"Right lads, let's find the battalion."
We were dead on our feet when we found the commandeered farmhouse. Nev Wilkinson was waiting for us smoking a cigarette, the bloody bandage on his leg clearly visible as we approached him. "I wondered where you lads were." He gestured behind him with his thumb, "The Lieutenant said to wait for you here."
I grinned at him, "Your booby bombs worked Nev!"
"A little trick I picked up in Spain. Another one we can try is filling a bottle with petrol. Put a rag in it and then light it. It stops tanks better than grenades."
"How's the leg Wilkinson?"
"I've had worse. It'll ache like buggery tomorrow Sarge but Harry Mac cleaned it up nicely."
"Where is he?"
He shook his head, "He bought it along with Major Marston and some of the Headquarters squad. Stukas did for them!"
The Lieutenant reached us. "Well done lads. Tomorrow I will be with you. We have the remains of the company to help us." He looked at the two sergeants. "You two are the last of my sergeants."
Sergeant Greely nodded, "Any grub sir? We have had nowt since the butties and that was hours ago."
He shook his head. "We left most of the food at the camp. It is just the rations you have with you."
I saw the farmhouse. "Sir, has anyone searched the farmhouse yet?"
"I am afraid so Harsker. There is nothing in the kitchen left."
"Do you mind if I have a look sir?"
"Be my guest!"
"Willy."
We left our rifles stacked with the others and headed across to the farmhouse. I could see where the roof had been blown off. It was a shambles. The only item of furniture which remained undamaged was a huge ancient oak table in the middle of the room. The Lieutenant was right the kitchen had been picked clean but I was not looking for food in the kitchen. "Willy, grab this table and shift it." We moved the huge table to the side and I reached down and pulled the handle of the trap door to the cellar.
"Well I'll be. How did you know about this?"
"I didn't but I spent enough holidays in France to know that the local farmers use their cellars to store food." I spied a broken candle. "Grab that candle and light it." I opened the door of the cellar and felt the rush of cold air.
I turned around and began to back down the step ladder which led down. I reached the bottom and my head was still above the floor level. Willy handed me the candle. I ducked my head and peered around. It was an Aladdin's cave. I reached in and took the huge ham I spied. I hoisted it proudly like a football trophy. "Best get the rest of the lads, Willy, there is too much here for two of us."
By the time he had returned I had two hams, two cheeses, a dozen bottles of wine and a small sack of beans. Sergeant Jennings actually smiled at me. "You know Harsker, the Lieutenant was going to give you a medal for blowing up the tank. I want to give you one for this."
Sergeant Greely nodded. "And we might as well eat in here. We'll have a bit of shelter too."
Sergeant Jennings held up the sack of dried beans. "These aren't much use. Pity."
"That's all you know Sarge." The rest of the squad were busy carving the ham with their bayonets and dividing the cheese. "Willy, find me a dixie. Nev can you get a fire going in the stove?"
He had changed since we had brewed up the tank. He seemed more approachable. "Your wish is my command."
There was a water butt and I used a small pan to ladle the water into the dixie. Nev used the broken furniture in the kitchen and the farmhouse to get a fire going in the stove. I put half of the beans in the dixie. Turning I saw that they had carved the meat from one of the hams. I took the bone and dropped it into the dixie. "If we keep this going all night we will have bean and ham soup for breakfast. It will keep us going."
Sergeant Greely handed me a hunk of ham and a wedge of cheese, "You are a constant surprise to me, Professor. Where did you learn this trick?"
"Mum learned it from a French woman. They live off this sort of stuff." I chewed happily on the ham. Willy passed me the bottle of rough red wine and I washed the ham down. After we had eaten the cheese I felt a little better.
Nev disappeared and when he returned, limping, he had a handful of greenery. "And I learned a few tricks in Spain. Herbs and spinach. They will give us a little more flavour too." He put them and the second ham bone in the pot. We emptied almost all of the bottles of wine. We had dined like kings.
The two sergeants had saved some food for the Lieutenant who arrived when we had just finished all but a quarter of a bottle of wine. He cocked an eye and Willy said, cheerfully, "Saved you some wine, sir. It goes well with the cheese!"
