by V M Knox
Clement struggled to smile then reached into his coat pocket. He handed a letter to Johnny.
‘Clement?’
‘My letter of resignation, Johnny.’
‘I don’t think that’s possible, Clement.’
‘Regardless, Johnny, you can lock me up if you wish, frankly I don’t care, but I will not do any more work for the Service.’
Johnny leaned back in his chair. ‘You have done an amazing thing, Clement. Perhaps you don’t realise just how important and pivotal your involvement has been. Because of your diligence in putting the pieces together, a network has been exposed, a certain coup thwarted, and a serious if not psychopathic Nazi sympathiser and murderer eliminated; and Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess remains in custody. Not to mention you exposing serious flaws in our recruiting of people and selection of safe houses.’
Clement nodded. ‘And Walter Bainbridge?’
‘Picked up yesterday in Liverpool trying to board a ship to America along with Rathbourne and his two accomplices. They’ve been charged with treason. It may interest you to know that Bainbridge had his own network of informants. One of whom was an elderly academic you may have seen on buses around Oxford. He reported to Bainbridge on a regular basis.’
‘Was John Nicolson really Gubbins’s man?’
‘Yes. Special Operations Executive. Gubbins recruited him in Norway. Nicolson had set up a ring of informants along the coast there and was getting intelligence as well as people who’d upset the local Gestapo out of Norway by boat to Shetland. It was thought Nicolson was in hiding or missing, most likely dead.’
‘And the scar on his upper arm?’
‘It wasn’t done to remove a tattoo. It was done so that Nicolson could pretend he’d been in the Hitler Youth. Just part of a necessary deception.’
Clement stared at Johnny. Deception. It was what the Service did well. ‘Do you know Johnny, while you, and just about everyone here, knows everything there is to know about me, I know almost nothing about you. Other than that we were at seminary school together a lifetime ago, I don’t even know where you were born or grew up.’
‘It’s not something I talk about. But it’s no secret.’
Clement laughed.
‘No truly. I was born in Singapore. My parents were missionaries there.’
Clement stared at John Winthorpe. He wasn’t sure if he believed him.
Johnny reached for an envelope on his desk. ‘I have a request, from Brigadier Gubbins.’
‘Oh?’
‘Given what you learned about the Shetland connection, Gubbins would like you to go there. There are plans to set up a regular network between Shetland and Nazi-occupied Norway.’
‘I’ve just resigned, Johnny.’
Johnny reached forward and grasped the note. He then tore it up, stacked the pieces in an ashtray on his desk, and set fire to them. ‘Yours is a secret position, Clement. Until the war is over, I’m afraid resignation isn’t an option.’
Clement leaned back in the chair. ‘Then there is something I want from you first.’
‘Name it.’
‘I wish to inform Reg’s wife Geraldine about his death. No details, of course. But I will not allow such a brave man’s death to be conveyed by telegram to the other side of the world.’
‘Are you saying what I think you are saying?’
Clement genuinely smiled for the first time in days. ‘I wouldn’t know what you think, Johnny.’
‘Goes with the job, Clement.’
‘Yes. I know it does.’
‘Perhaps it can be arranged. Gubbins won’t be happy.’ Johnny paused again. ‘However, the operation Gubbins is setting up in Shetland will take a few months to organise. Its activities are, of course, top secret, but they can only be operated in winter when the North Sea is shrouded in darkness. Norway and Shetland have very long hours of daylight in summer. So, this gives you time to see the widow. I’ll let you know when I’ve booked your passage and by which routes. You’ll have to travel on commercial ships, I’m afraid, via America. The crossing is not without danger, Clement, but God willing, you’ll get there. I’ll see if I can get you flown to the west coast of America. That should shorten a long voyage a little. As there is no war in the Pacific, at least not yet, you can quite safely travel on to Australia in merchant vessels. I’d be interested to know what you think of the place. I hear they are a rebellious lot and rather dismissive of authority. Courageous though. We have some in the RAF. In the meantime, I’ll arrange for you to rest and recuperate in the Peak District again.’
‘They don’t have an aristocracy in Australia, do they?’
‘No. Some good men but no upper class.’
‘Good. I think I’ll like it there then.’
