by Griff Hosker
“Now don’t get my hopes up sir! Tatties would make a lovely corned beef hash!” He stood and wandered off to find a cellar. I noticed that he took his sidearm. We were always careful. Hugo sipped his brandy as did I. I poured another shot into the Sergeant’s mug.
“Thanks sir. I’ll sip this one eh sir? Like you two gentlemen.”
I looked at his shoulder patch. “Royal Tank Corps? What brings you here?”
“I was in the Eighth Army sir. I was wounded in Sicily.” He tapped his leg. “This is a bit gammy for action but I was given a job at Field Marshal Montgomery’s Headquarters. He liked to have me around.” He smiled. “I think it was a reminder of when he was in Africa. He knew that I had been yearning for a bit of action and when the Captain arrived he saw it as an opportunity to reward me.” He grinned, “I am loving it sir.”
I saw now that he was about the same age as Daddy Grant and Reg Deane. I suspected that he had been a regular before the war. But for the wound he might have ended up as a Sergeant Major or Warrant Officer. “So you don’t know the men then?”
“No sir. Right little rag bag but they seem a good set of lads, even the Yanks.”
“Don’t knock the Yanks, Sergeant. I have a great deal of respect for them. Gordy and I have just spent more than two weeks fighting with them and believe me they are as tough as any soldier I have met.”
“Sorry sir. The Field Marshal is not very keen on them.”
“I know. Anyway there are four of us. I want us to do four hours on and four hours off. These lads will need us to be around. When Gordy comes back I will send him for a sleep. Hugo, get your head down. The Sergeant and I will have the first watch. Gordy will relieve the sergeant in four hours and you can relieve me in eight.”
Sergeant Armstrong said, “But, sir. that means you have a longer watch!”
“Sergeant, what is your first name?”
“Alun sir.”
“Well Alun, I am the commanding officer here. That means you lot are my responsibility until this is over. I can sleep after the war. Don’t worry, Alun, I have done this before as has Sergeant Barker. You two, with due respect, have been behind the lines for a long time. If we are still here in three days’ time then you can do the eight hour stag. Fair enough?”
“Fair enough sir.”
Hugo stood, “I shall get my head down then. Don’t worry sir. I shan’t let you down.”
“Have the Corporal here relieved too.” I turned to the Corporal who was still staring at the radio. “Anything Corporal?”
“Not much sir. Certainly nothing for us. The Germans are being pushed back but the snow is keeping the air force grounded. They reckon the 1st will see a break in the weather, perhaps even New Year’s Eve.”
“Right, well keep me informed. If I am not in here then find me and if I am asleep then wake me!”
“Yes sir.”
When Gordy returned, laden with all manner of goodies and eating an apple, I told him of the arrangement. “No problem sir! All of this is from here! I shall try the other houses while we do our rounds.” He laid down hams, cheese and three bottles of wine.
I nodded, “I shall wear my camouflage cape.”
Gordy paused mid bite, “You aren’t thinking of doing anything stupid are you sir?”
“No, Sergeant Barker. However I want to go into the woods to check for sign and this might be a good opportunity to test the sentries. I doubt they have come across camouflage capes much.”
“Just be careful, sir.”
“I will. I intend to check the northern area first and then the west.”
“Righto. I will take south and then meet you at the west road. To be honest sir, that is where I think they will come. It is a wider road and has a direct line here.”
“We’ll see.”
I took my Luger and Colt. I also took the German grenades we had collected. There were four of them left. I put on my comforter rather than my beret and I pulled it down over my ears.
I stepped out of the hall. The cold shocked my system. The temperature had plummeted. I was glad that the men all had braziers. The Germans would be freezing out in the cold. As I turned north I realised that did not bode well for us. It would make them even more desperate to take what we had. I reached Blackpool Tower and saw that Corporal Parr had been relieved and it was a section from the Royal Engineers who were on guard duty.
