"Ready Shepherd?"
"Yes sir."
I held the grenade rifle ready to spring into action.
As the tank reached the charges Shepherd set them off. They were well placed and the tank rose in the air and came down with one track ripped off and smoke coming from inside. I aimed the grenade rifle like a rifle and sent a grenade into the back of the nearest truck. It ripped it apart. I heard the rattle of Fletcher's Thompson as he shot the driver of the tank. As the rest of the crew emerged they, too, were shot. I fitted another grenade and launched it high in the air. It exploded on the cab of the next lorry along and flames ripped along the tarpaulin. I saw that the Kubelwagen had turned and was coming back towards us.
"Kubelwagen!"
I sent the third grenade as far as I could down the road and did the same with the fourth and the fifth. The three grenades caused carnage as they exploded in the air. The officer in the Kubelwagen fell clutching his head. The machine gun on the Kubelwagen rattled but it was bumping along so unsteadily that any hit would have been pure luck. Shepherd and Fletcher aimed for the tyres and, as they shredded, the light car rolled over and over killing the crew.
"Fletcher, Shepherd, move back, Light Infantry style. I will cover!"
"Yes sir."
Light Infantry style meant one covered while one moved back.
Someone was now giving orders to the men who had survived our first attack. They were spreading out and coming for us. I heard their rifles as they cracked away. I wanted to draw them on to me and the labyrinth of booby traps which lay adjacent to the road. I half stood and fired a long burst. It was more in hope than expectation but a couple of my bullets found flesh and the wounded men dropped to the ground. I emptied the magazine at the tardy ones. One fell clutching his shoulder. I changed my magazine as there was another fusillade. I heard a cry from behind me, "Sir, Scouse is hit!"
"Get him to the dinghy. I will be right behind you." Of course I wouldn't. I had to buy them at least five minutes. The best laid plans.... I wriggled back and right through the scrubby bushes. Bullets zipped above me. The bisht proved remarkably tough. I heard the sound of the MG 42 as it shredded the bushes I had just vacated. I heard a German voice shout, "Advance!"
I raised myself on to one knee and, supporting the Thompson on my knee, I gave a burst. I saw the officer and two men fall. A sergeant shouted, "He is one man! Get him!"
I had their attention and I fired again. I had just turned to find a different spot when the first of the booby traps was triggered. The blast threw me to the ground. Two more went off in quick succession. The sergeant shouted, "Mines! Stay where you are!"
I risked rising and emptying my second magazine. I had two left. I caught them by surprise and four men fell. To my horror I saw the other surviving trucks had disgorged their men and they were coming towards my flank. There were no booby traps there. They were three hundred yards away. I changed magazines as I ran after Fletcher and Shepherd. Fletcher was slowing down Shepherd and they had only covered two hundred odd yards. I ran after them. I wanted to get to a new defensive position.
Bullets zipped around me. I heard another explosion as another grenade was set off. Then there was an enormous explosion as something in the tank ignited the ammunition. This time I was thrown to the ground. When I rose, somewhat groggily, I saw that there were no Germans left in the vicinity of the tank. There were, however, forty others eager for vengeance. I ran on and ignored the bullets. They were fired more in hope than expectation. I reached the edge of the scrub and saw 'Lady Luck' heading towards the surf. Shepherd was dragging Fletcher. I could see the blood on his bisht. I lay down, protected by sand and thin wispy grass. I held my fire.
The keen, fitter Germans had outrun their fellows. They could not see me but they could see, on the beach, Shepherd as he tried to get Fletcher in the dinghy. They were to my right. I waited until they stood at the edge of the sand and raised their rifles. I rose like a wraith and emptied my magazine into them. I was less than twenty feet from them and I could not miss. I took a grenade and hurled it high, quickly followed by a second. Once again bullets zipped around me but I concentrated on getting height with the grenades. Then I turned, picked up my Thompson and ran for the dinghy which was now in the water. The two explosions were followed by cries and screams as the shrapnel fell through the air.
