Chapter 24

By 1942, the Japanese occupied Korea, China, Formosa later called Taiwan, the Philippines, French Indo-China, Siam later called Thailand, Burma, Singapore, Dutch East Indies later called Indonesia, Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal, and most of New Guinea, and many islands including Guam, Midway and Wake Island.

Australia celebrates anniversaries of the Coral Sea battle with joint US exercises in the Coral Sea. Australians believe that, while the Japanese bombed Darwin and made a submarine attack on Sydney Harbour, the Japanese were diverted from invading Australia by the Coral Sea battle.

In this battle the USS Lexington was sunk. The USS Yorktown was heavily damaged. The US Navy sank the Japanese light carrier Shoho and heavily damaged the Shokaku.

It was the battle of Midway in June 1942 that began to tip the war in favor of the US and Allied forces. From there a northerly push began toward Japan taking the Gilbert, Marshall, Mariana, Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa islands. Further east US and allied forces took Guadalcanal, New Guinea, and pushed north to the Philippines.

In Europe in February 1943, Operation Gunnerside involving Special Operations Executive [SOE] and Norwegian commandos attacked the German dominated Norwegian Vermork factory producing heavy water. This was a required ingredient for development of a German atomic bomb.

Wednesday April 28th 1943 10:00 a.m.

Without quick access to far reaching communications and intelligence resources Richard Farber was involving the small group of people at his farm in setting resistance plans. He knows their new plans will be fraught with danger.

With the assistance of the Allies SOE through Byron Jenson, they obtained intelligence, equipment, arms and explosives. Richard was about to redefine his group's activities to a different form of resistance - guerrilla warfare.

Bernard Elser, one of Erika's contacts supplied the locations of electrical generating plants and switching substations in southern Germany's electrical distribution. It was Richard's idea that they would wreak more damage by attacking the electrical distribution system. Factories deprived of the power needed for war production would, he hoped, be unable to produce for weeks. It was the best that they could hope for. They had discussed their plans and carefully considered many locations.

Richard called everyone together just after lunch inviting Bernard Elser to attend. He was now a regular visitor to Richard's farm and he was besotted with Alex.

Richard wanted Bernard to provide further intelligence on the movements of Hitler's key staff in the future. Underlying this, he also wanted Bernard to witness their now considerable experience of resistance activities. In turn, he knew Bernard would make comments to SOE through Byron and this would lead to more assistance from the Special Operations Executive.

All members of Richard's household were seated around the dining room table. Richard had hand-drawn maps, the locations of major power substations. They were Byron's assessment of the most vulnerable generating plants and they were on the table at his fingertips.

"Let me begin by saying that we will not be attacking the large generating plants. This would be as dangerous as the raid on the oil fields at Ems. It's not my intention to get us all killed. As far as possible we need to attack the parts of the electrical supply network where we can do the most damage with the least exposure to danger," Richard said.

He glanced at Alex and saw that she was focussed on Bernard; he was guessing that she had not heard a word of what he had just said.

"Byron Jensen has recommended that we should strike at a major substation located outside Kahlsruhe. Extra high voltage towers feed this substation from the northern generating plants. Cities further south are fed from the transmission lines that loop through Kahlsruhe. Byron has said that the electrical distribution network is most vulnerable at the Kahlsruhe junction," Richard said.

"We don't have anyone in that region to camp with or to give us a base," Gerry said.

"I know that. I'll be visiting Chris to ask him to assist us. I want him to set up a forward camp in the Hardt forest, thirty kilometres from Kahlsruhe. From this camp we can safely work a number of locations stretching down to the Black Forest area." Richard said.

"When will you do that?" Manfred asked.

"Early next week. I want you and Gerry to travel with me. You'll remain at Chris's camp and organise the equipment, the mines, the armaments and the fuel that Chris and his men will move to the Hardt forest. I want him to set up the camp in the mountains near Kandel. I want you to go with him and oversee the location of the camp," Richard said.

Richard glanced at Cornelia. Her face was clouded with concern for Manfred. He knew that he should take her aside after the meeting and calm her fears.

