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

you speaks English. If you don’t tell me, I’ll shoot yourfriend.’

 ‘Stop!’ shouted Manfred in English. ‘What sort of animal areyou?’

Manfred heard a noise of disapproval from Fischer. However, he wasseconds away from launching himself at the big South African. Then the SouthAfrican began to laugh. He took the gun away from Kohler’s head.

Manfred looked first at the South African and then Fischer. He wasconfused. Fischer wasn’t. He was shaking his head. Without knowing why Manfredfelt like an idiot. He felt his anger growing. He glared at the South African.

Coetzee, meanwhile, was putting bullets into his gun. Manfred felta wave of humiliation as he realised the South African had held an empty gun toKohler’s head. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Fischer. He didn’t need to.The heavy sigh from Fischer sealed Manfred’s mortification.

Gun loaded, Coetzee pointed it at Manfred.

‘Come with me.’

‘Where?’ asked Manfred, as if he had a choice. The question wasacademic, and Manfred realised it probably had not added to his credibility inthe eyes of Fischer at that moment.

The South African looked at him. Under the cap, Manfred saw a pairof blue eyes study him shrewdly. Manfred suspected he was thinking the samething that Fischer was at that moment: this boy is an idiot. Manfred reddenedunder the intensity of the South African’s gaze and the knowledge that Fischerwas present to witness his folly.

‘What about them?’ said Manfred, desperate to gain some sense ofcontrol in a situation that was well beyond this.

It was clear the sergeant was becoming irritated by the youngGerman. The reply was curt.

‘I don’t shoot unarmed men. They have water. Food. They can walk.’

This ended the discussion. The sergeant’s patience had worn out;Manfred realised he had no choice but to go. He glanced at his companions andshrugged. Fischer nodded. Kohler ignored him. He had his own shame to dealwith. Manfred didn’t envy him the company of Fischer while they tried to findtheir way back home. Fischer sensed Manfred’s unease and said, in German, ‘Theywon’t kill you. Don’t tell them anything.’

Manfred nodded as he walked forward with the South African.

He heard Fischer say as he left, ‘We’ll be all right. I’ve beenthrough this before.’

A few moments later Manfred was climbing into the jeep. Fischer andKohler watched the jeep head over the ridge. Kohler looked to Fischer.

‘We walk then?’

Fischer shook his head, ‘No. I want to try something, first.’

-

The speed of the jeep felt strange to Manfred after so many monthsin a slow-moving tank. Ahead of them lay an empty space that stretched for amile or so ending in another ridge. Manfred suspected the Allies were stationedjust behind there. He could see some dark shapes moving around.

The jeep drove along the hard sand. Manfred was wedged in betweentwo men. Most of the men in the jeep were older than him. If their looks wereanything to go by, they were hardened fighters. The leathery skin and the resolutenessin the eyes told a story and issued a warning to the young German. They werenot to be messed with.

The sergeant, sitting in the front, turned around and held out anopen cigarette packet to Manfred. It seemed a genuine offer, so Manfred tookone and the soldier to his right who had been smoking helped light him up.

‘You learned English at school then?’

Manfred thought it unlikely that the future of the Afrika Korpshinged on his answer. However, he was caught between being too friendly andbeing like a surly young man. He’d also heard that the Allies generally playedfair. In fact, it was a regular story in the camp that both sides displayedcourtesy towards prisoners and the wounded. Manfred guessed he was about tofind out if this was true.

 ‘Yes, at school.’

This seemed to satisfy the sergeant and they travelled along insilence for a few minutes. The open-aired jeep allowed no escape from the sunbut the breeze in Manfred’s face cooled him a little. He sensed the sergeantwas about to speak to him again. His head turned slightly to the side and hesaid, ‘We’re South African. All from Johannesburg. Where are you from?’

‘Near Heidelberg.’

‘Don’t know it,’ said Coetzee.

‘There’s a university there,’ said the soldier driving the jeep.Manfred couldn’t see his face, but he sounded younger than the others. Therewas a stripe on his arm.

‘You were at university?’ asked Coetzee.

Once again, Manfred saw no reason to avoid answering.

‘No, I joined the army.’

‘Bet you wished you’d gone to study instead,’ laughed Coetzee. Theothers laughed also. Manfred smiled. He was now a prisoner of war, caught in aninhospitable land soon after witnessing the horrible death of his comrades.Yes, right now university seemed a more pleasant option. Not that there wouldhave been any choice. All he’d done was anticipate a demand that would havebeen made of him anyway. As he sat with these tough South Africans, Manfredrealised that his country would need more and more young people like him ifthey were to win.

They reached the crest of the ridge. On the other side Manfred sawa number of tanks and what looked like a brigade of armoured cars. There wasalso some artillery. It was clear that they had been hit by these tanks.Manfred cursed the fool’s errand they’d been sent on. The jeep pulled upoutside a tent and Coetzee hopped out. He pointed to Manfred.

‘Come with me.’

As there seemed nothing better to do at that moment and the tentwas potentially his destination, Manfred wasted no time in climbing out. Atleast he would be in the shade. Oddly, he felt quite calm. He’d neverconsidered what it would be like to be a prisoner of war. The possibility hadseemed so remote. Insofar as he’d given any thought to death, he’d alwaysconsidered this would be the most likely way his war would end. Even beingwounded seemed, to Manfred, an abstract idea. It was life or death. Anything inbetween was intangible.

The sergeant led him into the tent. Inside was a man in hisforties. Manfred did not recognise the rank but as he was in a tent and twicehis age. He was probably the senior officer.

‘Sir,’ said Coetzee, ‘We found a number of Panzer crew whosurvived