Blood of Honour

almost down to the beach, although the narrow strip of shingle was hidden by one last shallow cliff. That, too, would help.

A track from the monastery led down to the beach, winding through the folds and between rocky outcrops. Sykes had laid two trip wires along it, one near the monastery, and the other a little further down. There was no guarantee the enemy would use the track but Sykes for one had felt it worth laying some charges in case. Elsewhere, at intervals all the way down to the beach, they had placed slabs of explosive, which, as enemy troops neared, would be fired at by Tanner, the bullet causing the highly volatile charge to blow. It was a trick they had first used to good effect in Norway; Sykes had called them ‘Jelly Surprises’, although, as Tanner had pointed out, in this case it was not gelignite but TNT.

‘Don’t matter, sir,’ Sykes had said. ‘The effect’s the same, so they’re still Jelly Surprises as far as I’m concerned.’

‘As you like, Stan,’ Tanner told him. ‘Just so long as they kill lots of Jerries – that’s all that matters.’

While Liddell and Vaughan had been sent down to the beach to keep watch for the submarine, the rest of the men had been positioned over a comparatively wide area covering the approach to the beach. Their instructions were to hold fire until the last moment, and to make the most of what limited rounds they had left; some had barely more than the ten in the breeches of their rifles.

And there was one further reason for taking up positions down towards the coast. They had reckoned that the enemy would head first for the monastery. Approaching the place, then searching every part of every building, would take Balthasar’s men time. Precious time.

Beside Tanner, Alopex chuckled. ‘You were right, my friend. Look.’

‘Good,’ said Tanner, as he watched the columns now deploy into a more open formation. Men were scampering forward, off the road, moving to encircle the entire monastery. ‘Jerry can take as long as he likes.’

Minutes passed. From the monastery they heard shouts, orders being barked.

Alopex chuckled again. ‘They’ll be furious.’

Tanner and Peploe had urged Alopex and his men to leave, to get away while they had the chance, but the Cretan kapitan had refused. ‘I might never have a better chance to kill that son of a whore,’ he had said. ‘I am not going anywhere until this is over, and neither are my men.’

Both Tanner and Peploe had not argued further – after all, they could use four extra rifles – but it worried Tanner that the Cretans might not be able to get away.

‘Don’t worry,’ said Alopex. ‘We can always lie low until nightfall. In any case, we might have killed them all by then.’

Perhaps, but a more likely scenario was that it would be they who were dead, rather than the Germans. Tanner lit a cigarette and saw his hands were shaking. He wanted the enemy to take as long as possible, but he also wished the fighting would begin. He would be fine then, adrenalin dispelling any nerves. He looked at his watch – it was now after four o’clock – then glanced back at the sea, deep and blue and peaceful. Where was that submarine? ‘Come on, you bugger,’ he muttered to himself.

They continued to watch the Germans search the monastery. It seemed as though one platoon had been sent to encircle the walls while the other was there to carry out the search. Occasional shouts, but otherwise nothing. More minutes passed, but eventually they heard orders being called and saw the troops around the outside of the monastery begin picking their way down through the animal pastures, then the fruit and vegetable garden below. Soon after, the men searching the monastery emerged, assembling outside the main entrance.

‘Go on,’ said Tanner. ‘You just walk right on down that track.’

‘What would you do?’ Alopex asked him. ‘If you were Balthasar?’

‘I’m not sure. I think I’d use the track to take me away from the monastery because it’s so obviously easier than jumping down off those terraces. But then I’d move into open formation.’

‘Looks like our man thinks the same as you,’ said Alopex.

They watched now as Balthasar ordered his men forward down the steep track that led from the entrance towards the coast. The lieutenant followed, walking slowly, binoculars to his eyes.

‘Come on, come on,’ said Tanner. He had stood over Sykes as he had set the trip and knew exactly where it was – tied between a young cypress and a fence post beneath the monastery terrace. The lead section was now just yards away.

‘They’re going to hit it,’ grinned Alopex.

Tanner held his breath. Just a couple more steps.

A flash of flame and a deafening boom, and the leading men were blown to pieces, others thrown high into the air along with a fountain of stone, smoke and grit. The report resounded off the mountains, and even on their rock Tanner and Alopex felt the ground tremble. Immediately the enemy hit the ground, diving for cover. A couple of Rangers rifle shots rang out but that was all. Good, thought Tanner, they’ve listened. The men were using their heads.

But as the dust began to settle he saw the men behind the explosion start to get up and try to take cover. With his scope ready on his rifle, Tanner peered through the lens, spotting a crouching figure clutching a machine- gun. He fired and saw the man drop, then aimed again at another darting figure, but this time missed. He cursed – they could not afford to waste a single bullet. And where the hell was Balthasar? Vanished.

‘That must be ten less to worry about at least,’ said Alopex. ‘Only fifty to go.’

‘Just keep watching,’ said Tanner. He wished they still had the machine-gun, but they had left that with Hanford at Yerakari. Men were darting between the rocks, the vetch and gorse. It was hard to get a bead, but Tanner now saw several men scampering near to the first block of TNT. It was perhaps still a hundred yards away, but through his scope he could see it well enough. Focusing on it, he saw a blurred figure move behind it and squeezed the trigger. Another ball of flame erupted into the sky and as the blast subsided they heard a man screaming.

‘Shall we say forty-seven now?’ said Alopex.

The enemy seemed to take to the ground after that. Shots rang out, bullets zipping and whining off the rock, but the advance for the moment seemed to have been stopped dead. Strain as he might, Tanner could not see any movement at all.

‘They’ve gone to ground,’ he said. Then, leaving Alopex, he clambered across the rock to speak to Peploe.

But the captain was not there. Desperately Tanner looked around, spotted Sykes and saw his friend point to the sea: the long, narrow, grey shape of a submarine lay a short distance from the shore.

Thank God, he thought, then realized with a sinking heart that any German machine-gun could make mincemeat of them as they swam and rowed out to the waiting vessel. He looked around and saw Peploe again, running between the rocks and gorse. A shot rang out and Peploe ducked, then scurried on until he was clambering up the rock once more.

‘Can you believe it?’ he said breathlessly. ‘The sub’s actually here.’

‘But the men can’t go out to it yet, sir. They’ll be massacred.’ Peploe’s face fell. ‘How much longer do you think we can keep this lot at bay?’

Tanner scratched his forehead. ‘It’s their machine-guns that are the problem. We need to pin those down.’ He thought a moment, then said, ‘Sir, I’ve had an idea. Send Sykes over here – he’s got more ammo than anyone else – then pull the rest of the men back. When you’re nearing the cliff over the beach, fire off a couple of shots. That way, Jerry will think we’ve all pulled back. Then, when they start moving forward again, Stan and I will set off the rest of the Jelly Surprises, spray the bastards with MP fire and grenades, then make a dash for it. We’ve a cracking little redoubt here – we can see any Jerry that moves forward or either side of us.’

Peploe thought a moment, rubbing his chin. ‘Seems awfully risky for you two. I’m not sure, Jack.’

‘Have you got a better idea, sir?’

‘Well, no, I can’t say I have.’

‘Sir, this way we might just get rid of nearly the whole bloody lot of ’em. One thing’s for sure, though: we won’t be able to get away while those MGs are still operating and I doubt we’ll be able to hold them until nightfall either. This just might give us a chance.’

Peploe sighed. ‘All right. You’re a brave man, Jack. I’m not sure Sykes will thank you for this.’

‘His fault for nabbing all that ammo.’

Reluctantly, Alopex now agreed to fall back with his men and the others, swapping places with Sykes, who