Unexploded Love

by Paul Gait

  For his incompetence, the Wehrmacht General — der Artillerie was sent to the Eastern front to help stop the Russian advance. He was never seen again.

  ‘I’m sorry to interrupt your story,’ William said firmly at last. ‘But there is a man trapped by the bomb. I believe he might be your Grandson. Frank Schmidt.’

  ‘Sorry, Could you repeat that? I thought you said, my grandson Frank.

  ‘Yes, I’m afraid so. Sorry to give you the bad news.’

  ‘Frank! Oh no, there must be some mistake. Not Frank. My Frank. Why didn’t you say so before.’

  ‘You said these bombs were fitted with antitamper mechanism. Unfortunately, our records don’t show any detail. I wonder, can you remember anything about them?’

  ‘Oh heavens, my Grandson! Why, this is terrible.’ The old man was now clearly upset by the revelation.

  ‘Well umm…yes…there is an anti-tamper mechanism. But it is over seven decades since I dropped the bombs. Umm… I…anti-tamper…Let me think.’

  ‘Unfortunately, we need to move the bomb to get Frank out and I must make it safe before we do so,’ William elaborated.

  ‘Can’t you shore it up and dig Frank out without moving the bomb?’ the old man suggested.

  ‘No, we can’t do that because the access to him is very limited. You mentioned earlier that some bombs were fitted with reed relays and…’

  ‘Reed relays, yes that’s it. Reed relays, of course. I remember now. But there was something special about them. Now what was it…? It is so long ago. My memory is not so good. Poor Frank. What was he doing to get mixed up with the bomb?’

  ‘He was helping with a building survey. Is there anybody else that you think might be able to help? Somebody else we could talk to?’

  ‘No…I’m sorry. I feel so helpless…my Grandson…why we used to play games when he came over here and sing nursery rhymes and…. ‘

  ‘I’m sorry I don’t want to sound rude and disrupt your trip down memory lane but…’

  ‘No, you don’t understand. That’s it! The nursery rhyme was how I remembered the correct configuration for the anti-tamper switch.

  ‘We had a ditty about the code. Now, what was it… neunundsechzig or soixante neuf. Something like that.’

  ’Why 69? Come on, it’s probably not the time to reminisce about your sex life, with your Grandson cuddling a bomb,’ William said, now frustrated by the old man.

  ‘He is definitely losing it.’ He thought. ‘Sir, with the greatest respects we need to hurry.’

  ‘Hush, I’m trying to remember the position of the magnetic safety switch. We used 69 and 99 and 66… I can’t remember which was which though. The position of the magnet…if you get it wrong, the bomb will go up.’

  ‘Yes, I’m aware of that Sir.’

  The line went quiet while Franz was wracking his brains to recall what they used to sing to remember it.

  ‘Sixty Nine’s just fine

  Sixty Six divine

  Ninety Nines the mine.’

  ‘How is this helping? William was getting edgy thinking of his team digging around an errant bomb that could explode at any moment.

  ‘Will you be quiet,’ the old man ordered. ‘This is how we remembered the polarity of the magnets used to disarm the bomb.’

  ‘What does it mean?’

  ‘Sixty Nine, it’s S and N means magnet one was positioned South polarity upwards and magnet two was positioned North polarity upwards.

  Sixty Six meant both magnets were positioned with South poles upwards.’

  ‘So Ninety Nine meant both magnets were positioned with North upwards? Brilliant,’ William said. ‘Progress at last. So which is the one we need to use?’

  99’s the mine, I guess.’ The old pilot said.

  ‘Thank you Sir. Hopefully the next call you receive will be from your Grandson.’

  CHAPTER 38

  William returned to the hole where his team had carefully removed some earth from the top surface of the landslip. However, the mud on top of Frank was still undisturbed because of his close proximity to the bomb.

  William slipped on the headset again. ‘Frank, I’ve just had a long and very interesting chat with your Grandad. Fortunately for you he has remembered a lot about the anti-tamper mechanism.’

  ‘Thank God, you’re back. I was beginning to think you’d changed your mind on getting me out of here,’ Frank said wearily.

