Dieppe Read online

  I looked at Lieutenant Jorgenson and laughed, "Well that should be easy enough!"

  Alan shook his head, "Sir, with due respect, after the last time they will be on edge. Won't this make them even more suspicious?"

  "Perhaps but what you two discovered helps the paratroopers and the Commandos. They are going to take out the two batteries. The information we have about Dieppe is based upon aerial photographs and your reports. You didn't get to the beaches did you?" We shook our heads. "The Canadians have complained that they don't know what to expect. They need to know what the beach will be like. What defences are there, at sea level. We need samples of sand. What are the exits of the beaches like? Aerial photography can tell us only so much. We need to know how steep the beaches are. Which ones will be easier than others. So we need you back as soon as possible."

  This was a fait accompli. No matter what we said we would have to go and the sooner the better, "Well sir if you radio the camp Sergeant Major Dean could tell the men to get here. If they leave tonight they could be here by morning."

  He nodded, "I can do that."

  "And have you an idea how you can get us what we need?"

  "Not yet sir but if there is a bar here then Alan and I can try to work something out."

  During dinner I watched rather than talked. I wanted to know about these Canadians from the west of that huge country. The Canadians were not impressed by the food which was being served. Apparently they had better at home. The beer was also too warm. In fact everything they had before them was not right. I saw some of the younger officers glancing over at the fruit salad on my battledress. None asked me about them but I knew they would.

  After dinner Alan and I found a quiet corner where we sat with the one whisky each we had been allowed and we talked. I had found that the best way to deal with a problem was not to see it as such. We looked at what we could do. We worked out what we needed to do and then discussed the various options available to us.

  It was Alan who came up with a solution. We were just talking and he spirited it out of the air. "It is a pity that we don't have any of those experimental frogmen on board. They would make it easy."

  "Frogmen?"

  "Yes, in March I was in Portsmouth and saw them beginning their training. They have these rubber suits, big flippers, a face mask and something they called rebreathers to help them swim underwater and stay hidden. I think they use them to attack enemy ships at anchor and to check our ships for explosives too."

  "That sounds like science fiction to me."

  "Oh it works. I saw them underwater for half an hour or so. In daylight you can see bubbles but I am guessing that, after dark, they would be invisible."

  An idea began to form. "Alan, we are going to have to go in at night, aren't we?"

  "Of course."

  "We risk grounding as we don't know the shape of the beach and the Germans would be suspicious of any boat being that close to their beach." He nodded. "So the best idea would be for you to be out of sight, say four hundred yards off the beach. If it was a cloudy night then we could manage that."

  "I suppose so. But how does that help? That is a long way to go in a dinghy and you would risk being seen by the patrols they have."

  "If I had a pair of those flippers and a mask I could swim in and test the beach and the sand. I would be able to check out the beach defences too."

  "You would freeze!"

  I shook my head, "It is July. I used to swim all the time when I was younger and that was in England where the waters are colder." I saw him beginning to see how we might do it. "The thing is you and the E-Boat might still be spotted; you would need to say you had engine trouble or something."

  "We could do that. But that would mean we would have to get you the flippers and the mask." He swallowed his whisky, "And you would need someone with you. It is too risky to have you go alone."

  "We ask your crew and my lads. A volunteer is better than a pressed man. But this plan ends here if we can't get the equipment. The only alternative is to land as close to the beach as possible and make it a ground reconnaissance."

  "And that could end in disaster."

  "I know."

  I saw Major Foster speaking with Lord Lovat and the commander of the operation, Major-General Roberts; we approached them. They looked up. Lord Lovat nodded when he recognised me. Major Foster stood and said, "These are two of my chaps, Lieutenant Jorgenson and Lieutenant Harsker. They are the ones who will reconnoitre the beach." He looked at me expectantly.

  "Could we have a word, sir? We have a plan."

  He was about to take us away when the Major-General said, "I'd like to hear it; if you don't mind, Major. The lives of my men may depend on these two young men."

