The Shadow of War by Jack Murray (latest ebook reader txt) 📗

older; when youare better able to understand them; when you are able to feel what you shouldhave felt then: the horror and the sorrow.

‘Thisis it boys,’ said Gerhardt.

‘Notquite,’ pointed out Christian. ‘Still a few hours to go. This is hardly aspeedboat, or hadn’t you noticed?’

Severalhats started to beat the laughing ‘Professor’ Christian over the head. The goodhumour in the group was now fully restored. They all leant against the railingsand allowed a gentle sea breeze to lick their faces. Whatever the future held,they wanted to enjoy these last few moments of peace.

‘Nervous?’asked Gerhardt.

‘Yes,’replied Manfred. ‘You.’

‘Yes.’

Silencereturned not just to the group but along the deck asthe young men watched the ship slowly make its way towards a land where many ofthem would die in agony.

-

Manfredtook a drag of the cigarette. He had never smoked until he joined officertraining. Everyone else was smoking, even Gerhardt. He tried to like it butcould not understand the appeal. He was sat on his hammock, his friends allaround.

Everyonewas laughing. The mood had relaxed. The prospect of land meant war and possibledeath, but for Sepp it meant they would be off the water at long last. This wasan immense relief.

‘Youreally can’t swim?’ laughed Christian.

Seppshrugged, ‘No. Never interested. The sea was a long way away and, well, therewere better things to do.’

Thiscomment was greeted, predictably, by a few ribald comments on what Sepp hadprobably never done. In truth, he was hardly alone in this. Virgin men who hadbeen trained to kill.

Manfredremained silent whilst the others made fun of Sepp. He thought about Anja. Hethought about his experience with women, or the lack of it. The others seemedto know so much more. Or maybe they were lying to him and to themselves. Whocould tell?

-

Firstit was the shout.

Thenthey all heard it. A light drone at first. Then it grew louder. All at once thedeck was a riot of noise and movement. Orders were shouted and lost in the din.Manfred felt himself jostled and pushed as soldiers were ordered to returnbelow deck. Manfred glanced up and saw some of the sailors running to the guns.Then, moments later, driven along by the human wave he was inside and virtuallycarried downstairs.

Theyboys returned to their hammocks. There was no choice as the windows wereblocked by the men shouldering one another to get a better view of what washappening. The noise of voices quietened as the hum of the fighter planes grew moredistinct.

Manfredlooked at his friends. All felt fear and frustration in equal measure. Fear atthe prospect of being under attack; frustration they could do nothing to help.The sound of the planes grew louder. Then the anti-aircraft guns chonck, chonckfollowed a minute later by the regular, rat, tat, tat rhythm of machine guns.

Nowthe planes were a roar overhead. Explosions followed as they dropped theircargo. The sound reverberated around the hold. From each side they heard thedeadly sound of gunfire. Manfred glanced down at the hands of his friends. Gerhardthands were clasped together, knuckle-white.

Manfred’sbreathing was shallow. He feared taking a deep breath or exhaling too much lestit reveal the fear he was feeling. The siren scream of the planes was the worst;a prelude to death. If you heard the explosion it meant you were still alive.

Noone spoke.

Atthe windows there was shouting and cheering on the gunners. But no one inManfred’s group spoke. Eye contact was avoided. It would reveal too much.Instead they fought a battle in their minds. The age old confrontation betweenfight and flight.

Thesound of the guns acted like a percussion to the main theme played by theaerial combatants. The different sounds the planes became familiar veryquickly: the hum, the roar, the scream. Finally, there was a cheer amongst someof the men on the starboard side.

Theboys turned around. They were hugging one another and the sound of an aeroplanesplutter, scream and then silence before the explosion. To a man they roared inhappiness, in anger and in relief.

‘Willthey leave now?’ asked Lothar following  a brief halt to the firing. Manfredshrugged. Gerhardt shook his head. Moments later the assault began again.

Manfredglanced at Christian. His new friend was virtually white with fear. Gerhardtwas looking left and right with each explosion. This was less to do with fearthan a desire to see if they had been hit. Lothar looked like he was ready tolie down and have a nap. A good actor, nerveless or just plain stupid. Manfredcouldn’t decide which.

Anexplosion just outside rocked the ship, and then another. The screams were nolonger of aeroplane engines. It was metal tearing. And then they heard a siren.

‘We’vebeen hit.’

Itwas Gerhardt. His voice was toneless. He stood up. The others followed him.Panic flooded the hold. All at once everyone was shouting. Another explosionrocked the ship. This had a different texture. Rather than from above, itseemed to come from within.

‘Ohmy God,’ said Manfred. ‘That’s the magazine. We have to get off. It’llexplode.’

Dozensof other soldiers, more alert to the problem, had reached the same conclusionand were soon rushing to the door.

‘Grabyour life belt,’ shouted Manfred over the din.

Anofficer had pushed his way inside to order men to do what they had alreadystarted trying to do. Despite the officer’s efforts, panic was rising as theship lurched on the starboard side. Manfred and his friends made it out ontothe deck which was a scream of noise and confusion. Terrified soldiers wererushing, jostling and fighting to escape the fire that was spreading on theother side of the ship.

Thesky was blanketed by puff ball smoke and the air smelled of cordite. Smoke madetheir eyes water and breathing difficult. Manfred was coughing as he struggledto find something to cover his nose and mouth with.

Anofficer close by was shouting for them to get to their lifeboat stations. Ittook Manfred a few moments to get his bearings then he saw Lothar pointing upto the next level. They followed him up some steps which led to the upper deck.Here it was calmer as the officers had matters under control. Soldiers werecalmly lowering lifeboats onto the water.

Manfredlooked up. It seemed the raid was over. Glancing around at the rest of theconvoy it seemed theirs