I managed to get back to the house safely enough. The eager faces of my comrades soon turned sour as I told them my news.
"I am sorry sir, but whichever way we go there are Germans. There is wire to the front of us, a guardhouse to the left, an armoured car to the right and a prisoner of war camp ahead of us."
The previous optimism of Major Foster disappeared in a flash. No-one said a word. Daddy suddenly slapped his head, "The back! We can go out of the back!"
"Go and recce it, sergeant."
While he was away an idea began to grow in my mind. I remembered a teacher at school who had been talking about logic and engineering. It went along the lines of eliminating the absolute impossible and whatever was left, no matter how improbable was possible. It seemed to me that the only thing which we could move was the armoured car. There were machine guns at the guard house and at the prisoner of war camp. They would not move and they would cut us down. We had to draw the armoured car to us and then destroy it.
Daddy came back. He was shaking his head. "There is a three story building behind us and it looks like it is occupied with barbed wire along the adjoining wall. Even worse, it is flying a German flag."
"There must be something! Come on Tom! What can your fertile mind conjure up?"
"I have one idea but it is madness."
"Go on. Insanity might be the only solution to this dilemma."
"We blow up this building. It is half wrecked as it is. We use the charges and the timer. If we wait on the far side to the road beyond the armoured car it will come and investigate. Their attention will be on this building. It is not a tank, just an armoured car. We can use grenades to destroy or disable it. There looked to be nothing beyond it. If we can pass it then I believe we have a chance to disappear into the dark. I have some stick grenades here as well as the Mills bombs. When we destroy it we leg it down the road."
"It means we will be pursued."
I said nothing for no one had come up with an alternative. Gordy said, "I could use the sniper rifle to hit the guards near to the prison camp. They will think they are being attacked from all directions."
Ken added, "Aye and if we give them a burst or two from the machine guns it will add to the illusion. They will never believe we are just five men. It will be like a conjuror, moving his hand one way to distract you then pulling the rabbit out of the hat! It's worth a try sir."
The Major shook his head, "As I can’t think of a better solution we will go with this one."
I took out the TNT and the timer. At least it would make my Bergen much lighter. I placed the bag under the stairs. They were already weak and they were made of wood. The force of the explosion would bring down the front of the damaged building. Before I set the timer I said, "You have better get a move on, sir. I am setting the charge for five minutes."
The Major nodded, "Good luck Tom. Right lads."
I was alone. I set the clock and then attached the wires. I slipped the Bergen on. I already had my grenades in my battledress and I picked up the two stick grenades from the floor and ran. There was no one outside the front door and I scurried along the wall of the half destroyed buildings. I saw the others on the opposite side of the road crouched against the wall. I peered around the wall and saw that the driver and the commander were out of the armoured car, leaning against the side and enjoying a cigarette. I waited until they turned away. I was aware of the passage of time. When they turned to look the other way I ran. One of them turned back. I don't know if he sensed my movement or heard me, but whatever the reason, the outcome was the same.
"Stop!"
I made the other side of the road and I armed the two grenades by smashing the porcelain tops. The two men leapt inside the vehicle. I grabbed the two cords as the German armoured car came towards us. The others cocked their weapons. Gordy and Ken were aiming their rifle and Tommy gun at the machine guns by the prison camp. The Major and Daddy had their Mills bombs ready. The two guardhouses came to life as they heard the sound of the armoured car's engine. I put my head around the corner and pulled the cords. I threw them both underhand at a spot ten feet in front of the armoured car and then ducked back behind the end of the wall which would shield me from the blast.
The armoured car's gun began to chatter. Gordy and Ken fired at the far guardhouse and the Major and Daddy hurled their grenades around the side of the house to our left. The TNT exploded and, at the same time, my grenades went off under the armoured car. The two explosions lifted it in the air and sent it down the street. It rolled towards us and missed Gordy by feet.
"Run!"
We ran down the road which the armoured car had previously occupied. We would be running the reverse of the route we had taken the night before. The difference was we were now being pursued. We ran as only Commandos can run- hard! Hesitation would have cost us dear. We knew that attention would be on the armoured car and the demolished building. The smoke from the demolition and the armoured car drifted down the street making the visibility almost nil. It was, effectively, the fog of war. We had minutes to disappear. The suburb we had first passed seemed the best place in which to disappear. It was a warren of tiny streets and blind alleys.
As we passed what we now knew was the prisoner of war camp we heard shouts and the sound of gunfire. They must have been firing into the smoke trying to hit us. We did not mind. It would add to the confusion. Even though my chest was hurting I kept running. We heard sirens and the noise of vehicles behind us. When we reached occupied houses the odd Frenchman poked his head out and then ducked back just as quickly. Suddenly I saw a café ahead. When we had passed through the night before, it had been closed up. Now there were four old men sharing a bottle of wine. A waiter or perhaps the owner stood nearby. As we passed them the four of them raised a glass and toasted us. It was one of the more bizarre and surreal moments.
