Red Hawk Rising

by Peter William Hall

  “Come,” they heard and the two went in and came to attention. Corporal Hill introduced Corporal Jackson to the officer and then left the room, closing the door behind him. He then went across to his desk and started sorting out material to give to the new arrival.

  “We got a new corporal in the section then, Corp?” asked SAC Donovan.

  “Yes, Malcolm, we have. He’ll take over some of my current duties. We will have more for our section arriving in the near future. That should lighten your load then.”

  “Gee thanks!” was the response. “Does that mean I’ll be able to have a ‘charp’ after lunch each day?” The question was put with humour, Donovan knowing full well it wouldn’t be so. Andy liked Donovan. He had been posted in after disembarkation leave from a year in Sharjah. Donovan was of chunky build with hair bleached blonde by the Middle-East sun. Some members of the unit thought that he had spent too much time out in the desert sun. He had an attitude to authority that said it had to be earned if he was going to comply. Donovan liked Andy and appreciated his approach to getting work done by not ‘ordering’ but by inviting support in an inclusive way. With some other NCO’s he had responded to orders in a way that bordered on insolence.

  Corporal Jackson came out of Flight Lieutenant Gaskin’s office and came across to Corporal Hill. “Let’s go for a walk so you can see the disposition of the unit and I’ll introduce you to people you’ll be in regular contact with,” said Corporal Hill. He turned to SAC Donovan and said, “Mind the fort, Malcolm, we are going on a tour of the unit.”

  He received an “Okay, Corp” in reply and the two corporals headed out of the section.

  The week was passing quickly as the unit settled into the preliminary trials. Andy taught Jim Jackson the set-up for the defect recording and analysis. He told Andy that he had been on a fighter base working on the defect recording as the RAF moved from a breakdown to a planned maintenance system.

  Wednesday afternoon (19th) came and Andy received a telephone call from Sergeant Rawson to see if he was free to go in to Grimsby for the martial arts training. He replied in the affirmative. After work, Andy went to his bunkroom and got changed. He met Flying Officer Braidley and Sergeant Rawson outside the admin building and they drove in Braidley’s car to Grimsby. As they drove to a car park near the hall, they noticed that Freeman Street was full of trawlermen going from pub to pub and spending their hard-earned money on drink. They parked the car and went into the Shaolin Hall for the evening’s training. They were greeted warmly by Mr Lee and Lin and the others. The evening opened with warm-up exercises for fifteen minutes. Then followed training in defence and attack patterns. The time passed quickly and soon it was 8.30 p.m. and the end of the session. Mr Lee gave Andy an envelope with details of fees and costs of uniform.

  As Andy and the others prepared to leave, another figure was walking up Freeman Street to meet a contact and be smuggled onto a trawler. He was now growing a beard and dressed in trawlermen’s gear, with a duffle bag over his shoulder. As he neared the Shaolin Hall, Andy and the other two RAF men emerged and came face to face with him. Despite the new whiskers Andy recognised him immediately. “Enderby!” he exclaimed. Startled for a moment, Enderby turned but Andy grabbed him by the arm as he tried to move away. Then Enderby exploded into action. He immediately swung back and brought his free arm around in a move to bring the edge of his palm chopping into Andy’s neck. Andy managed to parry the blow before it hit him in the neck. Braidley and Rawson moved in to restrain Enderby. The action aroused the interest of nearby trawlermen. They believed that they saw three men attacking one of their own and rushed in to Enderby’s defence. “He’s wanted by the police!” shouted Andy but that didn’t influence the trawlermen. The other martial arts students were coming out of the hall and saw fellow students under attack. They went to the rescue. The burly trawlermen found themselves falling back under flying kicks. Other trawlermen raced across the street to join in. It became a melee. Enderby tried to escape but Andy and Braidley kept him in the fray.

