At 2100 hrs on April 9, Christophe and Émile, the cliff guides, arrived at Catherine’s house and led Erwan, Annette and Jimmy down to the beach, after they offered a thousand thanks to their much-loved hostess. The moon was in its last quarter and the sky was decorated with an infinite number of sparkling jewels. A northerly wind cut through the air and a moderate sea was running.
After half an hour in the lee of some large rocks, a series of flashes came from beyond the surf breaking on the beach. Christophe replied with the code letter and Jimmy strained his eyes to identify the surf boat that had been launched from an MGB. He wondered if he would know the crew and felt the excitement that they must be experiencing as they neared the beach.
The surf boat crew had some difficulty riding the surf. During one lunge forward the boat almost broached and capsized. Jimmy gave a laugh. As the boat ground to a halt on the beach, Jimmy ran forward with Erwan to help secure it. The agent stepped out and was immediately led away by the guides to one of the paths up the cliffs. Very few words were spoken until Erwan and Annette embarked, and then a torrent of French came from the crew. The Free French Navy had arrived.
Making progress back through the surf against the wind and tide was extremely slow and very tiring for the ratings doing the rowing. They were almost out of the surf when shots rang out from the top of the cliff. A German patrol started to scramble down the cliff face. Fortunately, they did this well away from the path that the guides and the agent were taking to the cliff top. By the time the German soldiers were on the beach, the surf boat was over a hundred yards off shore. The rowers had a big incentive; they were rowing for their lives. The soldiers started firing again, but it was a moving target, bobbing up and down. Nevertheless, two bullets smashed into the hull of the boat causing splinters to fly. One hole was below the waterline, and the sea began to bubble into the bottom of the boat. Erwan could see that one of the rowers was almost exhausted, so, after a brief exchange of words, he took his place. Erwan was strong and knew how to pull an oar with grace and speed. The boat’s progress immediately improved.
Jimmy’s old rival in recklessness, Lieutenant Jean-Paul Demont, was at anchor a mile off shore in MGB 5639. As soon as he heard firing he knew there was trouble brewing. He ordered the rope anchor to be cut and main engines started. Soon the MGB was roaring towards the surf boat, the crew all keyed up for a gun battle. In less than two minutes the MGB was alongside and the surf boat crew and passengers eagerly clambered on board. The surf boat, although damaged, was hauled onto the MGB’s stern, and Demont wasted no time in heading out into the Channel. He knew that if the German patrol carried a walkie-talkie an E-boat might be dispatched to intercept them.
“You old devil, Demont, so you’re working for SOE now, are you?” asked Jimmy as he shared the bridge with the coxswain and Jean-Paul.
“Not really, Jimmy. This is a special favor for you; a one-time expedition on my part. SOE have no official boats at Dartmouth since Harrington was lost, but a replacement is supposed to be on its way.”
“Your surf boat crew handled themselves very well. When were they trained?”
“Yesterday. We French learn things very quickly. I believe it took you a week,” said Demont, with a laugh. “But the girl, Jimmy, she’s pretty. Where did you find her? Far too good-looking for you.”
“Hands off, Demont. I’m her guardian.”
Jimmy went below to warm himself in the wardroom with a hot mug of cocoa. Erwan and Annette were already there, trying to talk above the roar of the engines to members of the crew about life in England and Dartmouth in particular. When Jimmy entered, the crew went back to their duties, giving Annette saucy winks as they did so. Jimmy sat opposite Annette in silence for a while, very thoughtful, as though he were about to make several profound statements.
“We haven’t talked about what you’ll do after you’ve been interviewed and documented by the SOE staff in Dartmouth,” shouted Jimmy, speaking in a staccato fashion in time with the thump, thump, thump of the boat’s hull as it smacked its way through the sea swell.
“Well, I assume they’ll let us stay for a while, and then whisk us up to London to start training. Isn’t that what you said could happen, Jimmy? I really haven’t thought beyond that. You know, take one day at a time,” said Annette.
