Red Hawk Rising

by Peter William Hall

  Corporal Hill nodded his agreement and said, “Yes, sir.”

  Crombie went on, “The difficulty for us is that he is now a foreign diplomat with all that goes with it. If he is the person thatBrad says then he is most likely a military man and/or a KGB operative. We will need to be careful. I’ll inform the office at our next scheduled radio call. Okay, Andy, carry on with your preparations.” A nod from Corporal Hill and he went out of the tent. Crombie turned to Bradley, “Well, Brad, we have a situation that won’t be an exercise. If the Russian believes that Andy is the one who caused him to walk with a limp then he may want revenge. You and your team will need to stay alert. No doubt the office will notify MI5 since they keep a check on all of the Russian diplomatic staff. We will be expected to report on this person’s movements. I’ll ask Morrison for the names of all his party when we meet with him. Have Kelly and Wilson split the men into two teams and go out for two hour’s exercise. Wearing their packs, they are to head for the high ground. You stay here with me to meet this Mr Morrison.” Bradley left the tent and called the men together while Crombie got his maps out.

  The two teams headed out towards Cairngorm and left Flying Officer Crombie and Flight Sergeant Bradley at base camp to meet with Morrison and then radio in as scheduled. The office passed on the information to MI5. The morning passed quickly and, in the afternoon, refresher exercises related to their intelligence duties were carried out. This was followed by refresher training in unarmed combat.

  ***

  The first three days with Crombie’s team passed without incident except for a slight change in the weather. More snow fell each night, making for a slower movement in some areas where the snow had drifted. Crombie’s team arrived back at base camp late in the afternoon on their third day (Thursday 8th). There was a general de-briefing that evening with all the teams, describing what had been encountered and how each person had fared in the tasks set for each. The approach was not to be critical but to suggest how each could improve in their different ways, some of this done with real humour. They had encountered a Mancunian team only once.

  It was the fifth morning since their arrival and Bradley led his team out towards Braeriach. More snow had fallen that night and a slight breeze was causing drifts to build up. The day was cloudy and the sky a heavy grey as though it would snow again. Apart from camping equipment and their gear, each man carried crampons and an ice axe. They would be exercising their skills on some of the steeper slopes that ended in near cliff-like conditions. Bradley’s team was to follow the normal route up to the summit of Braeriach and then descend to Loch Einich to camp for the night. The first day went without incident.

  On the second day they arose to slightly warmer weather but with a thick mist. The team broke camp and Bradley led them south past the loch and then they turned east towards Cairn Toul. The mist stayed with them and they found it slow going as snow and mist seemed to blend in to each other. They climbed up the Core nan Clach and crossed Carne na Criche to join the old track near the rim. They then broke at about 10:00 hours. Using their rucksacks as a shield from any breeze, they lit a stove to make a hot drink. They ate some dried fruit and chocolate to give them energy. The tea they brewed was sweetened with condensed milk. Following the twenty-minute break, the team shouldered their rucksacks and turned south towards ‘The Angel’s Peak’. With the fog, they were heading for a small break in the cliffs where they could drop down into the Lairig Ghru and turn north to get back to base before nightfall. Following the ridge, the team came across fresh footprints in the snow. Some folk were walking ahead of them. They followed the prints for about fifteen minutes. Andy Hill and his partner, Stan Stanier, were leading the team at this stage (the two-man teams changed over the lead every twenty minutes) when Andy Hill noticed that the snow was badly scuffed and the tracks went to the edge and then stopped. Andy Hill felt a prickly sensation in the back of his neck and he held up his arm for all to stop. “I wonder if someone has gone over the edge,” he said. Moving carefully, he and Stan examined the edge and noticed that the snow had appeared to have broken away.

  They moved back from the edge and called out to Flight Sergeant Bradley, “It looks as though the people before us have gone over the edge.”

  “Right! You two rope together and one of you check over the edge and see if you can see anything,” he called back. The two men quickly uncoiled a rope from Stan’s pack and each tied one end in a bowline around his waist. “You look over, Andy, and I’ll hold you,” said Stan. “You have better eyesight than me.” Andy Hill nodded as he fitted his crampons onto his boots. While they were doing this, the other two pairs moved closer, each pair undoing a coil of rope from a pack ready for use.