  ‘No. I said I’d be back and I always keep my word. Like you will do, I’m sure.’

  Frank understood the veiled threat and decided not to comment about his future intentions with Liz. Instead, he said, ‘So what happens next?’

  ‘We now know where to place magnets to ‘switch off’ the detonation circuit,’ William confirmed.

  ‘Yeah, but how are you going to do that through six foot of mud?’ Frank queried.

  ‘I’m not. You are.’

  ‘Me? Why?!’

  ‘You’re the only one who can do it. Then we dig you out of there.’

  ‘What if I cock up?’

  ‘I think we both know the answer to that, don’t we? But I know you won’t. I’ll be here to guide you all the way,’ William said confidently, hoping his faith was not going to be misguided.

  ‘No, I can’t,’ Frank blurted, now overwhelmed with the implications of failure.

  ‘Well, if you want to spend the rest of your life stuck in a hole,’ replied William stating the obvious.

  ‘Oh…bloody hell. OK, I suppose there’s no alternative.’ Frank said resignedly.

  ‘No, you’re right. There is no other way,’ William confirmed, glad that the discussion was short lived.

  ‘So before I change my mind, are you going to pass the magnets down to me or what?’ Frank demanded, anxiously.

  ‘Remember there are two ways to put the magnet on the bomb,’ William coached calmly.

  ‘Yeah, SO?’

  ‘Well, if you get it wrong, it just triggers the booby trap,’ William added casually.

  ‘Pity there’s no room to pass down your body armour,’ Frank said shaking.

  ‘I don’t know about body armour. Get this wrong and you’ll be wearing angel’s wings,’ William said, adding some black humour to lighten the tension.

  ‘Thanks for the vote of confidence. Are you sure there isn’t an alternative option?’

  ‘Well, yes I suppose. We could hope that the clock doesn’t tick anymore. And gamble on the fact that the detonation mechanism is broken. But I wouldn’t recommend it.’

  ‘Oh God, what do we do?’ Frank implored.

  ‘Look. The chance of getting you out of there without disrupting anymore mud is nil,’ William lectured. ‘If we disturb the bomb, it’s likely the gyroscope could trigger the detonation. So I believe we have no choice but to try the anti-tamper safe guard method.’

  ‘OK. Let me have the magnets and tell me what the options are,’ Frank said reluctantly.

  ‘They’re on their way down to you now,’ William advised him.

  Frank could hear the small package snaking its way down to him, A small avalanche of loose dirt anointing his shoulders announced its passage.

  ‘Always knew there was something special about this bomb…it’s got a magnetic personality,’ Frank joked, trying to regain control over his fears.

  ‘Nice to see your sense of humour has returned,’ William complimented.

  ‘Well, when you’re staring death in the face…’ Frank choked on his words. The realisation of his situation hit him hard. His stomach tightened. His hands started to shake. His mouth a desert of fear.

  Frank watched the small net bag enter his field of vision and told William to ‘Stop.’ He carefully opened it and transferred the three magnets with some difficulty into his trouser pocket.

  ‘Right, I’ve got them, along with another load of mud thanks.’

  ‘Now don’t put them anywhere near the casing until we’re 100 percent sure of where to put them and in what configuration.’
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br />   ‘Yes OK. Just get on with it,’ Frank urged impatiently.

  ‘Ok. Now I want you to look at the bomb,’ William directed.

  ‘Yes, we are intimate with each other,’ Frank announced, glibly.

  ‘I’m not sure you know how kinky that sounds,’ William observed.

  ‘Yeah, whatever.’

  ‘Right. If we’re lucky and the bomb is lying the right way round, you should see a plate. Not the name plate. This is a different one.

  ‘Let me see if I can…Yes, I think…Yes, I can see it,’ Frank said, peering carefully at the cylinder.

  ‘Ah, we’re in luck then. Right, down by the plate there should be some marks printed into the bomb case. It’s probably labelled ‘Sicherheitsschalter’.

  ‘Yeah ‘Safety Switch’.’

  ‘Course, I keep forgetting you have a good knowledge of German.’

