The Cadet Corporal

by Christopher Cummings

  During the second practice 4 Section was the ‘fire support’ and had to make their way around to one flank The section carried out the task to Graham’s satisfaction and without complaint. They all seemed to be happy and keen, even Bragg and Andrews. ‘They have developed into a bloody good section,’ Graham thought with satisfaction.

  His pride increased when they were the assault section for a ‘one-up’ attack on a camp a few hundred metres further upstream. The camp was in a clearing where two flood channels branched. It was overlooked by the line of steep, earth banks and had a guard post on top. This was ‘taken out’ by Stephen’s section, who then provided flank protection and cut-off while Gwen’s section became fire support from on top of the bank. Graham’s section attacked along the flood channel at right angles to her fire. He loved every minute of it: the creeping forward along a narrow track, the lining up among the rubber vines and weeds, and the charge. CUO Masters came along behind and said it was very well done.

  After that the platoon moved back to sit in the shade of some overhanging trees at the point where a dry, sandy creek named Quilp Creek came in to join the flood channels. As the platoon manoeuvred and then waited, Graham kept looking around. The more he saw of the area the more he loved it. ‘It is not only very pretty,’ he thought. ‘It is ideal for having cadet exercises. All these clumps of trees and sand dunes make it great to sneak around.’ Best of all, he thought, it was soft. The sand didn’t hurt when going to ground, or when tripping!

  The company had lunch back at their packs, after walking back along the flood channels and across the sand. Graham knew that they were leaving the area after lunch and that made him sad. He liked the place so much he wanted to stay for several more days. Little did he know just how important the area was to be to him in the years to come!

  Kirsty hardly spoke to Graham all morning and she sat with Lucy and Di during lunch. That was a relief to Graham, although he suspected he might have done his dash with her. ‘Oh well, plenty more fish in the sea!’ he told himself.

  At 1230 the company began moving in platoon groups. 4 Platoon went first, lugging all the empty jerry cans up to the vehicles, then moving along the top of the high bank. The three junior platoons and HQ moved back along the flood channels and through the rubber vines to Dingo Creek. Graham enjoyed that too, even the dust they stirred up as they trudged along. He had read about armies marching in dust and it gave his imagination another chance to build a story. Even thought he knew it was selfish and immoral he really wanted to be in a safe ‘little’ war with a lot of romance.

  ‘I could be rescuing a princess,’ he thought. That fantasy kept him happily walking along all the way back to the junction with the Canning.

  It was hot in Dingo Creek and the dust made them cough, but he didn’t mind at all. It was all just more ‘hardship’ to add to the sense of adventure. The only things that really bothered him were his memories as he walked through the areas where his section had tried to cope with the incidents on the patrol course. ‘I didn’t do very well at some of those,’ he thought.

  When they reached the junction of Dingo Creek and the Canning they turned left. A hundred paces up the sandy bed of the Canning CSM Cleland directed them to sit in the shade under the massive overhanging branches of the paperbarks lining that bank. The thicket of small trees in the river bed screened them for the other side.

  1 Platoon was already seated on their packs or on the sand. Sgt Grenfell directed 2 Platoon to sit in section lines in their own 25m square area of sand while CUO masters walked up to where Capt Conkey and Lt McEwen were talking. Further along were more cadets but Graham could not see clearly who they were because of the intervening branches and leaves. 3 Platoon was directed into an area next to them. Tired and sweating cadets were glad to flop down on the sand. HQ trudged past to sit beyond 1 Platoon.

  Graham knew that the exercise had now begun and looked anxiously around. ‘We are a sitting target here,’ he thought. When CUO Masters came back he put this to him. “Should we have sentries sir?” he asked.

  CUO Masters grinned and shook his head. “Have a bit of faith in Capt Conkey’s military ability Cpl Kirk. He has 4 Platoon deployed to cover us in seven sentry posts; two up the Canning, two down the Bunyip, and three more up on the bank opposite here.”

  That made Graham blush for being foolish. He was about to ask what happened next when the three Hutchie Men appeared from behind them. As they came into view some cadets in 3 Platoon began to call out, teasing and cheering.

  Capt Conkey at once called in an angry hiss, “Platoon sergeants! Stop that noise! Keep the troops quiet. We don’t want an enemy patrol to find us.”