“I have another suggestion. Forget about working for the SOE; you’ve been through enough, and its very dangerous work back in France. I want you both to come and live with me and my sister, Susan. She’ll be thrilled to bits to have you. Our house is certainly big enough, and Sue gets quite lonely when I’m away. Then, after a while, you could easily obtain a teaching position in the town. They’re very short of teachers; all the male ones are off fighting the war.
“Erwan, Devon is full of small farms of all kinds. You’d be welcome on any one of them; farmers are also looking for help. So what do you say?” Jimmy repeated what he had just said to Erwan because some of it was lost in the noise of the engines. Then he waited for a reply.
They said nothing; this change of direction had stunned Annette. Slowly a smile spread over her face.”
“Jimmy Wainwright, I do believe you have an ulterior motive.”
“And what would that be?”
“As if you didn’t know! You and I under the same roof? Anything could happen.”
“Well, I wouldn’t mind if it did,” chuckled Jimmy. “What do you say? We’ve only an hour before we’ll be docking.” Annette hesitated. How could she decide her future in just an hour.
“Look, let’s leave it like this. We’ll go through the SOE interviews and establish our credentials. If they offer us a job, we’ll certainly give it due consideration. While we’re doing that, you could talk to Susan about your nice little plan, of which she knows nothing, and see how she reacts to what would be involved. Then we’ll come and meet her once we’re cleared, and make a decision that suits all concerned. Would you agree to that Erwan? Erwan?”
But Erwan was not really listening. His mind and body were in retreat; he was suddenly feeling immensely fatigued. The severe tension and strain of the last two weeks were taking their toll, and the realization of the losses he had suffered were just beginning to play havoc with his mind.
His wife had disappeared without saying where she could be found, or whether she ever wanted to live with him again. They had been companions for many years, toiling together on the family farm, sharing difficult times and bountiful times. Erwan knew that their love for one another had known peaks and valleys, but they had smoothed out the rough patches and stayed together. Now they had lost one another; the tenuous strands that had bound them had finally snapped. Erwan ached because of this.
He also thought of Marcel, and how he had been killed without seeing all his hard work in planning and organizing the dump raid achieve success. And although Erwan knew that the death of some of the Resistance fighters in his group was inevitable, he never thought Marcel would be one of them. Marcel had been a good leader; confident, clever, strong in body and determination. Moreover, Erwan had grown close to him as they worked the farm together, ate together, laughed together. A brotherly link had been forged between them. All that was now ended, leaving an emptiness in Erwan’s soft nature to add to that of the loss of Claudette.
The third tragedy that plagued Erwan’s mind was the destruction of his farm; land, buildings and livestock, with which he had been continuing a family tradition that was over a century old. He felt that he had betrayed his farming ancestors; he had lost their hard-won treasure; he had let the invader destroy it. For this, he anguished and wanted revenge.
“Erwan, Erwan, you haven’t heard a word we’ve been saying, have you? Where have you been? Are you sure you’re OK?” asked Annette, taking his hand and squeezing it.
“I’m OK. Really, I’m OK. Just a bit exhausted,” replied Erwan, with a strong note of despondency in his voice. “Perhaps you could repeat what you were saying. Were you asking me a question?”
“What do you want to do when we get to England? Do you want SOE training as a full agent and return to France, or do you want to settle in England and farm?”
“I can’t make any decisions right now, Annette. Just let me sleep. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be able to think.” Erwan let his head fall back against the wardroom wall, and closed his eyes. In seconds he was asleep, impervious to the boat’s motion and the engines’s roar.
Jimmy saw that further conversation about Annette’s and Erwan’s future should not be pursued at this time. Instead, he stared kindly into Annette’s eyes and tried to understand her feelings. He knew that she must be as tired as Erwan, and was not surprised when she slumped across the small table and rested her head on her folded arms. She quickly slipped into a dreamless slumber.
Jimmy poured himself another cup of cocoa, and then went up on the bridge to feel the approach of England, hiding behind her cloak of darkness. He would be glad to get home again.