  “You other men check for rock beneath this snow,” ordered Bradley. “We don’t want to find ourselves on a snow overhang.” They used their ice axes to hack through the snow. They all quickly found rock a few inches down except for ‘Stan’ Stanier. He moved slowly back until he found rock about four feet from where he had been standing.

  “Andy, I think you could be on the overhang,” he said. Andy nodded. Stanier motioned towards another team’s rope and they threw one end to him, the other end being fastened around the man’s waist. Stan connected his end of the rope to himself, turned towards Andy and braced himself. “We’re ready, Andy. Over to you,” he said. Andy nodded and moved to the edge, lay down on the snow and peered over. He could see about ten feet and then the mist prevented further observation. What he saw was that they were on the edge of a cliff which disappeared out of sight. On each side of him, the snow edge was broken for about three feet. Corporal Hill lifted his arm to show that he was going to move back.

  As he started to ease himself up, the edge of the snow started to break away. Immediately, Andy twisted round and grabbed the rope and yelled, “Pull me back, now!” Stan hauled on the rope as Andy threw himself forward and the other team braced the rope that connected them to Stan. Bradley ran forward and threw himself down and reached out for Corporal Hill’s outstretched hand. He grabbed it as the snow started to fall away from under Andy, who was pulled quickly to safety.

  Back in safety, Andy grinned his thanks and said that the width of the snow break suggested that it was the snow overhang that had broken away when people had walked out on it. He couldn’t see far down and didn’t hear anything and suggested that one of them may need to abseil down as far as their rope would allow. They may be able to estimate the height of the cliff from their maps. Bradley nodded. “Firstly, we’ll report the situation to base camp and they can notify the lodge who can notify the police. Also, this could be one of the Mancunian teams.” He nodded to his team-mate who was carrying the radio and they started their preparations.

  Sergeant Kelly answered on the base radio and advised that Flying Officer Crombie was out in the field but due back that afternoon. He said that he would warn Mountain Rescue at Leuchars as well as the lodge and wait for a further report from Brad and team. The time was now about 11:00 hours.

  The mist still hung around with no sign of lifting. Flight Sergeant Bradley decided that they would link four of their ropes together and lower one of the team down as far as they could and see what they could find. Each rope was forty feet long which would enable them to lower to about one hundred and fifty feet from their position. Stanier volunteered to go down. Bradley nodded as they all linked the ropes. Joe Morris, from the other team, located a suitable point and drove in a piton to which the end of the rope was fastened. Meanwhile, Stanier had put his crampons on, put one of the remaining coils of rope over his shoulder and his ice axe looped to his wrist. When the rope was ready, he tied it in a bowline around his waist. Joe Morris and his team-mate took the strain on the rope and Stanier, holding the rope, edged backwards over the edge and braced his feet against the cliff-face. As his head was about to move out of sight, he gave the rest of the team a grin and then was gone. Flight Sergeant Bradley and Corporal Hill drove another piton into the rock and fixed t
he sixth rope to it as a stand-by measure.

  Corporal Stanier lowered himself steadily down the cliff — it was too dangerous to abseil in this weather — and kept checking below to see whether there was any sign of people. He had gone about thirty feet when he heard groaning so he paused against the cliff-face and tried to see what was below him. Nothing, so Stanier called out, “Hello-o-o!”

  There was an answering, “Help!” in a weak voice. He slowly lowered himself further down and after another ten feet he saw a body jammed against the cliff-face about ten feet below. As Stanier lowered himself further down, the cliff-face protruded out at a slight angle. He saw that the man was jammed to one side of the bulge and as he got closer Stanier could see that the rope tied around the man’s waist was wedged in a crack in the bulge. The man was obviously in pain. Working carefully across the cliff-face to the man, he saw that there was dried blood down one side of his face. Pausing, Stanier gave the agreed two tugs on the rope to signify that he had found a person.

  Looking at the length of rope remaining, Flight Sergeant Bradley estimated that Corporal Stanier was about fifty feet down the cliff. The rest of the group looked at him and they seemed to nod in unison. No words were needed. They all knew that they would have to wait until they had Corporal Stanier back on the cliff-top before they could make the next move.

