sky was still being lit by the occasional flash. As we neared the darkest hour we could tell that the bombing had reduced considerably from that which we had briefly witnessed earlier.
“Ok lads,” I said, “We can risk a fag and then I think, we’ll get going while it’s still dark.” They didn’t need telling twice, the tins of cigarettes were soon out and Harry, shielding the flame of his lighter, gave us all a light.
“You really should not be telling us what to do Bombardier,” said the Captain, “have you forgotten you are under arrest for insubordination?”
I didn’t answer him, it seemed pointless, we now had only six miles left to do before we would join up with other British troops, although I realised with this man with us, we were not going to make it, he was a liability, capture was inevitable.
I tried to think what to do, this crew was my responsibility, yet the Captain, despite his obvious lack of any common sense was still an officer. I knew that if we didn’t obey him, in the British Army there could be no justification for our insubordination. Although I didn’t care for myself, I was not going to risk capture or worse for my crew, just for the sake of this man’s ego.
With the Captain in our midst I had no opportunity to discuss the problem with the others, however I should have known better and had more faith in them and in their ingenuity.
We set off again, walking along the canal towpath which was on an embankment raised from the flat land below. The Captain was leading, with me behind him, the rest of the lads in close order behind, he was strolling along with no effort at concealment, seemingly unaware of any danger.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked behind to see that the others were missing and there was only Fishy who had a finger to his lips and was pointing down off the embankment, I followed him quietly dropping down away from the path, leaving the Captain striding away into the darkness. I couldn’t help but grin as the rest of the lads gathered around me “Does this mean I’m not under arrest any more, I whispered?” “Bloody hell Bomb, we thought you was bad enough but he was even worse!” whispered Fishy in reply, we all chuckled.
We carefully made our way down to the bottom of the embankment and got into the hedgerow, while Ronny checked the map. He worked out a route heading more north-west than we had been doing. He told us this would both increase the distance between us and the Captain and take us more directly to the beaches, perhaps knocking half a mile off the way that we had been going.
Ronny had chosen well, the road we were going down was little more than a single track lane, bordered on each side by tall hawthorn hedges.
We had been walking along in silence for about twenty minutes, Ronny leading and Fishy, who was regularly glancing behind him to ensure the Captain didn’t find us again, bringing up the rear. Ronny put his hand up to stop us and we moved over to the side of the road.
“What is it?” I whispered. “I’m not sure, but something’s isn’t right.” he whispered back, putting a finger to his lips before the others started to talk. Fishy leaned over from the back of the group “I know,” he whispered, “I feel it too.”
We stayed crouched down at the roadside imagining all sorts of things, when after a couple of minutes Fishy pointed to the hedgerow on the other side of the road and about twenty yards in front of us.
We watched as a match flared and was replaced by the red tip of a cigarette then we heard German being spoken softly.
It looked as if they had set up posts, probably with machine guns, in the hope of catching stragglers on their way into Dunkirk.
We huddled closer together, whispering, we had heard only two distinct voices earlier so we figured that there would only be two soldiers probably with a motorbike and sidecar. Jack wanted to lob a hand grenade across but I felt that it would draw too much
“Ok lads,” I said, “We can risk a fag and then I think, we’ll get going while it’s still dark.” They didn’t need telling twice, the tins of cigarettes were soon out and Harry, shielding the flame of his lighter, gave us all a light.
“You really should not be telling us what to do Bombardier,” said the Captain, “have you forgotten you are under arrest for insubordination?”
I didn’t answer him, it seemed pointless, we now had only six miles left to do before we would join up with other British troops, although I realised with this man with us, we were not going to make it, he was a liability, capture was inevitable.
I tried to think what to do, this crew was my responsibility, yet the Captain, despite his obvious lack of any common sense was still an officer. I knew that if we didn’t obey him, in the British Army there could be no justification for our insubordination. Although I didn’t care for myself, I was not going to risk capture or worse for my crew, just for the sake of this man’s ego.
With the Captain in our midst I had no opportunity to discuss the problem with the others, however I should have known better and had more faith in them and in their ingenuity.
We set off again, walking along the canal towpath which was on an embankment raised from the flat land below. The Captain was leading, with me behind him, the rest of the lads in close order behind, he was strolling along with no effort at concealment, seemingly unaware of any danger.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked behind to see that the others were missing and there was only Fishy who had a finger to his lips and was pointing down off the embankment, I followed him quietly dropping down away from the path, leaving the Captain striding away into the darkness. I couldn’t help but grin as the rest of the lads gathered around me “Does this mean I’m not under arrest any more, I whispered?” “Bloody hell Bomb, we thought you was bad enough but he was even worse!” whispered Fishy in reply, we all chuckled.
We carefully made our way down to the bottom of the embankment and got into the hedgerow, while Ronny checked the map. He worked out a route heading more north-west than we had been doing. He told us this would both increase the distance between us and the Captain and take us more directly to the beaches, perhaps knocking half a mile off the way that we had been going.
Ronny had chosen well, the road we were going down was little more than a single track lane, bordered on each side by tall hawthorn hedges.
We had been walking along in silence for about twenty minutes, Ronny leading and Fishy, who was regularly glancing behind him to ensure the Captain didn’t find us again, bringing up the rear. Ronny put his hand up to stop us and we moved over to the side of the road.
“What is it?” I whispered. “I’m not sure, but something’s isn’t right.” he whispered back, putting a finger to his lips before the others started to talk. Fishy leaned over from the back of the group “I know,” he whispered, “I feel it too.”
We stayed crouched down at the roadside imagining all sorts of things, when after a couple of minutes Fishy pointed to the hedgerow on the other side of the road and about twenty yards in front of us.
We watched as a match flared and was replaced by the red tip of a cigarette then we heard German being spoken softly.
It looked as if they had set up posts, probably with machine guns, in the hope of catching stragglers on their way into Dunkirk.
We huddled closer together, whispering, we had heard only two distinct voices earlier so we figured that there would only be two soldiers probably with a motorbike and sidecar. Jack wanted to lob a hand grenade across but I felt that it would draw too much
Similar Books