As soon as we passed the outskirts of the town we headed for the wood. I guess the Major, who was leading, hoped that, having removed the vehicle; it would be safe for us. I prayed that it would too. We crashed through the trees and found the blackened and burned clearing. The truck had, indeed, been taken away. The Major stopped and held up his hand. We all halted and began to suck in air. It was tempting to drink from our canteens but that would have been a mistake; we had run too hard.
Behind us we heard, in the distance, the sound of vehicles and gun shots. I wondered who they were shooting at. The Major got his breath back. "So far so good." He took out his map. "Curtis, keep watch while we check the map."
He jabbed a finger at a point on the map. "Guérande is about six or seven miles up the road. There are salt marshes to the south of the town and I think we could lose any pursuit there. It is then another eight or so miles to the pick-up point."
Daddy said, "Sir, it is gone seven. The submarine will only be there until three. That gives us eight hours to cover fifteen miles."
"We have done more than that in training."
"I know sir but that wasn't in the dark and we weren't being chased by Waffen SS."
"We will try, Sergeant. If we miss this one we lie up during the day and wait for the next pick-up."
Suddenly Ken ran up, "Sir, there are men heading in this direction."
"Germans?"
"Not certain. There are Germans but I think they are chasing someone."
"Spread out in a defensive semi-circle. Don't fire until I give the order."
I could hear them approach as I crouched with my Thompson aimed at waist height. There were German shouts coming towards us. They were telling someone to stop or they would shoot. I heard a crackle of rifles, a scream, and a shout. It was in English. I did not need to say anything. The others would have heard it too. There were Englishmen being pursued by Germans. Four men in English battle dress burst into the clearing. The Major shouted, "Get down!"
They were well trained men and they dropped to the ground. The Germans must not have heard the command or thought it was the men they were chasing who had shouted for they kept on running. As soon as they entered the clearing we opened fire. Five Thompsons can do a great deal of damage. Trees and leaves were shredded as the bullets tore into the German troops. We heard the wounded moaning.
"Cease fire! Harsker, check the Germans. Make sure we have them all!"
I dropped my empty Thompson and took out my Colt. I ran towards the dead and dying Germans. They were SS. I saw a German trying to hold in his guts. I gave him a merciful death. There were two Germans who were wounded in the legs. They were trying to drag themselves away from the scene. I remembered the Waffen SS with his boot on the body of the dead prisoner. I shot them both in the back of the head; it was a quick death for they were bleeding to death.
I ran back towards the edge of the wood but there were no more troops there. I heard firing to the west and the east. The prisoners must have used our attack to make a break out. I picked up another couple of stick grenades from the dead Germans as I returned to the others. The remainder of the grenades I rigged underneath the bodies of the dead Germans as booby traps. It would not hurt the dead soldiers and it would delay the pursuit. By the time I reached the rest of the section there were three English soldiers being given water. The fourth lay dead with a line of bullets in his back. Three dead Germans lay close by. They had been the first to die in the ambush.
I knew that this complicated matters. We would be slowed down by these prisoners of war but we could not leave them there. As I approached the Major asked, "Are we clear, Corporal Harsker?"
Even as I was saying, "Yes sir," the sergeant turned around.
"Tom?"
It was Sergeant Greely. It was my old sergeant from the 1st Loyal Lancashire. "Yes it is Sergeant Greely, what happened?"
The Major snapped, "We will have time for stories later on. Tom, you and Barker watch the rear." He pointed to the three men we had saved, "You three grab a weapon from the Germans. We have a long way to go." They grabbed weapons from the dead and followed the Major as he led the section north.
I had no time to talk to Sergeant Greely even though a thousand questions raced around in my head. Gordy and I turned to face any threat from the south. We waited fifteen minutes and there was no pursuit; at least not in our vicinity. "Right, Gordy, let's go."
As we ran he asked, "Did you know the Sergeant?"
"He helped me to join up and I served with him in Belgium. I thought he was either dead or in the bag."
"They will slow us up."
"I know but do you want to leave them?"
"Of course not, Corporal. I am just saying!"
"Besides the sub will be there tomorrow night." I knew that I was clutching at straws; the odds were that they would slow us up too much and they were ordinary soldiers. They were not Commandos who were used to running for hour upon hour and disappearing in plain view.
It took us half an hour but we caught up with Curtis who was the new Tail End Charlie. "How they doing, Ken?"
"Your old sergeant is keeping them going but the other two lads are struggling."
