Crusader (A Novel of WWII Tank Warfare)

 CRUSADERTHE SECOND DANNY SHAW / MANFRED BREHME TANK NOVEL
Jack Murray and  J Murray
Table of Contents
CRUSADER
THE SECOND DANNY SHAW / MANFRED BREHMETANK NOVEL
Chapter 1:Arrival (July – Sept 1941)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Chapter 2:Prelude (Sept – Nov 1941)
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Chapter 3:Sidi Rezegh (Nov 19th- 24th 1941)
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Postscript
ResearchNotes
A Note fromthe Author
About theAuthors
Chapter 1: Arrival (July– Sept 1941)
 1
Tripoli,Libya, July 1941
The oars tore through the azure sea like a bullet through flesh. Acloudless African sky glared down at the two young men in the boat. Sea birdscircled overhead like spectators in an amphitheatre. They viewed the two youngmen in the rowing boat with something close to bemusement.
Neither man was more than twenty years old. Neither would admitthat they were already exhausted. They looked at one another. A challenge aswell as support in their eyes. Each boy was perspiring heavily under the mercilessMediterranean sun. It was still early morning.
The first signs of debris struck the side of their boat. It addedurgency to the insistent strokes from their oars. This is where the ship wentdown. Up ahead they could see him. Hear him. He was clinging to a piece of thewreckage.
‘Get a move on,’ shouted the young man in the water. He was of asimilar age and shivering badly. His cry to them was both heartfelt and anattempt at bravado. His voice trailed off at the end. All strength gone. Hisreserves had dwindled to a point where he would soon be beyond caring if theyarrived in time or not.
The oars continued their remorseless rhythm in the water. Eachheave and pull brought them closer and closer to their friend.
‘Nearly there,’ said Manfred, sitting at the bow of the boat.
Up ahead Lothar waved weakly to them.
‘Took your bloody time about it.’
‘We thought we’d have a coffee and some biscuits first.’
This comment from Gerhardt was greeted with a passionate andeloquently oath-laden response from their friend in the water. This caused thethree boys to laugh uproariously.
Manfred looked at his big friend. He seemed now to see the funnyside of the situation. The last man left from the sunken boat. The death ofSepp a distant memory although it had taken place barely half an hour ago. Infact, whether it was shock setting in or relief, Lothar seemed to be in themidst of a laughing fit of such intensity that he could hardly breathe.
Gerhardt felt relieved. The trauma of the last hour, the attackfrom the British planes, the sinking of the Aachen, the death of Seppwas melting away as fast as the oars tore through the water.
They slowed down as they neared their friend. Lothar looked atthem, his laughter abating to be replaced by a grateful smile. Manfred noticedhe had an object in his hand. Lothar lifted it up to answer the question onManfred’s face.
It was a gun. Smiling happily, Lothar placed the gun against hishead.
‘What are you doing. Lothar?’ asked Manfred in a whisper,confused. Scared.
Gerhardt, behind Manfred asked what was going on.
‘Lothar. stop,’
Manfred had stopped rowing. He threw the oar down and picked uphis binoculars. His friend, only a few feet away loomed large in the lens.Manfred could see the toothy grin of Lothar so clearly. He felt he shouldreally put the binoculars down and go to help his friend.
‘Hurry,’ said Lothar. ‘I’ll catch my death in here.’
Then he pulled the trigger.
-
Manfred woke up.
It was dark. For a few moments he didn’t know where he was. Thenhis eyes began to adjust to the lack of light. Around him he could see lots ofbeds. He was sitting upright in his bed. Correction. His mattress on the floor.Mattress? Manfred smiled grimly to himself. The clacking sound of someonesnoring loudly made him turn his head. The room stank of unwashed men.
He lay back in his bed and stared at the ceiling. It was beginningto come back to him. Tears stung his eyes. So, this was it. He was at war now.It was official. Two letters, at least, had probably already been written. Whatwould they say? Would they talk of the bravery of these children of theFatherland? Or would they tell the truth? One had died drowning in fear becausehe’d never learned to swim. The other had killed himself, believing, rightly,he’d been abandoned; left alone in the sea to his fate.
Manfred turned in the bed. He could see that Gerhardt was lying onthe next mattress. For a moment he thought about waking him. Then he thoughtbetter of it. Let him sleep.
He lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He was wideawake now. His watch had been ruined in the water, so he had no idea what timeit was. Briefly, he considered trying to sleep again but that would only riskthe dream returning.
An hour passed. Manfred shifted position every few minutes. Astabbing pain was developing in his back. His eyes traced the cracks in theceiling. They were like the delta of a large river.
Eventually he gave way to a dreamless sleep. It seemed to lastseconds. He was woken, along with the rest of the men, by the barking of asergeant stalking through the room. Manfred groaned then realised he had been alittle louder than intended. He saw Gerhardt looking at him strangely. Manfredlooked back at him questioningly. Gerhardt’s face softened a little, and thenhe smiled.
‘How are you feeling?’
All of a sudden, the memory of yesterday returned to Manfred. Hisface burned red. He felt his chest tightening, but not for the memory ofLothar. Instead it was for himself. His reaction to seeing the death of Lothar.The shame overwhelmed him. The anguished cry, the inconsolable tears.
Gerhardt had witnessed all of it.
The face of Lothar swam into Manfred’s mind. He could see thetears on his face, the distress, the fear of abandonment and then the awful momentwhen he turned the gun on himself. He’d seen his friend’s face contort beforebeing transformed into a bloody mess. He’d seen all of it as if he was standinga few metres away. Manfred’s chest constricted again. Then the anger came.
Of course, he’d screamed. Who wouldn’t have? He remembered thebinoculars falling from his hands, crashing against the deck. He remembered thesailors