***
Over the next 3 months, the Army was frequently visible on the streets,, especially at night. They were instructed to observe potential insurgent attack targets and engage with them if the rebels emerged above ground. All units were specifically instructed not to enter the underground in pursuit. Carsforth was particularly worried of further desertions. John Judge was no fool he knew that a straight head to head fight with a highly trained military unit would be foolhardy. He had instructed his commanders to hit and run. Targets would be selected on the basis of a low likelihood of meeting up with an Army unit. It did not always work out. Derek Farson was killed along with four of his men in a skirmish with a military patrol while JD lost two of his section in a separate engagement. The loss of Derek particularly was devastating for John and the other founder members given the years they had worked together and the sacrifices they had made. Derek Farson would not now see whether it had all been worth it. John vowed that it would be.
The local military units that had engaged with JD and his section wandered through the dead bodies and searched them for identity. There was, of course, none to be found, but most of the men were shocked to see that they had killed their own comrades. ‘What the hell have we done here Sir?’ The corporal directed his cry to the Platoon leader.
‘That’ll be enough Corporal, we’ve carried out our orders and that’s all you should be concerned with. Now get the section back in line and returned to their vehicles. And collect any weapons and Army equipment you find on the bodies.’
‘But Sir, are we going to just leave them here?’
‘They’re deserters and terrorists Corporal, let their comrades bury them. Now get a grip on yourself and move the men out.’
The Corporal and his men moved resentfully back to their personnel carrier continuing their search for more contact with their target.
Two nights later twelve soldiers and their NCO entered the underground at the North Greenwich tunnel and were spotted by a section of Mal Adams’s lookouts who quickly alerted Mal about this incursion. The military unit had managed to advance as far as Canada Water interchange having waded through two areas of the tunnel that was badly flooded. The leader of the group was aware that a unit had deserted during a previous engagement at Stockwell and was making his way there to join them. They had stashed their weapons in the tunnel at North Greenwich and so were unarmed and vulnerable. Mal Adams arrived with a heavily armed section and took up positions in and around London Bridge interchange tunnel and waited. The three sentry’s had withdrawn and joined up with their section.
Mal watched the troops advance slowly towards them and was about to give the order to open fire when the lead man of the Army patrol shouted ‘we’re unarmed and want to talk to you.’
Mal replied ‘if you are the leader come forward on your own holding your hands out where I can see them. And just in case this is a setup. You might like to know that just where you and your troops are, the walls are wired with sufficient explosives to cause you and your men a considerable amount of discomfort.’
The NCO advanced with his hands held high above his head. He and Mal met and there was a discussion for several minutes. ‘Lower your weapons men’ he said turning to the section behind him, ‘bring your men forward Corporal and we will escort you to our base.’
One month later another section deserted in the north and General Carsforth was enraged. He summoned his Commanders and warned them that they must regain control of discipline. ‘We cannot allow this blatant disregard for military discipline to continue Gentlemen. It is having a detrimental effect on moral and I have made a commitment to the First Minister that we will eradicate the insurgents from the city. Damn it, men, that is what we are going to do. Do I make myself clear?’
Those present mumbled their acknowledgement. One of the Battalion Commander’s spoke ‘we have apprehended one of my men who was found trying to leave the barracks. He claims he was just going AWOL to see his girlfriend, but he was fully equipped and was armed. He is currently under guard.’
‘Good.’ Carsforth was pleased. ‘I will set up a tribunal next week and we will set an example for all to see. I will not tolerate cowards and deserters in my army. No gentlemen, I will not. Once the sentence is passed, I want all three battalions on parade to witness the execution by firing squad.’
‘Surely Sir we can’t pass such a punitive sentence without a trial?’
‘You have said yourself that he was leaving the barracks fully equipped and armed, is that not so?’
‘Yes Sir but...’
‘There are no buts Colonel, he’s a deserter and will be executed as per military law. You are all dismissed, thank you.’
Within the week, three battalions of men were assembled on the large military parade ground and formed three sides of a square. At the open end, a solitary wooden post stood unaffected by the thousands of eyes fixed upon it. An eight-man firing squad took up their positions about 30paces from the post. A Regimental Sergeant Major called the gathering to attention as Carsforth and his battalion commanders entered the square and took up a position to the side between the firing squad and the wooden post.
A young soldier dressed in a grey jumpsuit and escorted by two heavily built guards tried to march in step with his escorts. His legs buckled as he saw the thousands of eyes turn towards him as he emerged from his confinement quarters. He partially collapsed and was helped up by the guards who then virtually lifted him off the ground. He tried to walk, but his legs would not respond, his face a ghostly white, his eyes darting about frantically looking to see some sign of help. As the thousands of pairs of eyes followed his faltering steps towards the wooden post, the Regimental Sergeant Major screamed out ‘look to your front and stand still.’ Heads instantly snapped to a rigid vertical position.
The young soldier was strapped to the wooden post with a special harness that would hold him upright and still. His Commanding Officer read out the charge and sentence primarily for the benefit of the unwilling audience. ‘Rifleman Woodbridge you have been found guilty of desertion and so sentenced to death by firing squad in front of your peers. Do you wish to say anything before you meet your maker?’
William Woodbridge sucked in a deep breath and said as loud as he could ‘May God forgive you. Listen, all of you, don’t turn your guns on your...’
The order came ‘Fire’ drowning out the rest of William Woodbridge’s words.
Eight shots rang out and Rifleman Woodbridge’s body jerked and his head slumped forward. Just one of the eight in the firing squad had ended the young soldiers life before he could finish what he was saying. The signal had been given prematurely by Carsforth when he realised that the young man had more courage than he gave him credit for and that his last words could be extremely damaging. He did not know it yet, but he was too late to prevent the impact of those words.
A military doctor pronounced the young man to be dead and he was duly released from his containment harness. The medics slowly rested him on the ground and covered him with a blanket. One of the medics was clearly upset and tears filled his eyes as he helped placed the body onto a stretcher.
After the observers had been dismissed, the main talk was of what the rest of the sentence could have been. The general conclusion was “don’t turn your guns on your”... neighbours or your own kind. They knew deep down that it couldn’t have been anything else. And so most soldiers returned to their barracks sickened by what they had witnessed. Over the following weeks Platoon Commanders and Section leaders worked hard to raise moral relying mostly on their troops instinctive need to obey, their training and experience was focussed on that unquestioning characteristic. Obey commands, obey your superiors, do not question, kill the enemy. General Carsforth unknowingly had generated a question in his soldiers minds this day, “who was the enemy?” they asked.
Over the next few weeks, there were many confrontations between Judge’s men and the Army but there were also several more desertions
. JD was given the task of pulling those resources together into a cohesive unit.
John Judge Page 48
