyes to adjust to the dark I saw the shape of the Kübelwagen. They must have been using it to move the guns. They were only small calibre artillery pieces and the Kübelwagen would easily be able to move them. It was parked close by the two guns. Once we were out of the dry gully we crawled towards the guns. We had learned to make small slow movements. My worry was Private Moore who had not done enough of this. Perhaps I would regret bringing him along. We moved in si
lence and tried to keep our breathing steady. It was not easy.
I caught the smell of cigarette smoke and pipe tobacco along with the strong smell of salami. There was a slight breeze and it blew the smell towards us. It identified their position. They had a fire. It looked to be made with scraps of wood and petrol. It gave off a blue light and it helped to show us where they were. We crawled further forward and I counted them. There were four as far as I could see. I held up four fingers. I waited a few minutes longer in case one had gone to relieve himself. I drew my finger across my throat and then we rose like wraiths. The four Italians were facing the fire and had no night vision. The first they knew of our presence was when the daggers slid silently across their throats.
I pointed to the Kübelwagen and then at Gordy. He tapped Moore and they went to get some petrol. With Poulson keeping watch I took off my pack. We had various grenades. I put one of the Mills bombs in the barrel and attached a length of parachute cord to the pin. I broke the porcelain on the stick grenades and placed them next to the wheel of the gun. I tied the cords to a single piece of parachute cord. Finally I put another length of cord through the pins of three Mills bombs and fed it through the wheel. I carefully tied my three cords together. I had tied together six lengths of parachute cord to make a long fuse. I tied it to my three cords and walked backwards. When I was twenty feet from the gun, I stopped.
Ken had done his and I watched as Moore poured, as quietly as possible, half a jerry can of petrol on each gun. Gordy took the filler cap off the Kübelwagen and then walked towards the gun pouring petrol from the last jerry can. He nodded. I waved them back to me. Polly, Gordy and Moore all ran to the dry river bed. Ken and I walked backwards until we had run out of cord. We had to do this together. I held three fingers up, then two and then one. I pulled. The pins came out of the Mills bombs. We had seven seconds. I was no Jesse Owens but I made it to the dry river bed and rolled in closely followed by Curtis. We made it with two seconds to spare. There were a series of explosions. I saw the guns lift into the air. As they came down I saw that the wheels had been broken. Then the flames lit the petrol and there was an almighty whoosh which lit the sky and made it like daylight. When the flames reached the Kübelwagen it was lifted in the air too.