Crusader (A Novel of WWII Tank Warfare) by Jack Murray (important of reading books .TXT) 📗

nodded towards Lister and then turned to leave thetent.

-

‘What’s going on over there,’ asked Arthur glancing towards alarge tent in the centre of the leaguer.

Danny turned in the direction Arthur was gazing. He saw ColonelLister with his senior officers as well as the lieutenants emerging from thetent in a group. The colonel was holding a piece of paper. Danny turned toArthur and shrugged.

‘No one seems too excited. I don’t think it means we’re attackingJerry tomorrow. We’d have had more advance warning than this.’

‘You think?’ said Arthur sceptically. Danny smiled, well used tohis friend’s amused cynicism. The two men had long since given up wondering iftomorrow would be the day that they finally shipped out to engage the enemy.They were into the third month in North Africa. The most dangerous enemy they’dfaced was flies.

‘What do you reckon, then?’ asked Arthur.

‘We’ll soon find out,’ suggested Danny, as he saw the men headingin their direction. Lieutenant Turner whispered something to Sergeant Reed.Seconds later the order went out asking the regiment to congregate in thecentre of the leaguer.

Danny and Arthur strolled forward until they were with Phil Lawrence.Arthur’s raised eyebrows were met with a shrug by Lawrence. He’d no ideaeither.

‘Hope they don’t cancel my holiday in the South of France,’ saidArthur to Danny. ‘I was looking forward to that.’

‘So were the ladies of Monte Carlo.’

‘I’m a happily married man, I’ll have you know.’

‘My point exactly,’ replied Danny.

Colonel Lister waited a couple of minutes. Then, after decidingeveryone was there, he started to speak.

‘We’ve had some communication from Cairo, and I suspect it meansthe wait may soon be over.’

There was a loud cheer at this, and Lister waited a few momentsfor order to be restored.

‘There are a number of items to communicate. The army in NorthAfrica will now be known as the Eighth Army. I suspect our enemy will stillthink of you as I do, the Desert Rats.’

This brought another cheer from the assembled men.

‘General Wavell, after performing the remarkable feat of kickingthe Italians out of Libya, will move role to Commander-in-Chief in India.Replacing him is General Sir Claude Auchinleck who will be ably assisted, Iknow, by General Sir Alan Cunningham.’

‘Missed out again, Sir Daniel,’ whispered Arthur.

‘It’s all political, these days,’ replied Danny. ‘you have to knowthe right people.’

‘We will have more men, more tanks, more artillery. This can meanonly one thing,’ continued Lister. ‘I can tell you that General Auchinleck hasalready instructed his staff to finish the plan for relieving our comrades atTobruk and clearing Rommel and his army out of Cyrenaica.’

Amidst the cheers Arthur glanced at Danny and Phil Lawrence andasked ‘Where?’

Lawrence shrugged. Danny whispered back, ‘Eastern Libya.’

‘Why didn’t he bloody say that, then?’

Lister seemed to have finished his announcement. He turned andwent back to his tent followed by his officers.

‘Did you see the look on Aston’s face?’ said Lawrence.

‘Didn’t look happy,’ agreed Arthur. Looking more serious he turnedto Danny, ‘Watch out for him. He’s a bad ‘un. He’s your troop commander?’

Danny nodded, but he added that he didn’t agree with theirassessment of the captain.

‘His brother is connected to my village. He was a war hero fromthe last lot. I don’t know why everyone has such a grudge against him. Give hima chance, I say.’

‘Remember what Lieutenant Turner said about him, or didn’t say?I’m just telling you Danny, watch out for him. You should hear what CaptainLongworth thinks about him when he’s out of ear shot. I don’t think the othersmuch like him.’

Danny had heard such rumours. He’d chosen to disregard hearsayuntil he could see with his own eyes what type of man the captain was. However,for all his defence of Aston, Danny also had the impression that Sergeant Reedwas not keen on their squadron leader either. If this were the case, then itwas something to be concerned about. Reed was someone that Danny trustedimplicitly.

The late afternoon sky was beginning to turn from blue into agreyish purple. It was still hot but noticeably less vicious than it had been afew weeks previously. The flies didn’t care. They tortured the men on acontinuous basis.

‘I hope Auchinleck and Cunningham know what they’re doing,’ saidLawrence. He didn’t want to raise the spectre of Rommel. It was there, though,hanging over their thoughts whenever any conversation about the leadership ofthe Allies arose.

Such though were banished in an instant when Arthur was around.

‘They can put Tommy Trinder in charge for all I care. Doubt hecould be any worse than the jokers we had before.’

 12

 

Gambut(50 kilometres east of Tobruk), Libya, October 1941

‘That’s…’

‘Yes,’ replied Overath clanking up at Manfred. ‘It is.’

Erwin Rommel had just stepped out of a high-sided armoured vehicleaccompanied by a number of other senior officers. Greeting Rommel was the tallslender figure of Neumann-Silkov the commander of the 15th PanzerDivision. Neumann-Silkov was around fifty years of age with a prominent noseand skin stretched tightly over his face. He saluted Rommel and two other accompanyingofficers. One of the officers seemed familiar.

Lieutenant General Crüwelllooked like a bank manager. That was until you stared into his eyes. The hardintensity spoke of a man who knew war. Like Rommel he’d fought in the GreatWar. Like Rommel he’d been decorated and promoted. He was now in charge of theAfrika Korps, second in command only to Rommel.

‘You know Crüwell?’ asked Overath.

‘I haven’t had him round for dinner,’ replied Manfred with a grin,for which he was rewarded with a dig in the ribs. By the time Manfred andOverath had finished this exchange the officers had already moved towardsNeumann-Silkov’s tent.

All around this scene, Panzer crews pretended to be working ontheir tanks. In fact they were all watching the spectacle of the most seniorcommanders in North Africa, together in one place.

Manfred had met Neumann-Silkov briefly on a couple of occasions.Seeing all of these men together was thrilling for Manfred and a reminder thatthe business of war was conducted not just on the battlefield. It could be wonor lost long before the enemy was ever engaged.

With something approaching embarrassment, Manfred realised he knewlittle of the men he would soon face in battle, even less about their generals.The quality