"Paddle, Ken, I will swim!"
He began to paddle. 'Lady Luck' was just forty yards from shore but it might have been four hundred. Paddling a dinghy with one paddle is hard. I reached the water and began to wade through it. Suddenly I heard the unmistakeable 'whump' of a German mortar. A huge water spout erupted just ten feet from the dinghy. Shepherd lost the paddle as the rubber boat rose and fell. I kept forcing my way through the water. A second shell landed between me and the dinghy, knocking me into the sea. I rose, spluttering. I turned and, changing my magazine took a bead on the Germans. I could not see the mortar but the Oerlikon on our boat was pumping shell after shell into the scrub. I fired at the Germans I could see and then turned to half wade, half swim towards the dinghy.
The next shell exploded next to the dinghy I saw it rise into the air and the two Commandos' bodies thrown high into the air. I found myself falling to the side and the last thing I remember before it all went black was Bill Hay diving into the water and then the sea and darkness washed over me.
Chapter 21
When I awoke I was looking up at the sky and I could hear the guns on 'Lady Luck' firing. We were under attack. Sergeant Poulson held his hand out. Come on sir, let's get you below decks."
I shook my head, "I am fine." I pulled on his hand to raise myself. I saw that Lieutenant Jorgenson was turning the boat and the beach was filled with angry Germans firing everything they had. I saw the 88mm as it was traversed to enable it to fire at us. "Alan, they have an anti-tank gun!"
"Thanks. Hang on." He had turned the boat sufficiently and he gave it full power. I saw the muzzle flash from the anti-tank gun. I felt sure it was going to hit. I know it is impossible but I swear I saw something whizz by and miss the stern by inches. By the time they had reloaded and realigned it we would be well out to sea.
I looked for Shepherd and Fletcher. "Where are Scouse and Ken?"
"In the sick bay. Bill Hay saved them. He dived in and pulled them out. He is a damned strong swimmer."
"And how did I get out?"
He pointed to the bridge where there was a dripping Bill Leslie. "He dived in straight after Bill Hay. When he got you out he just said, 'That makes us even.' "
"How did the bridge go?"
He laughed, "Boom! George did a cracking job. A Kubelwagen, a tank and the cab of a lorry were on it when it blew. All three went in. The booby traps we set stopped them pursuing us and 'Lady Luck' used her guns to cover us. When we reached your beach we could see that you had hit trouble."
"We did our job, The column is stopped. They have no tanks left and only three or four trucks. They will go no further."
"Aircraft, sir, from the south!"
I looked up and saw the two Messerschmitt 109's as they dived to attack us. I took my last magazine and fitted it to the Thompson. We had been attacked by so many aeroplanes that Alan's crew knew what to expect and how to repel such an attack. That, and the added firepower of my men meant a hailstorm of lead through which they had to fly. The lead 109 pulled up a little but, in doing so, his bullets tore through the radar array and the radio antennae. We were now blind and out of touch with anyone. The Hotchkiss gunners were new but the dead Midshipman was on their minds as they opened fire. The second 109 was hit squarely in the belly as it pulled its nose up. We were showered with glycol and pieces of aluminium. The first 109 came around for a second pass but one of us must have got lucky. I saw holes stitched along the fuselage. He turned and headed for home.
I went up to the bridge. Alan grinned at me, "I don't think we will escape as easily as all that. You had best get your chaps fed and watered. This is going to be a
long journey back to Gib." He shook his head, "God but you are lucky!"
"What do you mean?"
In answer Sergeant Poulson took off my bisht. It looked like moths had been at it. None of the bullets had stuck me but I saw nicks and holes in my battle dress and tunic. He was right; I had been lucky
"I had best go and see to my men. Sergeant Poulson, arrange for food and tea. I will be in sick bay." As I passed him I said, "Thanks Bill."
Petty Officer Leslie nodded, "It seemed only right sir!"
I descended through the hatch to the mess we used as a sick bay. I saw Ken Shepherd sitting up with a mug of tea. He had a bandage over his head but he was grinning. Bill Hay was next to him smoking his pipe. "Well done Corporal Hay. Welcome to the section."
