Alan lit a cheroot as we saw Falmouth in the distance. We had reduced speed to save fuel. "You went in twice, Tom, to recce this place do you think it was a waste?"
I shook my head, "I got a dog bite and we lost no men. No, neither patrol was a waste. We learned a great deal. What we saw on the beach was. I suppose we just keep on doing our jobs and hope that the powers that be know how to win this war. Today showed me that we are nowhere near ready to invade Europe yet. The men who went in were well trained and well led. As far as I can see we didn't even dint the German defences and we lost a whole tank battalion of brand new tanks. That was a waste."
"Well the 'Lady' suffered a little bit of damage and one of the engines needs an overhaul. I don't think we will be going over again anytime soon."
"We will just keep on training then and be ready when we are called upon. That is one good thing to come out of this. I know that my team is as good as any out there. Even the new lad, Shepherd, fitted in well."
"We are lucky in that respect. No bad apples in our barrel."
The next day I let the section have the morning off but I went up to the camp to write my report. Sergeant Major Dean listened as I told him of the raid. "You need more silencers then. I'll have a word with Daddy. We will see what he can do. I'd look on this as half full, you know. You did everything you were asked to do and more. The Germans will have to repair the bridge and the junctions. It might have been much worse if you hadn't. There would have been a delay getting word out from the German Headquarters. You did all right, sir."
I knew that he was right.
When Major Foster and some of the brigade arrived back in the late afternoon we were just finishing stripping and cleaning our weapons. My old Corporal, Sergeant Gordy Barker, now sported a sling, "We did our bit, sir. We destroyed the guns but we were knocked about a bit. Lord Lovat is a good lad. Even though we landed in the wrong place he didn't panic and we got the job done. Me and the lads would like to thank you, sir. It was your information which helped. We appreciated it."
"I am glad, Gordy. A shame that the other battery wasn't knocked out."
Gordy sniffed, "Number Four Commando is the one you go to if you want to get the job done, sir. And if you ever need another section to go with you then you know me and my lads won't let you down."
"I know Gordy."
"Lieutenant Harsker, Major Foster would like a word."
Major Foster looked drawn, "Sit down, Tom." He poured us a glass of whisky each. "I just wanted to say well done. I came back with his lordship. He told me that the RAF said you did your job well. The delay caused stopped them reinforcing the Hess battery. Lord Lovat is pleased. He intends to mention you in his report. I have forwarded your report to him. Lord Louis also mentioned you to his lordship. And your work with the Saskatchewan regiment paid dividends. They fared better than the other regiments. Green Beach was the one where the Canadians had the most success."
"Did Colonel Merritt and the others get off?"
"Not Colonel Merritt and Captain Friedmann. They were the last ones on the beach and they surrendered. They are in the bag I am afraid."
"Then it is little consolation to me, sir. They are good men. They deserved better."
"This is a setback only. Some good ideas have come from this. You told the powers that be about the shingle and the concrete emplacements. They just thought that the Churchills could overcome them. If nothing else they will be more likely to listen to the likes of us again. They are training Commandos to become Frogmen too. It is not all doom and gloom."
I finished my whisky, "If you say so, sir."
"Tom, you can't win every time."
"But that shouldn't stop you trying, sir."
The Brigade licked its wounds and assimilated new recruits. On September the fifth I was summoned to the office where a staff officer waited for me in Major Foster's office.
"Sit down, Tom. This is Major Fleming from Intelligence."
Major Fleming was a thin nervous looking chap who chain smoked but, as I came to learn, he had as sharp a mind as any. He had, I later discovered, been taking an interest in me and my team. "Lieutenant Harsker, I have heard a great deal about you. You are the chap that Lord Lovat goes to when he wants a job doing. Lord Mountbatten even mentions your name."
I nodded, "Sir." There was little else to say. Any more would have sounded boastful.
"We have a tricky problem." He handed me a photograph of a tank. It looked nothing like the Churchill or any other British tank. "This is a new tank; the M4. It is made in America. The Americans have given us three hundred of them. It is the equal of any Panzer. They were delivered last week to the Eighth Army in North Africa." I nodded and looked at the photograph. Its front sloped and it looked to be more compact than our tanks. "Two days ago there was a tank battle and one of them was captured intact; it had no damage whatsoever. The Germans put it on a tank transporter and sent it back to Tunis. We sent the Long Range Desert Group after it but they were intercepted and all killed or captured. We think there is a spy in Cairo. We want you and your section to go in and destroy it. If the Germans take it apart they will know how to beat it. They will be taking it to Tunis. When they have had their people look at it there will be no secrets. Besides our American cousins are less than pleased that we have lost one of their new toys."
"But surely there must be someone closer."
"I am afraid not. Dieppe cost us some good men. You are the best we have that can be flown out quickly. You can be taken by Sunderland and be there by tomorrow morning. You will be as fast as any troops we have in North Africa. Most are penned close to Cairo."
"Where is 'there' sir?"
"Tunis. We are not exactly certain where. We think they will take it to their headquarters. We would send the RAF in but it is too close to civilian targets and... well there are certain issues which need not concern you but suffice it to say we do not wish to upset the local populace." He gave me a look which told me he knew more than he was telling me. "We may well need their help in the near future. Bombing is out. You need to be careful not to injure locals."
