Searching for Sofia by Penny Fields-Schneider

Author:Penny Fields-Schneider
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Romance, Historical Fiction, World War Two Fiction
Publisher: Penny Fields-Schneider
Published: 2021-12-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Arriving at the small coastal town of Kalamata eighteen hours later, Jack looked around the beach, now crowded with thousands of men waiting to board the ships that would carry them back to Alexandria. The ringing of axes belting against motors filled the air as the lorries which had transported them from the battlefields were being destroyed. The Germans already had enough resources at their disposal—the Australians didn’t need to be adding to their strength with salvageable vehicles. He looked at the hundreds of troops who’d gathered on the beach, some in groups quietly chatting, others alone, taking deep drags from their cigarettes, attempting to steady their nerves and make sense of the last week. He felt their shock. That the Allies might be defeated by the Germans had never been considered. Worse, that they’d actually turn on their heels and flee in the face of the enemy, had been unimaginable.

Jack, Shorty and Macka gathered together, along with Green and Doc; and a few troops of the 2/7th joined them. Shorty was worried about Snowy; he hadn’t seen his brother since they got separated at Larissa but Green felt certain that he’d seen him on the beach, barely an hour earlier. They made a tally of who’d seen whom, and worried for a couple of the men who were unaccounted for. So far the men of the Bat Cave had been lucky, surviving Bardia and Tobruk with only minor injuries.

As they revisited the events of Larissa, the men grasped to restore their sense of pride—insisting that the Allies had done everything anyone could possibly have done to push the Germans back. However, as Shorty said, they’d been like ants trying to turn a boulder; the strength of the German army had been totally underestimated by the Allied command. Across the beach rang voices that were bitter in their criticism of the London Office, who was responsible for providing intelligence about the German Army.

‘And, where were the RAF when we needed them?’ Macka added as he wrapped a bandage around his shin, where mercifully flying shrapnel had caused only a minor flesh wound.

Everyone had their own ideas of how the Australians could have pulled off a victory with proper planning and a dash of luck on their side.

Even now the fighting was not over, and Jack wasn’t sure if it was echoes of the last five days or the actual thud of gunfire in the distance that rang in his ears. He knew that rear-guard men—the 2/19th and the New Zealanders— had stayed behind to provide cover to the allies as they’d retreated. Jack thought about the young men who’d volunteered for what could only be a suicide mission, for it would take a miracle for them to escape their posts. Again, he listened to the rat-tat-tat of gunfire—louder than ever. He was sure it was them, with their Bren and Vickers machine guns. At least the rattle was evidence that it was not over for them yet, and miracles were not unheard of.

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