"I suppose if we had been prisoners since May and suffered at the hands of the SS then we might be a bit out of condition. Don't worry. There is no pursuit yet."
We kept going for another hour and then we stopped. The Major waved me forward. "Have you still got your Silva compass Harsker?"
"Yes sir."
He took out his map. "Then you get to lead us through these salt marshes. I reckon it will be slow but they won't be able to follow us. This is the course we need to take." He pointed out the route on the map.
"You can rely on me." I turned to him and said, quietly, "It's Sergeant Greely, sir. What are the odds?"
The Major nodded, "I know, small world eh? Don't worry Tom, we won’t leave an old comrade behind. If we do then we might as well give up because we will have lost the war. That is what makes us different from them."
The next hour was a nightmare. We kept twisting and turning on the dry parts of ground and I had to keep us heading the right direction. But for the compass I think we might have perished but it kept us on course and when we found dry land and the D 452 I knew that we had a chance. We stopped so that the three escapees could have some water and some of our rations. They needed it more than we did. They looked emaciated. I checked my watch. We had three hours to cover seven miles. If we did not have the three men with us then it would have been easy. With them it would be harder.
Sergeant Greely came over to me, "Corporal eh?" I nodded. "Commandos?"
"Yes Sarge, a new unit. We operate behind the enemy lines. Do you remember Major Foster, he was a Captain in Belgium?"
"Aye I thought I recognised him."
"How come you chose tonight to break out?"
The Major's voice was almost in my ear, "Right Harsker, you can catch up later on. Take the point. We will risk the road and try to make good time. You are our eyes and ears at the front. Sergeant Grant, take the rear with Barker. You three will have to try to keep up. There is a submarine waiting for us so if you can keep going it will be worth it."
"Don't worry about us sir. We won't hold you up." Sergeant Greely sounded determined. He was more like his old self.
"Good man. Harsker, a good pace if you please."
I was acutely aware that I had three weakened men behind me and I tried to keep a steady pace. I also had to keep peering and listening ahead. The three men had boots on and I could hear them thudding on the road behind me. We were silent. I stopped every half hour. Each time I did both the Major and Sergeant Greely waved me forward. I kept looking at my watch. We were tantalisingly close to the pickup point. It would be awful to miss the rendezvous by minutes.
We had been lucky hitherto and our luck had to run out. Just a mile from the beach and, with forty five left before the submarine left, I spotted a road block and checkpoint. They had a motorcycle blocking the road between a derelict, bombed out house and a low wall. If we went around it then we would miss our submarine. I put my hand up and scurried back.
"Sir, there is a road block."
"How many men?"
Just two. They have a motorcycle."
Sergeant, go with the Corporal and Barker get rid of them. I am not going to miss the submarine just because two men stand in our way."
As we hurried up the road Gordy said, "I am not going to bring this rifle all the way here and not use it properly. If you two go left and right I can take out one of them with my rifle."
Daddy shook his head, "No, Barker. We do it silently. We use knives. You cover us."
He reluctantly nodded. When we were a hundred yards from them he dropped to a prone position and I disappeared up the right. I realised that the motorcycle might be a Godsend. We could reach the beach quicker. The rubber soled shoes gave good purchase on the slippery soil through which we moved and yet they were silent. I could hear the Germans and smell their tobacco smoke even though I could not see them. I moved towards their voices. With Gordy as backup I did not need to wait until Daddy was in position. I moved quickly behind the house to approach them from the coast side.
When I emerged around the corner of the bombed out building I was less than three yards from them and they had their backs to me. I laid my gun on the ground, drew my dagger, and then ran towards them. The shoes were silent and I pulled back the helmet of the man on the left to drag him towards me. I was aware that Daddy was not in position. I had to focus on my target. He put his hands up to help himself balance and to try to grab me. I plunged the knife into the side of his neck. There was a sudden crack as the Lee Enfield fired and the second German fell dead. I dragged the body of my dead German and pushed it into the derelict building. Daddy emerged from behind the wall and shook his head, "Sorry, Tom."
"Don't worry about it. Get this body out of sight."
The others raced up. "That's torn it." The Major turned to look back down the road. "That will have every Kraut for miles here in minutes. Curtis, take the bike and get to the beach. One of you get on the back. Signal the submarine. We will follow. Come on, we double time from here on. Corporal you and Barker watch the rear."
There were more houses ahead. I knew that the gunshot would have alerted any of the inhabitants. I prayed that they were French and would stay within doors. I could smell the sea and the road was descending slightly towards it. Then I heard in the distance the unmistakeable whine of a truck as it climbed a gradient. It would be Germans. There were more trees than I had expected and I wondered if we could use them to hold off the Germans. It would allow the others the chance to escape but would doom us to a swift death with a bullet in the back of the neck. The Waffen SS did not forgive. It was when we were coming through a tree lined section that I had my idea. I stopped.