  Graham turned to glower at Andrews and Bragg, both of whom had been calling out. ‘Damn!’ he thought. ‘I hope we didn’t give ourselves away.’

  The Hutchie Men went past looking hot and dirty but immensely pleased with themselves. They carried a radio and certainly looked very military. Seeing them roused Graham’s envy again. ‘I wish I was a section commander in 4 Platoon,’ he thought. Then another more sobering thought came to him. ‘If I don’t get promoted and if I stay in cadets I will be part of the Control Group next year.’

  CUO Masters told the platoon there would be a briefing and company orders at 1500. Graham looked at his watch and saw that it was 1440. With nothing else to do he had a drink and lay back on the sand to rest.

  Staff Sgt Gayney came along and called on the sergeants to send work parties for water. Roger was sent, along with Pat and Anderson. The girls were allowed to go back down the river towards the junction with the Bunyip to go to the toilet.

  Halyday called after them, “Watch out the enemy don’t catch you with your pants down!” Their response was to curl their lips and then ignore him.

  Graham told him to keep quiet then returned to daydreaming about rescuing the princess. To begin with he imagined her as looking like Kirsty, but then he changed the image to look more like Gwen. To do that, he surreptitiously studied Gwen several times. Once while he was doing so, he met Barbara’s eye and she raised an eyebrow. Graham blushed and shook his head.

  ‘No, not Gwen. She is too much of a classy lady for me,’ he thought. Next he turned his thoughts to Barbara but, much as he admired her and liked her, he sensed she wasn’t his type either. That moved his thoughts back to Kirsty.

  His pleasant fantasies were interrupted by LCpl Kate O’Brien from HQ. “Cpl Kirk, the OC wants to see you,” she said.

  That was so unusual that Graham at once broke into a guilty sweat. ‘He must have found out about Kirsty and me,’ he thought. Fearing the worst he stood up and followed Kate along the sandy river bed past 1 Platoon and HQ. With every step his mind dredged up another crime or misdemeanour that he might have been found out on. His stomach began to churn with apprehension.

  As he walked past HQ Graham saw that the officers were standing in a group near some cadets who were working on a huge sand model in an area of muddy river bed. Further along, the Hutchie Men were seated near some rocks talking to Lt Maclaren. The sight of the model at once attracted Graham’s interest and he tried to work out what it was of. What he did detect was that Peter was the person directing its construction. With him were Cpl Forman and Cadet Carnes.

  ‘Pete is back from his patrol,’ he thought. Then he realised what the model was of. It was a section of the river bed with two bridges across it. ‘We are going to raid one of the bridges, I’ll bet,’ he thought, his interest quickening.

  Then he stopped near where a frowning Capt Conkey, Lt Standish, CUO Masters, CUO Grey and CSM Cleland were all deep in conversation. Capt Conkey glanced at Graham and held up his hand to tell him to wait.

  That was even worse. ‘They are talking about me!’ Graham realised. ‘Oh no! I must be in deep trouble!’ All his worst fears swirled through his mind: being demoted, never being a sergeant, being sent home in disgrace, being chucked out of cadets, having to endure shameful interviews with hurt and angry parents.
‘And Kirsty is under age,’ he remembered. Images of the police now entered his tortured imagination. He felt so upset that he became nauseous.

  Roger went puffing past with his work party, lugging full jerry cans. He gave Graham a quizzical look but all Graham could do was give him a sickly grin and shake his head. The agony of uncertainty went on for another five minutes. Then the general nodding of heads and glances told Graham that a decision had been reached. Graham swallowed and braced himself for the worst.

  Capt Conkey beckoned him over. “Cpl Kirk, we are taking your section off you,” he said.

  CHAPTER 26

  ORDERS

  For a second Graham stood stunned. His mouth opened and then he shook his head in shocked disbelief. “My section sir?” he managed to croak.

  Capt Conkey nodded. “Well, not all of them. You are keeping a couple, and you are having a couple added to make up the numbers again.”

  “But... but... I don’t understand sir,” Graham said. He was still trying to make sense of what he had heard, to relate it to his fears.