  Suddenly, there was the clanging of the bell on a police car as the police appeared on the scene. The tempo of conflict suddenly slackened and some trawlermen started to leave. In the distraction, Enderby landed a kick in Braidley’s crotch and Braidley bent over. A nearby trawlerman had taken a swing at Braidley and instead brought a ham-sized fist against the side of Enderby’s head and felled him with one blow. Andy fell with Enderby but was able to let go and roll clear. Enderby was then encircled so that he could not escape. A police sergeant pushed through and demanded to know what was going on. FO Braidley then took the role of spokesman, showed his identity card, explaining who he was and that they were trying to apprehend a person wanted by the police. Looking around the group, the police sergeant quickly summed up the situation. “All right, anybody hurt?” he asked. None were seriously hurt and he got shakes of the head. “Right, let’s say there was a misunderstanding about this. You lot clear off before I change my mind.” Noticing and knowing Mr Lee, he said, “Mr Lee, would you mind staying behind, please? I’d appreciate a statement on behalf of your students.” Mr Lee bowed his head and waited. Then he turned to Flying Officer Braidley and said, “We’ll take this man into custody but we’d like you three from the RAF to come down to the station so that we can get statements from you. Enderby got groggily to his feet and was then handcuffed and put into the back seat of the police car with a policeman on either side. Andy retrieved Enderby’s duffle bag and gave it to one of the policemen. Mr Lee gave a statement to the police sergeant who asked if he could call in to the police station on the morrow to sign a typed statement. He gave his agreement and went back to lock up the hall. The sergeant then asked Braidley to follow them to the station in his car. After a few minutes Braidley’s car appeared and pulled up. The sergeant then got into the police car and both vehicles drove off.

  At the police station, the recovered Enderby protested that he was not Enderby and had documents to prove that he was someone else. He was made to empty his pockets and his duffle bag was searched. A passport showed that he was William Redfern, born in Dagenham, Essex. He also had a Seamen’s Union membership card. It looked fairly new and he explained that he had lost the original one at sea. The passport looked well-worn. The police sergeant told Enderby, alias Redfern, that he would be held overnight pending a check on his identity. Statements were taken from the three RAF persons, Andy adding to his statement his previous contact with the man he knew as Bill Enderby and identifying the prisoner as the same person. The RAF men were then allowed to go and they drove back to RAF West Sanby.

  The police sergeant checked back on the ‘Wanted’ files and found the one for ‘Bill Enderby’. It confirmed Corporal Hill’s statement. If the person they had arrested was in fact this Enderby then he was in serious trouble. The sergeant noted that arresting police had to notify MI5. He dialled the number and spoke to the person on duty. The duty person thanked the sergeant and said that they would have someone there by morning.

  During the night, Oleg Berin reviewed his situation and considered it unlikely that he would be able to maintain his English identity and that MI5 would have a fair idea of his origins. He knew too much that would be of help to the British Intelligence Service. Like all operatives, he had a tooth that had been especially treated to contain a ‘last resort’. He wasn’t prepared to take that step yet and considered the possibility of escaping custody.

  The prisoners were all checked every two hours and at 4.00 a.m. the duty policeman checked on the prisoner, Redfern, alias Enderby. He slid open the viewer cover and peered into the cell but he couldn’t see the prisoner. Concerned, the policeman used the key hanging from his belt to unlock the cell door and opened it, pushing it wide. He saw no-one in the cell and then stepped into the cell to check under the bed. As he moved in, a great weight landed on him and, as he fell to the floor, a hand pushed his head down so that it hit the floor with some force and rendered the policeman unconscious. Berin had n
oted the width of the cell and found that he could brace himself across the width of it above the door. When the policeman walked in, Berin was able to drop on him. Berin pulled the policeman into the cell and pushed the door to. He took the policeman’s trousers, belt and jacket off and put them on. Then Berin lifted the policeman onto the bed, pulled the blanket over the unconscious figure, went out of the cell and locked the door. He walked quietly down to the office area and noticed the other officer was busy. Looking round he saw the side exit and went out of the building. At that time of the morning, things were quiet and Berin then took the policeman’s jacket off and dropped it against the wall. He left the yard and slipped away down the quiet street. Now he had no documents, no money and no duffle bag. Without those documents he wouldn’t be allowed into the dock to join the trawler. Berin decided that the best thing he could do was to walk to the edge of town and hitch a lift to London. There would be trucks going down. Once in London he could make contact with his own people. Fifteen minutes later he managed to get a lift on a truck going to Scunthorpe and was on his way. The other policeman on duty wondered where his co-duty officer had got to. He went and checked the cells and only saw sleeping prisoners. Checking the station, he couldn’t find him and thought he must have slipped out for some reason. Half an hour later the banging on a cell door revealed what had happened and the alarm was raised.