  Inwardly I groaned. I didn't mind the Major thinking I was a fool but not two senior officers. "Well, sir, if we are to do this without arousing the German's suspicions then we have to do it without landing."

  The Canadian snorted, "Impossible!"

  I saw Lord Lovat begin to smile, "Go on Harsker. I always enjoy the way your inventive mind works."

  "We swim ashore and collect the information from the shoreline."

  Both the Major and Lord Lovat nodded but Major-General Roberts said, "Swim! Impossible!"

  Impossible appeared to be his favourite word. Alan said, "No sir, the navy have been using divers equipped with flippers and a face mask. They make swimming easier. If Tom was given two sets of flippers and masks then he and another of the team could easily swim ashore, collect samples and test the shelving of the beach. We would lie offshore and feign damage."

  Lord Lovat turned to the Canadian. "It might work, John. I have seen these flippers in use and the sailors who use them move like fish."

  "We would need samples from the whole of the beach, you know." The Major General was like a dog with a bone. He would not let it go.

  "Yes sir. We have done this before."

  His eyes narrowed at the implied impertinence. Major Foster added, hurriedly, "These officers were the ones who provided all the information upon which we have based Operation Rutter. They are the best we have."

  "Well I should damned well hope so!"

  Major Foster said, "I will get you two sets and the boat and your team will be here by morning. Well done."

  He nodded for us to leave. We saluted and left. Alan said, "Nice of our allies to have such confidence in us eh?"

  "They are new to it, Alan. They will learn."

  The questions we had to endure the next morning were even more searching. Luckily the RAF had taken some excellent aerial photographs and the fact that we only had sketchy knowledge of the actual buildings in the town was overlooked. They were, however, quite worried and daunted by the prospect of the guns in the massive batteries wreaking havoc on their ships as they approached. By the time we had finished answering the barrage of questions I was exhausted.

  Lord Lovat and Major Foster escorted us out. Major Foster put a hand on our shoulders, "Well done chaps."

  Lord Lovat nodded, "You did well and don't worry about the batteries, the Canadians won't have to worry about them. The Airborne Commandos will deal with them."

  Major Foster smiled, "Your gear has come and your boat is in a small cover on the west of the island. There is a car outside to take you. It has your diving equipment in the boot. Leave as soon as you deem it practical. It is just five days before we launch. Your information will determine what red and white beaches are like." We now knew the code names for the beaches. They were colour coded and red and white were the ones closest to the Germans.

  "Yes sir." We saluted and left. I much preferred doing than talking. We would soon be back in our element; the front line.

  Chapter 2

  The cove the crew had found for us was truly out of the way. We had to walk the last four hundred yards after the car dropped us off and negotiate a small path which led to the beach. The crew had rigged a camouflage net over her. She was not completely hidden but could not be
identified as German. We struggled down the path until Sergeant Poulson saw us and sent Crowe and Fletcher to help us carry our new gear.

  Fletcher said, "What you got in here sir? The kitchen sink!"

  "It could be worse, Scouse. We didn't bring everything we could have!"

  We paddled out to the E-Boat in the rubber dinghy. Anticipation was written all over the faces of the crew and my section. Alan said, "I had better go and get the charts sorted. I will ask if any of my lads can swim well enough to do the job."

  "Righto." As he wandered off I said, "Right lads, to the foredeck and gather around." When they were seated at my feet I told them what we would be doing. None of them looked very happy about the task I had suggested. I smiled, "I take it none of you are that good at swimming? I know you can all swim but I am talking up to a mile of swimming at night."

  Poulson looked around at the section, "You are right, sir, we can all swim sir. I mean you have to be able to swim be in the Commandos but I am not certain that any of us could swim as far as you want us to. It will be a quarter of a mile to the beach and then we have to swim along it. I will have a go, sir but..."

  "No, Sergeant, I want honesty. There is no point saying you will do it and then have to be rescued. It could be a one man job. If I have to I will do this alone. Perhaps one of the Navy lads can swim longer distances. Anyway unpack the gear. I need to try it out." While they took out the flippers and mask I went to the cabin I shared with Alan, undressed and donned my swimming trunks.

