Authors: James Holland
Chevannes peered through his binoculars. '
Merde
,' he said.
'I could go down when it's dark and try to get them.'
Chevannes bit his lip, but before he could answer, a
truck arrived at Uskum Farm and men got out.
'I take it we stay here for the time being,' said
Tanner.
Chevannes turned away without looking at him. 'Yes,
Sergeant,' he snapped. 'For the moment.'
As the brief hours of darkness passed, Tanner's anger and frustration
rose. Never had he felt more inclined to throttle the French lieutenant. He
could not help thinking about the Allied front line. Was it still at Kvam?
Surely not. By now they must have been pushed ever further away. A whole day
wasted, and now, perhaps, several more. And it was cold up there among the
pines. Not for the first time Tanner wished he had never set eyes on Colonel
Gulbrand and his men.
It was with relief that Brigadier Morgan saw Major General Bernard
Paget standing before him at his small headquarters at Heidel. He had known him
a long time - indeed, they had worked together before the war - and Morgan had
always thought the general cut an impressive figure. The fierce, intelligent
eyes, the long, aquiline nose and thin lips somehow contained so much
authority. Not for nothing had Paget gained a reputation as one of the finest
trainers of British soldiers the Army had possessed in many years.
'General, how very good to see you,' said Morgan,
stepping forward into the dim light and clasping Paget's hand.
'Harry,' said Paget. 'Good to see you too, although I
wish the circumstances might have been different. This is a hell of a bloody
mess, isn't it?'
'You've seen General Ruge?'
'Just come from his headquarters south of Dombas.'
Paget chuckled mirthlessly. 'And got an earful too. Not very impressed with we
Brits, is he?'
'No, sir.'
'And with reason. This is a shambles, Harry, a bloody
shambles. Not your fault - you've done jolly well and Ruge is impressed with
you. I'm afraid it's the bods back at Whitehall who are to blame. Lack of
planning, lack of thought. Not enough kit. Not enough bloody air cover.
Anyway.' He sat down in front of Morgan's desk while the brigadier poured two
tumblers of whisky from the bottle Ruge had brought the previous evening. It
was already nearly finished.
'Tell me what the news is here. Communication seems to
be half the problem. No radios, not enough telephones. No reconnaissance. How
are 15th Brigade doing?'
'We've held off the enemy so far, General. The
narrowness of the valley has worked in our favour and the Gladiators have
performed magnificently. I think the sight of them has given heart to the
troops.'
'Good,' said Paget, then raised his glass. 'Cheers.'
Morgan raised his in turn, then added, 'But I'm afraid
there are only four serviceable aircraft left now, so I'm not sure how much
they can achieve tomorrow.'
'And what about tomorrow?'
Morgan took a large gulp of his drink. 'The enemy
never seems to attack during the night or early in the morning. A real creature
of habit. So I've straightened the line and brought up some reserves, but no
doubt by mid-morning they'll come at us heavy again. I hate to say this,
General, but I don't think we'll survive another night. Our best hope is to
keep the enemy at bay until evening and withdraw overnight. As it is, Brigadier
Smyth has been wounded.'
Paget nodded. 'All right, Harry. I'm going to report
back to London tonight, if I can, and you should know that I'm going to
recommend our withdrawal. Your brigade's already had a savage dusting. I can't
see any point in letting the rest of our troops be lambs to the slaughter as
well.'
Morgan finished his whisky, then said, 'did General
Ruge mention anything to you about a missing patrol of British and French
troops?'
'Is this the scientist?'
'Yes, sir. Professor Hening Sandvold.'
'Yes - yes, he did.'
'The King's very anxious they should be found.'
'I know, but we can't hang around here on the off-
chance when this fellow might already be dead.'
'I don't think he is, though, sir. London intercepted
a radio signal broadcast by the Germans. Apparently they've warned Norwegians
to report any sightings and threatened severe punishment for anyone not complying.
It seems Jerry's on to them.'
Paget stroked his chin thoughtfully. 'Well,' he said
at length, 'we'd better hope they're still out there and that they get to us
quickly. I'm sorry, Harry, but the King has to face facts: we can't stay here
for much longer. Not for him and certainly not for some errant Norwegian
professor.'
There had been no movement by the Germans all night, and neither was
there as the morning wore on.
Tanner's mood was not good. Not good at all. Nor was it improved by
Chevannes, who had joined him and Sykes at the lookout only to pace about,
clicking his fingers and grimacing. Trying to ignore him, Tanner watched
another German army truck trundle down the valley. An aeroplane droned above.
Chevannes lifted his binoculars and Sykes cried out, 'Sir, no! With
respect, sir.'
Chevannes stared at him, then slowly lowered them.
'For God's sake,' muttered Tanner.
'The sun, sir,' added Sykes. 'It could reflect in the lens.'
'Yes, of course,' said Chevannes. 'You are quite right, Corporal.' He
pursed his lips, then said, 'Perhaps we should go over the mountains.'
It was something Tanner had thought about as well. Yet behind them
there was a range of snow-covered peaks, as much as six thousand feet high.
From the map - and Anna had confirmed this - it appeared to be a snow-covered
and largely barren wilderness, with no roads and a number of difficult mountain
lakes they would be forced to navigate round. Perhaps they could cross them
successfully and reach the valley beyond, but there was no knowing how long it
might take. 'Sir, I think we should sit tight and hold our nerve,' Tanner said.