"They are good lads. I am proud to be one of them sir."
"How are you Shepherd?"
"Just hit by a bit of shrapnel but I was lucky. An inch lower and I would have lost an eye."
I looked at the table where Johnson, the SBA and Hewitt were working on Fletcher. "How is he lads?"
"Touch and go, sir, he has lost a lot of blood. It was just the one bullet and it went through his thigh but it was damned close to the artery. He has a chunk of shrapnel in his cheek. We are trying to get it out without damaging his eye."
"I'll leave you lads to it." I took the mug of tea Poulson had for me and went on deck. I spoke to all of my section as I passed them. Everyone was a hero and they needed to know that. It would be a long way back.
I joined Alan on the bridge. He had his cheroot going. He used it to point to the last barrel at the stern. "As soon as it is dark we will refill from the barrel. That way if we have to we can dump it. It is a ton weight."
"And we have no means of communicating with anyone."
"We have almost eight hundred miles to travel. Allowing for the time to refuel that is twenty four hours. I think it will prove to be an interesting time."
Without the radar we were blind. It had saved us before, when were off Dieppe. Here it meant we would have no warning whatsoever of enemy vessels. It would be down to the skill of Lieutenant Jorgenson and his look outs. The Lieutenant kept us well away from the coast. That way we had sea room and we avoided being observed from the land.
At noon I returned to the sick bay. Fletcher was sleeping. "We got it, sir." Hewitt rattled a piece of metal the size of a threepenny bit.
"He was lucky."
"I reckon it is because he was in the water, sir. The water cushioned the force. He is a lucky chap."
During the afternoon we watched. We cleaned our guns and refilled our magazines. Alan managed to get a little sleep. I could not. I was still filled with the proximity of death. It had been close, once more, on my very shoulder. The bullet ridden bisht was a reminder of just how close we had come.
Alan came back on deck at six. He had a mug of tea and an enormous corned beef sandwich. "Any sign of Jerry?"
I shook my head. "The lookouts saw German aeroplanes all afternoon but they were high up and far away. None investigated."
"Then we might be lucky and get away with it. How is the fuel, Leslie?"
"We have a quarter of a tank left."
"Then as soon as it is dark we will stop and refuel. I shall be glad to get rid of the barrel on the stern. It makes the 'Lady' look damned ugly!"
Seamen and their ships. They say that most sailors are married to the sea; Alan proved my point. I went below deck for some food and tea. Darkness always came quickly in the Mediterranean. I had only been below deck for half an hour and it went from day to night. Half an hour later we stopped. With no engines the silence was eerie. It took time to refuel and it was a nervous time. All of us were on deck keeping watch. If we were attacked while refuelling then the game would be up.
The night was pitch black. The clouds which had been rolling in all afternoon obscured any light that might have remained. It made the whole process really difficult. We relied on gravity to move the viscous diesel from the barrel down to the engines. The motion of the sea made the flow less smooth than it might have been. We had just finished when Martindale said, "Sir, I can hear diesel engines. They are coming from the south."
"Silent routine!" everyone stopped moving and listened.
Soon I could hear it too and then I heard from a second lookout, "Sir, there is another engine coming from the north."
"Bugger!"
I went close to Alan so that we could speak. "Is it Jerry?"
"If it is diesel engines it sure as shooting isn't our lads. I think we can safely assume it is Jerry."
"They are coming from astern aren't they?"
"Yes why? Have you got a devious plan up your sleeve."
"I have an idea. Look if they come closer then you and I talk in German. It will throw them. I will go and see my lads."
The engines we could hear appeared to move closer and then further away. I guessed that they were looking for us. The aeroplanes we assumed hadn't seen us must have alerted them and they had a rough idea of our course and position.
I went below deck and took Lowe and Poulson with me. The hull would muffle our words. I saw Shepherd, "You three, I need advice. Have we any explosives left?"
