0200 hours 16/10/1942
Location - Western Desert; Undisclosed location west of Benghazi, Libya
Roster: Captain Mayne
Sergeant Stirling
Troopers Fairfax; Walker; Carstairs; Flashman; Crabtree
Jerry had quite the collection of L Detachment from earlier raids - some wag said they’d got enough to launch their own SAS raids: Lt. Tonkin; Sgts. Wilson, Almonds; & Pte. Fraser. Now was the time to get the lads back. Rumours had been circulating that the Bosch, with orders direct from Hitler, were shooting any commandos captured no matter they were in uniform and ID tags.
It was really very simple - there were three huts inside a fortified perimeter. The intel boys weren’t sure which of these housed the chaps so it was going to be a simple process of elimination.
Capt. Mayne decided the approach from the south-south east offered the best chances of success. There was a guard tower anchoring the perimeter here but inexplicably it didn’t appear to be manned. Mayne placed himself on the far eastern flank of the perimeter; next was Crabtree who approached on a south/south east axis; while Carstairs and Flashman; Fairfax and Walker; and Sgt. Stirling were arranged in a front stretching from east to west respectively covering around half of the front of the perimeter stopping just short of the road/track. Two of the huts were set to the east of this track, while one of these was set further further north , and the third hut was just across the track from the other two.
Mayne wasted no time breaching the eastern perimeter - he was possessed with a zeal to get his men back. Sgt. Stirling made ground on the far side while the troopers were more cautious - they were back-up and to provide covering fire if it came to it.
One Jerry sentry ventured too far out of the perimeter and Stirling delivered a swift and silent end to this poor wretch hiding his body in the process. Meanwhile Mayne had slipped past a couple of sentries - he was heading for the northernmost hut and therefore closest to any reinforcements which might make a cameo.
Mayne had got to the door of this hut and was fumbling to pick the lock but must have knocked something and the Jerry officer who had been wandering around between the three huts was suddenly aware someone or something was there. Damn it. Stirling moved up to the smaller hut on the east of the road but it was too late - the general alarm had gone up and the shooting started.
Stirling was in the cross hairs of a couple of sentries by the road cowering behind a road barrier and a dog handler just across the road behind some crates. He was hit and went down. That was a huge blow.
Fairfax and Walker opened up on the sentries by the road and took them out. Crabtree now moved inside the perimeter and blasted the dog handler with his shotgun sending this aryan to Valhalla or wherever it was the Master Race thought they were destined for.
Meanwhile Mayne and Herr Kapitan were now exchanging fire at close quarters by the other two huts, eventually Mayne prevailed but it was too late. The DAK reinforcements were streaming now down the road and Mayne was struck, just a flesh wound but enough to stop this Dashing Blade from liberating his comrades and perhaps more importantly getting away.
Crabtree picked up Stirling and they slipped back into the blackness ruing their poor luck and the loss of their talismanic leader.
Now that DAK SAS squad was looking less improbable…..
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