I checked that they knew what they were doing and noticed, idly, that they had improved their little fort with more pine branches. It not only helped to disguise the position it also added to the strength. The skies were clear but I saw clouds. There would be snow before morning and that would, probably, help to disguise the emplacement even more.
“I am heading north, lads. When I come back I will say ‘steak’ and your reply is ‘pie’.”
The Sergeant laughed, “That sounds like the Lancashire lads we relieved. They were going on about pies!”
“Well from now on this is Blackpool Tower. Keep a sharp lookout. If you hear an engine then send a runner to wake the Captain and Sergeant Armstrong.”
I headed up the road. By the time I had gone twenty yards there were no more tracks. A great deal of snow had fallen in the last twenty four hours. I headed up to the track. Hugo had said that there had been tracks there. Now there were none. No one had passed east since we had arrived. I was not certain if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I looked at the forest which was opposite the track. There had been no track there but a tank must have come down for there were young trees at an angle and their bark had been scraped by something big. I went deeper into the forest. Here the canopy had stopped some of the snow. It had not completely obliterated the German boots which had crossed it. I saw something black in the snow. I picked it up. It was a German field cap. They had come this way.
I went a little deeper and then rigged up an elaborate booby trap. I attached the four German grenades to four trees. I then tied the parachute cord to two further trees. I spent some time putting snow down to disguise both my foot prints and the cords. Anyone coming along would think that the wind had drifted the snow. I then walked back to the road. I listened. The night was so silent that I could hear the murmur of the Royal Engineers as they talked. I decided to test them. I crept down the side of the woods. There was a gap of thirty yards between the trees and the first house. I crawled the last thirty. There were sentries in the windows of the house. I expected them to raise the alarm but they did not. I paused for I saw one of the Engineer’s cigarettes glowing in the night. That meant he was facing me.
“I wonder where the Major is. He has been gone some time. Do you think owt has happened to him?”
“Nah, he is a Commando. Killers they are. He’ll be alright.”
The glowing cigarette disappeared and I continued my crawl. I passed by the side of the emplacement and drew my Luger. I stood and clicked off the safety. I rose at the rear of the dugout.
I said, “Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! You are all dead.”
“Bloody hell sir! Where did you come from?”
I pointed up the road. “One of you was smoking and looking up the road. He should have seen me. I was lying there just thirty yards away. You were talking about Commandos being killers.”
“Sorry sir we didn’t…”
“I am not bothered about your opinion but I am concerned that you cannot watch for an enemy.”
“Sir you had the camouflage cape on!”
I shook my head and said, as I left, “I took this from a German I killed! They wear them too!”
To be fair to them I was not surprised they had not seen me. I was good at what I did. The lesson would not be wasted. They would be on their toes and the story would be passed around the fires as they drank their tea in the morning.
When I reached the west guard post, Alnwick Castle, a Corporal was in command there. “Quiet as sir and as cold as I can remember.”
I pointed to the skies. “And by dawn we will have snow. Eyes peeled.”<
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“Sir, Sergeant Barker was just here. He said he would meet you at Buckingham Palace.”
Once back in Buckingham Palace I told Gordy what I had done. He chuckled. “They must have filled their pants when you appeared with a Luger, sir!”
“If it had been Germans….”
“Then we would have heard the gun shots, sir and known there was bother. These might be S.S. and paratroopers but they won’t have silencers.”
“I hope not, Gordy, I hope not.”
I woke Sergeant Armstrong so that he could relieve Gordy. Gordy was reluctant to go to bed while I was still on duty but I ordered him.
“Anything on the radio?”
The radio operator shook his head. “Just a bit of traffic further south sir. The Airborne and the armour have joined up and are driving towards Bastogne.”
“Good. Keep me informed.” After explaining to Sergeant Armstrong what I had done I took him on a tour of the men. As we stepped outside I saw that the snow had begun to fall.
As he spoke I noticed a distinctive accent. The Sergeant came from the North East of England. “You know sir, at home we would be delighted by this. Nothing like a bit of snow in the middle of winter. When I was a bairn we would go sledging.”