  Corporal Stanier worked himself alongside the man and spoke to him. “We’ll get help to you as soon as we can. How many of you are there?

  The man slowly turned his head and looked at Corporal Stanier. “Four of us. We were roped together. The edge gave way on two of us and we could not hold them. I was the last roped.”

  “Okay. I understand. What group are you with?”

  “Mancunian Mountaineering Club,” the man said weakly.

  “Try not to move in any way,” Stanier said to him. “I’m going a little lower to see what I can see. Then I’ll go back up for help.” With that, Corporal Stanier lowered himself past the man and below the outcrop. He saw that the rope was taut and below, through the mist, he could just make out a limp body against the cliff-face. It was clear that as the rope had jammed, those below would have been slammed against the cliff. He had seen enough and gave the rope three tugs to be pulled back up to the cliff-top.

  When Corporal Stanier appeared back up at the top there was a collective sigh of relief. They all knew the dangers. Pulling Stanier clear of the edge and into safety, Flight Sergeant Bradley said, “What’s the score?” Briefly Corporal Stanier told them the situation.

  “Clearly, we are going to need stretchers and more ropes to get them to the top, plus a bigger first aid kit than we have with us.”

  “Okay. Joe, let’s have a look at the map and give our estimated position to base along with the rest of the report.” The information was radioed back to base and Flight Sergeant Bradley told them to radio Flying Officer Crombie and let him know the situation. “Stan, I want you to go back down. Take some water and painkillers with you. Andy, get them out of the first aid kit you two have. Stan, could you put pitons in the rock face there?”

  He got a nod and a yes from Stan.

  Bradley continued, “I want you to use that spare rope to attach yourself to the rock-face beside the first injured person and let us bring the rope up to lower Andy down to you. Andy, you take this other spare rope and extra pitons with you. We can’t wait for help in this weather and we need to try getting the live ones back up here. When you get down there, you need to get a rope around the injured man and fixed to a piton. Then undo the rope that is jammed in the rock but first drive a piton in to tie it to. That way we won’t lose the others still hanging there. I suggest you put the injured man on your back, Andy, and have Stan get his arms over your shoulders and tie them around your waist, or something like that. We can haul the two of you up. Do you think that you both can do it between you?” Stan and Andy looked at each other, both thinking of the difficulties and risks. Then they both nodded at Bradley. “Right, Joe (to Joe ‘Tiny’ Morris), get a stove going for a quick brew-up for these two while we get prepared. They are going to need it. If you two are going to need to relieve yourselves then you’d better do it now. Have some chocolate and sultanas now and take some with you. You’re going to need the energy. Stan, after Andy is up with the man, you come up for a break.” There was a bustle of activity as the whole team worked together to get everything ready. By using Stan and Andy, he was keeping each team intact for whatever may arise.

  Ten minutes later they were ready to go. Stan went down first, being lowered slowly as the mist was still heavy. One pull told them to stop lowering and they could hear a piton being driven in. Stan put a piton in first where they would put the injured man’s rope. Then he put another two in for himself. He then looped the spare rope through the pitons, tied it on to one and tied the other end around his waist. Then he loosened the main rope from himself and gave it a tug. It rapidly disappeared out of sight. Within five minutes, Stan heard Andy’s boots striking the cliff-face as he abseiled down in short leaps. Arriving beside Stan, Andy gave the rope one tug. “This is not going to be easy. I’ll need to go below him and work up on the other side of this man. The injured man hadn’t said anything but looked at them through eyes full of pain and frost on his eyebrows and lashes. As Andy turned to look at the man, the injured man’s face flickered as though he recognised Andy. Likewise, Andy remembered the face but couldn’t immediately place it.

  Stan spoke to the injured man. “We can give you a painkiller to help. We want to tie you to Andy’s back and then both of you will be hauled up. Do you understand?”

  The man said, “My left shoulder is dislocated. Only use my right arm.”