He handed me an aerial photograph. "You can see that they have a large compound. We do not know for certain but this building, marked with an X, seems the most likely place they would take it. Anyway that is the first place you will search"
My mouth dropped open, "German Headquarters is the first place to search?"
He shrugged, "It is as good a place as any. You showed in Dieppe that you can move like ghosts. We believe it is still on the road and has not yet reached there. It is a long way by road from Egypt. And before you ask, we have sent the RAF in but so far we have lost four valuable aeroplanes. You, as they say, are it. If you can't do it then we have lost an advantage."
I knew when I was beaten. Orders were orders. "The Sunderland drops us off. How do we get out?"
Major Fleming smiled as he lit another cigarette, "You are confident that you can get the job done and get out?"
"My men and I are not nut cases sir. We do not have a death wish. I believe we will get the job done but I want to know how to get out in case it all goes wrong." I paused, "Like Dieppe."
"Point taken. The Sunderland will wait at Gibraltar. You have two days to complete your mission and the Sunderland will return at a designated time to pick you up. The pilot will give you the coordinates."
I shook my head, "No, sir, we will give the pilot the coordinates. When I have studied the maps I will work out where we can go that is safe." He nodded. "I am guessing that we will not be taking a radio?"
"Correct. You will be out of range of any allied operator. Well the machines you boys have anyway."
"And we haven't got time to get a better one."
"Precisely. You are on the clock Lieutenant Harsker. The Sunderland awaits."
Major Foster said, "But this is unplanned! I have never seen such a vague plan."
"Lord Mountbatten himself said that Lieutenant Harsker was the perfect man for th
e job. He thinks on his feet was what he said." He smiled, "Have more faith in your men, Major. I can see the Lieutenant's mind working on the plan already."
"I have some ideas, yes. I will need to get my men. Could you have transport ready in say an hour?"
Major Foster gasped, "An hour, Tom, are you sure?"
"The Major of Intelligence is quite right sir, time is of the essence. The last thing they will expect is an attack so soon. If Major Fleming is right and there is a spy in Cairo then the longer we delay the more chance they have of getting the information from London. I am not certain we can pull this off sir but delay decreases those chances of success."
He nodded, "Sergeant Major Dean will go with you to ensure you have all that you need."
Reg was waiting outside. His office was the insulation between the rest of the world and Major Foster. He had heard every word. "This is a tough one, sir."
"I know Reg. Tell Mrs B we won't be home for dinner. I would hate her to waste food."
He shook his head, "I don't believe you sometimes sir. You can think of Mrs Bailey at a time like this!"
I smiled, "What can I say? Mum hated waste." I spied Alan Crowe. "Alan get the section. Meet us at the QM with full gear."
"Right sir!"
His calmness made me smile. I had a good section. When Daddy Grant saw Reg's face his fell too. "Don't tell me, you want everything we have and you want it yesterday."
"Pretty much. Extra canteens, rations for a week, desert camouflage nets and two spare Bergens with Mills bombs."
He nodded and shouted orders to his clerks. Sergeant Poulson was the first to arrive. "Sergeant we leave in forty minutes. Go and get as much ammo as you can and twenty pounds of explosives and timers."
The others arrived. I pointed to the gear which appeared on the counter. "Get the gear and take it with your own to the lorry."
Reg Dean said, "Right my lovely lads, follow me."
Daddy came over to me and, handing me my desert camouflage net said, "Africa again?"
"It looks like it."
"Take care sir, you left some good lads there last time. Try not to join them."
"I'll do my best." The section was waiting by the lorry. They did not need me to organise them. "Just put the gear in the lorry. We'll sort it out as we drive. We are on the clock here."
The two majors headed for the staff car. "We will meet you in the harbour. There is a tender waiting for us."
Reg handed me a haversack, "Your maps sir and the aerial photographs. The Major said to leave them on the Sunderland, sir." He shook his head, "He must think we are wet behind the ears. You look after yourself Lieutenant Harsker. Mrs Bailey would make my life a misery if anything happened to you."
Everyone was so concerned for me. "We will try to pick you up a fez eh?" I climbed into the cab. "Step on it Jones."
"Right sir."
I would have time to go through the material once I was on the Sunderland. As I recalled it would be a ten hour flight to Gibraltar. That would be more than enough time for me to assimilate the data. Tunisians spoke French. That was handy. However we would stand out like sore thumbs. When we had returned the last time we had had the sort of cloaks worn by the locals, they were called a bisht. Mine was in the boarding house. We would need to acquire them. The only advantage I could see was that we were so far behind the front line that their vigilance would not be as great. They would be trying to deter local criminals rather than Commandos. However once we had blown the tank up then all hell would break loose. We needed an escape plan.
The Sunderland was about four hundred yards from the shore. The two majors awaited us and I saw a Royal Navy tender. Major Fleming was still smoking!
"Right Sergeant, get the men and the gear on the tender. Make sure my stuff is there too." As they boarded the tender I asked, "Anything else I need to know sir?"