Laughing the Lieutenant ate his share. The company looked after their own. We had left many comrades on the battlefield but the ones who remained still had spirit. We were split into three groups to keep watch. Our team had the middle shift. When I was woken I had the lovely aroma of herbs and ham soup to greet me. Before I went to relieve the other team I stirred it. There was a reassuring 'gloop' as I did so.
When I reached the road it was pitch black. I looked west and saw a glow in the sky and I heard the sound of gunfire. Sergeant Greely came over to me. "It looks like we have been caught with our trousers down again. I thought we had learned our lesson in the Great War. Belgium is too close to Germany to defend."
"What about the French, Sarge?"
"Not good I am afraid. I was talking with the Sarn't Major. Jerry has isolated us from the French. They have attacked Brussels and Antwerp. They are trying to stop us getting home. We are heading for the sea."
"Dad told me about that. He was in the cavalry and they barely made it to the coast. Will it be trenches again do you think?"
He pointed to the sky. "With the German bombers and dive bombers I don't thinks that is possible and they have tanks."
I chuckled, "Do you know the irony, Sarge? We invented tanks and now the Germans are using them against us."
"It's always the same." I saw his face from the glow of his cigarette. "I am glad you joined up young un. The University's loss is our gain. You and McGuire did save our bacon today."
"You have changed your tune, Sarge, this morning I was an idiot."
"Oh you are still an idiot but I am glad you are here with us."
We did not have to finish our watch that night. We heard the sound of tanks. They were coming down the road.
"Stand to! Tanks."
The Lieutenant was woken and he sent a runner to the colonel.
Sergeant Jennings said, "Right lads, let's make some of Wilkinson's booby traps."
Nev said, "I filled up the twelve bottles from last night with some paraffin I found. We have some bombs."
Sergeant Jennings said, "Well done but you are wounded. You sort the soup out for the lads. I'll be buggered if we are going to let Jerry have any of it."
Nev nodded and scurried off. The Lieutenant handed one of the bombs to each of us. "The rest of the company will make some booby traps. You twelve go and hide along the ditches. When the tanks come light the tops and throw them at the tanks. Four to a tank. We make sure they burn. The road is narrow. If we can block the road then we have a chance."
Mike Carr asked, "A chance for what, sir?"
"To escape this trap and fight again."
We could not see the tanks but we could see the trees moving above them and feel the ground vibrating. We ran, in pairs, to hide in the ditch some fifty or so yards from the farmhouse. The rest of the company was busy setting up Bren guns and improvising barricades. I hoped that the Colonel would be sending back fresh troops to help us. There were just two men ahead of us in our ditch and they were both from Sergeant Greely's. None of us had rifles. They would be too cumbersome but I still had, tucked in my knapsack, my Luger. I had managed to clean and load it during my sentry duty. It was reassuring. I also had my last two Mills bombs. Our booby traps had taken their toll.
Now I saw the dark shapes of the tanks as they came past us. We had to wait until t
he first tank had come by before we launched our attack. The lads ahead of us had to endure two tanks. We lay flat in the ditch. The muddy water covered my face effectively camouflaging me. I risked a look up and saw that the tanks had pairs of German infantry clinging to the back. As the second tank approached I tapped Willy on the shoulder. He had a petrol lighter. He flicked it and lit his fuse. As soon as the light flared I heard a shout in German. I lit mine from his and then we both hurled them at the tank. It was just six feet away. As they shattered the flames lit the fumes and I saw two of the German soldiers erupt into flames like huge Roman candles. As we turned to run I heard the chatter of a machine gun. Then there were two more walls of flame, one ahead of us and one behind us.
I heard a shout and as I turned I saw The two men from Sergeant Greely's squad pitched forward as the machine guns of the other tanks riddled them. The tank we had struck suddenly exploded as the flames and the petrol found the ammunition. We were both thrown through the air. When I landed the wind had been knocked from me and my ears were ringing. That probably saved my life as the first tank in the column exploded just twelve feet away. The fact that we were in the ditch mean that the force of the explosion went over us but I found I was deaf. I just lay there with my face buried as deep as I could get it. I had cursed my helmet but it had saved me again.
