by Carly Smesh
Weapons. Apart from the Sherman's 75mm guns and 50cal and 30cal machine guns. They have two British 25 pounders, two 30mm quad anti-aircraft and two 20mm anti-aircraft canons, all of which are towed behind vehicles. For the most part the men are armed with SMLE's Bren's and Vickers heavy machine guns as well as some MG 42's. They have mortars but we are not sure what size as yet." Stanley stopped talking and look around the group as if expecting comment.
"Thank you CSM," giving Stanley his old Army rank. "That was a very concise and detailed report," Shaun murmured.
"Yes extremely well done Stanley." Bobby added.
"Right my turn," Ari Silverman said. "The General Assembly of the United Nations is to vote of the Partition of Palestine within the next few weeks. If the vote goes our way we expect to have an increase of hostilities from the Arab nations. We don't expect to have much help from the British, they're too busy moving out. At the moment Hagenah's main objective is to keep the road to Jerusalem open. Most of the weapons that Bobby supplied have gone to the men involved in this. But we have reports of increased aggression towards the settlements and Kibbutz's along the Sini road. Last week three 14year olds, two girls and a boy were taken while checking the orange grove at Batazar Kibbutz. Their bodies were found later, they had all been repeatedly raped and mutilated.
We have seven Palmach now at the Kibbutz to help prepare defences. They have ten .303's and two Bren gun's with about fifty rounds of ammunition each. We need to reinforce them with arms and men, we are withdrawing thirty of the Palmach from the Jerusalem road detail to reinforce the three Kibbutz's and the settlement. But it will take time to get them here. We will need to use some of the men from here until they arrive." Stanley nodded in agreement.
"I think Shaun, we need to get the rest of the vehicles, men and arms from the Creator over here as soon as possible. It will take at least two months before the Iona Star is in a position to pick them up. Do you agree?"
Shaun nodded, "If you can get a message through to Sharron, Proff can start to get things moving at his end."
The meeting broke up, and after shaking hands with Ari and David they climbed into a Bedford truck and drove away.
The four remaining stood looking at the maps on the table. Shaun smiled, "So Stanley, you gave your report, now what is your personal opinion of the situation?"
Stanley shrugged, "From what we have heard it would seem that the entire route of the road has been mapped out. They have aerial photographs of it and the obvious choke points along it have men stationed there. When they come, it will be difficult to stop them."
"So between us we will have to find away," Bobby murmured.
"Well the first order of business is the three Kibbutz's, and how to protect them," Shaun said.
"Batazar is the most venerable," Stanley declared. "It's closer to the Egyptian's than any of the others and the furthest from any aid we can muster. A Doctor Black and his wife run it with five helper's, at the last count there were 95 young people who work in the orange grove and fields. Most are between thirteen and eighteen."
"We daren't use the jeeps or support trucks, it would tip our hands off to the Egyptian army. So it will have to be men we send," Shaun said.
The three men nodded agreeing.
"We can use the Bedford to get them in, they use them to bring in supplies," Stanley replied. "Regarding weapons, with the one's you brought Shaun we can spare 6 Bren's and 28 SMLE's and I think if we use the ones you brought 12 MP42's with the ammunition for them. We also have five 3inch mortars with star shells and standard shells, but I will need to check how many we have."
"Look," murmured Bobby. "That's all very well for defence, but how many are attacking the Kibbutz?"
Stanley frowned "From reports I would say about twenty or thirty. They carry out spasmodic sniping and toss in the odd mortar round. They mainly try to grab anyone they can from the Kibbutz's."
"So rather than go for defence, we need to go on the attack." Bobby replied. "A small group of determined men could pick them off in stealth attacks, rather like we did in Europe with the commandoes and SAS." He looked around the others for comment.
Shaun asked, "Do you have any amongst your men Stanley who have training in that sort of operation." He knew that Bobby had been on missions behind enemy lines to eliminate top ranking Waffen SS commanders whose troops were holding up the army's advance across Europe.