"Yes sir. About ten pounds. We kept it back in case of an emergency."
"We have an emergency now. Sergeant go and get the top off that drum of diesel. I want as much rope as we can get attaching to it." Not certain what I intended he left. "We are going to make the empty drum into a bomb. I intend to tow it behind us and explode it when the two German boats are close."
"You will have to use a timer, sir." George was ever practical.
"That makes things difficult. Still if there is no other way."
Ken said, "Sir they keep all the old shells after we fire them. When we get back to port they are melted down. Scrap metal is valuable."
"And?"
"It we packed them around the explosives and put in some of the oily rags from the engine room then it would make a better explosive."
George suddenly said, "Sir! They have white spirit. They use it to clean up their oily hands. We can soak a rag in it and use that as a fuse. If we put detonators in the explosive then the burning rags should set them off."
Ken said, "We could still use a timer in case that didn't work but it is worth a shot. We could use a flare gun to ignite it."
"Right get on with it. I leave it to you two to decide when to blow up the bomb. The Lieutenant and I will get their attention. I will tell the Lieutenant what we have planned."
I picked up two helmets from the Hotchkiss and went to the bridge. The engines were much louder now. Alan spoke in German. "If you have a plan then let me know. They are almost on us. Do we cut and run?"
I switched to English. "They would catch us, right?"
"Right."
"I have my lads making the diesel drum into a bomb. We will run it astern. It will barely be visible as we are going to pack it with explosives and scrap metal." He looked at me curiously, "I will tell you later. We need to entice them in. We need to pretend we are German." I took out of my pocket the papers we had stolen from the dead Germans. I handed one lot to Alan. Use this name and identity. We say that we have captured the Tommies and their boat but we don't know how to sail it."
"Would they buy that?"
"I doubt it but in the time it takes to investigate it gives my lads time to explode the bomb." Sergeant Poulson came up to us and gave the thumbs up. I nodded. "The rest of you lie down as though you are dead or just hide." A few minutes later there was a slight splash as the drum hit the water. As I expected it had immediate results. I handed a helmet to Alan and donned one myself. The engines became louder and then two searchlights played across the water. They picked us out. The two E-Boats were over a hundred yards away. A German voice shouted, "Halt! We have our guns trained on you! If you move we will shoot."
I cupped my hands and shouted, in German, "Thank goodness you have come. I am Feldwebel Gert Muller of the 302
nd infantry battalion. We were captured at Tabarka. We have overcome the crew but we cannot start the engines."
The two boats were closer now.
"And who is that with you?"
"Private Hans Gruber of the 302nd infantry battalion. We thought we were stuck here."
The two boats could now be seen as they closed with us and I had to shade my eyes from the powerful light. I said, out of the side of my mouth, in English, "Get ready." I saw that they were now twenty yards astern of us. They were a few yards apart. They had slowed their boats but every gun was trained on us. I saw that Poulson, Shepherd and Lowe were lying over the rope at the stern as though they were dead. Ken's bandage was very convincing. Suddenly Sergeant Poulson raised his hand and the flare flew to the barrel. It was so close he could not miss.
Alan shouted, "Open fire!" as he started the engines. The flare was so bright it blinded, temporarily, the German gunners. My men's Thompsons were deadly at such close range and the immediate danger, the two forrard guns on the two E-Boats had their crews slaughtered.
A German voice shouted, "Open fire!" as Alan pushed the throttles and we moved away. Suddenly it became daylight as the explosives went off in the drum. The two E-boats were less than thirty yards apart; their bows gave us some protection from the blast. That added to the quick thinking Lieutenant Jorgenson meant that we were not damaged as much as we might have been. The two E-boats were rocked. Our Hotchkiss crew began pumping shell after shell into the boat on our port side. Alan threw the 'Lady' around so that we could bring the Oerlikon to bear on the second one. As we raked it I saw, by the light of the shells, that we had killed many of the crew. We swept around in a circle and then headed west. The two E-boats were still afloat but their crews had been decimated by our attack.
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