After what seemed an age the flames died a little and I forced myself to my feet. I could hear the muffled sounds of firing but my hearing had gone. As I stood I saw the crisply charred corpses of the Germans who had been on the back of the first tank. I pulled Willy up. I saw his mouth moving but I heard nothing. I pointed to my ears and shook my head. He grinned and nodded.
We stepped over the body of Bert Williams. He was the first of our squad to die. He would not be the last. We ran towards the Bren guns which were covering us. We ran past them, picked up our rifles and then turned to face the enemy. The flames showed the position of the enemy column. There were eight tanks behind the three we had destroyed. I raised my rifle to fire but there were no targets. Suddenly there were eight sharp cracks as the 20 mm tank guns began to fire.
A runner ran up to the Lieutenant. "Colonel's compliments sir and you can withdraw your men!"
"Right lads, you heard. Let's go. At the double."
Willy and I stood with our rifles at the ready. Nev Wilkinson hobbled over with two mugs in his hand. "You made it Prof, you best drink it." He hobbled off using his rifle as a makeshift stick.
I swallowed a mouthful. Sergeant Jennings's hand clapped me on the shoulder. "Right lads. You are the last. Let's go and be sharpish."
We turned and jogged down the road. I swallowed every last bean and flake of meat. It is funny but close encounters with death made me hungry. When I had finished I put the mug in my respirator case. The respirator had long gone. I would rinse the mug later. Some of the soup would have clung to the sides. Who knew when we might eat again?
Chapter 7
Soon we found the road filled with refugees fleeing west. Our progress became a crawl. Sadly the Germans were no respecters of civilians and the Stukas returned. This time we stood our ground. We formed up in blocks of men and fired at the diving Stukas. They screamed down at us; their cleverly placed sirens made them even louder. They were a weapon of terror; at least they were to the civilians. Our battalion brought down four of them but the roads were littered with dead and dying civilians. Our doctors patched up those that they could but the trucks and tanks in the distance meant we had to scurry away again ourselves.
There was chuntering and complaints from many of the men. It did not sit well to retreat.
"But we have held our own every time we have faced them, Sarge. We can stop them!"
"Jenkins, you dozy sod! We have been lucky so far and we have destroyed a couple of tanks. Every time we have we have lost men and the Germans are to the north, south and east of us."
"I know, Sarge, but …"
"But nothing. How many grenades have you got left?"
"None."
"And I bet you have less than thirty rounds of .303."
"Yes Sarge."
"Then focus on walking. The brass will tell us when we hold them."
We did stop. Just beyond Ravin we halted at the river. The engineers were there rigging the bridge to blow when we crossed. We were exhausted. Since the soup we had eaten nothing and our canteens were empty. We looked more like brigands than British soldiers. The Colonel, when we saw him, looked to have aged by thirty years as he waited on the other side of the bridge to greet us. The last four of us who crossed were Willy, Corporal Higgins, Sergeant Jennings and me. The Colonel shook each of us by the hand. "Your squad, Sergeant Jennings, has done the battalion proud. I intend to name a number of your men in despatches. Your sacrifice has been worthwhile." We all saluted.
"Stand clear! We are blowing the bridge!"
We hurried to the shelter of some nearby houses as the engineers exploded the frail looking pillars on the old bridge. I had no doubt that it would not delay the Germans for long but any delay was necessary. We had no tents and we just collapsed close to the river. Once again it was the sergeants and corporals who organised us. Our company which had begun the war with three platoons now had a mere one and a half. Some wounded had been evacuated. The Lieutenant wanted Nev Wilkinson to go but he refused. "The leg is healing nicely, sir. All I need is some new trousers and I will be right as rain."