'Jerry hasn't taken Sulheim's truck. It's still there. If we trek across the
mountains we'll lose more than another day.'
Chevannes was gazing out towards the farm, biting his
lip. Then, without another word, he left them and returned to the
seter.
'A real decisive one there,' said Sykes, once the
lieutenant was out of earshot.
'Oh, I don't know, Stan,' said Tanner. 'He was pretty
decisive yesterday when he ordered us to stay here. His problem is that he digs
his heels in when he shouldn't and not when he should. I've seen his type
before. Bloody brilliant officers in peacetime. They can run further than
anyone else, they're a damn good shot, they know all the drill, carry out
exercises to the letter. They always look spick and span. But when the fighting
starts, they're all over the place because the one thing they can't do is lead
men in battle. Real fighting isn't like practise fighting. It doesn't follow
the training manual. And golden boys, like Xavier bloody Chevannes, find out
they're not quite so bloody marvellous as they thought.'
'And they don't like being shown up by NCOs, hey,
Sarge?'
'Well, what I am supposed to do? Sit back and let him
make disastrous decisions?'
'No, I didn't mean that, Sarge. But it's why he hates
you. That's clear enough.'
'Yes,' said Tanner, spitting grit out of his mouth.
'Believe me, Stan, the feeling's mutual.'
The hours rolled by slowly. At around four, the German
troops left the farm, yet there was no movement from the church.
'What are they playing at, Sarge?'
'I've been trying to work that one out all day.'
'I mean, we've seen patrols go up into the mountains
but they've made no attempt to search the forest.'
'It's strange,' agreed Tanner. 'But I've been thinking
about that. I suppose they must be trying to save casualties, but I also think
they believe it'll be easier to take Sandvold alive in the open than in dense
forest. They're waiting for us to come to them.'
'Yes,' said Sykes, nodding. 'You're right, Sarge.'
'They're assuming we're still somewhere in this
valley,' Tanner went on. 'After all, we were seen by a number of Norwegians,
and although they've had recce aircraft out in force, they haven't spotted any
sign of us crossing the mountains. I suppose they think we'll have to show
ourselves soon and are waiting to pounce on us when we do.'
'They've been a bit bloody obvious about it.'
'I suppose they think we won't have seen the men in
the church. It's obvious they don't know where we are, just somewhere in the
j0ra valley. But put yourselves in their shoes. With every hour that passes
with no sign of
us,
doubt will be creeping into their minds. My hunch is they'll think we'll come
down tonight when it's dark.'
'And if we don't?'
'Hopefully they'll give up and bugger off.'
'And if they don't?'
'Don't know,
Stan. We think of something else.'
Shortly after six, three trucks of troops pulled into Uksum Farm. The
men jumped out and made a show of searching the entire settlement at Alstad
once more. A little under three hours later, they loaded up again and, with
much revving of engines, drove away in the direction of Lillehammer.
Chevannes appeared at the lookout shortly after.
'So they are leaving,' he said, triumph on his face. 'We set off as
soon as it is dark.'
'It's a trap, sir,' said Tanner. 'They've still got men in the church.'
Chevannes' expression changed. 'Are you sure, Sergeant?'
'Yes.' Tanner observed him. The only consolation, he thought, for the
enforced frustrating delay was the obvious discomfort it was causing the
Frenchman. 'As I said earlier, sir, we need to keep our nerve.'
Chevannes snorted, then sharply turned away.
Not long after, Anna joined them at the lookout. 'I've come in my role as
chief medical officer,' she said.
'Is that what you are, Miss?' said Tanner, grinning.
'Yes, and I want to know whether either of you has had any sleep.' 'I
have, Miss,' said Sykes. 'Took forty winks earlier this afternoon.'
'Sergeant?'
'Not today,' admitted Tanner.
'Then you must get some,' she told him. 'We need you fresh and alert.'
'Is that an order?'
'It is.' Anna smiled.
'And how about you, Miss?' asked Tanner. 'The lads are minding their
manners, I hope?'
'They've been most courteous.'
'What - that lot?' said Sykes. 'I don't believe it.'
'Well,' she said, 'they swear often, but they always apologize
afterwards.'
'It's because they're Yorkshiremen, Miss,' said Sykes. 'Me and the
sarge are from the south, but those lads are northerners. They're born with
filthy mouths. Can't help themselves.'
'I don't mind.' She laughed, then stood up to leave. 'Now remember,
Sergeant,' she said, 'sleep. It's very important.'
She was right, Tanner realized, and once she had gone, he lay back, his
pack as a pillow, and closed his eyes.
He was asleep in moments, despite the discomfort of his surroundings,
and by dawn, he felt refreshed; despite hunger, his head was clear. He watched
the sun rise over the mountains on the far side of the valley, casting a golden
light over the snow and dazzling him.
It was a little after three when he suddenly saw troop movements at the
farm. There were eight men, and soon after he heard the rumble of an engine
starting up.
Immediately bringing the binoculars to his eyes, he peered at the farm
and watched the troops disappear behind a shed. Soon after, a small truck he
had not noticed the day before, emerged and turned right on to the road,
heading south.
Tanner reported this to Chevannes. 'It could still be
a trap, though, sir.'