Chapter 72

The following year went by in a flash. The last six weeks before Anthony handed over were organised chaos. He was promoted to Lieutenant-General with a job once more in London. He was also appointed KBE, Knight of the Order of the British Empire and so became Lieutenant-General Sir Anthony Collins KBE. Frances became Lady Collins, which she giggled about observing that she would have to start behaving herself. They would move back to their flat in London.

Mark sent a signal to Peter Instead and was told that he would be going to Benghazi but should come out on his own initially and spend a couple of days at Tripoli. He should plan on Victoria flying out a fortnight after him. Luckily there was a quarter available for them at Benghazi.

Then there were all the departure functions, taking Patch up to Craig Hill, saying farewell to his parents. They handed over their quarter prior to this and Victoria spent the time after Mark left between Craig Hill and the Grange where her parents were taking a breather between jobs.

Mark was greeted warmly on his return to the battalion. Peter Wickens was still adjutant until August when he was posted to the Staff College. He sat in while Mark was briefed by Peter Instead.

"Mark, I'm sending you to Benghazi as Company Second-in-Command for a special reason. Even though there are captains senior to you I've chosen you for your tact and diplomacy and for your moral courage." He smiled at Mark's embarrassment. "The thing is that I'm worried about my successor there, Robert Johnson. I could bring the company back here and send a replacement but it would cause endless upheavals and would be read as a black mark for Robert, which I want to avoid if I can. The trouble is that he is drinking too much and I believe it is affecting his judgement. I want you to stop him doing anything silly."

"May I ask what sort of things alerted you, Sir?"

"Although I write the annual confidential reports on all warrant officers and senior NCOs I ask company commanders to write me a draft as Chris Holdsworth did. Now, having only handed that company over nine months ago I know all those chaps very well indeed. In that time he doesn't seem to have got to know them at all well. Furthermore, some of the things he writes are absolute tripe.

"Roger Hall, his present Second-in-Command, says he is badly hung over most mornings and is bad tempered and won't make any decisions. He has frequently missed first parade. So far he has done nothing dangerous but you will need to keep an eye on him and restrain him if he looks like doing something stupid. Roger will give you more detail I feel sure during your takeover. He'll be coming back to this end to be Intelligence Officer."

"Golly!" said Mark. "I appreciate you confidence in me, Sir, but this is going to be a hell of a challenge. What about his wife?"

"Janet. Anne's worried about her but can't do much at this distance. I hope you'll be able to enrol Victoria's help if only as a shoulder for Janet to cry on."

"What about the 14th/20th?" (The 14th/20th King's Hussars were similarly split but the other way round: a squadron in Tripoli and the rest of the regiment at Benghazi).

"The CO and his wife are aware of my concerns but there's a limit to what they can do and of course they're not family. We'd be a bit stuck if their squadron leader here was not coming up to the mark. All the same it would be worth your while getting into cahoots with Colonel Hartley and his wife, Moira."

"Yes, Sir. I've clearly got to give this some thought. May I come back to you before I go if I have any other questions?"

"Of course, Mark."

"Thank you, Sir."

Mark and Peter left the CO's office.

"Whew!" said Mark. "I thought I was coming back for a jolly time as a platoon commander again."

Peter smiled sympathetically. "I promise you, Mark, the CO thought long and hard about this. I think he got it right. We're relying on you."

"Mm, I need to report regularly. I can hardly do that from the company office."

"No. I agree. See what you can arrange with the 14th/20th."

"I'm not sure I like that much either. I think a personal letter with the routine charter flight might be better."

"Good idea. See what you can fix. The vet flies regularly from Malta to Cyprus and back each week. He might be a suitable courier. We can always meet the plane."

"Yes but I can't. Let's wait and see what I can arrange when I get there."

Roger Hall met him at the airport, installed him in a room in the Officers' Mess and then took him to the company office to meet Robert Johnson. Mark was pleasantly surprised by the warmth and friendliness of his greeting.

"Your quarter is just down the road from ours," said Robert, "so Janet will be at hand if your wife needs a hand with anything. Now, Roger will brief you on the detail of what's going on and what I expect of you but in general terms you will run the company on a day to day basis while I do the future planning and concentrate on the training. I also expect you to work closely with Company Sergeant-Major Winstanley on discipline and personnel matters. Do you know him?"

"Yes, Sir. Not well but he was a staff sergeant in C Company when I last knew him. We played cricket together though."

"Good. Well I'll let you two get on with your business. Come and see me if you have any queries."