hand.
Fanner glared at him, then loosened his grip.
'Jesus, Jack,' spluttered Blackstone, 'you never could take a joke.'
'Not from you, you bastard.' He noticed the MP35 slung over Blackstone's shoulder. 'What gives you the right to carry that like some bloody trophy?'
'I see you've got another,' he answered, straightening his battle-blouse.
'Yes, unlike you, I got it the hard way.'
'It's a perk of my position, Jack, you know that. And let me tell you something else. It's not clever to go around threatening warrant officers.' He eyed Tanner carefully. 'You were lucky this morning - very lucky. But that matter hasn't gone away, you know. Rape is rape, whoever you are. And now you're showing violent tendencies towards a superior. It won't look good - it won't look good at all. And I've witnesses.' He nodded to Slater and Sykes.
'Don't think I'm one of your lackeys,' said Sykes. 'Come on, Sarge,' he said to Tanner, pushing past the two men. 'Let's leave them to guard this lot. We've got proper soldiering to do.'
Slater grabbed Sykes's shoulder and swung him round. 'Watch your lip, son,' he said. 'You and the good sergeant 'ere might 'ave been leading charmed lives but it don't pay to push your luck.'
'Let go of me,' said Sykes, wriggling free.
'Leave it, Stan,' said Tanner, ushering Sykes away. He turned back to Blackstone and Slater. 'Trust me,' he said, 'it's you two who're pushing your luck. Eventually you'll slip up and I'll be waiting when you do.'
As they walked back towards the square, they were hailed by Lieutenant Peploe. 'There you are,' he said, as they hurried over. The air was now heavy with gunfire and the sound of battle - not only from the south and west of the village but to the north as well. Dull crumps and faint machine-gun sallies were coming from a few miles away.
'Bloody hell,' said Tanner, looking northwards, 'that's Duisans, isn't it?'
'And east of there too.' Peploe rubbed his eyes and cheeks. 'Look, we've got to move into position, back up the road towards the water-tower. Then we'll dig in around the hedgerows along the edge of the village.'
'All right, sir, let's go. Shall we leave the trucks?'
'Yes, they'll be safer here, I hope.'
Tanner called to the rest of the platoon, who had been waiting by the vehicles, and they hurried back up the road that led to Berneville. Past the last of the houses, up ahead, they saw an anti-tank crew bringing their gun into position against the bank at the side of the road, men unloading shells from the carrier beside them. Away to their left, from the direction of the wood, shots rang out, while behind and to the east, guns continued to boom intermittently.
A short way forward from the anti-tank crew, a hedge extended either side of the road.
'Is anyone dug in along here?' Peploe asked one of the DLI gunners.
'No, sir. We've got forward posts in the wood but that's
it.'
'All right,' said Peploe. 'Cooper, take your section and position them to the left of the road, behind the hedge. Ross and Sykes, your boys take the right. We're missing a few men now so we'll have to spread out a bit - five or six yards apart. I want one Bren by the road here opposite the gun and the other two at the end of our defensive lines giving covering fire across the whole of our front. Sykes, your section can be at the end. Ross, I want you a dozen yards in from the road. We need to watch out for any enemy infiltrating from the west but our primary task is to defend the village from the south.' He cleared his throat, then turned to Tanner. 'Happy with those dispositions, Sergeant?'
'Good - all clear? Then let's go.'
As the men shuffled along the hedgerows, the drone of aircraft thrummed away to the east. Tanner counted a dozen black crosses against the pale evening sky. In no time they were directly overhead, and then they were gone, this time to bomb some other target. To the north, fighting continued, but at Warlus, although desultory mortars continued to hit the village, it was suddenly quieter to the south and east. Tanner moved along the line, checking the men were in position correctly and that those manning the Brens had enough ammunition.
They had lost four men during the attack on the battery, all killed, leaving Sykes's section only eight men strong and the other two with nine each. The shortfall had been made up by men from Company Headquarters, which left himself, Peploe and Smailes.
'All right, Mac?' he said, as he reached McAllister, manning the Bren at the end of their small line.
'No, Sarge. I'm bloody hungry.'
'Me an' all,' agreed Bell.
'And me,' said Tanner. He'd barely thought about food all day but now he remembered they hadn't eaten since morning. His stomach immediately began to grumble. 'Try not to think about it,' he said, to himself as much as to them.
And he was tired. For the past few hours he had barely had time to think of anything but the task in hand. Now, as the battle appeared to have died down and they lay waiting patiently, his remaining energy was ebbing. He found Peploe by the road, took out one of Timpke's cigarettes and lit it, inhaling the smoke deeply. Dew was falling. The day's warmth was seeping away as rapidly as his energy.
'Where's the rest of the platoon, sir?' he asked.
'I'm not quite sure,' Peploe admitted. 'Somewhere to the east of the village. I'm afraid we're a bit of a scratch force here. Two companies of the Eighth DLI never left Duisans - there were some enemy forces to the north-west
