by Ian Blake
The two SBS men watched helplessly as the Hartland slowed, then stopped, wallowing in the water as flames engulfed it. Again and again the destroyer’s shells smashed into the cutter’s flaming hull as it sank slowly into the harbour.
18
The Commander from Combined Operations and Captain Barney Hawkes scrutinized the two SBS men sympathetically.
‘You must have had a rough time of it,’ the Commander said.
‘Oran military prison was the worst part,’ Ayton replied.
They had been locked up for only a few hours before Fredendall’s troops arrived and freed them, but it had seemed like a lifetime.
‘Many survivors from the Rangers?’
Pountney shook his head. ‘Bloody few, to be honest.’
The Commander sighed and tapped the end of his pencil on the desk. ‘And Campbell’s miniature torpedoes? I don’t suppose you had a chance to use them?’
‘We launched two before they caught us,’ said Pountney. ‘One sank immediately. The other went round and round in circles and then hit a quay without exploding.’
‘No good then?’
‘No bloody good at all.’
The Commander grimaced. ‘A proper balls-up from start to finish.’
‘That’s about it,’ Ayton agreed.
A silence settled on the Commander’s office for a moment. Then he lit a cigarette, offered the packet to the two SBS officers and said: ‘You’ll be pleased to know that the invasion as a whole was a great success. The French offered very little resistance.’
‘Giraud did his bit in the end, then?’ Pountney directed his question at Hawkes.
‘Giraud? Oh, no, he’s out of it,’ Hawkes replied wearily. ‘None of the French in North Africa would have anything to do with him. A has-been, you might say. Missed his moment completely. That is, if he ever had one.’
‘Barking up the wrong tree, were we?’
‘Seems so. We’re negotiating with Darlan at the moment. He’s agreed to change sides.’
‘I thought Darlan hated our guts,’ said Pountney. ‘And that we hated his.’
‘So we do,’ said Hawkes. ‘But he’s the only man for the job, it seems.’
‘And the Germans?’
‘Haven’t you heard? They’ve occupied the whole of Vichy France.’
Poor buggers, Pountney thought. He was glad his war was a simple one: kill or be killed, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. He wanted to get back to the Section now, as quickly as possible, and said so.
‘We’ll fly you out tomorrow,’ Hawkes promised.
‘How soon can you get me to Alexandria?’ Ayton asked.
‘This will tell you.’
Hawkes pulled out a buff envelope from his pocket and slid it over the desk. Ayton opened it, read the contents, then tossed the sheet of paper across to Pountney.
‘“As from 15 November 1942,”’ Pountney read out loud, “‘No. 1 Special Boat Section will be renamed D Squadron of the Special Air Service and will therefore in future be directly commanded by Major David Stirling. Captain Philip Ayton MC Royal Marines is granted three weeks’ leave in the United Kingdom before reporting to Special Services Brigade at Ardrossan-Saltcoats for further employment.”’
Pountney rose from his seat. ‘Come on, Phil, it’s time we had a drink.’
OTHER AVAILABLE TITLES IN THIS SERIES
Marine A SBS: Terrorism on the North Sea
Marine B SBS: The Aegean Campaign
Marine C SBS: The Florida Run
Marine D SBS: Windswept
Marine E SBS: The Hong Kong Gambit
Marine F SBS: Royal Target
Marine G SBS: China Seas
Marine H SBS: The Burma Offensive
Marine I SBS: Escape From Azerbaijan
Marine J SBS: The East African Mission
Marine K SBS: Gold Rush
OTHER TITLES IN SERIES FROM 22 BOOKS
SOLDIER A SAS: Behind Iraqi Lines
SOLDIER B SAS: Heroes of the South Atlantic
SOLDIER C SAS: Secret War in Arabia
SOLDIER D SAS: The Colombian Cocaine War
SOLDIER E SAS: Sniper Fire in Belfast
SOLDIER F SAS: Guerrillas in the Jungle
SOLDIER G SAS: The Desert Raiders
SOLDIER H SAS: The Headhunted of Borneo
SOLDIER I SAS: Eighteen Years in the Elite Force
SOLDIER J SAS: Counter-insurgency in Aden
SOLDIER K SAS: Mission to Argentina
SOLDIER L SAS: The Embassy Siege
SOLDIER M SAS: Invisible Enemy in Kazakhstan
SOLDIER N SAS: The Gambian Bluff
SOLDIER O SAS: The Bosnian Inferno
SOLDIER P SAS: Night Fighters in France
SOLDIER Q SAS: Kidnap the Emperor!
SOLDIER R SAS: Death on Gibraltar
SOLDIER S SAS: The Samarkand Hijack
SOLDIER T SAS: War on the Streets
SOLDIER U SAS: Bandit Country
SOLDIER V SAS: Into Vietnam
SOLDIER W SAS: Guatemala – Journey into Evil
SOLDIER X SAS: Operation Takeaway
SOLDIER Y SAS: Days of the Dead
SOLDIER Z SAS: For King and Country
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE 1: Valin’s Raiders
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE 2: The Korean Contract
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE 3: The Vatican Assignment
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE 4: Operation Nicaragua
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE 5: Action in the Arctic
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE 6: The Khmer Hit
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE 7: Blue on Blue
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE 8: Target the Death-dealer
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE 9: The Berlin Alternative
MERCENARY 10: The Blue-eyed Boy
MERCENARY 11: Oliver’s Army
MERCENARY 12: The Corsican Crisis
This electronic edition published in 2015 by Osprey Publishing Ltd
First published in Great Britain in 1998 by 22 Books, Invicta House, Sir Thomas Longley Road, Rochester, Kent
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