"The Sunderland won't be able to get you really close to the city. Too many anti aircraft defences. You will have to find somewhere to lay up for the first day."
I looked at Major Foster who shook his head. That was obvious. "How much discretion do we have with the Sunderland sir?"
"It is yours for seven days. We assume if you haven't escaped by then you are either dead or in the bag."
"Quite. Well if that is all sir, we will push off. This is going to be tight enough as it is."
"Good luck, Tom."
"Thank you sir."
The water was remarkably calm as he we headed towards the huge seaplane. That was good. We needed calm water to take off. The crew were eager for us to be aboard. Half of my section had done this before and they showed the others where to stow their gear. The pilot peered from the cockpit. "We'll get in the air and then we will chat. We only heard about this late last night."
I nodded, "An hour ago we knew nothing."
He laughed, "Whoever called them Intelligence was off the mark, eh? Hold on."
The take off was noisy but as we climbed it became quieter. We were in the crew area and I explained our mission. The newer members of the section sat open mouthed as I outlined it. Sergeant Poulson said, "The difference this time, sir, will be getting out. That will be a bit trickier. It looks like the nearest British forces are thousands of miles away."
"More like hundreds but you are right." I handed the aerial photographs out so that they could see them. "Finding this place will be easy. Getting in might not be so hard. Look for a way out and back to the coast."
I needed to talk to the pilot. Where would he be dropping us? If it was on the north coast then we would have a twenty six mile journey. That would mean stealing a vehicle and that would draw attention to us. The best place would be in the bay of Tunis. There looked to be an Arab shanty town. It would mean just a short six mile hike from wherever we camped. I had already decided that would be my suggestion to the pilot. If he couldn't manage that then we had a problem.
George Lowe said, "Sir, it looks like there is a lorry park close to where they are going to be keeping this tank. We could steal a vehicle."
Harry said, "Make it two Kubelwagens. Those Jerry lorries are slow as and the Kubelwagens normally have guns."
"Good, then that is your job. You and your section get the vehicles. We will blow up the tank."
The pilot wandered over. "We should be all right for a few hours. There isn't much traffic this far out. I will get a little shut eye soon. We will have a thirty minute turn around at Gib. Then it is six or seven hours to Tunis. I might push it and use more fuel. I would like to get there, drop you off and be out of there while it is still dark. We are a big target."
I held the map out. "In a perfect world we would like you to land there."
He shook his head. "That is too close for comfort."
"Well if you could drop us say a mile or so offshore. If we had two dinghies then we could paddle in and lose the dinghies."
"I could do that. I'll get on the radio to Gib and have two prepared for you. Now the tricky part is picking you up. Whichever genius came up with this plan did not give much thought to that."
"I know; we met him. He said we had you for seven days."
"There or thereabouts."
"Then pick us up three days after you drop us. At one a.m. here. There is a little bay half way between Cap Serrat and Cap Negro. There looks to be a beach here and no houses. If you land in the bay then you should be hidden."
"It is perfect for me but a bit remote and a long way from Tunis."
"Leave that with us."
"Call signs? We don't want Jerry to be waiting for us."
"We will transmit, 'Scouser' by torch."
"What will our response be?"
I laughed, "Unless the Germans have captured a Sunderland then it will be you. Just send back the same call sign. You will have to send dinghies over."
"Right. And how long would you want us to wait?" I could tell that he was not happy about stooging around the North African coast.
"If we are not there by two then
leave and we will make our own way out."
"Of Africa?"
I shrugged, "There are always ways and means. We are Commandos."
"You are crazy that is what you are. You are the boss. When I drop you off I will fly to Malta. It is a shorter journey. I will be able to get to you quicker. I am off to get some shut eye. There are plenty of bunks if you need to sleep."
"We have flown in a Sunderland before. We know our way around."
When he had gone Sergeant Poulson asked. "How far is it then sir?"
"About seventy five miles as the crow flies. Nearer ninety on the roads and tracks that we will be using." I nodded towards Harry. "When you lads steal the vehicles make sure you get water and fuel." I looked at Ken, "You and George need to work out the best way to use the explosive. George will be stealing Kubelwagens. You get promoted; you become explosive expert!"
"I think we set off something near the fuel and the ammunition. If the hatches are closed then the explosion will be greater."
George nodded appreciatively, "You have done your homework. I will talk through some ideas I have. You should be all right."
"I want you all to get some rest and eat and drink as much as you can. This is going to be a long three days." As they wandered off I said to Sergeant Poulson, "It is a shame we haven't got those thobes and bisht we used last time."
"We could always steal them again."
I had a thought, "Or perhaps buy them. I'll find out what currency will work best. That would be safer." I should have thought of that when I had been briefed but the Major had hurried us so much I had not had time to think properly. I began to get a bad feeling about this operation. Such haste could lead to mistakes and mistakes cost me their lives.
I didn't sleep, as the rest did. Worries about the operation filled my head. The last time we had done this we had only had to travel fifty or so miles to friends. Here we would have more than that and we relied upon a Sunderland aeroplane being able to land, at night and for us to find it. The odds were rapidly stacking up against us.
Dieppe Page 10