  “We are doing a bit of regrouping for this exercise,” Capt Conkey replied. “Lance Corporal Lucas is sick so we are putting Lance Corporal Dunning in 6 Section in his place.”

  ‘Roger!’ Graham thought in dismay. ‘My best friend!’ He groped in his mind for some argument to have the decision reversed. “But sir, we are working well together as a team,” he managed to croak out.

  Capt Conkey consulted his notebook. “Maybe, but this is the plan. Cadet Weldon and Cadet Sheehan are going to 5 Section, and Cadets Williams and Hind are going to 6 Section.”

  ‘The girls!’ Graham thought. A wave of shame coursed through him. ‘Capt Conkey is moving the girls out of my section. He has heard and doesn’t trust me.’ As the implications flamed in sharp pulsations of shame Graham also realised that it must mean that he had not been found out. ‘He can’t have any real proof, or he would be demoting me or chucking me out,’ he thought. It was small comfort to his battered feelings.

  Capt Conkey then said, “You keep the others. That is Andrews, Halyday and Bragg.”

  ‘Oh bloody hell!’ Graham thought, ‘The three noddies!’ Then he modified that. ‘No, that’s not fair. Halyday has turned into quite a good cadet.’

  He was just comforting himself with this when Capt Conkey again stunned him. “You are getting four people from 4 Platoon to replace the ones transferred. Lance Corporal Franks will be your new 2ic, and you will be getting Cadets Pike, Waters and Moynihan.”

  ‘Pigsy and his mates!’ Graham thought with dismay. It was so astounding that he felt mentally punch-drunk. “But. but .. “ he muttered.

  “No buts,” Capt Conkey said grimly. “They have outlived their welcome in their own platoon and are joining your section. Now don’t argue about it and go and tell them. Do it now, and have those people I named with their new sections by the time I start giving orders in ten minutes.”

  For a few seconds Graham stood facing Capt Conkey. His mind and emotions were now in turmoil. Despair and resentment fuelled feelings of rebellion but he knew he deserved to have the girls taken away. But to lose Roger! And Pat! And to get his worst enemies in their place! Then Graham bit down on his protests as he recognized what was really bothering him.

  ‘I’m afraid!’ he told himself. ‘I’m scared of Pigsy and Co.’

  Shame at admitting he was a coward, even to himself, mingled with bitter and desperate thoughts as he tried to think of some honourable way out of the mess. None came to mind and he again despised himself when he found he could not open his mouth to argue with Capt Conkey.

  “Yes sir,” he heard himself say, and it all tasted sour. ‘I haven’t even got the guts to stand up for myself!’ he thought bitterly. With self-loathing and contempt surging in his heart he turned and went walking back towards his section. ‘Or what was my section!’ he thought.

  CUO Masters walked back with him. Neither spoke and Graham had to struggle not to burst into tears as self-pity welled to the top of his feelings. As he approached the section he could see their faces looking at him, some curious and some expectant, but all unsuspecting. Determined to salvage a few scraps of pride he gritted his teeth and tried to act calm. But all the while rising panic at how he would cope with Pigsy and Co kept building until he felt nauseous.

  To Graham’s relief CUO Masters called Sgt Grenfell over and explained the changes, then told the cadets. That gave Graham a minute to master his despair. He was then gratified at the way the cadets all cried out in protest.

  “It’s not fair Sir!” Kirsty cried. “We are a team. Now is not the time to break us up.”

  “Don’t argue Cadet Weldon. You go to Five Section,” CUO Masters replied.

  Seeing the dismay and resentment on Roger’s face added to Graham’s feelings of inadequacy. Likewise, hearing the others arguing vehemently against the change made him feel he was a weakling for not having done so himself. He saw Stephen and Gwen looking at him sympathetically but they only looked a bit unhappy.

  The arguments were cut short by CSM Cleland coming along and telling them to move to the briefing area at the model. Graham met Roger’s eyes and gave a wry grin. He was now feeling shattered. Some of Capt Conkey’s words about Pigsy and Co were starting to hammer in his brain. ‘They have outlived their welcome,’ he had said. ‘Does that mean I am on the outer too?’ he wondered. But Capt Conkey had not said anything about him leaving 2 Platoon and CUO Grenfell acted as though he was still a section commander in his platoon.

