As Andy and the others prepared to leave, another figure was walking up Freeman Street to meet a contact and be smuggled onto a trawler. He was now growing a beard and dressed in trawlermen’s gear, with a duffle bag over his shoulder. As he neared the Shaolin Hall, Andy and the other two RAF men emerged and came face to face with him. Despite the new whiskers Andy recognised him immediately. “Enderby!” he exclaimed. Startled for a moment, Enderby turned but Andy grabbed him by the arm as he tried to move away. Then Enderby exploded into action. He immediately swung back and brought his free arm around in a move to bring the edge of his palm chopping into Andy’s neck. Andy managed to parry the blow before it hit him in the neck. Braidley and Rawson moved in to restrain Enderby. The action aroused the interest of nearby trawlermen. They believed that they saw three men attacking one of their own and rushed in to Enderby’s defence. “He’s wanted by the police!” shouted Andy but that didn’t influence the trawlermen. The other martial arts students were coming out of the hall and saw fellow students under attack. They went to the rescue. The burly trawlermen found themselves falling back under flying kicks. Other trawlermen raced across the street to join in. It became a melee. Enderby tried to escape but Andy and Braidley kept him in the fray.
Suddenly, there was the clanging of the bell on a police car as the police appeared on the scene. The tempo of conflict suddenly slackened and some trawlermen started to leave. In the distraction, Enderby landed a kick in Braidley’s crotch and Braidley bent over. A nearby trawlerman had taken a swing at Braidley and instead brought a ham-sized fist against the side of Enderby’s head and felled him with one blow. Andy fell with Enderby but was able to let go and roll clear. Enderby was then encircled so that he could not escape. A police sergeant pushed through and demanded to know what was going on. FO Braidley then took the role of spokesman, showed his identity card, explaining who he was and that they were trying to apprehend a person wanted by the police. Looking around the group, the police sergeant quickly summed up the situation. “All right, anybody hurt?” he asked. None were seriously hurt and he got shakes of the head. “Right, let’s say there was a misunderstanding about this. You lot clear off before I change my mind.” Noticing and knowing Mr Lee, he said, “Mr Lee, would you mind staying behind, please? I’d appreciate a statement on behalf of your students.” Mr Lee bowed his head and waited. Then he turned to Flying Officer Braidley and said, “We’ll take this man into custody but we’d like you three from the RAF to come down to the station so that we can get statements from you. Enderby got groggily to his feet and was then handcuffed and put into the back seat of the police car with a policeman on either side. Andy retrieved Enderby’s duffle bag and gave it to one of the policemen. Mr Lee gave a statement to the police sergeant who asked if he could call in to the police station on the morrow to sign a typed statement. He gave his agreement and went back to lock up the hall. The sergeant then asked Braidley to follow them to the station in his car. After a few minutes Braidley’s car appeared and pulled up. The sergeant then got into the police car and both vehicles drove off.
At the police station, the recovered Enderby protested that he was not Enderby and had documents to prove that he was someone else. He was made to empty his pockets and his duffle bag was searched. A passport showed that he was William Redfern, born in Dagenham, Essex. He also had a Seamen’s Union membership card. It looked fairly new and he explained that he had lost the original one at sea. The passport looked well-worn. The police sergeant told Enderby, alias Redfern, that he would be held overnight pending a check on his identity. Statements were taken from the three RAF persons, Andy adding to his statement his previous contact with the man he knew as Bill Enderby and identifying the prisoner as the same person. The RAF men were then allowed to go and they drove back to RAF West Sanby.
The police sergeant checked back on the ‘Wanted’ files and found the one for ‘Bill Enderby’. It confirmed Corporal Hill’s statement. If the person they had arrested was in fact this Enderby then he was in serious trouble. The sergeant noted that arresting police had to notify MI5. He dialled the number and spoke to the person on duty. The duty person thanked the sergeant and said that they would have someone there by morning.
During the night, Oleg Berin reviewed his situation and considered it unlikely that he would be able to maintain his English identity and that MI5 would have a fair idea of his origins. He knew too much that would be of help to the British Intelligence Service. Like all operatives, he had a tooth that had been especially treated to contain a ‘last resort’. He wasn’t prepared to take that step yet and considered the possibility of escaping custody.
The prisoners
