The Cadet Corporal

by Christopher Cummings

  In answer to Graham’s query Ziggy explained, “One of them has sprained his ankle. I have to get the CP to radio Heatley and get them to send a vehicle to get him.” He hurried on past up to Coy HQ.

  “Can we go back to bed now?” whined Andrews.

  Graham checked his watch. It was 0330 and he was rostered back on sentry at 0400. “No,” he said. “We wait till the platoon commander orders it.”

  Andrews grumbled and muttered under his breath but Graham ignored him. He had really enjoyed the little battle but now anxiety about Kirsty was seeping back in, along with the early morning chill.

  A few minutes later Sgt Grenfell came along with the order to stand down. Graham walked along and organized this. Lucy and Dianne were still rostered on duty so he paused and said well done to them. They made their way back to the sentry post. Kirsty gave him a look but then lay down on her own bedding.

  “Thanks,” he whispered before moving quickly on.

  She made a face in reply but he could not tell what she meant by it. That increased his anxiety and he went back to his own bedding and sat with it wrapped around him while he brooded over the events of the night.

  While he sat there he heard a vehicle start up on Sandy Ridge. It drove down along the road past the shed to the causeway across the Canning. A few minutes later it went back the same way. Five minutes after that the noise of boots on rocks indicated people coming up the ridge. Just in case, Graham moved down to the sentry post. It was Capt Conkey and the other two Hutchie Men.

  As Porno went past Graham asked, “What happened to your prisoner?”

  “Captain he make me let him go. Spoil sport I tink,” Porno replied with an evil grin.

  By then it was almost 0400 so Graham told Lucy to go to bed. As she walked over to where her bedding was Graham experienced another bout of anxiety over what she might have seen and what she might say. He knew he was thoroughly ashamed of himself for giving in to Kirsty. But, to his disgust, he also knew he had a driving urge to be with her (or with any girl, the truth be known!).

  The next hour crawled slowly by. The bright sickle of a new moon rose above the trees to the east, making it quite hard to see down the ridge but all remained silent. Just once a dog barked and some animal went grunting among the bushes down in the river bed. Dianne said nothing and Graham did not want to talk to her anyway. Instead he worried whether Lucy had told her about him and Kirsty. It became cooler but still not cold enough to really need a pullover or jacket. At about 0500 a gentle breeze began, blowing from the South.

  It was time for the sentries to change so Dianne went and woke Roger then went to bed. Roger joined Graham and sat down and rubbed his eyes, then had a drink from his waterbottle. The two friends sat in silence. Shame again scourged Graham as he thought of how he had let down his own friend, and his section. ‘I must stop misbehaving,’ he vowed.

  The new moon rose above the far ridge and a faint streak of lightness appeared below it. That told Graham that dawn was not far off. A check of his watch told him they were to start getting ready to ‘stand-to’ in five minutes.

  It took twenty minutes of cajoling and persuading to get the section awake and packed up. Andrews was his usual self but, to Graham’s dismay, Kirsty was also surly and unco-operative.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked anxiously.

  “I’m just tired, that’s all,” she replied shortly.

  Not at all re-assured Graham moved on, his stomach churning with foreboding.

  Even so 4 Section was the first ready. CUO Masters came along and checked they were all packed and had their webbing on. Satisfied he said, “Good,” and moved along to Gwen’s Section, where voices and muttering could still be heard.

  As he did a distant uproar of voices over on Sandy Ridge shattered the dawn calm. For an instant there was alarm, followed by grins. “Four Platoon attacking Heatley,” Graham explained. For many kilometres around the cockatoos and kookaburras broke into alarmed shrieking and squawking and many flew off.

  The battle was a source of satisfaction but also a warning and Sgt Grenfell came along telling them to stay alert, just in case. The distant ‘battle’ died down and silence settled again. The birds changed to their normal dawn chorus. The breeze increased until it could almost be described as a cold wind. Capt Conkey, CSM Cleland and CUO Masters came along checking every section was ready. Seeing the OC caused Graham severe twinges of guilt. Once again he vowed to try to behave.