  ‘I see it. It looks like it’s a small cover secured by… by four screws.’ Frank said straining his neck to see it clearly.

  ‘That’s what we want. It’s the only bit of steel on the bomb apparently. The bar magnets that I’ve passed to you have a red end, which is…’

  ‘North. Yeah I know…’

  ‘Just checking. We don’t want any mistakes at this stage. This needs to go on the left hand side of the plate with the red end towards the bomb’s fin. Understood?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Are you ready to place it on?’ the officer asked.

  ‘What happens if it starts ticking again as I put the magnet on the case?’

  ‘Ignore it. But try to place the it carefully. Hopefully you will hear a faint click as the reed relay operates inside the bomb. That’s what we’re hoping for, OK?’

  ‘OK. The trouble is, I’m right handed and I need to use my left hand to do this.’

  Frank retrieved one of the magnets out of his pocket and started moving it towards the bomb case, extending his arm to full stretch exaggerated his nervousness. His hand shaking uncontrollably.

  On the surface, William watched on his small monitor, Smithy having earlier manoeuvred the camera further down into the hole to help identify the bomb type.

  ‘Steady as you go,’ he encouraged quietly. ‘There’s no rush.’

  Frank was now over the top of the plate but with six inches still to move down towards it. His arm was aching. His shoulder muscles on fire.

  ‘If you don’t think you can do it this time, just come back and rest your arm.’ William coaxed.

  ‘Yes sorry. I’m having problems reaching it because of this damn mud,’ Frank apologised.

  ‘Don’t worry. Just catch your breath.’

  Frank duly retracted his arm and rested it. After a few minutes he tried again, the muscles in his arm still protesting as he moved towards the plate. His hand started shaking again as he lowered the magnet.

  ‘Careful now,’ the officer coaxed, ‘gently does it.’

  The magnet caught on the raised part of the plate and it twisted out of his fingers sliding down the side of the casing out of his view…at the same time the bomb started ticking again.

  ‘Oh shit. I’ve cocked up. Do you think I’ve messed up the Safety Switch?’

  ‘Hopefully not. We’ll soon find out won’t we?’ William said, in a matter of fact voice.

  The ticking stopped as if to support his optimism.

  ‘I’ve lost the magnet, sorry,’ Frank apologised sorrowfully.

  ‘Don’t worry. The MOD has a few thousand.

  Control, can you bring me a few more over just in case we need to replenish the stock a few times? In the meantime, Frank, do you want to try with the other one you’ve got there?’

  ‘I thought I had it that time too,’ Frank muttered to himself.

  ‘Never mind. A miss is as good as a big bang in bomb disposal terms.’

  ‘Yeah, I’ll try again in a minute.’

  A soldier from the support team jogged over with several additional bar magnets as requested and signalled for William to switch off his link to Frank.

  ‘So you don’t think we’ve deserted you Frank, I’m just switching our comms off. But I will be here and listening.’

  ‘Ok, but don’t be long.’

  The Officer switched off the intercom and looked at his support man.

  ‘Got some more information for me?’

  ‘Yes. The old man has had a rethink about what he told you, but is really struggling to remember the safety switch sequence. He now thinks it’s Sixty Nine not Ninety Nine.’

  ‘Oh. Just as well we didn’t get that first magnet on there then.’

  ‘Apparently they swopped it around on different days of the week. He seems to think it was North and North on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays was South and North.’

  ‘What about Sundays?’

  ‘That would have been Sixty Six, South and South I guess but the old man wasn’t sure.

  ‘What day would they decide was the correct day, because most missions started late at night and their payloads weren’t dropped until the following early morning.’

  ‘Apparently it was the delivery day which decided it.’

  ‘So Franks Whittle’s birthday was June 1st 1944, so that was a …’

  ‘Thursday, that’s right,’ Smithy confirmed.

  ‘So the sequence for Thursday was South and North.’

  ‘Let’s hope he’s remembered correctly.’

  Meanwhile, in the hole, Frank had picked up the other magnet and was doing as he had been told, namely putting the North end towards the fin.