"Gerry and I will proceed south from Chris's camp down to the Bodensee. We'll bring Pieter up to date. I fell sure that he'd be suffering from our lack of attention. I want to take some of the new Comms sets and armaments for his use," Richard said.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but what are Comms sets?" Bernard asked.

"They're transmitter receiver communications equipment. It's our term to describe the equipment. I stole the term from the British; their packaging around the sets were labelled that way," Richard said.

Bernard looked at Erika, "Is that part of the equipment that Byron supplied?"

"Yes it is, and as you know he's getting eager for us to get started," Erika said.

"Besides sending him messages, do you know Byron," Richard asked Bernard.

"Erika introduced me in Berlin before the war started."

"Were you able to send him the sketches of the flexible gasoline containers that we asked for," Richard asked.

"Not sketches as such but I sent him the dimensions and the capacity of 15 gallons," Bernard said.

"And the location of the handles?" Gerry asked.

"Yes of course, I sent everything that Erika gave me including descriptions of the containers that landed intact. I think that the next gasoline shipment will be in the large flexible mattress shaped containers, Byron said that they needed time to manufacture what you want." Bernard said.

"Richard," Erika interrupted, "I want to go with you next week."

Richard was irate that Erika should interrupt in this way.

Anna had previously expressed a desire to join the frontline too but she had asked him privately. When he explained that she did not have the necessary knowledge Anna had not continued with her request. He was certain that Erika was not hardened to needs of the life in the forests and possessed none of the skills needed.

'God knows, I'm wondering how I'm going to cope. I don't need Erika weighing me down too.' Richard thought.

As Richard turned to Erika, he kept his feelings submerged; "We'll discuss this later," he said tersely.

Erika sensed that Richard was angry and slumped back into her chair. She pushed her wavy hair away from her face, smarting from his unspoken refusal. As she continued to listen to the plans that Richard revealed, she began to realise the foolishness of her request.

"Bernard I want you to provide Alex and Cornelia with false identities, just in case they might be needed. Keep them related as mother and daughter," Richard said,

"Certainly, I need to talk with them about their past. It'll take me about a week to produce them," Bernard said.

After dinner, the women congregated in the kitchen to cleanup. Then Anna and Erika disappeared upstairs to the Comms room.

Erika was now determined to learn all she could. "I'll do it so well that Richard won't be able to refuse me."

Gerry watched Anna and Erika walking up the stairs, 'They both have good figures, cute backsides. Anna has better tits. I wonder what kind of a lover Erika is, she's too sophisticated for me though, but I wonder, ' he thought.

From the kitchen, Alex returned to the dining room and sat with Bernard.

Richard beckoned to Cornelia, "I think young Richard needs your attention."

He walked with her to the crib standing near the fire.

"I saw your concern while we were discussing our future plans. I want you to know that I will take extreme care to safeguard all of our people. It's dangerous work but Manfred is an intelligent man and he doesn't take unnecessary risks," Richard said softly, taking care that his words were not overheard by the others sitting nearby.

"I know that but that doesn't stop me worrying that our child might grow up without a father or me without my husband." Cornelia replied as she wiped at her tear-filled eyes.

Richard hugged Cornelia close. After holding her close, until she calmed down he then returned quickly to the table. He did not want Cornelia to see the effects on his face, his eyes welling in sympathy. Manfred sat wondering what Richard had discussed with Cornelia. He said nothing but later that night when she told him of Richard's words of comfort he reinforced what Richard had said. Cornelia was not convinced but resolved to hide her dread from her family.

"Where's Erika?" Richard asked.

"She's in the Comms room with Anna," Gerry said. Cornelia had previously caught him staring at them as they ascended the stairs. His eyes followed their every movement as they ascended the stairs. At the time, she shook her head at him in mock disgust but Gerry simply chuckled.

"Richard, I can organise a van for you to transport the fuel to Kahlsruhe if you need it," Bernard said.

"Can we get free access to it?" Richard asked.

"Of course, I own it. I bought it as a disused army vehicle; I had my mechanic repair it and paint over the camouflage. It's perhaps more reliable than my own car."

"For our trip south how could we arrange..." Richard said but Bernard quickly interrupted.

"I'm the only one who will be driving it, Richard."

"You mean..."

"That's right, I want to be involved and I'll provide the van. I'm ready to do what you want."