  Daylight crept over them, the grey giving place to colours. The word went around to ‘stand down’. That meant the exercise was over and they could relax without sentries. Having issued the order to stand down and eat Graham hurried down the ridge to ease his straining bladder. Having found a convenient clump of bushes and rocks a hundred metres down he proceeded to pee, only to discover to his horror that a whole line of cadets was filing into view from down near the road.

  Unable to stop Graham could only turn his back and finish as quickly as he could. Burning with embarrassment he then hurried back up the slope ahead of the cadets, who he recognized as 4 Platoon. They trudged into the company area through Graham’s section and he again experienced a sharp stab of jealousy to see their ‘veteran’s’ swagger. They were all camouflaged and had their packs and webbing and really did look the part.

  As they trudged past him both Pigsy and Waters gave Graham sneering looks but they were too tired to cause any mischief. HQ Platoon followed them and Graham gave Peter a cheerful ‘g’day’ as he passed. Peter smiled and said that it had been great fun. Following behind Peter, bowed down under his pack and an army radio, was Carnes. The sight of his miserable face made Graham wonder how he had got on. ‘I must ask Pete,’ he thought.

  But he didn’t get time. The usual morning routines claimed him. A work party of half the section was called for by Sgt Grenfell and went off over to the vehicles, returning with two Combat Ration Packs (One man 24 hour) for each person. Andrews and Halyday lugged a jerry can of water back as well. The section settled to eating, washing and filling water bottles. Graham shaved and polished his boots, then badgered the others to do likewise.

  That gave him a few twinges as he did not want to annoy Kirsty, for fear she might complain or say something. The old army saying for leaders to be, ‘fair, firm, friendly, but not familiar’ kept flitting through his head. ‘Serves me bloody right!’ Graham thought bitterly.

  In spite of his misery Graham pretended to be happy and kept hoping he could somehow retrieve the situation. A few glances by Lucy and Dianne which might mean they were discussing him added to his discomfort. Feelings for despair, guilt and anger, became so strong he had to walk away down the ridge for a while. He used the time to do his morning crap, this time ensuring he wasn’t going to be surprised in the middle of it. As he relieved himself he again noted that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. By the time he finished the sun was above the trees and shining full in his face.

  By 0730 Graham was back with the section and quickly packed up everything, ready to march. That done he walked around the section, chivvying them to get ready. To his surprise they quickly did so. They even seemed to be in a good mood and Halyday cracked several jokes. Best of all Kirsty gave Graham a smile and that considerably eased his anxiety. ‘I might survive,’ he began to hope.

  By then a Company O Group was under way and Sgt Grenfell came along and got Roger to organize the back-loading of rubbish and water jerries. Roger used Kirsty, Lucy, Pat and Andrews for the work. With nothing to do Graham wandered over to where HQ sat. Peter was checking radios and had no time to talk to him so Graham stood watching. Carnes was being made to help Peter change radio batteries. He looked a very tired and unhappy lad.

  So did Sgt Yeldham. He was having trouble getting 3 Platoon packed and ready and looked tired and flustered. The remains of a red ink mark around his throat still showed and he obviously resented any comments on it. Inevitably Pigsy and Waters threw a few sarcastic jibes. Graham just shook his head and wasn’t
sure whether he felt sorry for Yeldham, or whether he despised him. ‘He’s not very organized,’ he thought, noting that the sergeant’s own bedding still wasn’t rolled into his pack, and that cadets just seemed to be sitting around talking.

  The arrival of an angry CSM Cleland injected energy into the scene. As this meant that the Coy O Group must be over Graham hurried back to his platoon. He was comfortably in time and sat with his notebook and pencil ready till Stephen and Gwen arrived and seated themselves beside him.

  CUO Masters knelt in front of them. “The OC is very pleased with Two Platoon,” he said. “Thank you for your good work.”

  That made Graham both glow with pleasure, and burn with guilt. He hung his head and carefully noted timings and grid references for the day’s training. It was fairly simple stuff, a section patrol exercise, so he quickly briefed his own section then had them sit on their packs ready to move. At 0755 CSM Cleland called on the sergeants to move the troops in for a briefing. A couple of minutes later Graham sat in front of his section. By then the breeze had stopped and the full force of the morning sun shone on their backs.

