They Have No Graves as Yet: A spine-chilling tale of cold courage during WW2. by Shaun Lewis

Author:Shaun Lewis [Lewis, Shaun]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hilary Clare Publishing
Published: 2021-10-29T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Bitter and resentful, Monty wrapped himself in a blanket in a vain attempt to make himself warm in the back of the army Humber on the morning of his grandfather’s funeral. He had only arrived in Cheshire the night before and now, not only had he been dragged out of his bed in the middle of the night, but he would miss the funeral. He hadn’t been very close to Grandfather, but he had wanted to support Father. Father would now inherit the title, of course, and his elder brother James would become a viscount. Through the ATS driver’s windscreen it wasn’t difficult to spot the area of Liverpool’s docks. The fires from the previous night’s bombing were still ablaze. Monty wondered what he would encounter on his arrival at the Garston gasworks.

Captain Maitland-Dougall had been very apologetic about recalling Monty to duty.

‘I know you’re up there to attend a funeral, Monty, but this is top priority. There’s something damned fishy about that mine and I want my own man on hand to report on it.’

‘I see, sir. What’s special about it?’ Monty wondered if there really was cause for concern, but he would have to attend nonetheless.

‘Jerry dropped a packet of parachute mines on Liverpool last night, one of which has already taken 600 houses with it. Your mine landed on the gasworks and is concerning our local land incident section. It’s penetrated the top of a gasometer, full of gas, and should by rights have exploded. It’s definitely a mine as it has a parachute, but clearly, I’ve no idea whether it’s magnetic or acoustic. Let’s just say that an old seaman’s feeling in the bones says it contains a new delayed-action fuze. So, get your skates on, Monty. One of our RMS officers will meet you there.’

The driver took the car across the bridge at Runcorn and turned left into Speke. There seemed to be no other traffic on the road. Even a few miles from their destination, Monty could smell the effects of the air raid. He had come across them often enough in London. Firstly, there was the smoke and the smell of charred wood. Then there would be the smell of cordite from the anti-aircraft guns, explosive from the bombs and the foam of the firefighters’ hoses. In residential areas there would be the smell of escaping gas, charred paper from walls, blood, disinfectant and the rotting bodies of pets buried in the rubble. It was depressing and he wondered how long the British people could take this new form of warfare. Right now, he wished he could be at sea, smelling the tang of salt air.

The driver sought directions and was told to follow the railway. It was Monty’s first visit to Liverpool and as his driver threaded her way through the abandoned streets of Halewood, he was reminded of London’s East End. The southern end of the city seemed to be full of factories, railway goods yards and other industrial sites, between which were packed street after street of tiny terraced houses.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.