Light Cavalry Action

by Max Hennessy

  Godliman looked up. ‘I have made a note of all that, Mr. Moyalan,’ he said. ‘You are offering the book as evidence?’

  ‘I am, my lord.’

  ‘Please continue.’

  Moyalan looked at Finch and allowed the book to fall open in his hand. ‘In front of me, Colonel,’ he said, ‘are the pages concerning British messages from October 1st, 1919, to January 3rd, the following year. That covers the period before the charge at Dankoi until long after your departure for Novorossiisk from Khaskov. I have had all this decoded and copied.’ He handed up several sheets of paper to Finch. ‘You will notice messages there which concern Nikolovssk. There is one dated November 5th, informing Colonel Prideaux at Nikolovssk of the sickness of General Inde and his chief-of-staff. Do you see that?’

  Finch looked uncertainly at the sheets, obviously worried that there was trouble for him in them.

  ‘Yes,’ he said slowly.

  Moyalan nodded. ‘Then,’ he went on, ‘you will notice a little later – on November 7th, after the return from Dankoi – a message which has been accepted from Nikolovssk informing headquarters at Khaskov that Colonel Prideaux is on his way to take General Inde’s place. You follow that?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then on the following days there are various messages from Khaskov – not to Nikolovssk, I might add – requesting information or assistance in the shape of reserves, et cetera, obviously originated when Colonel Prideaux was in Khaskov trying to back up his promise to stand in Nikolovssk, and then a few messages south towards Novorossiisk requesting transport and ships and other things – presumably when Colonel Prideaux was making up his mind to evacuate. You see those?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Now – do you see any messages originated in Khaskov ordering Major Higgins to bring the survivors of the Kouragine Regiment south, or making arrangements for such an eventuality?’

  ‘No.’ Finch reddened. ‘They must have forgotten to write them down.’

  ‘You said you saw them written down!’

  ‘Well – I don’t – understand…’ Finch’s voice faltered to a halt.

  Moyalan’s manner grew harsher. ‘Colonel Finch, you will notice that the messages are all in order, even on November 11th, when various messages were sent south, presumably by different officers on the headquarters staff. In spite of the confusion, there is no indication of inefficiency on the part of the signallers. Now, on the date you left Khaskov, you will notice the words, “12.11.19., 9 a.m. Watch closed. Telegraph office evacuated. J. R. Robbins, Cpl.” You see that?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Clearly the work of the signaller who had been in charge of the telegraph. He obviously then joined the train carrying you and Colonel Prideaux and the headquarters staff as it left for the coast. You agree?’

  ‘Yes, I suppose so.’

  ‘By the grace of God, either because he was in a hurry and forgot, or because he didn’t consider there to be any point in taking it with him, the book was left behind and was found a few days later by Captain Barry. You will see the words, “17.11.1919, 6.30 p.m. Watch re-opened on instructions of Captain A. K. Barry, P. H. Rideout, L/Cpl.” You see that?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Clearly that was the time when Captain Barry arrived and, in his efforts to assist Major Higgins, had the telegraph re-opened and a watch kept. You agree?’

  ‘Yes.’ The word came slowly and unwillingly.

  ‘Colonel Finch, after that date you will see there are one or two more messages south – four, to be exact, originated by Captain Barry, and six northwards addressed to Major Higgins at various points en route. There are also two rather desperate messages to the coast originated by Major Higgins when he reached Khaskov. Doubtless you have noticed them. They are dated some considerable time after your departure for Novorossiisk. Now, if you examine all these messages from November 10th onwards, you will notice that every one of them has a number alongside it and that the numbers are all in sequence. Captain Barry and his signaller still did their job in spite of the confusion. If those messages had been sent that you say were sent, surely they would have been in this book, would they not?’

  ‘I sent them,’ Finch said doggedly.

