‘Oh – well, in that case, sir, can you tell them the CO will be here in half an hour?’
Tanner nodded, then settled back in his chair. He wondered what the colonel wanted. Perhaps he had news of a counter-attack after all. He finished his cigarette, put a billycan of water on the Primus in the kitchen below, then went to wake Peploe.
‘Sir,’ said Tanner, tapping on the door. ‘Wakey-wakey.’
Peploe stirred, then stretched.
‘Sorry to wake you, sir,’ said Tanner, ‘but the CO’s coming round shortly.’
Peploe stood up and opened the shutters, squinting as the sunlight poured in. His strawberry-blond mop of hair looked more tousled and unkempt than usual. Peploe might have grown up on a farm, never destined to be a soldier, but he had turned out to be a damn good one in Tanner’s opinion, a man who led by example but who was never too proud to take another’s advice. And he listened. How many officers had he known who shared that trait? Not many. Yet he also admired Peploe for his refusal to be something he was not. Peploe made his decisions on the basis of what he believed the situation demanded and by using common sense; he cared little for decorum or ceremony. Tanner approved of that. Parade-ground etiquette was all very well, but in battle there were other ways of ensuring discipline. Peploe never had any discipline problems because he had the trust and respect of his men.
‘Actually, you did me a favour. I was having a terrible dream. I’d been court-martialled and Mr Liddell was the judge.’ He grinned. ‘Can you imagine?’
‘I’d rather not.’
‘I didn’t tell you, Jack, but he did come to see me yesterday afternoon. He said you knocked him out.’
‘What did you say, sir?’
‘I asked him why. He told me he had been ordering a withdrawal and that you had countermanded that. He had insisted you pull back and then you knocked him out.’
Tanner said nothing.
‘So, anyway, I then asked him who he thought had fired that first shot and, after shifting his feet a moment, he confessed that it had been him. “That’s interesting,” I said, “because Tanner’s already given me a report and didn’t mention that it was you who had fired it.” He was quite surprised to hear that. “So Tanner saved you from any loss of face with me, and now you’ve spoiled it rather,” I said. He went on about how it was an offence to strike an officer, so I told him bluntly that, strictly speaking, it was true, but considering the outcome of the mission, it might be better if he kept quiet and forgot all about it.’
‘It is true, I’m afraid,’ said Tanner. ‘But I had to shut him up somehow. Short of killing him …’ He let the sentence trail. ‘Look, he was endangering us all, sir. We had to divert attention from Captain Pendlebury to give him any chance of getting through, but we also had to give Jerry some return fire before there was any remote chance of us pulling out safely.’
Peploe shrugged. ‘He wasn’t happy. He wanted to know how he was to get the respect of the men when you and I were always undermining him.’
‘He’s undermining himself,’ muttered Tanner.
‘That’s what I said. But he threatened to take it to Colonel Vigar. I’m just warning you, that’s all. It might be what the CO’s coming to talk to us about.’
But when the colonel arrived soon after, he greeted them affably and happily accepted the tea Tanner offered hm. As Tanner had learned in India, hot char, as they had called it, was as refreshing as cold water when the heat became too much. He had made it the way he had been taught on first arriving in India as a boy soldier: a generous amount of tea leaves, several spoons of sugar and half a can of condensed milk, all poured into the boiling water together and stirred.
‘Good man, Tanner,’ said Colonel Vigar, as Tanner passed him a chipped enamel mug.
‘And have a piece of this, sir,’ added Peploe, passing the colonel a small block wrapped in brown paper.
‘
Peploe grinned. ‘Tanner here thought of rather a good wheeze, actually, sir. He noticed Jerry was firing green flares at the transports coming over and that canisters were then being dropped. So we did the same yesterday at the edge of town. Worked a treat.’
‘Care for a beadie, sir?’ said Tanner, pulling out his packet of ‘
Vigar raised an eyebrow and took one. ‘Now you’re just showing off.’
‘We’re less taken with the
‘Did you just get chocolate and cigarettes or anything useful, Peploe?’
‘We mortared them with their mortar most of last night, sir,’ said Peploe, ‘and we’re now the proud owners of one Spandau and twelve more Schmeissers.’
‘What we really need is a flag, though, sir. Or something with which we can make a large swastika on the ground. Perhaps then we can get some more.’
Vigar nodded. ‘Could always use a sheet.’ He chuckled. ‘Good work, you two. I’ll tell the rest of the chaps to give it a go.’ He sat down in the armchair, had a gulp of tea, then said, ‘Anyway, I came over to see how you’re faring and to put you in the picture. Apart from the unfortunate loss of Captain Pendlebury, you seem to be all right, as far as I can see – keeping Jerry on his toes by the sound of it.’
‘We’re fine, sir. But feeling a bit frustrated, if I’m honest,’ said Peploe. ‘We might have got our hands on a few canisters but Jerry’s got most of them. Every day that passes, more men and supplies are flown in. We should be counter-attacking, sir. We’re never going to beat them staying put.’
‘All right, Peploe. I’ve been over to Brigade this morning and talked with the brigadier and the staff there. The brig’s being cautious because his orders were to protect the port and the airfield and he’s determined to do that. His dilemma is that he’s not sure how many paratroopers are out there, and yet our own ammunition is getting low. Furthermore, he’s had only intermittent contact with Creforce.’
‘What’s the news from there, sir?’ asked Tanner.
‘Mixed. The Mediterranean Fleet have seen off a seaborne invasion attempt – apparently only one caique managed to reach the island – but it sounds as though they’ve lost Maleme.’
‘Lost Maleme?’ said Peploe. ‘Then the Germans can fly in whatever they want! That’s a disaster, isn’t it?’
Vigar shrugged. ‘Not if they can get it back again. Rethymno is stable, though.’
Tanner shook his head and walked over to the window.
‘You’re not happy, CSM?’ said Vigar.
‘No, I’m bloody not, sir. We bloody well murdered them the first day. How come they’re still out there? How can we have lost Maleme? I just don’t understand it. Men armed with Brens and rifles can’t possibly be beaten by men with short-range sub-machine-guns. It’s not possible.’
Vigar sighed. ‘I don’t know, Tanner. And if it’s any consolation, I agree with you – we should be taking the attack to the enemy. Anyway, you’re moving from here, back to the south of the town. The brigadier is less worried about the west side now there are signs that the enemy is massing around the airfield. A group that landed further east has moved up and more parachuted into the area yesterday. He thinks the Greeks can handle this side of the town on their own again.’
‘Back to our old positions?’
‘Yes. Tonight at twenty-two hundred hours, if you would. The brig thinks the western lot might move across to join the rest around the airfield. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders landed in Tymbaki a few days ago and are going to move up from the south to join us, so we’ve got some reinforcements coming too.’ He finished his tea, then pushed himself up out of the armchair. ‘Well, thanks for the refreshments. I’ll see myself out.’
At the door, however, he paused. ‘By the way,’ he said, turning back towards them, ‘your new subaltern, Mr Liddell. What’s your take on him, Peploe?’
Peploe glanced at Tanner, then back at the brigadier. ‘Early days, sir.’
‘Hmm. Came to see me this morning. Gave him pretty short shrift, I’m afraid. It’s your company, John. If you want to give him the chop when this is over, you do that. A chap like that can always be shuffled off to become some staff wallah. I’ll leave that one with you. But, Tanner, I don’t ever want to hear of such a complaint again. Clear?’
‘Yes, sir.’
