the early days, before the Boche got their security patrols organised. It’s harder now, but I still reckon I could reach the south if I put my mind to it.’and
*
After five weeks in the military zone Henderson was starting to look haggard. He worked sixty hours a week at army headquarters under the constant threat that his spying would be uncovered. When he got home each night there were messages to encode and problems on the farm to deal with.
On a good night he’d get five hours’ sleep before he had to get up, walk three kilometres through the darkness to the transmitter’s latest hiding place and then decode McAfferty’s message. He rarely got back to sleep when he returned home and he’d lie awake, watching Maxine’s chest rise under the blanket. Then he’d worry about everything, from a meeting the following morning, to the kids, to bigger stuff like politics and the course of the war.
Sometimes Henderson felt trapped, but the message he’d received from McAfferty that morning had led him to a decision. Once the labourers returned to their prison camp for the night he called a family meeting around the kitchen table.
‘It’s time to plan our exit,’ Henderson said, in a dramatic tone that made Maxine and the four kids look up at him.
Everyone thought the same thing, but Maxine actually said it. ‘Why would British intelligence want you to leave when you’re in an ideal position at headquarters?’
Henderson shrugged. ‘made this decision. I’m sure headquarters in London would like me to stay here working as Ohlsen’s translator until inevitably I make some small mistake and arouse suspicions. But I didn’t sign up for a suicide mission and I most certainly didn’t sign you five up for a suicide mission. I’m going to tell McAfferty that we’re leaving before September sixteenth.’I’ve
‘What if they order you to stay?’ Maxine asked.
‘Then I’ll be court marshalled for disobeying orders. More importantly, you’ll all be safe.’
PT looked pleased. ‘How do we escape?’
‘It’s more complicated than that,’ Henderson said. ‘Last night I received two important pieces of information from McAfferty. The first confirmed that the Free French
12 Government in London want to parachute two spies and some equipment into this area. I’ve agreed to meet their men when they land and to get hold of all the paperwork they’ll need to reach Paris.
‘Secondly, McAfferty says that the RAF is planning a major bombing raid along the coastline on September ninth. They want intelligence on the locations of the biggest concentrations of invasion barges, I’m going to send McAfferty a counter proposal.but
‘If we can get those two Free French spies to bring us explosives and set them in the right locations around the dockyards, we can start fires. If they’re big enough, they’ll act like beacons and the RAF bombers should be able to hit all their targets much more accurately.’
‘Sounds good, boss.’ Marc smiled. ‘And after pulling that off, the Boche would be on the warpath so we’d have to escape?’
‘Exactly,’ Henderson said. ‘Although it won’t be easy because we’ll have to steal one of the invasion barges and get away at the same time that the RAF are trying to bomb them out of the water.’
PT sounded less than enthusiastic. ‘I thought you said that you sign us up for a suicide mission.’didn’t
‘It’s just an idea,’ Henderson emphasised. ‘I’m not saying that I’m going ahead with this, but I’d like all of us to put our heads together and work out whether this is doable. A successful air raid on the barge fleet will make it impossible for the Germans to launch an invasion before winter sets in.’
Rosie spoke after a brief lull. ‘The Germans would ramp up security as soon as anything happened, so you’d need to attack all the bombing sites at once, and then somehow all meet up to escape afterwards.’
‘Would you escape from one point, or would groups of us cross the channel on separate boats?’ Paul asked.
‘Unless you did it all with timers or something,’ Marc said.
Henderson shook his head. ‘You make timed detonators, but they’re not accurate and there’s always a risk of the bombs being discovered. To pull this off we’d need men on the scene, setting off timed explosions.’can
‘What about manpower?’ Maxine asked. ‘You’re surely not expecting the kids to be involved?’
‘It might be the only way,’ Henderson said uneasily. ‘It’s a lot to ask of anyone, let alone a youngster, but the stakes are huge and there aren’t many people I can