  ‘Or did you simply forget?’ Moyalan held up the book ‘You will notice, Colonel – it is in your copy, too! – in a corner of the last completed page, the words, “Confiscated by order of G. P. Higgins, Major, Kouragine Regiment of Hussars,” and the date. It is also signed “Arthur Kinsman Barry” with the rank “Captain” after it. It is my contention, Colonel, that this book was removed, as is suggested by these words, as the survivors of the Kouragine Regiment passed through Khaskov. Because, I am sure, it was already in the minds of these two men that their chances of reaching the coast in time to be evacuated were very slender, and that if they failed – and let it be said also, if they survived – there was likely to be trouble for Major Higgins and that you, Colonel, might try to wriggle out of your responsibilities. Is that the case?’

  Finch looked sick. His mouth worked for a moment before he spoke. ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ he managed at last.

  Godliman peered over the top of his bench. ‘Is it your intention to bring evidence to support this, Mr. Moyalan?’ he asked.

  Moyalan turned. ‘If Your Lordship pleases,’ he said. ‘I understand Alderman Hardacre can verify all that was said.’

  Godliman leaned towards Kirkham. ‘Alderman Hardacre can be recalled if you so wish, Sir Gordon. Do you so wish?’

  Kirkham shook his head, suddenly weary. ‘No, my lord. I accept the documents.’

  Godliman turned to Moyalan who swung back to Finch. His eye was gleaming now and Finch was looking pale and unnerved.

  ‘We have seen then, Colonel,’ he said, ‘and I think we can accept it, that these messages you say were sent, were in fact not sent. Can you explain how it happened?’

  Finch had a hunted look now. ‘I expect the line was down,’ he said.

  ‘You have already said the line was not down,’ Moyalan snapped. ‘And the book indicates quite clearly that it was still working when Major Higgins arrived.’

  ‘Well, something must have gone wrong.’

  ‘Did you, in fact, send those messages?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Well, it’s a long time ago to remember.’

  ‘No one else has had trouble with their memory, Colonel!’ Moyalan allowed Finch to stew for a while, wretched and uneasy in the witness box, then he picked up the dog-eared book again.

  ‘According to your own earlier evidence, Colonel Finch, and that of Colonel Prideaux, the day you were given these messages to send to Major Higgins, freeing him from his orders to remain in Nikolovssk, was November 11th, 1919. Is it not strange that this should also be the date of your birthday, the date of the first anniversary of the end of a dreadful war with Germany, and also, let us add, the day when you discovered to your delight you were shortly to leave for the south and safety?’

  Finch flushed. ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘Could that have been the explanation?’

  ‘I’m sorry, I don’t follow the question.’

  ‘Colonel Finch,’ Moyalan’s voice rose a little, angrily, ‘let us go back to Nikolovssk. Do you remember a lady by the name of Nina Youvich?’

  Finch frowned. It was clear that he did, but he shook his head.

  ‘Never heard of her,’ he said.

  ‘Nor Tanya Shubalova?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Nor the Countess Seinikina?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘We have had evidence to the effect that these were ladies who occupied your attention at various times in Nikolovssk, and we have also had evidence that the Countess Seinikina went to Khaskov on the same train that you and Colonel Prideaux went on. Was she, in fact, in Khaskov at the same time that you were there?’

  Finch thought for a moment, then he nodded. ‘Yes,’ he said unhappily. ‘I rememb
er now. I think she was.’

  ‘Do you remember the Zolotoi Rog, a restaurant, café chantant and cabaret?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Do you not have any recollection of being there with the Countess Seinikina on the afternoon and evening of November 11th, 1919?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Not even of the early hours of the following morning when the Colonel’s batman, Freeman, found you in a compromising situation in the lady’s bedroom, very drunk – and of him taking you back to your billet?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘We have had evidence in this court, Colonel Finch, of your drinking habits and of your friendship with this lady; and the batman, Freeman, is outside now, prepared to give evidence if necessary that he searched for you, on behalf of Colonel Prideaux, and that he found you shortly after midnight on November 11th – in the early hours of November 12th, in other words – half-clothed and very much under the influence of drink, in the room of Countess Seinikina. He knew her well from Nikolovssk, remember, and he had helped to carry her luggage on the stations at Nikolovssk and Khaskov. Could what I have said have been so?’