"Gordy, keep watch." I took out the parachute and cut two of the cords from it. I broke the porcelain on my last two stick grenades and tied the cord to the arming string. I tied the parachute cords between the trees. The sound of the truck was closer now. It was on the downhill section and was making good time.
"Hurry up Corp!"
I finished tying the cords and I laid the last stick grenade next to the bole of the tree. "Done! Let's run!"
We hurtled down the road after the others. When we reached the houses which were closest to the headland we saw that the beach was some sixty yards to our right. I risked a glance at my watch and saw that we had just five minutes left. I saw a flash from the sea. The submarine, at least, was there but would the dingy reach us before the Germans did? Would it be big enough for eight of us? I could see the others just reaching Ken and the motorcycle on the sand. Any concerns I might have had ended when there was an explosion behind me. The Germans had tripped my booby trap. I hoped that would end any pursuit.
The Major nodded when we reached him, "Another Harsker booby trap?"
I nodded, barely able to breathe, "Nev taught me well sir." I looked at Harry Greely who nodded. He remembered the Spanish Civil War veteran who had taught us both so much.
"There, I can see it!" Ken's finger pointed beyond the surf.
Then I heard the sound of a vehicle in the distance. "And Jerry isn't far behind. Ken, take out your charge and your timer. Harsker go with him and try to buy some time!"
"Yes sir."
Ken brought his Bergen and followed me. He was opening his bag even as he ran. There was an old pre war ice cream stand at the head of the beach. We dropped next to it. I knelt and aimed my machine gun ahead. "Set the timer for five minutes and put the charge this side of the hut. It will blow the building in the direction of the road." I peered towards the sound of the vehicle which was approaching from the dark. I could see the glow from the burning German lorry. The two grenades would not have killed many but they would be on foot and disorientated. It was the second vehicle which was the greatest danger.
"Done!"
"Let's get the hell out of here!"
We ran the hundred and fifty yards to the surf. The rubber dingy was there. The sailor said, "Sorry lads, I'll have to make two trips."
The Major nodded. Daddy said, "You go with the dingy, sir. I'll stay here with Gordy and Harsker. We'll get the next boat." The Major hesitated, "Sir, you have the information."
The Major nodded and clambered into the boat. It disappeared into the darkness. Daddy said, "Lie down in the water. We will be harder to see. Gordy, we rely on you to get the officers and sergeants first."
"Don't worry Sarge, this rifle is a little beauty."
The dimmed headlights of a German truck appeared and we saw men disgorge. Suddenly there was a crack and flare shot into the sky. As it descended it made night day and the German officer pointed a finger at the dinghy. Even as he shouted something Gordy's bullet smacked into him. The Germans dived for cover. I saw three of them setting up a machine gun. Daddy and I fired a burst at them. We missed but their evasive action delayed the setting up of the gun. Gordy fired again and one of the machine gunners fell.
As the flare's light faded then the night became dark once more. "Sarge, let's head back into the sea. The water will give us protection." I had learned, at school that a bullet soon loses its velocity when fired into water. The chatter of the heavy machine gun began. They were firing blind and our movement had confused their aim. They were hitting the edge of the surf, where we had been.
Daddy's voice came from the dark. "Back further into the water. We will stand up while it is still dark." By standing we were able to move quicker and we walked back until the water was up to our necks. The waves kept splashing over our heads but I hoped that it would hide us. The second flare put an end to that.
Behind us I heard a voice, "Hang on lads! We are on our way back for you!"
Two things happened at once. A fusillade of bullets flew across the sea and I heard a shout as Daddy was hit. Then the TNT went up. It was spectacular and lit the whole of the beach up. Behind me I heard the sailor's voice, "Bugger me!" I saw Germans thrown to the ground. The crew of the machine gun were scythed in two by the fragments of the hut. I waded through the water to Daddy.
"Where are you hit?"
"Shoulder and arm." He grinned weakly and nodded towards the inferno on the beach. "Nice explosion, Curtis."
The rubber dinghy nudged into the back of my head. "The Sergeant is wounded. Here Gordy, give me a hand!" Between us we pushed Daddy so that he could be hauled aboard. I knew that I would not make it with the Bergen and so I took off my pack and put that in the dingy before hauling myself onboard. It was hard for my clothes were sodden and I was exhausted. I flopped in the boat as the sailors paddled back to the submarine.
The Germans had advanced to the water's edge but the sea was dark and their shots were blind. When we bumped into the steel hull of the submarine I knew that we would make it.