We had reached the Engineers and they pointedly spoke to us to show that they had heard us. We turned back and trudged through the snow.
“And where is home, Sergeant Armstrong?”
“Gateshead sir. Just south of Newcastle.”
“You appear to have lost most of your Geordie accent.”
He nodded, “I have lived away from Newcastle and Gateshead for most of me life. The Field Marshal had me speaking proper, like. I joined the army as soon as I could. The choice was the pits or the shipyards and I fancied neither. Mind, I still miss home. I am a Northern lad. I miss a decent pint of ale. The Crown Posada, now that is a proper pub. I always enjoy going back for a few pints there. And fish and chips from North Shields or Seahouses. The fish is so fresh a good vet could coax it back to life!”
“Will you go back there after the war then, Sergeant?”
He gave me a rueful smile. “I was talking to Gordy before, like, and he told me about you, sir. We both know that the odds on coming out of this war whole or alive drop every day. I’ll think about that when the war is over and I am walking down the Haymarket with no uniform and a bonny lass on me arm. Until then I take each day as it comes. When I wake up in a morning I say, ‘well thank God I’m still alive.’”
“You are a wise man, Sergeant Armstrong.”
“Aye well me dad didna raise any divvies that’s for sure!”
“Divvies?”
“Folk who aren’t very clever, Major. You know, from Sunderland!” He laughed and I guessed it was a local joke. I smiled. I had heard jokes like this for years. They were in every society.
“Well Sergeant, if we can get through the next few days then you might well survive and get home.”
“Sir, Gordy, Sergeant Barker tells me that you have a bonny lass waiting for you at home and your family are well to do.”
“I suppose so. Lots of men do.”
“But he tells me that you are always the first over the top and you go places you aren’t ordered to. Do you mind telling me why? I mean I go where I am ordered but you are an officer.”
“Not quite, Sergeant Armstrong You could have stayed at Headquarters and been Field Marshal Montgomery’s lucky mascot until the war was over but you asked for this.” He nodded. “We come from the same stock. Did your mum, sorry, mam and dad, both work?” Again he nodded, “And live in a little house?”
“Aye sir, a canny little thing.”
“Well my dad came from the same background. He joined up in 1914 and worked his way up to sergeant and then pilot. He was like me or, more likely, I am like him. It is in my bones and my blood. I have to fight for England. I bet your dad fought in the Great War.”
“Aye sir, Northumberland Fusiliers.”
“Then you know why I go where there is danger. I can’t ask another to go where I fear to, can I?”
“I suppose not, sir, but at the end of the day what difference will it make? My dad said that all the lads who died in the Great War were just wasted. He might be right. Here we are fighting the Germans again. I daresay when this is over our sons will fight another war and for what?”
We had reached the hall. I opened the door and the warmth flooded over me. “I suppose because we are English and have been doing this for almost a thousand years. We are an island people but we feel we owe the world the benefit of our life. Canada, Australia, India, they are all reflections of England. Why even America, although they had a revolution, still speak the same language and have the same values.” I pointed east and south. “The Americans with whom I fought the other day were just like you, Sergeant. But I will agree on one thing; I will be glad when this is over and I can go home and enjoy England, the country I have fought for since 1940.”
“Amen to that sir.”
“One thing, Sergeant Armstrong.”
“Sir?”
“Captain Ferguson is a brave officer and one of the cleverest men I know. However, he does not have a great deal of combat experience. Keep your eye on him eh? Don’t let him make reckless decisions.”
“You can rely on me, sir. I like him. He is a nice bloke and, present company excepted, some of the officers I have met have been right bastards. Sorry sir.” He stood. “I’ll go and put the kettle on. You’ll be due a brew eh?”
“That would be perfect Sergeant.”
By the time I woke Hugo and went to bed I was ready for sleep. I had said I would stay awake because I was convinced that the Germans would use the cover of the blizzard to break through. I was wrong.