A gleam came into Stanley's eyes, "They may not have trained with the SAS or Commandoes but they learnt stealth tactics in the backstreets in Tel Aviv and in the towns around the area. I could pick out six or seven who would be ideal."
Bobby and Stanley put their heads together to discuss plans.
Shaun left them to their discussion and moved away to climb up the bank of the valley following the goat track, near the top in found a place that offered some shade and sat down. He lit a cigarette and began to think of the challenge that lay ahead of them.
The main problem were the Egyptian tanks, they had to be neutralised...but how. From the map he had seen there were three likely places to ambush them. But each was likely guarded due to the obvious location, and the enemy would expect them to attempt an attack there. He ruled out one of them right away, it was too close to the Egyptian's point of attack. That left two possible ambush sites. He knew he would have to see them at first hand. His mind drifted, and he began to think of Sharron and his son...how they were... what they were doing. He realised he was home sick with longing to see them. He threw away the cigarette angry with himself and rose to his feet and made his way slowly back to the trucks.
Cookie was making a brew of tea when he arrived back.
"About ten minute's boss," he murmured.
Shaun nodded and settled down with his back against the trucks wheel. He could see Bobby and Stanley with a small group of men taking some way off by another truck.
Eventually the group broke off and Bobby and Stanley moved back towards them. Excepting and mug of tea each from Cookie they came over to Shaun.
"If it's alright Shaun, Stanley and six of the men and I are moving out in about two days to take up position at Batazar."
Shaun nodded "Be careful," he grinned "And good luck." He turned to Stanley, "I need to see the passes first hand who can guide me?"
Stanley replied straight away "Take Sol he knows the area better than anyone. But it will take six or seven days to get there, its rough country and you will have to travel at night to avoid detection."
Later Shaun discussed his requirement with Sol with Stanley and Cookie in attendance.
"We will need to take a Jeep, it will need to be loaded with extra food water and fuel. The machine guns will need to be removed to save weight and avoid any noise they may make. We probably will only be making ten or fifteen miles a night because of the torturous route we will have to take," Sol said.
Shaun smiled "well we had better start getting ready then."
Chapter 49
The next day after selecting a Jeep, Sol and Shaun began stripping it down of its machine guns and preparing it for the mission.
In the meanwhile Cookie was involved it adapting the silences that had been used on the Sten guns of the Palmach prior to the shipments of weapons from Bobby. While Bobby was showing the six volunteers how to make gillie suits from camouflage netting and shacking strips.
Around the Benghazi burner that night drinking tea Cookie commentated on his progress to Bobby and Shaun.
"I've managed to adapt seven to fit the P38's, they're going to be a bit cumbersome adding nearly a foot to the length of the pistol, but the results are good. The downside is the range is nearly halved, so you will have to be close Bobby."
Bobby nodded "Hopefully we will be using knives, the guns are there mainly for backup, but thanks Cookie."
Shaun knew Bobby had a silencer for his Browning Hi-Power that he had used on similar missions in Europe.
"The gillie suits are coming on well, the guys soon got the idea of w
hat Stanley and I wanted them to do. I'm hoping tomorrow we can begin training with them."
"Well the Jeep is nearly ready, so with a bit of luck Sol and I will take off tomorrow night. With Stanley, Bobby and I away Cookie, you will be in charge, we will be away for about three weeks are so," Shaun murmured.
Cookie nodded resigned to the job.
Later Shaun laid out his personal equipment on the bed of the truck taken from his kitbag.
The RAF sheep lined flying jacket, his Shernaghs scarf and goggles along with his Australian bush hat. He found the Leica camera Sargent Black had given him in Cairo along with two rolls of film and added a note book and pencils. He removed the Carl Zeiss 50X10 binoculars from its leather case and cleaned the lenses before fitting the covers back over them and replacing it back in its case. He checked the leather case of his compass and the compass itself, before placing it with the other items. To these he added his half pint silver flask filled with Dimple Haig Malt Whiskey and four 25 pack of cigarettes and his brass Zippo lighter.
