Night Fighters in France by Shaun Clarke

Author:Shaun Clarke
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008155254
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2015-10-19T16:36:27.483000+00:00

9

The men had a good rest that night, sleeping in their lean-tos or LUPs hidden by the trees, but they were up at first light the following morning to wash in the nearby stream, have a quick breakfast of cold rations with water, and then organize the temporary camp as a proper FOB. While some of them remained in the camp itself to clean and oil weapons, study maps of the areas, practise their French and check the supplies and vehicles, others were sent out in four different directions to construct observation posts and keep a record of the direction, frequency and size of passing enemy columns and aircraft.

‘Every last damn vehicle,’ Captain Callaghan warned them. ‘Every tank, armoured car, truck, jeep, motor-bike or bicycle. As for the aircraft, I want to know the type – heavy bomber, light bomber, fighter plane, escort – the direction of flight, and the time it was spotted. I want nothing missed nor forgotten. Now get to it, men.’

As they were planning to be there for some time, the men constructed rectangular observation posts, which were deeper and larger than the short-term, diamond-shaped OPs. Facing outwards, away from the camp, the rectangular OP contained four shallow scrapes: one for the observer, one for the sentry, one for the man assigned to keep records and a fourth as a rest bay. A small well was dug in the centre, to drain off excess water such as rain, and the roof was made of chicken wire, camouflage netting and foliage that helped it blend in with its surroundings. The OP had a camouflaged entry cum exit hole and there was a long, thin viewing slit between the upturned earth and the artificial roof in the side that faced away from the camp.

Once constructed, the OP was filled with everything the men would need for long-term observation of both sky and land, including black-painted binoculars and a tripod-mounted telescope, maps, log book, cipher book, camera, S-phone and MCR1 receiver for contact with SAS foot patrols or the FOB, water and rations, sleeping bags for the shallow scrapes, spare batteries and clothing, and personal and close-support weapons, including a Webley pistol, 9mm Sten gun, Thompson M1 sub-machine-gun and two .303-inch Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifles. Thus equipped, the men settled down and began their observation.

At the same time, Captain Callaghan was huddling with Corporal Jim Almonds, giving the squadron’s signaller a list of requirements for a resup drop to take place that night. Almonds relayed the request by Morse code over the No. 11 radio set to London, from where it would be passed on to their air-support group at RAF Station 1090, Down Ampney, Gloucestershire. The supplies, which included replacement Willys jeeps for the six lost, would be flown out from there.

While the men were setting up their OPs and Callaghan was contacting London, Greaves was decoding messages received in code from the BBC regarding the progress of the battle for Europe. When the messages were decoded, he was

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