  ‘I don’t remember,’ Finch said sullenly.

  ‘I put it to you that the reason – and the only reason – why those messages were not sent is that you were incapable of sending them.’

  ‘It’s not true.’

  Moyalan paused. ‘Then there must have been another explanation, Colonel,’ he said loudly. ‘Could it have been anger with Major Higgins because of your dispute over the lady who became Mrs. Higgins and the threat you made to him in the presence of an unbiased witness that he “was not going to get away with it”? You were going to “break him”. Or could it perhaps have been that you realised that people like Major Higgins were going to be difficult about being abandoned when they returned home? Or could it have been that their story was going to be dangerously different from the one you and Mr. Murray-Hughes had concocted, he in his desire for kudos, you in your search for an excuse, if you like? Could it have been that you considered that a delay to them would give you time to consolidate your story and make it clear to the War Office that you had not left Nikolovssk before you should have done and that the story that was already being prepared by Mr. Murray-Hughes for the consumption of the British public about the charge at Dankoi was a true one?’

  Finch glanced at the judge and then at Kirkham, but Kirkham seemed spent and he was getting no help from that direction. For a moment, Finch seemed as though about to reply, then he changed his mind and remained silent. Moyalan waited for a while, letting his suggestion hang on the air in the courtroom, then he went on slowly.

  ‘Let us leave it, Colonel,’ he suggested quietly. ‘Eventually you reached Ekaterinodar.’

  ‘Yes.’ Finch answered cautiously, nervously.

  ‘Was Mr. Murray-Hughes still with you?’

  ‘No. He’d gone on ahead to the coast by that time. He left us when we got to Khaskov.’

  ‘What was the reaction to you and to Colonel Prideaux when you arrived at Ekaterinodar?’

  ‘General Anderson, who was in command there, met us at the station. He shook hands with Colonel Prideaux and congratulated him.’

  ‘On the action at Dankoi?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘That is my information. A comment was made to you also, wasn’t it? By Colonel Forbes, one of the General’s staff. It was heard by Freeman, the batman, who was unloading your luggage, and the Colonel has testified to making it.’

  ‘Yes.’ Finch looked sullen again. ‘He shook my hand. He said “You must be proud. It isn’t everybody who gets a chance like that. The General’s as pleased as punch. It’s the only decent thing that’s come out of this whole rotten muddle.”’

  Moyalan frowned. ‘In fact,’ he said, ‘you had left Nikolovssk in a state of panic, running away from your responsibilities and dragging the unhappy, dazed and only half-understanding Colonel Prideaux with you to make it legitimate, but much to your surprise, on your arrival at Ekaterinodar, you found yourself in a very different light.’

  ‘Well, I don’t think…’ Finch began an explanation, but Moyalan interrupted him.

  ‘Didn’t anyone ask about the rest of the regiment?’ he asked.

  Finch nodded. ‘Yes.’

  ‘And what did Colonel Prideaux reply?’

  ‘He said he’d sent firm instructions from Khaskov ordering their withdrawal and that they were following on a later train.’

  ‘He said that? That they were following on a later train?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But his messages, in fact, had never left Khaskov, had they?’

  ‘Well, I suppose not, no.’

  ‘Then tell me, why did Colonel Prideaux say the remainder of the regiment was following on a later train?’

  ‘He imagined they were, I suppose.’

  ‘He did not say they might be following or that he believed they were following. Had you given him to understand that there had been an acknowledgement of these messages you had failed to send?’

  Finch looked taken aback. ‘I don’t know why he said it,’ he stammered.

  ‘Clearly he imagined they were following. Are you sure you didn’t tell him there had been an acknowledgement?’

  Finch’s eyes fell. ‘I can’t remember,’ he said.