  It was Thursday morning on the 20th October and Commander Rice arrived at the police station to find that he had no-one to interrogate. However, reading the police report, it would seem that they had had a foreign agent in the cell and the previous investigation had been justified. He asked to check the escaped prisoner’s belongings. The passport and driving licence were British and he had a Seamen’s Union membership card. The only other items were changes of clothing and personal toiletry effects. The police had taken fingerprints and photographs of the man. Despite the unshaven look, Commander Rice was pretty sure it was the man he had known as Enderby. He knew that he would need to gather as much information as possible before returning to London. Rice was interested to see Corporal Hill’s name again when reading the statements. He was pleased to note that the police had made a second set of all the documents for MI5. This made it easier. What he would like to know was where he had stayed in Grimsby or Cleethorpes. There was no indication. The local police may be able to turn up some information but he would discuss an approach with Hamilton first. It could be better if one of their agents came up and did some investigation. Clearly, Enderby, or Redfern, had stayed out of sight for a while. Where was he heading with a duffle bag full of clothes and toiletries? Obviously, he was on the move and may have been going to join a vessel in the port. Such were the thoughts of Commander Rice.

  At RAF West Sanby, Wing Commander Saxelby, the station commander, and Squadron Leader Dawson were listening to Flying Officer Braidley’s account of the events of the previous evening. Sergeant Rawson and Corporal Hill were not present. There had been a report on the local BBC News of the clash between the trawlermen and the martial arts students and the arrest of a man wanted for attempted murder. The police inspector at Grimsby Police Station had telephoned Wing Commander Saxelby with the names of the RAF personnel involved and that they should be congratulated on their quick thinking which resulted in the arrest of a ‘Wanted’ man. “This Corporal Hill of yours seems to have the knack of being at the right place at the right time,” the station CO said to Squadron Leader Dawson.

  “It seems that way, sir,” Dawson replied. “I think that it’s important to keep names out of the press. MI5 will most likely want to pay us a visit and talk to those involved.”

  “Fine, but don’t let it interfere with your preparations for the trials,” replied the station CO.

  Back on the JSTU, Corporal Andy Hill had to put up with a lot of good humoured ‘ribbing’ by his fellow corporals who knew that he had been at the martial arts sessions the previous evening and heard the local radio news of a brawl between the martial arts students and the local trawlermen. Fortunately, the involvement by members of the RAF had not been mentioned.

  ***

  In the hospital at RAF Nocton Hall, one Corporal Jamie Rogerson received a visitor. He was sitting in a chair trying to read a newspaper. The nurse put her head around the door and said, “Corporal, you have a visitor.” He looked up as Yvonne came into the room and he immediately put the newspaper aside and gave her a big smile. She walked over and gave him a kiss. Looking round and not seeing another chair, she sat on the bed near him and was relieved to see the improvement in him.

  “Lovely of you to come and see me,” Jamie said.

  “I wasn’t allowed to come before this,” replied Yvonne, “but it’s good to see you are recovering well.”

  “Yes,” said Jamie, “if I keep this up they could send me out on sick leave in a few days. My shoulder has been set and the bones will take a few weeks to mend. I have to keep it strapped up. The main concern is the concussion from the blow on the head. I still have headaches from it but I seem to have all of my faculties.” The relief on Yvonne’s face was very obvious and it was also obvious to Jamie how she felt about him. He decided that he had better pre-empt the question that she would have about him still being in the RAF. “Yvonne, I’m sure you are wondering about me being in a RAF hospital. Clearly, I’m still in the RAF and you wonder why I was working in The Hound and Pheasant. All I can say is that I was working there under orders and officially I am on a month’s leave. The Official Secrets Act prevents me from saying anything more at present. Let me say something else. I don’t think I’ve met another woman like you and if you feel deceived I hope that you will forgive me because I don’t want to lose you.” Jamie stopped at that point, suddenly realising what he had said. Yvonne could hardly believe her ears and she suddenly felt great relief and tears came to her eyes. He felt about her the way that she felt about him.