  ‘Gently does it,’ he encouraged himself. ‘Just another inch.’

  In his ear William could hear Franks self-encouragement and he suddenly broke off his conversation with Smithy and as calmly as he could, but with great urgency, he clicked on the intercom to Frank and said, ‘Stop.’

  ‘I’m nearly there now,’ Frank said quietly, deep in concentration performing the intricate task.

  ‘It’s wrong. Stop what you’re doing immediately. Withdraw the magnet. We were given duff information.’

  Frank did as he was directed, shocked at the possibility that he had nearly and inadvertently ended it for all of them.

  The officer could see that Frank was complying with his directions.

  ‘Good man. I’m sorry about that. But I have just been informed of a day coding upon which they set the mechanism. The code we should be using is South and then North. Putting the north end of that magnet on the bomb would most certainly have taken our problem away from us with a very big bang.’

  ‘Wow, that was a close shave. I’d got a technique going too,’ Frank admitted, frustrated that his efforts were thwarted.

  ‘When you’re ready, we’ll have another go,’ William coaxed.

  ‘You can use your newly developed technique to put the unpainted end of the bar magnet towards the fin.’

  William watched, as Frank moved his hand, clutching the magnet slowly towards the bomb. He could hear Frank talking to himself, encouraging his own efforts. ‘Slowly does it. Come on Frank. You can do this. You can do this.’

  All the while his hand was shaking but he still had the magnet held tightly between thumb and forefinger. Every fibre of his being was concentrated on placing the it gently on its target.

  Holding his breath for the final few inches of the journey, he tried to slow his wildly beating heart. He felt the magnet touch the plate, and satisfied that it was in the right place, he carefully let it go, slowly opening his fingers without moving his hand to ensure he didn’t disturb its final resting place.

  ‘Well done, great job. Did you hear the reed relay click?’ the officer asked.

  Frank let out a depth breath as he withdrew his arm. ‘The only thing I could hear was the blood rushing through my head. I have never concentrated so much in all my life. God that was hard.’

  ‘Well, now you’ve done one, the next one should be easy. Give yourself some breathing space for a few minut
es and re-oxygenate your muscles. You don’t need me to tell you this is the critical one. Let’s hope your Grandfather’s memory has been good to us.’

  ‘Look, if we don’t make it out…’

  ‘Positive thinking. Don’t let negativity even enter your psyche. We can do it. We will do it,’ William said firmly.

  ‘Ok. When we get out I will agree never to see Liz again. That’s part of the deal, right?’

  ‘I wish it was that simple. I’m afraid that you aren’t the only problem. I am as well! ‘ William admitted painfully.

  ‘You just happened to come along at a bad patch in our marriage. Tender emotions are just another one of the casualties of war I’m afraid. As much as I hate to say it, if you can make Liz happy then…well good luck.’

  Frank was taken aback by William’s candid confession.

  William became business like again. ‘Anyway, this isn’t getting you out of here. You ready to try the second magnet?’

  ‘Yes, I think so.’

  ‘Positive thinking then. Don’t forget this is …’

  ‘North up. The red end towards the fin,’ Frank recited.

  ‘Spot on. Whenever you’re ready,’ William encouraged.

  ‘Just in case it does go wrong though, I think you should go back to your team in the exclusion zone. There’s no point in both of us…’Frank paused over his final words.

  ‘What, and let you get the credit for making it safe? You’d ruin my reputation. No, we’re in this together,’ William said gently. ‘We’re in this together,’ he repeated.

  Frank swallowed hard, took the magnet out of his pocket, and started moving his hand towards the bomb plate.

  CHAPTER 39

  Frank placed the second magnet on the bomb gently and waited anxiously, his ‘heart in his mouth’.

  After a few minutes and nothing disastrous had happened, he breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Thank Christ for that. I think we’ve done it,’ he said pleased with himself.

  ‘See, there was nothing to be worried about, was there?’ William said, equally relieved.

  Immediately he started digging to release Frank. The officer insisted that no-one else in his team should join the excavation until he was satisfied that the magnets were taped securely in place.