Richard looked at his watch, "Bernard, I think it's too late for you to be travelling back to Stuttgart. Stay here tonight unless you have to hurry back, I want to discuss this further," Richard said.

"Thank you Richard," Bernard said.

Under the table, Alex squeezed Bernard's hand.

'At last I will have him in my bed, ' Alex thought. The excitement caused her cheeks to redden and her breathing fluttered.

Bernard let his hand drop into Alex's lap; her legs opened, his hand caressed her inner thigh. Alex stilled his hand not allowing him to continue but she looked into his eyes and smiled.

Erika walked swiftly into the dining room, "We have a message from Byron! Anna asked if Alex would decode it."

Turning to Richard, "Did you know he is codenamed Swansea?" Erika said.

"I had no idea."

Erika handed the message to Alex and then moved to where Richard was standing. Placing her arms around his waist, she pulled him close. Standing on her toes, she reached up, kissed him gently and then exaggerated lowering herself back onto her feet, pushing close, feeling him becoming aroused. Standing on her toes again she whispered in Richard's ear.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you with my foolish request. Anna has thirty minutes to go before her job is finished in the Comms room. I would like to go to bed then and make it up to you."

Erika looked deeply into Richards's eyes enjoying the longing and the lust that she saw there. Then she firmly pressed against him as she settled back on to her feet. As she broke away, Richard thought that he had never seen anything more beguiling than her smile.

At the table, Gerry and Manfred were quietly discussing their plan to give Richard some field training and hardening up exercises.

"Just be careful when you show him your combat techniques with a short stick," Gerry said smiling.

Manfred pushed Gerry's shoulder; "You're just wishing bad luck on me, you cheeky Dutch bastard."

Manfred realised how strong Gerry had become when he playfully pushed him; he had hardly moved, 'With the experience you have now I don't think I want to mess with you, ' he thought.

Alex finished decoding the message and handed it to Richard who had resumed his seat. Erika was sitting on his lap making it hard for him causing him to lean back to read Byron's message.

"This is good news! The British are dropping two thousand gallons at Chris's camp on Friday at midnight. Half of it will be in the fifteen-gallon containers that we requested. That will ease the tension I've had about our fuel supplies."

Richard passed the message to Manfred and Gerry, "Burn it when you're finished with it."

Richard turned back to Bernard who was busy speaking softly to Alex.

"Bernard if I may interrupt; how many litres do you use to travel to the farm and back to Stuttgart?" Richard asked.

"About fifteen litres."

"After we set up the camp near Kahlsruhe I'm going to keep a stockpile of gasoline here, you're welcome to take whatever you need when you visit here. Do you have any contacts that could fit an auxiliary tank to your car?"

"Yes, I'll have a tank fitted, I know someone who can do that for me," Bernard said glancing at Erika.

"You wouldn't!" Erika said knowing whom Bernard would get to do the job.

"Why not? He gets everything for free," Bernard said feigning indignation.

"The engineering section of the camp?" Richard asked.

"Yes, he's the one who fitted your tank, he does a good job. I don't have to go to the camp. He takes my car for the day, fits the tank then returns it and his charges are quite reasonable." Bernard said smiling.

Erika giggled remembering the day she arranged for an extra tank to be fitted to Richard's car. It was written off as car maintenance on the camp records but their mechanic had charged it at full rates.

Alex was highly excited but fearful at the same time. The last time she had enticed a man into her bed the affair had ended badly. She kept secret the feelings of euphoria she had experienced at the hands of Ludovic, one of Johan's men.

He had trussed her up until she was unable to resist. Without any foreplay, he had thrust roughly into her. The pain and the fear turned into erotic feelings of lust causing her to orgasm repeatedly. She wondered now what kind of lover Bernard would be. She had not been drinking and felt more inhibited than she had ever felt before.

She looked shyly at Bernard as she closed her bedroom door and turned her bedside lamp on; he held his arms open inviting her to come closer. He kissed her tenderly and was delighted that she hugged him close.

"I feel like a schoolgirl on her first date, I'm so nervous," Alex said softly.

"Don't be nervous there's no pressure for us to do anything, just get ready for bed like you normally do and we can fall asleep together," Bernard said.

