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

Too many easy victories in the past had left him unpreparedagainst someone of genuine ability. The two men circled one another. Dannynoted that Harry no longer had his fists clenched. This may have been out ofrespect for Danny or, perhaps, recognition he’d gone too far.

They clashed again. This time Danny was ready for any move Harrytried. Similarly, Harry was wise to Danny’s youthful power allied to technique.A minute of grappling for advantage resulted in neither man gaining an edge.Harry was breathing hard. Danny felt sure that if he kept the pressure on, he’dsoon gain the advantage.

At this point Reed saw Lister nod. Lister had seen the contest waslikely to end soon. It was time to end what had been an evenly matched contest.Lister did not want to see a soldier who had already seen action over thesummer suffer another defeat. The sergeant stepped forward and the twocombatants relaxed their pose. Each had a rueful grin on his face. Danny feltrelief. He’d wanted the fight to end; this felt fair. Honours even.

‘Sorry, mate, the name’s Harry Cornwell,’ said Harry holding outhis hand.

‘No need, I’m Danny. Danny Shaw,’ replied Danny, gripping theoutstretched hand.

‘You can handle yourself, Dan,’ commented Harry as he brushed sandoff his body.

Danny laughed, ‘You too, Harry. No one’s done that to me since Iwas a kid.’

‘You’re still a kid, Shaw,’ growled Sergeant Reed at Danny. ‘Getyour gear and fall in line.’

This was clearly not a request and Danny suspected that patience wasnot the sergeant’s best quality. He jumped to it immediately and fell inalongside Arthur.

From the side of his mouth Arthur said, ‘Well done, kid. Anotherten minutes you’d have ‘ad ‘im.’

‘No talking in line. Attention,’ barked Sergeant Reed. Behind himthe two officers had arrived to meet the new men. The two men walked along theline of the new arrivals.

Finally, they moved back to stand alongside Reed. The sergeantordered the men to stand at ease. The group moved as one. Reed nodded.

‘Welcome to El Alamein,’ said the lieutenant-colonel. ‘My name is Lister.As you can see, I am your commanding officer. I won’t lie to you, we’ve had itpretty rough. The men here have been in combat almost non-stop for months.We’re up against a determined enemy. The German soldier certainly presents agreater challenge than many of the Italians we have faced. But they are menalso. They are beatable. You will help us defeat them. And make no mistake,defeat them we shall.’

Lister finished his speech and ordered Reed to disperse the men.Danny and Arthur fell out and followed the others to their stations.

-

An hour later the men who had arrived in the convoy with Dannyreassembled in the centre of the garrison. Danny sat down with Arthur and CorporalPhil Lawrence in a semi-circle along with a hundred or so of the new arrivals.They were all part of the tank regiment. Some would be in tanks, others, likeHamilton, would form part of the echelon that supplied the tanks with fuel,food, water and ammunition.

A lieutenant stood in front of the new arrivals. The lieutenantwas older than Danny but not much. The sun had reddened his skin, but there wasno mistaking him for anything other than a British officer. The impression wasconfirmed when he began to speak.

‘Don’t think he’s been to the Dog and Duck lately,’ whisperedArthur.

‘Shh,’ grinned Danny as they listened to the lieutenant. He wasstanding in front of a map showing Egypt and the eastern region of Libya,Cyrenaica.

‘Gentlemen, welcome to your new home. If we do our job well,hopefully it won’t be a long stay. Sadly, we’ve some unwelcome guests that needto be ejected.’

There was a ripple of laughter.

‘My name is Lieutenant Turner. I’m with the Royal Tank Regiment.The map behind me shows you were we are.’ Turner used a stick to indicate aspot in the map.

‘You may have noticed we’re in the desert. What we lack in waterand amusement is more than compensated for by the number of flies. The goodnews is that there are not so many of them in the middle of the desert. The badnews is that’s where we’ll meet Jerry. So if the flies don’t get you…’

The lieutenant left the rest of the line unsaid as the menlaughed. It was clear the young lieutenant was popular and had a good way withsoldiers. Lieutenant Colonel Lister was standing at the side looking on. Heliked Turner and the easy authority he exuded. He glanced at the captain besidehim and wished these leadership qualities were shared by all of his officers.

‘The western desert is not full of sand and dunes. Forget BeauGeste or Laurel and Hardy. It’s an arid combination of sand and rock. Did Imention the heat? This is not summer in Blackpool, believe me. As much as thedays are hot, the nights can be bitterly cold.’

Turner’s stick wandered along the Mediterranean coast from ElAlamein westward to Libya. He indicated a line running down from theMediterranean near the border between Egypt and Cyrenaica, ‘This is the HalfayaPass. Running south is an escarpment facing Egypt which is around six hundredfeet high. The pass is the route through from Egypt to the enemy. Notsurprisingly, Jerry is keen that we don’t come through. Hence, it’s other name,Hellfire Pass.’

Danny had heard mention of the Hellfire Pass. Now he could see whyit would have been so named. He felt a prickle on his skin that was nothing todo with the flies or the heat.

‘You can go first through there, Danny-boy,’ whispered Arthur.

‘Age before beauty, old man,’ replied Danny.

‘On the border, the Italians have made a wire fence. Not quitesure what it was meant to do. It’ll hardly stop a tank. The minefields will,though. To get there from here, we have a coastal track. I won’t call it aroad. To our south we have the Qattara Depression. This is a salt plain whichis impassable. It runs from Alamein down the escarpment to a great sand sea. Ithink this is what we think of when we hear the word desert. Light vehicles candrive over it but not heavy armour. This means Jerry will not be able to come