  The others continued grumbling and muttering about how unfair it was but their discontent was lost in the general chatter as the platoon stood up and began filing along to the briefing area. Sgt Grenfell pointed and ordered Roger, Lucy and Di to go and join Stephen’s section. As Gwen’s section stood up he told Kirsty and Pat to join it. Gwen obviously had mixed feelings but added her weight to Sgt Grenfell’s to get them to obey. They did this reluctantly and Kirsty gave Graham an aggrieved and angry look.

  He was left with Andrews, Halyday and Bragg, who all seemed unsure but not unhappy. “Come on!” he snapped.

  They walked along the river bed to where Peter and his patrol had constructed the huge ‘mud map’. Capt Conkey directed each section where to sit and Graham found it was not in the usual order of 1 section, 1 Platoon, etc, in numerical sequence. To his surprise he was seated on the very right hand end of the company. The cadets were seated in under the overhanging branches around three sides of the model. The model was orientated and the company mostly sat facing south. Capt Conkey stood with his back to the open river bed and waited while 4 Platoon came trekking in.

  ‘I hope we still have some sentries,’ Graham thought. ‘We will look really silly if Heatley or St Michaels attack us now!’ He looked around, filled with something approaching despair and wondered what to do. His feelings were pushed lower when he saw Pigsy come into sight. It made him feel even sicker when he saw the reaction of Pigsy and Co when CUO Grey pointed to him and told them to join him. Their sneering disbelief and open contempt savaged Graham’s frail hold on his facade of confidence.

  As the four ‘new’ cadets walked towards him Graham forced himself to meet their eyes. Inside his stomach churned and he had to swallow. ‘Don’t let them see you are scared!’ he told himself in desperation. He stood up and pointed to the sand behind Andrews.

  “Sit there,” he said, his voice sounding peculiar and false to him.

  “Oh bloody hell!” muttered Pigsy, but he was glancing towards Capt Conkey, who only stood a few paces away. The four sat down, their faces masks of anger and rebellion but they said nothing. ‘That’s only because Capt Conkey is there,’ Graham thought. He felt sick just imagining how he would control them once he was off on his own.

  Then Sgt Yeldham came over, leading Cadet Milson. As they approached Graham had a sense of more bad news. Yeldham gave him a hostile and derisive look and said, “Here’s another one for you.”

  Graham gla
nced at Capt Conkey, who nodded. ‘Oh bloody hell!’ Graham thought. ‘What have I done to deserve this!’ Milson he only knew as a fat little trouble maker with a loud mouth. Graham pointed to the rear of the section. “Sit in front of Lance Corporal Franks Cadet Milson,” he said.

  Franks scowled but moved himself back to make room. To Graham he looked to be a long way back and he did a quick head count. ‘Nine,’ he counted. He had to admit he was doing alright there. Some sections only had six or seven. Gwen’s now had eight and so did Stephen’s. ‘That must make them happier,’ he thought.

  Capt Conkey now called for silence. The officers and remaining HQ personnel were moved to sit at the back. CSM Cleland seated himself on Graham’s right, with the Hutchie Men. Unusually, the CUO’s were seated at the very front, forward of their corporals. Graham sat down and only now turned his attention to the sand model. ‘I was really looking forward to this exercise,’ he thought bitterly. ‘Now it is going to be a real trial.’

  Capt Conkey picked up a long stick to use as a pointer and moved forward to stand on the model. Graham opened his notebook, took out a pencil and smoothed his map copy on his knee in readiness. As fully half the NCOs had not yet done this gave him some small satisfaction when Capt Conkey told them to do so. He noted Capt Conkey give him a faint nod of approval as his gaze swept along the front row of corporals.

  The sand model was 10 metres wide and 15 long. From one end to the other a ditch twenty centimetres or so deep and 2 metres wide had been dug. This obviously represented the river bed. A ribbon of blue ‘streamer’ paper along one side represented the actual water. Two bridges had been constructed out of soft drink cans and pieces of packing case and ration pack cartons. A red streamer ran across one and was the Flinders Highway. A green streamer ran across the other and Graham guessed that was the railway. Various side roads were shown by orange streamers and the hills and gullies were decorated in places with leaves. Rocks and boxes stood for other features.