  ‘I see.’ Moyalan nodded. ‘So – because there was no one to dispute what you said and because no one knew how wildly Colonel Prideaux had ignored General Inde’s firm orders to him to avoid action, everyone continued to imagine that you and Colonel Prideaux and Mr. Murray-Hughes were heroes – which you were not – and that you had made sure all your men were safe?’

  Finch swallowed and Moyalan continued without waiting for a reply.

  ‘There was another remark made which the batman, Freeman, heard,’ he said. ‘It was made by the General to Colonel Prideaux, I think – about going home. Do you remember it?’

  ‘Yes.’ Finch nodded heavily. ‘He said “We must see that you get home quickly. We need a hero or two to make up for the mess.”’

  Moyalan gestured. ‘And from Ekaterinodar, still innocently believed to be heroes, you accompanied the General’s staff through Rostov and finally reached Novorossiisk?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And in each place – through which Mr. Murray-Hughes had passed some days ahead of you – you found the story was growing better all the time?’

  Finch moved his head slowly, his expression a little desperate now.

  ‘And when you reached Novorossiisk, the captain of the battleship, Empress of India, the vice-admiral and the senior officer of all the British forces then remaining in South Russia, all added their congratulations, together with those of certain French, American and Canadian officers?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But you didn’t enlighten them?’

  ‘No.’ Finch was looking shifty now, and worried.

  ‘What about Colonel Prideaux at this time? Was he still dazed or sick? Was he suffering, as the medical evidence has it, from a dreadful “sense of doubt or guilt”?’

  Finch hesitated. ‘He was receiving treatment,’ he said carefully.

  ‘But you were not, and you could either refute the story or, alternatively, bask in this glory which, in fact, didn’t belong to you at all? You chose to bask, didn’t you?’

  ‘I organised a great deal of the evacuation,’ Finch retorted.

  ‘Doubtless. You were good at organising evacuations. You had certainly organised your own, hadn’t you? Did Colonel Prideaux ever express concern over the rest of the regiment?’

  ‘He was worried when they didn’t appear.’

  ‘I should think he was. And you? Were you worried?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘But not too worried. Was Colonel Prideaux coming out of his shock at all, by this time?’

  ‘Yes, he was beginning to.’

  ‘What did he say about all this effusive reaction to the charge at Dankoi which, like
you, he now knew to have been a blunder?’

  ‘I don’t remember.’

  ‘Didn’t he say he had no intention of living with a lie?’

  Finch considered, then he spoke slowly. ‘I think those were his words.’

  ‘Didn’t he say that the story that was going around was wrong?’

  ‘Yes. I suppose so.’

  ‘But, by this time, of course, it was becoming more and more complicated, because Mr. Murray-Hughes had already sent his story to England ahead of you and it was already appearing in newspapers and magazines there?’

  ‘I suppose so.’

  ‘Did Colonel Prideaux do anything to correct it?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Why not? Was it growing too big for him?’

  ‘I suppose so.’

  ‘And were you, of course, busily suggesting that perhaps it might be a good idea for all concerned if it were left as it was? Because Mr. Murray-Hughes was never likely to say what had really happened – he was in England by this time with, so I understand, an increase in salary already – and because you would never say what happened because it was clearly to your advantage not to?’

  Finch frowned unconvincingly. ‘That’s not the way it was,’ he said.

  ‘In fact,’ Moyalan persisted, ‘if Major Higgins had not got his men out, if these articles had not been written in Comment, if this letter had not been sent in reply – even if this action had not been brought by the Plaintiff – no one would ever have heard that what Mr. Murray-Hughes wrote wasn’t the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.’

  Finch licked his lips and his mouth worked, but he had nothing to say in reply. Moyalan studied him for a moment, then he turned towards Godliman.

  ‘I’m not sure where my sympathies lie in this tangle of lies, my lord,’ he went on. ‘It seems to me that Colonel Prideaux was swept along by something he was in no state to prevent. He was sick and probably very dazed. And we must admit the story was growing very big by this time, and it’s a very noble man indeed who can turn aside when glory’s offered to him.’