Clement thought Johnny looked slightly bewildered but nothing further was said. Clement stood up and shook Johnny’s hand. He smiled to the ladies as he left the third floor. Descending the steps to the ground floor, he stepped out onto the footpath outside Number Seven Whitehall Place. He sniffed the air then crossed the road. As he walked towards the railway station, he glanced up at the windows high above the ground where he knew Johnny and C had their offices. ‘Good bye, Johnny,’ he whispered. He had no intention of ever coming back.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my editor, Janet Laurence, my publisher Ian Hooper and proof editor Andrew Bridgmont. Also special thanks to my husband Peter and to my whole family for their encouragement and support and to the following people who so kindly assisted me with information:
To Jill and John Wadsworth from Wistow. Robert Bullen for his local knowledge of the Cambridgeshire fenland. David Anderson for his reminiscences of The Abbey School and for his farming knowledge.
Hector Gordon and George Charlton for their local knowledge and information on farming practices.
Jason Edwards, Porter at Caius College, Cambridge and Paul Magison, former Porter at Caius College.
Christine Turnbull, for allowing us to cross her land to access the towpath at Bait’s Bite.
To our guide at Anglesey Abbey, Barbara Constable and to John Lunt for his friendship and information about The Hospital of St Cross near Winchester.
Thank you to the Winchester College Guide and all the college Porters and finally, last, but not least, thanks to the Ramsey Agricultural Museum, Cambridgeshire, England.
Author’s Note
There are numerous historical events in this fictitious work. Research about Josef Jakobs was obtained from newspapers of the time at The Ramsey Agricultural Museum, Cambridgeshire and from numerous online sites and small references in Masterman’s excellent book on the Double-Cross system. This book, as well as other online sites, including declassified MI5 files from The National Archives at Kew provided information on other German spies and some Double-Cross spies; Karl Richter, Wulf Schmidt known as TATE and a Welshman, Arthur Owens known as SNOW. Latchmere House in Richmond was indeed the place where MI5 interrogated captured German spies and the commandant there was a Colonel Stephens.
Secret peace talks took place in 1941 between January and April in Portugal and Spain. According to Heinrich Stahmer, Albrecht Haushofer’s agent in Spain, those present at these clandestine talks included Haushofer, Rudolf Hess, Sir Samuel Hoare, British Ambassador to Spain, and Lord Halifax. Other talks took place in Switzerland and Sweden but these do not form part of this story and are therefore not included here. While the inference in this work of fiction is that Sir Samuel Hoare and Lord Halifax were involved in insurrection, this is entirely fictitious. Likewise, their involvement in a fictitious coup d’état in Britain in 1941 is not meant by the author to infer any actual treasonous acts on their part.
The mysterious flight of Rudolf Hess took place on 10th May 1941, a year to the day after Churchill became Prime Minister. Hess landed in a field in Scotland near the home of the Duke of Hamilton and was captured almost immediately. It is believed the reason for his ill-fated flight was that Hess wished to negotiate
peace between Britain and the Nazi government. Hess was convinced, and in some cases rightly, that many of the upper classes in Britain would be predisposed to assist him to this end.
There are references to other historical facts, namely; that tungsten or wolfram was mined in neutral Portugal where there was fierce competition between Britain and Germany to purchase this raw material used for hardening steel. Also, there is a reference to the Shetland Bus, as it became known, which had its beginnings in the spring of 1941. For five years it carried people, munitions and money in the winter months between Shetland and Norway. This was no mean feat as Nazi aircraft were always on the look-out for these little ships and the North Sea is a ferocious place in winter when the trips were usually made under the cover of darkness. Many brave men gave their lives to this part of the war.
There is also reference to several right-wing groups that formed in Britain in the pre-war era. These include The Right Club, The Nordic League and the White Knights of Britain.
Three fine schools are referred to in the book: The Abbey School in Ramsey, St Edward’s in Oxford and Winchester College in Winchester, as well as two Cambridge colleges, Gonville and Caius and Trinity Hall. Events in this work that took place in these colleges and the people employed at these educational institutions are entirely fictitious.
Likewise, Hitcham Hall is fictitious but Anglesey Abbey, a National Trust property in Lode was used for the location of Wilstock House.
Also by V. M. Knox
In Spite of All Terror
If Necessary Alone
Copyright
Copyright © V. M. Knox 2020
Published: 2020 by
The Book Reality Experience
ISBN: 978-0-6489404-8-7 Paperback Edition
ISBN: 978-0-6489496-5-7 EBook Edition
All rights reserved.
The right of V. M. Knox to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Although a number of details within this novel allude to actual historical events and individuals, no actions, intentions or opinions of the characters reflect, or should be inferred to reflect, actual motivations or actions undertaken by actual persons. See author’s note.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.
Cover Design by Luke Buxton | www.lukebuxton.com
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