Next he checked his 1911 Colt Automatic in its US leather holster and the three magazine pouches were filled. Then turned his attention to his Cartwright rifle. The weapon had been cleaned earlier that day, he checked the magazine was filled and checked the safety before sliding it back into the rifle holster. The bandoleer had been filled with 40 rounds of ammunition and this and the rifle case he placed beside the pile he had selected. He had decided to leave his kukri behind in favour of taking a commando knife which was holstered on his army belt along with the Colt.
Shaun began to pack the items into a rucksack, adding spare items of clothing to protect the camera and compass.
When everything secured he made his way over to the Jeep carrying his rifle and bandoleer with the rucksack over his shoulder.
Sol was just placing his rucksack in it as Shaun arrived. He noticed that Sol had a case for his rifle too which he placed on his bedroll. Shaun placed his rucksack inside the Jeep making sure it was secure, before placing his rifle case on his bedroll.
"You had better eat Major before we leave, it will be a long time before your next meal, we will leave in an hour if that is OK with you," Sol said.
Shaun nodded, "That's fine with me Sol."
He made his way back to the truck leaving Sol checking everything was secure on the Jeep.
Cookie had prepared a chicken curry and a bottle of beer for him.
"All set Boss?" Cookie asked.
Shaun nodded, "Sol is just doing a final check on the Jeep cargo and then eating before we set off."
"He doesn't say much doe's he, surprised Stanley made him his 2nd IC," Cookie commentated.
"Well according to the files Ari Silverman sent with his intake to the Crater. He achieved the rank of Sargent in the British Army. So I guess he must have something in his character," Shaun murmured, as he accepted the plate handed to him by Cookie.
He was wearing his flying jacket, scarf, goggles and hat has he approached the Jeep. Sol was wearing a British parachute smock with a faded maroon berry on his head, a Shernaghs scarf around his neck.
"All set Major?" He asked.
"Sol there is no ranks in the Palmach, so it's Shaun all right."
Sol gave a slight smile and nodded, "OK Shaun get in."
Shaun held on tightly to the grab handles of the Jeep as it lurched and bumped its way along the passage the Jeep was taking. It's progress lit by the hooded lights of its headlights. He didn't speak to Sol, knowing he had to concentrate on his driving.
As dawn broke over the crags, Sol pulled over to an overhanging cliff face, and they began to camouflage the Jeep, afterwards they made camp.
Over the course of the eight nights it took to reach the second gorge Shaun slowly pieced together Sol's story. With gentle probing, from talks they had had while waiting for night to come.
He along with his parents and grandparents had fled Poland when Germany invaded Poland. His father, a lawyer knew what the Nazi's had done to Jews in Germany and had made preparations to escape. He had planned to escape to England, but somehow the family had become separated in the confusion of people trying to escape the Nazi's.
How a fifteen year old boy had managed to traverse the distance from Poland to England and the insurmountable problems this must have coursed, Shaun could only imagine. But Sol had arrived in England in February 1940, friendless and without hardly any money. He had been placed with other refugees in a camp in Dorset.
Fortunately Sol had a good grasp of English having studded it School along with other languages. He made repeated attempts to find out information about his family, but to no avail.
Two months after his sixteenth birthday he lied about his age and joined the army. And volunteered to join the newly formed Parachute Regiment. He quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a Corporal.
Sol had displayed an ability for marksmanship being rated expert, and this brought him to the attention of the S O E, Special Operations Executive.
He was asked if he would be interested in returning to Europe for an important mission. Sol jumped at the chance. He was promoted to Sargent.
He underwent intensive training at their training camp in Sussex. Codes, radio, unarmed combat escape and evasion techniques and marksmanship.
