Chapter 33

Andrias left two nights later and the group began to pack the equipment ready for their departure. Shaun was cleaning the Cartwright .303 when Dave came over to him. “That’s a hand-built rifle isn’t it Skip?” Shaun nodded and told him of its history.

Dave and John showed him their SMLE .303s, “They’ve been specially selected for sniper use, both have a heavier barrel than normal and of course have a telescopic sight”. Shaun noticed like him they carried the rifles in canvas cases.

They received word three nights later to be ready to board the submarine at twenty hundred hours.

The trip was uneventful and in the early hours of the morning it surfaced. By the time Shaun and the others were on deck three inflatable boats were ready with outboard engines on them. Two of the boats were loaded with all of their equipment and a sailor took his place at the engine.

The five of them climbed into the third boat as the submarine slowly sank. Once the boats were floating the sailor dropped the leg of the outboard and started the engine. The first two boats headed towards a red light that was flashing on the beach.

By the time their boat reached the beach, the first two had been unloaded and were heading back to the submarine.

Andrias was there to welcome them. Shouldering his rifle but carrying an MP40 Shaun began to follow Andrias. A narrow path led steeply upwards. After an hour of climbing Shaun’s legs began to ache. After two hours his entire body was aching and he was having problems breathing.

Eventually Andrias stopped and indicated for them to pass into a cleft in the rock face. Once through they found themselves in a cave. Andrias pulled a canvas sheet across the entrance and lit a paraffin lamp. Looking at the others Shaun realised they had found the climb as hard as he had. He dropped his pack and rifle and sank onto a crude bed.

Andrias chuckled, “You will have difficulty breathing for a while. We are 3000 feet up so the air is more rarefied than the desert air you are used too”. He lit another lamp and Shaun looked round the cave noticing their equipment piled up near the doorway. The cave was around twenty feet wide with a ceiling of eight to ten feet high. A crude fireplace was built in one corner with hooks suspended from the wall to hold cooking pots. Six crude bunks had been provided with rope to hold the paillasses that were stacked against the wall.

Andrias noticed Shaun’s look, “It used to belong to a hermit until he died and now the herd boys use it when it rains or snows. There are bigger caves further up but the women use them”.

“Women?” Shaun asked.

Andrias nodded “There’s 37 of them hiding from the Germans. They all come from Scalos. They are between 30 and 13 years old. When the Germans first landed at Tyropolis they rounded up all the young women and girls and used them for themselves. Many committed suicide afterwards, due to the shame. The SS Commander told the remaining girls that if any more committed suicide, their entire families would be executed.

Word of what they did arrived here at Scalos so the women went into hiding. When the Germans first arrived they demanded to see the churches registry book of births and deaths. The priest had given it to the women to take with them into hiding. When he refused they shot him. They tried to find them, but the herd boys guarding the goats would signal with their pipes, so they always knew where the Germans were. It was those women who carried our equipment up from the beach”.

Andrias lit the fire and Shaun and the rest peeled off the camouflage paratrooper’s smocks they had worn. “The women will bring food and drink soon, then I suggest we have an early night. The Mayor of Scalos will come in the morning and tell you of conditions here and on the island”.

The men were organizing their bedrolls when a woman of about thirty brought in a large bowl of stew whilst another younger woman brought in bread and two bottles of wine, plates and glasses.

Andrias introduced them as Maria and Scalar, it was obvious they spoke no English, but Andrias thanked them for all.

After the meal the five exhausted men climbed into their bedrolls and were asleep in seconds.

Shaun awoke feeling stiff but refreshed from the sleep. After a breakfast of goat cheese, bread, and coffee, he went outside the cave with his binoculars. The vista that greeted him was of rugged hills and mountains covered with small shrubs and trees. Far below he could make out the roofs of the village. He was distracted by the sound of pipes in the distance. Focusing the binoculars he could see a young boy herding forty or fifty goats in the distance.

Andrias came outside to join him, noticing his interest in the boy. “They guard the mountain. If any danger is nearby they change the tune as a warning”.

Shaun nodded “How many herd boys are there?”

Andrias paused to think, “Normally about nine. Different herds belong to other families. They know we are up here along with the women”.

“Do the Germans ever come up here,” Shaun asked.

“When they first arrived they couldn’t understand about the lack of young women in the village. They started searching the village and then sent out patrols into the hills. Some had “accidents” and fell off the cliffs. They don’t bother now; when they want women they go to the city. When the Mayor arrives he can tell you more about it”.

The Mayor arrived an hour later, an old man of about eighty, but he had still managed to climb the steep track up to the cave. After Andrias had made the introductions, Shaun began to question him. Andrias translated and told Shaun the reply.

It seemed the Germans had taken over the town hall for their quarters. The villages had to feed them and provide them with drink. It seemed they had no routine other than sit around playing cards or drinking. The Mayor understood that they had fought on the Russian front and had lost a lot of men. Only about three hundred were based on the island, all that remained of the original regiment. Being based here was a sort of rest period for them. When asked how many Germans were at the village, he had replied 30 black shirts, meaning SS, and two radio operators who wear brown uniforms With the Prof in attendance he got the Mayor to describe the layout of the village and the Prof drew an outline of it, correcting it as the Mayor indicated. Shaun found out that around 20 SS went in a truck twice a week back to Tyropolis to visit the brothel they had started and they returned the following day.

After the Mayor left Shaun had a council of war with the others. “Our best chance of taking them will be when they go to Tyropolis. It means taking on the 10 odd still in the village and then ambushing the truck as it returns the following day. But once we do that the enemy will be aware of our presence back in the city”.

“Perhaps not right away,” Andrias murmured, “from what I’ve learnt the radio is only used basically when they intend visiting the brothels”.

“We will need a way of getting those in the village together, otherwise it means trying to find them”. Shaun murmured. The men lapsed into silence thinking.

“If we used the women to attract them, then we could have them all together,” Cookie murmured.