Alex relaxed, the tightness left her legs and body but the butterflies in her belly kept fluttering.

In the dim intimate light of the bed lamp, Bernard became more aroused as he watched Alex disrobe. He heard the sound of her dresser door opening then he vaguely heard her pull her nightgown from the hanger. What she did next surprised him; she tossed her nightgown on the bed and returned to him naked.

'I need love more than sleep, ' Alex thought as she kissed him. Unbuckling Bernard's belt she let his trousers slide to the ground. When she had him naked, she pressed her body into his side. Grasping his cock firmly she slowly stroked him.

Bernard stayed her hand, "If you keep doing that only one of us will have fun," he laughed nervously trying to hide his embarrassment.

He was easing her toward her bed but she broke away, pulling the covers down, she climbed into the middle of the bed and turned the lamp off.

In the darkness made worse by the blackout curtains, she heard Bernard as he eased onto the bed beside her. He moved the arm she was leaning on and lay her down onto the pillow. Moving alongside her, his erection bumped into her belly.

"I don't need much... I'm," Bernard's lips covered her mouth stopping her from talking. She felt the tremors starting in her loins, she gasped when she felt Bernard's hand covering her mound. His fingers explored her tentatively at first but as Alex become more excited, he penetrated her with his fingers, her hips pushing rhythmically against his hand.

When Bernard's hand suddenly disappeared, she wondered what she might have done to cause him to stop. She groaned when she felt his head between her thighs; pulling at his head, she lifted him away.

"I want you inside me," she whispered.

Bernard moved between her legs and felt Alex's hand wildly searching for his cock. Finding it, she pulled him closer to her entrance. As she wet him with her lubrication she whispered again, "Please go slow, it's been a long time for me."

Bernard slowly eased back and forth until he had penetrated her completely.

"That feels... so wonderful," Alex moaned as she thrust at Bernard urging him to increase his tempo.

However, Bernard was setting a rhythm that he thought he could maintain without disappointing Alex. On his elbows, the force of Alex's thrusting surprised him as she quickly reached orgasm. Her head flailed from side to side on the pillow; soon she was unable to continue. She reached down and held his buttocks, pulling him deep inside her stopping him from moving. He could feel her spasms lessening as her mouth found his. Then she moved slowly again wanting him to climax.

Bernard wanted to rush but she stopped him, "It's much more exquisite when you go slowly," she whispered. Bernard did not believe a word of it, he had a need and he was striving to satisfy it.

With Alex restraining him, he was forced to slow his pace. He was surprised when his orgasm crept up on him; the intensity was something he had not experienced since his teens. He kissed her deeply; slipping his arms under her body, he hugged her tightly.

"That was exquisite!" he said breathing heavily. Exhausted, he carefully rolled off Alex; he did not want to hurt her with his artificial leg.

'The blackout curtains have one benefit; I don't have to be embarrassed about my missing leg.' he thought sadly.

Midnight, Friday May 7th 1943

Richard watched the low flying aircraft disgorging gasoline containers down one side of the drop site; many gasoline containers were dropping to the ground. The plane circled around and began a second run down the other side of the drop site.

Enthralled by the noise, the obvious skill of the pilot, and the excitement he was feeling; he watched the pilot trimming the aircraft for the second run. He quickly realised that he was standing too near the drop zone when Gerry tapped his arm and beckoned him away into the forest.

Through the trees, he saw the plane as it picked up airspeed and disappeared into the low cloud. The marker flares were quickly extinguished, the men disappearing back into the forest.

They waited for thirty minutes, their rifles at the ready listening for any sound that might indicate that they had been discovered. All were hoping that the drop was not observed.

Richard turned to Chris, "It's going to take us many hours to clear the field. We should just drag the containers into the forest at the edges of the field for tonight. Tomorrow night we can return and organise the containers the way we want."

Chris quickly agreed, turning to the men, "Keep a tally of the containers as you pull them into the forest."

All eight men started moving the smaller 15-gallon containers into the forest.

Richard looked for Bernard, "I don't want you overworking that leg, I need you fit to drive."

"When the stump gets too painful I'll stop. Don't worry about me."