  I had just put on the flippers when Bill Leslie and Alan Jorgenson appeared, "Well Lieutenant, you are lucky. We have a good swimmer here. Bill won medals in the St. Helens Swimming Championship of nineteen thirty six."

  I smiled, "Are you sure, Bill?"

  He nodded, "Aye sir, but I am not certain about that gear."

  "I have never used it either. Let's give it a go eh? I'll go first."

  Putting on the face mask I stepped to the side of the boat and threw myself backwards. I deduced that would be the easiest way to immerse myself in the sea. Once in the water I found it easy to almost walk around as though I was on land. There was little effort involved but I noticed, after a moment or two, that my face mask fogged up. I took it off and rinsed it. That seemed to clear it. Bill copied me and jumped in. When he came up I said, "Rinse out the face mask and then put it on again."

  He did so and then gave me the thumbs up. "Let's just try to swim around the 'Lady'."

  I lay face forward and put my hands by my side. I was going for the streamlined approach. I could not believe how easy it was to move. Just a flick of each foot propelled me a lot further than I would have expected. Soon we were all the way around the boat.

  I lifted up my mask as Bill trod water next to me. "Bloody hell sir! I would have won every race with these buggers on!"

  "Hang on here I am going to try something." I put the mask on, took a deep breath and dived down to the bottom. It was easy. I came up slowly and bobbed next to Bill. "Well I am happy. If we are spotted we can dive to the bottom. Although that should be unlikely given that we are doing this at night." He nodded, "Are you sure about this? You aren't a Commando. You don't need to come with me."

  "I wasn't certain before but I am now, sir. The flippers make swimming easier."

  "Then let's get back aboard. We need to organise how we do this."

  As we were drying off Bill said, "You know sir, it will be cold in the sea at night. How about getting some goose grease?"

  I nodded, "A good idea. "

  Sergeant Poulson said, ""George, nip ashore and get some."

  "But Sarge the nearest shop might be miles away."

  "There is a farm at the end of the lane. I can see it from here! They should have some goose grease."

  He nodded, "Right Sarge."

  I took two pound notes from my wallet, "Give these to the farmer."

  "But it's for the war effort, sir!"

  "Just give it to him, eh!"

  The cold soon went, especially when we were handed a mug of cocoa. Alan joined us, his inevitable cheroot in his mouth. I had no idea where he got them from but he always managed to have one to hand. I gestured with the mug to the east. "We need a pair of chinograph pencils and acetate. We will have to mark what we find."

  "I have those, Tom."

  "And something to keep the sand in. Best have them marked with an indelible pencil so that we know where each sample comes from. There may be differences along the beach."

  Bill said, "We have some hessian bags. I think they were from the time it was German. They smell like they had charges in them."

  "Good. We will use them." I smiled, "I reckon that is it. We know what we are doing. We swim ashore. Crawl up the beach and see what the sea wall defences are like, collect some sand. We go back in the water swim another forty or fifty yards or so and repeat. When we meet back in the middle we swim back to the boat."

  Alan finished his cheroot and threw it over the side. "Not quite. What if something happens to you and Bill? There may be sentries. You might get lost. I know it is unlikely but we ought to prepare for the worst."

  He was right and I had not thought of that. "Well, you give us an hour or an hour and a half to do the job and if we are not back then you will have to land the sergeant and the section. They will have to do it the hard way."

  Sergeant Poulson nodded, "Don't worry, sir. We will finish the operation."

  "But hopefully you won't have to and the Lieutenant's pessimism will not be justified.

  As we prepared for sea I sat with Alan and checked out the charts. The beach at Dieppe was about three quarters of a mile across. I waved Bill over, "You can begin your swim here, on the west side of the beach. I will begin at the harbour mouth."

  "That is more dangerous isn't it, sir?"

  "It doesn't matter, Bill. This is my idea and one of us has to examine that side of the beach. I am quite willing to take the risk. We both swim inshore, fill a bag with sand and mark the shelving of the beach. The bigger landing craft shouldn't have a problem but we have a few of the smaller ones with us. They might struggle if it is too steep."