He was moved to Bisley, where he received instruction from some of the best rifle shots in Britain at ranges up tp 1500 yards. A rifle was made for him by a gun shop in London, they had measured him and produced a rifle that was basically a SMLE .303 but with a heavier barrel and handmade components. It had a walnut stock with cheek rest and pistol grip and was fitted with a Parker Hale telescopic sight. They also produced special .303 bullets for him to fire.
They finally showed him his target, Reinhardt Heydrich. They showed him files and photographs of the atrocities that he had been responsible for. Sol knew he deserved to die.
He was going to be dropped into Czechoslovakia along with two others to help in the assassination. SOE knew Sol could read and speak Czechoslovakian as well as German from their interviews with him. The date was set for him to go February 15th1943.
Then one week before he was to be dropped, he took a bad tumble on the assault course, breaking his leg and cracking three ribs.
The three others were dropped and eventually succeeded in badly injuring Heydrich so much so that he died from his injuries.
Two who were dropped were betrayed by a member of the resistance and died.
In reprisals the Nazi's killed over 1500 Czech's and raised two villages to the ground.
His orders were changed and he was dropped into Poland in September 1943 along with a radio operator/spotter.
His orders were to attack German High Command Army Officers, SS Officers and Gestapo Officials.
Right from the beginning of his mission Sol decided to trust no one. They would be on their own. Once they began killing they never stayed in the same place. Slipping back into the forest and moving fast to a different location.
They radioed for supplies and batteries for the radio and set up catches of food, ammunition and radio batteries over a wide area of Poland. In amongst the drops would be coded messages of targets, location and habits for elimination.
But with the allies' invasion of Europe, SOE's interest in Poland seemed to wane. So he began to select his own targets. He would visit bars and café's and listen for information, or kidnap SS officers and extract information from them. What methods he used for this he didn't say and Shaun never asked.
By the Wars end over two years later Sol had killed over 127 Germans. Most were SS members and 12 Russians. The Russians were officers from the Army that had stopped outside Warsaw after encouraging the Poles to fight. They stood by whilst the people of Warsaw died.
Sol finally found out through inmates released from Auschwitz that his family had died in the gas chambers.
Disillusioned with Europe and its politicians, Sol decided to go were his people came from, Palestine.
&nbs
p; Wearing his Army Parachute smock and carrying his rifle Sol set off for the South of France.
With Europe in turmoil at the end of the war, Sol had no difficulty in reaching Marseille. From there he caught a boat.
He was accepted into the Palmach and he and his rifle began work.
Shaun was deeply moved by Sol's story, he had never shown any emotion while telling it. Never attempting to elaborate more than needs be, just straight forward statements devoid of any embellishments.
His experiences had made him old beyond his years, he had never been a fanatic, but rather a cold calculating killer whose main attribute was patience. He had displayed no emotion when telling Shaun his story, and Shaun knew he was only 23 years old.
Only when Shaun had told him about the fate of the Waffen SS on Tyros did he show any emotion at all, just a tight smile and the word "Good."
* * *
The pass was a little over a mile and a half long, Shaun knew. He had selected the second pass surmising that the Egyptians would be expecting the Jews to attack the last pass to try and bottle their advance.
They left the Jeep half a mile from the pass and proceeded on foot, climbing the steep gradient to the top. Shaun began photographing views of the approach road to the entrance, making a note in his notebook of time and location.
It appeared that a guard of ten men and a Sargent guarded it with a machine gun emplacement's either side of the road by the entrance, Shaun made a note of their routine.
Over the next seven days Shaun traversed the length of the pass taking photographs and making notes. The exit was guarded by a strong guard with machine gun emplacements, he also photographed the area after the road left the pass.
Next they moved to the last pass, where as expected an even stronger guard was in evidence. They spent four days there photographing and making more notes, before with water and food running dangerously low, they set off back to the base camp.
Chapter 50
Shaun and Sol arrived back at the base camp in the early hours of the morning, totally exhausted, thirsty and hungry.
Shaun accepted a drink of water before collapsing onto a camp bed and sleeping for ten hours.