into a new strategy.
On 11 September, the German Navy and the Luftwaffe jointly proposed that they could defeat Britain by starving and terrorising its population. The Luftwaffe would switch its focus from annihilating the RAF to the destruction of British cities. The German Navy would concentrate its submarine fleet on the destruction of British merchant ships supplying food and weapons.
On 16 September, Hitler formally agreed to abandon the invasion of Britain.
MOST SECRET
1 October, 1940
Dear Charles,
Following your memorandum on the value of underage operatives in occupied France and our discussions in London last week, we have, somewhat reluctantly, agreed to your proposal to train an espionage unit comprised entirely of boys aged between eleven and seventeen years.
I am uncomfortable with a use of boys that borders on exploitation, but these are desperate times and both the Prime Minister and I were compelled by your argument that these young men could give us a significant edge in the struggle that lies ahead of us.
The funds and necessary equipment for your new unit will be made available through your commanding officer, Eileen McAfferty. The designation of the new unit shall be Espionage Research Unit B.
Yours sincerely,
Eric Mews (Deputy Minister for Economic Warfare)
READ ON FOR THE FIRST CHAPTER
OF THE NEXT HENDERSON’S
BOYS BOOK, SECRET ARMY.
CHAPTER ONE
‘Stand by yer beds!’ Evan Williams shouted. ‘Lights out in minutes.’seven
He was a small Welshman with one big eyebrow. Twenty-four boys lived in his dorm. They hurried barefoot over the cold lino, putting toothbrushes in foot lockers and draping towels over radiators before standing at the end of their metal-framed beds ready for inspection.
Each bed was immaculately made. Belongings had to be packed neatly inside a foot locker, with boots or plimsolls cleaned and resting on top in a ten-past-ten position.
‘Attention!’
Each boy snapped into a rigid position. Ankles together, eyes forward, shoulders back. Williams would have liked the boys to wear matching pyjamas, but clothing was short and newer arrivals wore whatever they’d brought with them.
‘Not bad,’ Williams said grudgingly as he passed the first pair of facing beds. At the next he reached under the mattress and dug two fingers between the rusted bed frame and mattress.
‘In the name of our lord!’ Williams gasped. His giant eyebrow fired upwards as he jabbed a rusty finger under the nose of a thirteen-year-old with curly brown hair and deep-set eyes.
Troy LeConte knew he was being fitted up: the beds were old and you could reach under any of them if you wanted rust stuck on your finger. It was Williams’ way of showing that he could get you, even if you stuck to all of his petty rules.
‘Well, LeConte?’ Williams demanded. ‘Cat got your tongue? What is this?’
Troy didn’t know the English word for rust, but reckoned a quick answer beat none at all. ‘It’s your finger, sir,’ he said, with a heavy French accent.
This raised cautious laughter from the other boys and Williams looked irritated.
‘I know it’s my finger, you stupid frog,’ he roared. ‘I’m asking you what’s my finger.’on
Troy went cross-eyed as Williams dabbed his chunky finger against the bridge of his nose.
‘I don’t know the word,’ Troy explained.
‘You little retard!’ Williams shouted, as he grabbed the neck hole of Troy’s string vest, yanked the lad forwards and cuffed him around the head. ‘Cold shower, five a.m.,’ he barked, before letting go and moving up to the next bed.
Troy rubbed his head before standing crisply back to attention. He hated Williams, but had seen plenty of lads come off worse during inspection. He turned his head as far as he dared, watching the relief on each boy’s face when Williams passed them by.
‘Mason LeConte,’ Williams said, when he was almost at the opposite end of the room, ‘Well, well, it seems stupidity runs in the family.’
Troy’s brother Mason was only eight, but that didn’t stop Williams from twisting his ear and yanking it up until he dangled on tiptoes.
‘The blankets are crooked, you boy,’ Williams shouted, as Mason gave a howl that turned his older brother’s stomach.stupid
Troy felt guilty as Williams ripped off his little brother’s sheets and blanket. Mason was the youngest in the dorm and Troy usually helped him before inspection, but he’d been sent upstairs to fetch candles by the night matron and had barely had time to make his own bed.
‘I’ve never seen such a shambles,’ Williams roared, as he took the metal lid from Mason’s foot locker and threw its contents across the floor. ‘Are you feeble-minded, boy?’
‘No, sir,’ the boy sobbed, as Williams