  Every platoon except 3 was ready by 0800. Capt Conkey stood waiting, irritation clear on his face as they waited. CUO Mitrovitch stood nearby looking embarrassed as Sgt Yeldham tried to get the platoon organized.

  As 3 Platoon at last began straggling over Stephen shook his head and muttered, “He’s a bloody useless noddy!” Sgt Yeldham was in a bad temper and shouted angrily at his cadets to hurry. “Get a move on Bragg, you useless little bugger!” he snapped at a straggler.

  At that Capt Conkey interrupted. “Please call your cadets by their rank Sergeant Yeldham, and don’t abuse them.”

  Yeldham flamed with embarrassment and could only nod. It was so unusual for the OC to deliver a public rebuke to one of the senior NCOs that Graham shook his head in worry. His anxieties were almost immediately increased when he felt Kirsty’s knees press into his back. ‘Is she too crowded and doesn’t have enough room, or?’ he worried. He looked over his shoulder to check and saw her eyes sparkle and she gave him an impish grin while nudging him again.

  That was good news because it meant she wasn’t angry with him. But it was bad news too because he realised that Capt Conkey was standing only a few paces away and was looking at him. Breaking into a sweat Graham thought, ‘I hope he can’t see that Kirsty is touching me!’

  It was still ten past 8 before CSM Cleland handed over to Capt Conkey. Capt Conkey then de-briefed them on the night’s events. He was lavish in his praise of the ‘airfield raiders’ who had managed to outwit the defenders from St Michaels. Then he went on to explain the plan for the day’s training. “We are moving along the bed of the Canning to the junction with the Bunyip. Along the way we will revise a few infantry minor tactics. After that a patrol incident course is to be set up. Each section will move along it to our new night position. That will be a few kilometres away from here, because I think we have stirred up Heatley and St Michaels and hurt their pride. They may try to get back at us.”

  There was a short pause as a burst of murmuring broke out and cadets grinned at each other. Capt Conkey held up his hand to silence them. “For that reason Four Platoon will deploy as a screen to cover us and will then move last through the course. There will also be a few other special patrols and I will be giving orders to their commanders later.”

  On hearing that Graham’s hopes leapt. ‘Special patrols! I hope I get to lead one,’ he thought.

  But his anxiety was sent up by Capt Conkey’s next words. “One of the things I will be particularly watching for on this patrol incident course is who might make potential leaders. I will be watching cadets to see if they are good team members, and watching section commanders to see if they have good control over their cadets.”

  That sent a chill of dread through Graham and he imagined Andrews mucking up, or Halyday rushing off, or, worse still, Kirsty disobeying him or flirting. He broke into a cold sweat and started to really fret. His ambition to be picked as one of the next year’s sergeants seemed to be melting in the tropical sun.

  The briefing over the company began to move. HQ and the Hutchie Men went first, leading the way down the back of the knoll and through the fence. 4 Platoon split up to deploy one patrol on the knoll, and others further south to watch the two vehicle tracks leading to the Bunyip Junction. That roused Graham’s jealousy again as he was sure he could do a better job than Griffin or Dimbo. Then it was 2 Platoon’s turn to move and he stood up and told the cadets to carry their packs by their top straps till they were through the fence.

  As the filed down to the fence Sgt Yeldham was again in trouble because there was litter in 3 Platoon’s area and four jerry cans still stood there. Graham glanced at Capt Conkey’s angry face and hoped his mood would improve.

  From the fence the route wound steeply down around clumps of thorn bush and rubber vine until it became a narrow track cut through the thick tangle of vines. This led them through a tunnel of overhanging branches and out onto the dry, sandy bed of the Canning. Graham loved that. The idea of the company sneaking off along a secret track really appealed to his imagination. Then his thoughts were shifted back to Kirsty. Her pack got tangled in the vines and he had to go back and help free her. She gave him another mischievous grin as he did so.

