Read Online The Valley of Bones by Anthony Powell - Free Book Online

temporary hierarchy imposed by
military rank.
    ‘Now, see it you must, Gareth,’ I
heard the Sergeant-Major’s voice once insisting on the other side of the
partition. ‘In time of peace – in the mine – you are above me, Gareth, and
above Sergeant Pendry. Here, that is not. No longer is it the mine. In the
Company we are above you. It would be good you remember that, Gareth.’
    Gittins was a figure of some prestige
in the Company, not only on account of dominion over valuable stock-in-trade,
but also for his forcible character. Dark, stocky, another strongly pre-Celtic
type, he could probably have become sergeant – even sergeant-major – without
difficulty, had he wished for promotion. Like many others, he preferred to
avoid such responsibilities, instead ruling the store, where he guarded every
item as if it were his own personal property acquired only after long toil and
self-denial. Nothing was more difficult than to extort from him the most
insignificant replacement of kit.
    ‘I tell you, not without the Skipper’s
direct order,’ was his usual answer to such requests. This circumspection was
very generally respected. To coax anything from Gittins was considered a
triumph. One of the attractions of the store was its wireless, which would
sometimes be tuned in to Haw-Haw’s propaganda broadcast from Germany. These
came on just after midnight:
    ‘… This is Chairmany calling … Chairmany calling … These are the stations Koln, Hamburg and DJA …
Here is the news
in English … Fifty-three more British aircraft were shot
down over Kiel last night making a total of one hundred and
seventeen since Tuesday … One hundred and seventeen
more British aircraft have been shot down in forty-eight hours …
The British people are asking their Government why British
pilots cannot stay in the air … They
are
asking why British aircraft is inferior to Chairman aircraft … The British
people are asking themselves why they have lost the war in the air … They are
asking, for example, what has
happened to the Imperial Airways Liner Ajax … Why
is
the Imperial Airways Liner Ajax three weeks overdue, they
are asking … We can tell you .. . The Imperial Airways Liner Ajax is at the bottom
of the sea … The fishes are swimming in and out of the wreckage of the Imperial Airways Liner Ajax … The Imperial Airways Liner Ajax and her escort were shot down by Chairman fighter
planes… The British have lost the war in the air … They have lost the
war in the air … It is the same on the water … The
Admiralty is wondering about the Resourceful … They are worried at the Admiralty about the Resourceful … They need not worry about the Resourceful any
more … We will tell them about the Resourceful … The Resourceful is at the bottom of the sea with the Imperial Airways
Liner Ajax … The Resourceful was
sunk by a Chairman submarine …
The Admiralty is in despair at Chairman command of the sea … Britain has lost
the war
on the sea … One hundred and seventy-five thousand gross registered tons of British
shipping was sent to the bottom last
week … The British Government is in despair
at
these losses in the air and on the water … That is not the only thing that makes
the British Government despair … Not by any
means … The food shortage in Britain is becoming
acute … The evacuated women and children are living in misery … Instead of
food, they are being fed on lies … Government lies … Only Chairmany can tell you the truth … The Chairman radio speaks the truth … The Chairman radio
gives the best and latest news … Chairmany is winning the war … Think it over, Britain, think it
over … Chairmany is winning the war … Listen, Britain … Listen, Britain …
We repeat to all listeners in the Far East … Listen, South America …’
    Someone in the store turned the
button. The nagging, sneering, obsessive accents died away with a jerk, as if a
sack had been advantageously thrust over the