'Hello,' he whispered. 'What's going on here?'
Then he heard it. The faint, rhythmic thrum of aero-engines.
'Bombers,' he murmured. The sound of the approaching aircraft grew until it became a roar. Then, glancing up through the canopy, they glimpsed two dozen Stukas and a moment later the first aircraft began its dive, siren wailing, followed by another and another, as each hurtled down towards its target. Amid the screaming sirens and whine of the engines came the whistle of falling bombs and the rattle of machine-guns. The bombs detonated, cracking the air and rippling the ground so that Tanner could feel the vibrations even from where they were, nearly a mile behind.
Sykes nudged him. 'Couldn't have timed it better myself.'
'Get going now,' Tanner told him. 'I'll see you over there, by that big oak.' He pointed to a large tree roughly in line with their present position but behind the enemy column. 'Be as quick as you can.'
Sykes scampered off. Tanner unloaded his Bren magazines and laid them beside Hepworth. He put a hand on the private's shoulder. He liked the lad for all his bellyaching; they'd been through so much together in Norway and he hadn't let Tanner down yet. 'You'll be fine, Hep. When the explosions go off, wait a few seconds, then open fire. Just make sure you knock down as many as you can.'
'All right, Sarge.' He swallowed hard and Tanner saw that his hands were shaking as he moved the spare magazines.
Tanner patted Hepworth's back then set off, half crouching, half running, between the trees until he reached the large oak. There he stopped, put his binoculars in his haversack and took out his Aldis scope, carefully unwrapped it from its cloth, and fitted it to the pads on his rifle. He'd had it zeroed at four hundred yards, but the distance here was way less - maybe seventy. That meant adjusting the range drum and aiming a good deal lower than the main point of impact as indicated by the scope. He moved round the oak, found a cluster of brambles and positioned himself behind it but with enough of a view through the tangle of leaves and stems to pick out the two officers. Both were still watching the Stukas' attack. The bombs had been dropped, but Tanner heard the aircrafts' change of pitch and whine as they swooped and attacked with their machine-guns. He was certain they were targeting the French, rather than the British at Oisquercq and Tubize, but there was no doubt that D Company would be feeling the force of the attack. He hoped they were bearing up, and reminded himself that a soldier properly dug in had only a lucky direct hit to fear. And the enemy would want that bridge intact - they would have been careful where they dropped their loads.
Having reassured himself, he glanced at his watch, then saw Sykes coming towards him. 'How long have we got?'
'Two or three minutes.' He puffed out his cheeks. 'I hate the wait.'
'Got the grenades ready?'
Sykes patted his haversack - he'd undone the straps.
'Good,' said Tanner. 'There's only one way to do this.'
'Run?'
'Yes. There's plenty of trees and it's not far. We should be fine. Let's leave the motorcycles at the back alone, though. I'm going to make straight for those radio cars. You take the rear turreted one.'
'You don't think by sniping you'll make them realize we're behind them?'
'No - with the explosions and with Hep opening fire, they won't be able to tell what the hell's going on.'
The Stuka attack was lessening as aircraft flew away from the fray. The sound of machine-gun fire slackened. Tanner glanced at his watch again. 'Damn it, come on!' he muttered. Anxiety was etched across Sykes's face.
The first time-bomb exploded. Tanner saw the enemy soldiers flinch and brought his aim to the officer, whose head was still just visible among the swathe of men around him. He adjusted the distance, breathed in, held it and squeezed. The shot cracked loud and sharp among the trees, the butt of the rifle pressing back into his shoulder. The officer dropped, spraying blood. At that instant, Hepworth opened fire with the Bren. Sykes had already gone, but Tanner moved his aim to the second officer, who had initially ducked into the turret but had now poked his head out again. It was the last movement he made: Tanner pressed the trigger of his Lee-Enfield a second time.
Breathing out heavily, he took the rifle in his left hand and ran forward. Men were already scattered on the ground. Flitting between the trees, he sprinted forward. Ahead, Sykes was near the first armoured car. Movement - a soldier was hurrying back to the motorcycle and now grabbed the machine-gun. Tanner paused, pulled the rifle to his shoulder, drew back the bolt and fired as the German was swivelling the weapon towards Sykes.
Tanner sped forward. Sykes had clambered onto the back of the first armoured car. A crewman poked his head from the turret and Sykes brought down his rifle butt, jerking the man's head backwards against the circular steel rim. Then, with his teeth, Sykes pulled the pin from the grenade, dropped it inside and jumped away.
'Watch out!' yelled Tanner, as another soldier ran towards them, his pistol pointing from an outstretched arm. The grenade went off, knocking the German off- balance, and Tanner shot him at almost point-blank range, then ran on past, smashed another stunned soldier's head with a short, hard swing of his rifle butt, and leaped onto one of the radio cars as shells and bullets detonated inside the first vehicle. He dropped a grenade into the turret, then swung himself off the metal radio frame as the rear armoured car blew up.
'Bloody hell!' he said, as the blast swept over the radio car and shards of jagged metal clattered against it. Quickly, he scrambled to his feet and ran forward as the second grenade detonated, shrapnel rattling. Ahead, he saw dazed men getting to their feet, so he took another grenade, pulled the pin, hurled it towards them and leaped onto the next radio car. A driver raised his head and a pistol but Tanner ducked and the bullets fizzed uselessly over his head. Cocking his rifle, he stood up and fired, hitting the man in the neck. He went down amid a fountain of blood. As Tanner jumped onto the back of the vehicle, another German appeared round the side, aimed his rifle, then fell backwards with a cry as a rake of bullets from Hepworth's Bren hit him. Tanner threw another grenade into the car, jumped off and realized the Bren had stopped firing.
'Hep!' he shouted, as he crouched by the side of the fourth armoured vehicle. 'Hep! Why have you stopped firing?' With his rifle ready, pulled into his shoulder, he sprang out in front of the car only to meet Sykes with a German pistol in his hand. Ammunition inside the vehicle behind them was going off like fireworks, so they got down, waiting for the next blast.
'There's no one left to shoot, Sarge,' said Sykes. 'Look.'