  Down in the river bed they halted and were seated on their packs in the shade of the trees lining the bank. There was another delay of ten minutes till 3 Platoon arrived. An even grumpier Capt Conkey emerged from the trees after them and called out his CUOs, CSM and sergeants. There followed a talk-through revision of patrol techniques and what to do when they encountered a patrol from an opposing unit during a field exercise. The sections were then sent to do three quick practices out on the open sand: a talk through and two practices on the run. Because it was now very sweaty in the still air of the river bed Graham had been anticipating some grumbling from his cadets but they got up as soon as he called them and seemed to enter keenly into the revision.

  Halyday and Pat both tried really hard. Even the girls threw themselves into the practice, only grumbling about the sand which stuck to their sweaty wrists. Kirsty even laughed once. Graham loved it, throwing himself down on the soft sand with relish, imagining he was fighting a real battle against some tough enemy.

  After twenty minutes they were called in and told to get ready to move. The cadets hoisted on their packs and trudged west along the bed of the river. That was hard going and soon had them really sweating. Several times Graham licked dry lips and glanced up to see if any clouds had appeared. He also remembered to keep looking at his cadets to detect any heat problems. Knowing they could refill their waterbottles at lunch time he made sure they kept drinking.

  After ten minutes walking, during which they moved away from the knoll but were still hemmed in on two sides by the dense vegetation on the high banks, and by a growth of young suckers in the actual river bed, they halted again. This time Capt Conkey had the CUOs and sergeants gave a demo of a Counter Ambush Drill. The sections were then sent to do a ‘talk though’, a ‘walk through’ and a running practice.

  That really got them sweating but Graham felt confident he could cope with such an incident. ‘The section is really working well as a team,’ he decided. That was a comfort, as was the fact that Capt Conkey seemed to have relaxed and was smiling again. As the section stood talking after a practice, Kirsty came up to Graham and offered him a drink from her waterbottle. He could not resist smiling back, mostly from relief that she wasn’t liable to complain. Then he realised that Capt Conkey was looking towards them and he experienced a wave of anxiety.

  ‘Packs on,’ was ordered. Kirsty tried to swing hers on and then appealed to Graham to help. He half-suspected she was doing it just to get attention but he moved over and helped her. In the process they touched elbows and hands a few times and she gave him another ‘significant’ look and a smile. That caused Graham a spurt of guilt and he glanced around, to find
to his horror that Capt Conkey was again watching. The worrying idea that the OC might be deliberately observing them caused him to sweat even more.

  ‘Maybe he has been told about us and is watching to see if we misbehave,’ he thought. ‘I had better be more careful.’

  The company trudged west for another ten minutes, then had another lesson, this time on ‘Setting an Immediate Ambush’. As before the sections then did three quick practices in the trees and sand of the river bed. Half an hour later they moved again, this time for only five minutes before halting at a point where the unit vehicles stood at the end of a dirt track which led down the bank. Another demo-lesson followed. This was on how to cope with the ‘Body and the Sniper’.

  No practices followed as they were now running short of time. Capt Conkey called over the CUOs and CSM and gave quick orders, then sent HQ to fill their waterbottles from a line of jerry cans that Lt MacLaren had organized on the bank. It was 1045 by then and Graham felt hot and tired. So did his cadets who looked worn out. Kirsty looked very pale and had dark rings under her eyes. Even so she smiled.

  Capt Conkey gave a briefing on the patrol incident course while Lt McEwen led away the CUOs, sergeants, and HQ platoon. Packs were placed in platoon lots beside the vehicle track and then it was time for 1 Section to move. The other sections were given their start time, 15 minutes apart, and were told to rest, have lunch and make sure their waterbottles were full. Capt Conkey and CSM Cleland then walked off across the river bed and vanished into the trees. That got Graham worried again. ‘He will be watching at the worst possible moment,’ he thought gloomily.

  CHAPTER 23

  UNDER PRESSURE

  4 Section was not due to move until 1230 so Graham told them to have their lunch, go to the toilet, and to rest. He sat with his cadets in the shade on the soft, white river sand and munched ration pack biscuits coated with apricot jam. Normally he would have been extremely happy in such an environment but now he felt very stressed. Anxiety about how he would handle the coming incident course mixed with doubts about himself. ‘I’m a bloody weakling,’ he thought unhappily.