Chapter 16
I was awake when a runner came racing from Blackpool Tower. “Sir, Sergeant Baxter says he can hear German armour sir. It is to the north of us and moving east.”
“Stand to. Corporal, get on the radio. We have German armour heading east.” I put on my camouflage cape and picked up my MP 34. I had more ammunition for that than my Tommy gun. I slipped my Mauser over my arm. I had no German grenades but when I had donned my battle jerkin I saw that I had three grenades left. They were American M2s. “Gordy, go and tell Alnwick Castle and Shenandoah that they have to hold. Sergeant Armstrong, get every other man and take them to the north. I want a PIAT crew to stand by.”
“Sir.”
Hugo strapped on his pistol. I smiled. “You will find a rifle or a machine gun will be more use than your six shot Webley. When he comes back ask Sergeant Barker to get you something with more firepower.”
“I am out of my depth aren’t I sir?”
“No, Hugo, let us just say that this is my line of work. Stay close to me. We are the only officers here. We have to stop any armour from getting through and we need to kill as many Germans as we can.”
“Kill sir?”
“These are hard core, Hugo, if we don’t kill them now we will have to kill them later.” I put the camouflage cape on. I suspected that I would need it soon.
The snow had stopped but the grey skies promised more. The weather forecast appeared to be accurate up to now. I hoped that it continued to be so. That would mean it would improve and we would have air cover. As I ran up the snow packed road I could hear the rumble of the tank. It was a big one and it was north of us. Even as I neared the emplacement I heard the first crump of a booby trap going off. The other three went off in rapid succession. I had set them as early warning. Now they told me precisely where the Germans were.
“Officer’s call”
Hugo and my two senior sergeants gathered around me. “Captain Ferguson I want you to take charge here. The armour will head east, The Germans will head down here. Keep their heads down and use grenades. They will be hungry and they will be cold. Unless I miss my guess they will be running out of ammunition. However, that makes them dangerous for they will do anything to take this
village. Sergeant Armstrong you head to Alnwick Castle and make sure that it has a good sergeant. Then bring half of your men here to reinforce Captain Ferguson. This is where the greatest danger will be. When you have organized the men here you can go to the other two outposts and give them support.”
“And you sir?”
“Gordy and I will take the PIAT crew and head into the forest. We know where the armour is heading and we will try to destroy it.”
Gordy said, “Sir, the PIAT has to be within 40 yards of the target and have a side or rear shot.”
“Then that is what we will get. We are wasting time.” I looked at the PIAT crew. The two soldiers were also East Lancashire boys. “You two stick like glue to us. When I say drop then bury yourself in the snow! Right?”
“Yes sir.” They had similar accents to Sergeant Parr.
“Come on Sergeant Barker.”
Sergeant Armstrong grinned, “For England, sir?”
“For England, Sergeant Armstrong! Sergeant Barker, tail end Charlie.”
“Sir!”
I led the way and ran between the two houses at the east of the hamlet. It was virgin snow. I kept up a steady pace. Behind me, and to my left, I heard the crack of branches as the tank made its way east. As soon as it broke into the road then the firing would begin. I suspected that the Germans would attack our front line first. They were in for a rude shock. There were sixty men dug in. They might be clerks and Engineers but they had ammunition. They were well fed and they had protection. Even the S.S. would struggle to dislodge them quickly. I just hoped that Hugo did not do anything stupid and that Sergeant Armstrong would do as I had asked and advise Hugo.
I put that from my mind as we plunged into the forest. I needed to get ahead of the tank. I intended to let it pass us and then fire at its vulnerable rear. To make that work we needed to be well into the forest so that they thought they were clear of danger. When we met the road I ran parallel to it. I did not want to have tracks on the road. That would be a giveaway. I waited until I heard the two men with the PIAT and the rockets huffing and puffing. I deemed that we had come far enough and we could make our ambush.
