Cast No Shadow, Peter Sharp [books to get back into reading txt] 📗

the designated hour and slipped quietly into the sea in a repeat of their reconnaissance approach.

Kelly had delegated the telephone exchange to the three members of Alpha team, whilst Bravo team would lie off the factory to cut off any Germans fleeing from that area. Kelly, with the remaining five members of Charlie and Delta teams, had the crèche as their objective. The signal for everything to start would be the explosion at the telephone exchange. At that stage, Foley’s men would have rowed from the merchantman to within about a quarter of a mile of shore. On hearing the first explosion they were to row frantically for the shore.

Charlie and Delta teams were on the slip and were removing their fins and preparing their weapons. Slowly, like ghosts, they glided up the slip and fanned out in arrowhead to start the approach to the crèche. Kelly glanced at the Thorstaadt house as he drifted past, no lights, no sound. They moved to the cover of the first of the three houses on the lane leading up to the crèche and took cover as Kelly observed.

No sound from anywhere, no sign of any movement. However, a light shone from a window in the crèche. The occupants were at home.

On Kelly’s signal Charlie team moved to the next building, and took up a defensive position. Kelly moved his Delta team, taking them past the first team and on to the next and final house. He moved into position at the side of the house, just below a window. As he did so, to his horror, a light came on in the window.

Kelly held his breath. The window began to open. The head of a man, ghostly white in the darkness, appeared. On seeing Kelly, in black wet suit and blackened face, he jerked back in shock.

Quickly Kelly rose to the same height as the startled gentleman and placing his face close to the other’s, placed his finger to his lips in the universal signal for silence. He then held out a hand to the startled man, who took it and shook it. As he did so, comprehension replaced apprehension on his face. Mimicking the silence signal, he retreated back into his bedroom and slowly and quietly closed the window. Kelly sank down again into the shadows as the light was extinguished, and breathed an inaudible sigh.

Kelly motioned to Corporal Adams, the ‘bomb man’ from Charlie team, who stole forward, first at the crouch, then on his stomach, to the crèche building and placed his charge against the wall of the building. An invisible thread of wire snaked out after him, connected to the charge at one end and to Kelly’s control box at the other. As he returned, Corporal Allen, Delta team’s ‘bomb man’, moved to a position on the other side of the building. As Allen completed the placement and turned ready to start back to the main group, still on his stomach, the door opened, and a soldier stepped out. He was a young man, of slight build, smoking a cigarette. Allen instantly froze, barely even breathing. Kelly eased his Sten into a usable position, ready to fire. No one else would fire unless he did. He bided his time.

The young soldier took several deep drags on his cigarette and walked slowly down the path to the road where he stood for a while. While his back was turned, Allen eased himself back around the side of the building so as to get completely out of sight when the soldier returned. After a moment, the young soldier walked back up the path humming a tune, at one stage treading on the D10 firing cable. He stood for a moment, his back to the door, facing in exactly the direction of Kelly and his team, but unable to see them in the dark. Finally, he took a long drag on his cigarette, flicked the butt into the darkness, turned on his heel and, opening the door, walked back into the building, closing it behind him.

Allen waited for a period before making his way back to Kelly. That had been close. Kelly gave Allen the ‘thumbs up’ to acknowledge his skill and bravery. He checked the connections to his control box, switched it on to ‘ready’.

They waited.

There was a bright flash of light followed by a crash and a roar as the sound from Alpha team’s explosives tried to catch up with the light. Half a second later, Kelly pressed the button on his control box and the crèche seemed to disappear in flames, smoke and noise. Immediately Charlie and Delta teams spread out from the cover of the building and into a defensive line facing the crèche, their ears ringing from the deafening roar of the explosions.

Cries and screams could be heard from the crèche above the crackling of the flames and the clatter of small arms ammunition exploding in the heat. The door of the building opened and men started staggering out, some engulfed in flames, screaming and flailing as they moved. A crackle of Sten gun fire from two of Kelly’s team and the men fell, dying.

There was a crash and tinkling of glass. Despite the gloom, Kelly could vaguely see German soldiers jumping out through the side windows. They were moving into a defensive position and within seconds were returning fire. The clatter of the small arms fire was added to by the distant sound of firing, either from the telephone exchange or from the factory, possibly both.

Kelly had no way of knowing how many had escaped the blast and hence what opposition they had. His men were sensibly conserving their ammunition, firing only at realistic targets, but their ammo wouldn’t last for long. They had, of necessity, travelled light.

The rat-a-tat of an MG34 added to the din. Kelly frowned. He knew that if the machine gun ‘ranged’ them, they were in desperate trouble. Relieved of the need for silence, he barked out a series