Chapter 30

Inside the hotel lobby all the men were present and Jack came over to see him, “I understand from Bobby I’m to command our Jeep, Boss”.

Shaun smiled, “Make sure you bring it back in one piece”.

Sue’s patrol gathered around him. “You’re going to be in the landing party then, Boss?” Titch asked.

“Yes, me and Cookie. You’ll take your orders from Bobby and Bill, so don’t let me down”.

The trucks arrived and they climbed into them. Shaun’s truck had the canopy down, once on board the rear was closed up.

When the truck stopped, the back was unlaced and a Chief Petty Officer stood outside. “If you can get your men inside Sir?” he asked Shaun.

Once inside the wooden Nissan hut he addressed Shaun again. “If you can ask your men to change into the clothes provided Sir, I’ll show you around. You’ll find yours through the door at the end Sir”.

The clothes turned out to be naval ratings uniform of shirt and trousers. His and Tim’s were Sub Lieutenant’s shirt and shorts in white. The CPO showed them where the washhouse and latrines were, saying their meals would be brought to them, adding, “The Commodore said for you to keep indoors as much as possible Sir”.

When he left Shaun finally had a chance to look around their new home. The hut was about thirty feet long by twelve feet wide. At one end six bunk beds had been placed with foot lockers at the end of them. At the other end tables and chairs had been provided. His and Tim’s room was through a door at the end by the bunk beds. Two beds with a cabinet dividing them and two small wardrobes w at either side.

“Be it ever so humble,” Tim said dropping his valise on one of the beds. Shaun chuckled as he began to unpack.

Over the next few days they received their overalls, skull caps, and gym shoes. A sergeant from the SAS brought their side arms and showed them how to attach the silencers, warning them that the range would be reduced owing to the silencers. “You need to get in close when you use them”. On another occasion he showed them how to slit a man’s throat.

He started off by asking if either of them had ever killed a man close up. Finding out they hadn’t, he continued, “You are going to have to steel yourself to do it. Any hesitation could mean death to you and your men”.

He demonstrated how to place the palm of the hand over the victim’s mouth at the same time pulling his head back hard then slicing the left side of the throat, “You have to do it fast, before he can retaliate. You are going to see a lot of blood. It will be over your hand and arm. You may feel like gagging but you mustn’t relax your grip until you are quite sure he is dead”.

They practiced on each other until the SAS Sargent was satisfied.

Shaun and Tim spent hours sharpening the commando knives. Later they were shown where they could fire their Brownings. Cookie was busy checking the time pencils and plastic explosive. He reported to Shaun, “They should give us twenty-five minutes give or take two minutes either side Boss. We will need to stick two in each block to be on the safe side”.

Tim and Shaun went over the attack plan with the group until each man knew what was expected of him.

Commodore Silverman visited them on the fourth day. “Gentlemen, I’m sorry for your imposed isolation but it was necessary due to the amount of enemy agents who keep this facility under observation. The RAF are laying on six Wellington aircraft and it has been impressed upon them about the timing of their arrival. You will be embarking on the submarine tonight at twenty-two hundred hours. It will submerge once you are on-board and proceed underwater from the harbour. All that remains is for me to wish you all luck”.

He took Shaun to one side, “Shaun I don’t need to tell you to be careful, as I know you don’t want to break my daughter’s heart. I understand that a wedding is in the offering when you get back”.

Shaun looked surprised, stammering, “Yes Sir”.

Silverman chuckled “It’s all right. You have my permission”. He shook hands with all of the men before leaving.

On the submarine they were shown to the rear of the boat by a Lieutenant. He showed them the ten-horsepower outboard motor. “It has an electrical start and has been adapted to run quietly,” he explained showing them. “When we surface we will inflate the boat for you. All you need to do is climb in, the skipper will sink the submarine slowly, and you will float free. But we need to do it fast since Jerry has E Boats patrolling this stretch of coastline”

He left them as they began to apply the black face cream.

“You look lovely,” Cookie said to Tim who gave him the V sign in return. They checked their weapons and haversacks, then sat back to wait.

Shaun took out his cigarette case and looked at the photograph of Sharon, wishing they could have smoked aboard. The time seemed to drag by as each man was lost in their own thoughts.

Shaun sensed the change in motion of the boat as men rushed by them. They were surfacing. The Commander of the submarine came back to wish them luck and said he would be waiting for their signal to pick them up. A rating unfastened the hatch and they climbed out onto the deck.

The inflatable was all ready for them as they climbed in. As the submarine slowly sank beneath them, L/Cpl Powers took control of the outboard, steering to the dark outline of the shore.

On shore Titch drove the Jeep with Prof giving directions.

“Ok Titch,” Prof said, “Pull up here”. He glanced behind to see that the other Jeeps had halted. Prof climbed out pulling the Barr and Stroud rangefinder out and setting it on his shoulder. He glanced again at the other Jeeps seeing men unloading the mortars.

He waited until Sargent McNought carrying a tripod and the other five men arrived at his Jeep, each carried either a barrel, tripod or base plate. All had a back pack with two 10lb bombs in them.

They set off with Prof leading, moving swiftly but quietly. After about twenty minutes Prof signalled to halt at a sand dune. The men lowered their loads to the ground, grateful to be relieved of their burden.

Prof began to climb the sand dune. At the top he took out his binoculars and focused on the entrance to the air base. There was some illumination from the building that housed the guards and the radio shack. Prof glanced at his watch, 2:52am. He assembled the range finder and focused on the radio shack, adjusting it until the images merged then read off the range in the right eye piece. He jotted it down on his note pad and added the compass bearing with the legend 1st Target.

He repeated the same procedure with the sandbagged 30mm Quad cannon on the left hand side of the entrance adding 2nd target, followed with the right hand side Quad cannon as 3rd target.

He slid back down the dune to where Sargent McNought had already assembled the mortars with each base plate resting on sandbags to give a firm support.