  “Well, Jamie Rogerson, you’ve answered my question about you being in this hospital. I guess I’ll have to wait to know more about what you do. Did you hear that Bill Enderby was arrested in Grimsby last night?” Jamie shook his head. Smiling, Yvonne went on to say, “I’m also very happy to know the way you feel about me. You know the feeling is mutual, don’t you.”

  He nodded and a big smile crossed his face. “Let’s make sure it’s going to last,” he said, his Scots caution coming to the fore. Yvonne nodded, her face breaking out into a radiant smile.

  ***

  A sergeant of the RAF police was in the control tower at RAF West Sanby and noticed a vessel anchored out at sea. He picked up a set of binoculars and focussed on the vessel. It was a trawler but what was interesting was all the antennae it had. The vessel was rigged up as a listening post and not for the normal needs of a fishing trawler. The sergeant noted that it must have arrived during the night because it wasn’t there yesterday. He picked up the telephone to report it to the officer in charge of the RAF police on the base. The sergeant then logged the incident. It was the twentieth of October. The officer picked up the telephone and reported it to Wing Commander Saxelby. Then he telephoned the JSTU and the squadron commanding officer, Squadron Leader Dawson, on receiving the news, telephoned Group Captain Clarkson and passed the information on. “Thank you for that information, Dawson, that is very helpful. Okay, I’ll be in touch.” Clarkson then telephoned Air Vice-Marshall Denby with the news. Denby hung up the ‘phone with a smile on his face. Only six persons knew the date, including himself. “They’ve taken the bait,” he said to himself. Then he rang Hamilton at MI5.

  The publican at Parfleet St Peter also had a smile on his face. Two of the guest rooms had been booked for a week with possible extensions. One of the rooms had been booked by a research organisation doing coastal studies. The man claimed to be a marine scientist and had arrived on the Tuesday. The first day he had spent going along the sea wall with camera and survey equipment. He had a Landrover and obviously expected to do off-road work. The other guest had arrived
just yesterday by car and claimed to be an ornithologist. This morning he had headed out to the hide to the north of the village, equipped with binoculars, camera and a tape recorder. The publican thought it most unusual for two rooms to be booked at the same time this time of the year. His guest rooms were usually booked for weekends and only in the warmer weather. Still, he wasn’t going to complain. Then he started thinking about the dance organised for the coming Saturday evening. Bob had agreed to lend Jamie Rogerson to work on the bar but then had to find someone else to replace Jamie. Walmar had offered to do it despite his lack of experience and it had been agreed to use him. With the loss of his fishing boat it would be a help to Walmar financially. Yvonne was supposed to do much of the organising but her focus seemed to be elsewhere. Still, the other members of the committee had stepped in to take up the slack. Some of them remembered Yvonne losing her husband and felt for her in the present situation. The boats wouldn’t be going out the night of the dance so there should be good support from the fishermen and their families. The dance would be held in the village hall. The permits were all in place. It was just a matter of getting everything set up during the day on Saturday. That was only two days away.

  North of the village, along the sea wall, a ‘birdwatcher’ was getting his bearings. He had found the ‘hide’ that birdwatchers used and had walked towards Humberston so that he could look for vantage points to study the activities at RAF West Sanby. From the information already received, the JSTU was being set up on the northern part of the airfield. He noticed a radar unit and a lone launcher without a missile at that end of the airfield. The ‘watcher’ realised that if he watched from the nearest point on the sea wall he could be observed and that could cause a reaction. He also looked for where birds were active, particularly on the landward side of the sea wall. That would give him the excuse he needed to make observations in that direction. He noticed a man working his way along the shore-line with recording equipment. The publican had told him that he was a marine scientist doing research work in the area. What the ‘birdwatcher’ did not know was that the equipment the ‘marine scientist’ took sightings through had a built-in camera and that he had been photographed. As he walked, the ‘birdwatcher’ made notes that any ornithologist would make when studying an area. From time to time he took photographs with a camera that had a f300 lens. The photos were of birds and feeding sites, giving him validity if he was questioned. At this time of the year several species migrated south through the area, including birds from Scandinavia and the Arctic Circle. It all suited his purpose. Curiously, there was little activity at the JSTU end of the airfield. From the information he had been given, the launcher should have a missile on it and the radar should be scanning the skies. The launcher sat empty and the radar dish stayed perfectly still.