  "Do you want me to go on to the beach to get the sand or just take it from the surf?"

  "That would be best but don't take risks. Keep your eyes peeled for defences. We each have four bags. We will meet in the middle and then swim back out to the boat."

  "Seems straightforward enough, sir."

  "I know and these things seldom are. Something we haven't foreseen will happen and we will have to make it up as we go along."

  Alan said, "You had better get your head down, Killick."

  "Right sir."

  After he had gone Alan said, "I will try to get in as close as I can for you."

  "Not too close though, eh? We don't want to alert Jerry."

  I did as I had ordered Bill to do and I slept while the 'Lucky Lady' sped east across the Channel. This would be a dangerous passage as the nights were so short that we could be observed for most of our journey across. We would only have four hours of darkness in which to carry out our task. The RAF would attack us first and ask questions later and the Germans would ask for codes we could not supply.

  When Hewitt brought me the cup of tea the sky was darker although not the black night we had hoped for, "Lieutenant Jorgenson says we will be on station in an hour. He thought you might want something to drink and a bit of food inside you."

  "Thanks Hewitt. I needed this!"

  Lowe had managed to get some goose grease and a dozen eggs from the farmer. I wolfed down the fried egg sandwich and washed it down with the hot sweet tea. "Another cup, Hewitt and I will get this goose grease slapped on."

  While he scurried off I began to smear the goose grease on my chest, arms and legs. It was really a way to slow down the effects of the cold once we were in the sea. I had almost finished when he returned. "You look like a cold greasy chip, sir!" He realised what he had said, "Sorry sir!"

  "Don't worry, son."
I drank the tea and draped a blanket around my shoulders. I padded my way up to the bridge, the flippers slapping on the deck. Ahead of us the coast was dark while to the west the last vestiges of the sun could be seen glinting in the west.

  "Half an hour to go. It seems fairly quiet. I heard some bombers but they were high up and heading north west. Someone is in for a pasting." He pointed ahead, "You can just make out the shadows of the cliffs. I will cut the motors soon so that we are barely making way. Wacker is on the radio in case Jerry asks us any questions."

  Bill appeared similarly smeared and with a blanket around his shoulders. I nodded to him, "This is the hard bit, just before we go in. Once it all starts you have no time to think. Now all you can do is worry and think about what can go wrong."

  He nodded and I saw he was nervous. He was used to action but Bill never left the ship. He knew the ship and he was comfortable there. This was foreign to him, quite literally. I felt guilty. I was certain he had volunteered because of our friendship. If anything happened to him I would not be able to forgive myself.

  "Fifteen minutes. You had best get yourselves ready."

  We slipped out of the bridge and went to the stern. The transom was lower than the bow and we did not want to make a splash when we entered the water. Sergeant Poulson and the section waited with our masks and flippers. I saw that they had already immersed them in the sea. Our chinograph markers and acetates were ready with the empty bags. We draped them around our necks and sat with our flippers trailing in the water.

  I said quietly to Sergeant Poulson, "Give us ninety minutes; no more. If we haven't done it by then we are probably in the bag. You will have to do it the hard way."

  He shook his head, "No sir, this is the hard way."

  I noticed we were barely moving. I looked to my right and saw the cliffs rising as a dark shadow ahead. A seaman came and said, "Captain says we are here, sir!"

  "Ready Bill?"

  "Aye sir."

  I slipped into the waters which felt like ice; they weren't, it was an illusion. I put my head down and began to kick. Bill had been on the other side of the boat. The next time I saw him we would be meeting in the middle and the job would be done. I just kept going at ninety degrees to the shore. Every so often I stopped to take my bearings and when I saw the breakwater and the entrance to the harbour I knew where I was. I corrected my direction and closed with the beach. To my great relief it shelved slowly. It would not be an obstacle to the small landing craft. I crept through the surf and lay on the beach. It was sand and shingle. I put a good handful into the bag marked with the number one.