I could not get over the change in Nev. Since we had begun to kill Germans he was a different man. A lorry arrived to take away the wounded and to bring much needed food, grenades and ammunition. We even managed to boil some water so that we could shave. I just shaved my beard. This seemed a good opportunity to grow a moustache. I also took the opportunity to strip down and clean my rifle. I saw the nods of approval from the two sergeants. I suspect Sergeant Jennings had seen a studious young recruit when he had first met me. I hoped that I had shown him a different side to me since then.
We had lost all of our tents. Some had been destroyed when the Stukas had attacked the lorries while many had been left when we had to leave so quickly from our camp. We had only our blankets. I prayed it would not rain. Our great coats also acted as a groundsheet for us. It was the food which made all the difference. The cooks made an improvised field kitchen while we dug slit trenches and prepared our Bren positions. The Vickers machine guns had been abandoned. We helped Jack and Pete to load the Bren magazines. They were our only automatic weapons.
As we had had the longest duty the night before our team had the first duty. We could hear, to the north and south of us, gunfire. German bombers droned overhead as they continued to bomb the Dutch and Belgian cities. At midnight we woke our reliefs and headed, almost like men in a trance, to our bivouacs. I slept like a baby. There is nothing like curling up and sleeping especially when you are exhausted.
When we awoke I was surprised that we were not under fire. I had expected the Germans to be hot on our trail. There was gossip aplenty which I ignored. Dad had told me that gossip was bad for morale and I was beginning to see that he was right. All we had to do was our duty. The enemy were to the east of us and our salvation was in the west. We were the rear guard. It was as simple as that. For some reason our squad all seemed more relaxed about the whole thing than some of the other companies. Perhaps because we had only lost one man and we had bloodied the Germans on a number of occasions we were all more confident.
The reconnaissance aeroplane flew over us at about noon. We knew that would not be the end of things. We had all eaten and so we dug our trenches just a little bit deeper and found whatever we could to make barriers before us. I used the holes in my helmet as repositories for twigs and leaves. It helped to camouflage me a little more. Others who had similarly damaged helmets did the same. To while away the time I sharpened my bayonet. When I had the time I would get myself a proper knife. The bayonet was too long.
The rest spent their time smoking. One or two had pipes but the rest all had ci
garettes. The lorries which brought the supplies had also brought more cigarettes. I gave mine to Willy. I didn't smoke but I knew I would get myself a lighter. That would come in handy. Of that I was sure. I patted my knapsack. It now had six grenades. We had made sure that we had more than we were allocated. The rear guard needed them.
The Stukas found us at three o'clock. They had a harder target this time. The battalion had had time to dig in and we threw up a barrage of Biblical proportions. We had grown teeth and we had grown more creative. We used the strength of the Stuka against them. They employed a steep dive for accuracy. It meant you could throw a cone of fire through which they would have to fly. We only shot one down but six were smoking as they left and they merely succeeded in destroying the last of the pillars of the bridge.
The tanks arrived an hour later. They lined up on the other side of the river and they blasted away with machine guns and cannon. We burrowed down into our trenches. The damage they did merely added to the strength of the trenches by depositing more debris before us. The tanks withdrew. We could not hurt them but they could do nothing until they crossed the river and for that they needed to winkle us out.
It was getting on for dusk when we heard the sound of German trucks. We were ready and there was a ripple of bolts being pulled back. We were prepared for an attack across the water. Nothing happened until it was completely dark and then I saw a shadow move across the river. "Sarge, movement!"
"Thanks, son."
Sergeant Jennings fired the Very pistol and the flare flew high into the sky. As it came down we saw German soldiers trying to manhandle rubber boats down to the river.
"Fire!"
The flare descended slowly and we used every second we had to kill as many as we could. We heard the splashes as their bodies fell into the water. Then there was silence broken only by the moans of those who had been wounded. The night was shattered when the German heavy machine guns began to shred the river bank. I dived to the bottom of my trench but some were too slow and, perhaps, a little unlucky. I heard their shouts as they died. We did not get much sleep that night. I heard the noise of diesel engines in the hours before dawn and I wondered if that meant tanks again. When dawn broke it was worse than tanks. They had brought artillery and mortars. The dawn chorus was the crump of mortars and the crack of artillery pieces.
Commando Page 7