  Andy said, “We are going to move you sideways on so that we can tie you to me and then untie the team rope from you and loop it through a piton. Then we won’t lose your friends.” The man nodded. Andy said to Stan, “This way will be quicker than tying him to a piton first.” Stan nodded, walked himself up the cliff-face a few feet and then swung himself over and down to turn the man onto his side. Andy moved so that he could help Stan. Each with one hand holding to the rock-face, they used the other to turn the man sideways on. Andy swung round so that he had his back to the man and was a little lower. The man put his good arm over Andy’s shoulder and Stan, leaning out from his piton, was able to take the spare rope and tie the man to Andy while Andy held the man’s hand. When they were ready, Stan swung over and loosened the team rope from the man and looped it through the piton and tied it. He and Andy nodded to each other and Andy tugged on the rope three times. Soon he and the man were being slowly hauled up. Eventually they reached the cliff-top and hands helped them both over and onto firm ground. The man was unfastened from Andy and lifted onto a sleeping bag that had been rolled out. He grimaced in pain as there was weight on his left leg.

  “His left shoulder is dislocated,” said Andy.

  “He may have a broken leg also” said Joe Morris as he and his team-mate took the man’s rucksack off his back and started the first aid. They used the rucksack as a back support for the patient as they applied a sling to support his dislocated shoulder. Bradley and his team-mate lowered the rope down to Stan and, when they felt his three tugs, started pulling up to the top. He appeared over the rim and grinned his relief.

  “First one up,” he said, “maybe three more to go.” Back up with the team, Stan sat down next to Andy and, with his back to his rucksack, tried to relax for a few minutes.

  “Well done, both of you,” said Bradley. They both nodded their thanks to him. Bradley looked at his watch and noted that the time was 12:20 hrs.

  Bradley’s team-mate had switched to brewing tea and the first mug ready was offered to the injured man. He nodded his thanks and took it with his good hand. “Do you feel like speaking?” asked Bradley. He recognised the person as the Russian he had seen two years previously but avoided any sign of recognition. “Who are you and which group are you with? We need to notify peop
le who we have found,” said Bradley. “We are with the Mancunian Mountaineering Club. I’m Major Garasov from the Russian Consulate.”

  “Thank you very much, Major. We will radio the information to base at Loch Morlich. We are part of the RAF team camping there and base will let the appropriate people know. I’ll let you rest now as we try to help your team-mates,” said Flight Sergeant Bradley. He turned away and said to his team-mate, “Get base on the radio and let them know who we have found. You heard the conversation.” He got a nod and his team-mate turned to the task. Then Bradley went over to Stan and Andy. “How are you both feeling? If we leave the others down there, they may freeze to death. Do you feel up to going down again? I’d rather send you down as you both know the situation. Otherwise I’ll send Joe Morris and Harry down but you two are more experienced than they are.”

  “You make it hard to say no, Flight,” said Andy.

  “I know,” was the reply, “but this is an emergency.” Andy and Stan looked at each other and then both nodded to Flight Sergeant Bradley.

  “We’ll give it a go,” said Stan.

  Five minutes later, the injured Major Garasov, wrapped in a sleeping bag and resting, watched the two men preparing to go down again. He had recognised Corporal Hill as the man he wanted dead but this man and his team-mate had just saved his life at the risk of their own. He closed his eyes and rested back against his rucksack as he tried to cope with the pain and now an emotional struggle.

  This time, Andy would go down first and took Garasov’s spare rope with him. He would go down to check the next man and then come up to report. The other team members manned the rope as Andy lowered himself over the edge and abseiled down in short leaps. He came to the small bulge and stopped to check the rope holding the rest of the fallen men. It was secure so he lowered himself down to the next man hanging limply against the cliff-face. Andy gave one tug on the rope to let them know on top that he had reached the next man. He then swung himself alongside the limp body. “Hallo! Can you hear me?” he called. No response. Andy saw the dried blood down one side of the face where his head must have hit the rock-face pretty hard, so he moved close enough to check the man’s pulse. There was none. The man must be dead. Below him Andy heard a faint call for help. One of the others must be alive. Andy decided to check on him before reporting back up to the top. He quickly drove a piton into the rock-face and tied Garasov’s rope to it. Then he tied the other end to his waist. Having done that, Andy untied the main rope from himself and tied it to the piton. Then he started to lower himself to the next man. Looking down, he could see the form against the cliff-face and, as he got closer, he could see a man sitting in a loop of rope attached to a piton. The man looked weak, exhausted and in pain. “Hi,” Andy called. “What is your situation?”