The Desert Rats Page #3

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lf any man goes to sleep out there,

l'll have him shot.

Get goin'!

There'll be none of that here,

or l'll tear you apart with me bare hands.

Break it down, Bluey. l was only thinking.

Never mind thinking. You're a footslogger.

Now get moving.

- Captain?

- Who is it?

Oh, you, sir.

- How's your hand?

- Burning like brimstone. But how are you?

l found a very deep hole.

lf you can dig deep enough,

only your pride gets hurt.

- Look, let me get you a transfer...

- No, no.

Don't say it again.

l'm afraid l might take you up on it.

- l wanted to talk to you about something.

- Oh?

Harry Carstairs.

There's a rumour that

he's to be court-martialled.

lt's no rumour.

l forwarded the papers tonight.

But why, Tammy?

lt was a natural and courageous thing to do.

Certainly it was.

But that has nothing to do with it.

He disobeyed orders,

jeopardised the position.

- But he's just a boy...

- We've no use for boys here,

- particularly not as officers.

- You can't be much older than he is.

l don't know whether l am or not.

l do know that l've been here a year.

And one of the first things l learned was

that this isn't a game for children.

Men get killed and stay killed.

- l know that.

- l don't think you do, sir.

Only a line officer knows

that any decision he makes

may involve somebody

being killed or wounded.

His job is to follow orders

and make decisions

without letting sentiment, loyalty,

friendship or anything else interfere.

When he can't do that, he might as well

get rid of whatever he's got up here.

He's no good to himself

or anybody else any more.

- That's a pretty cold estimate, Tammy.

- Perhaps it is, but it's the truth.

(aeroplanes approaching)

(gunfire in distance)

They'll just try to knock out

our supply convoy in the harbour.

- How do you know?

- l'm just guessing.

- Would you sooner get in there?

- Yes.

That's all there is to it.

Now, what's all this concern for an officer?

l thought you were a confirmed private.

l like him. He's honest, fair to his men

and, for a young man, very understanding.

- Did he let you off a couple of work details?

- Maybe, but he's done other things.

He gave me the bottle that was responsible

for my... condition the night we docked.

- So that's what's behind it.

- Well, no, no, not all.

lt was the reason he did it.

Because he knew l was a coward

and that l'd fall apart without it.

Come off it, sir. You're no more of

a coward than anybody else.

Yes, l am. You noticed itjust now.

l'm frightened to death.

Well, all of us are afraid part of the time.

- You'll get used to all this.

- No. No, l won't.

l get sick, physically sick,

and l want to run anyplace just to get away.

But that's not right, sir. You should get

a medical discharge. The psychiatrists...

No. l'm afraid of that, too.

You don't know much

about real fear, Tammy.

Maybe it comes with age or the bottle.

You don't know what it is

to be a coward. Really a coward.

To know it, yet to hope one day something

will happen to prove that you're not,

yet half the time not

really believing that either.

But l'm off the point

and l'm embarrassing you.

What l really wanted to ask you was

to withdraw the charges against Carstairs.

Withdraw them?

Didn't you hear anything l said out there?

- Yes, l heard.

- Then you ought to understand why l can't.

l know how you feel about him, sir, but...

l can't. No.

Tammy.

Do you remember a long time ago your

coming to my study before a final exam?

The time l thought l was going to fail.

lt seemed a terrible thing to me

at the time. Ruin me for life.

lt might have.

You gave me a real going-over.

l remember that particularly.

l thought you were worth it.

l think Carstairs is, too.

That was in school, in peacetime,

not in the middle of a war.

Besides, l passed the exam.

l did, didn't l?

Yes. You passed.

- Congratulations.

- Thank you, sir.

Gentlemen, one of the few

real pleasures of rank

is the ability to make promotions in the field.

There's no question of your deserving them.

l congratulate you and l thank you.

Um... yes, that'll be all,

thank you, gentlemen.

Up!

lf you gentlemen follow me,

l'll give you new orders.

Congratulations, Mac.

Gentlemen, l have a few matters

l want to discuss with you.

At ease, MacRoberts.

l have here court-martial papers

on Lieutenant Carstairs signed by you.

l also have a request for the dismissal

of the charges, also signed by you.

Yes, sir.

lf these charges were as specified, the young

man endangered the entire operation.

- You still wish to withdraw the charges?

- Yes, sir.

You realise that he will succeed

as company commander.

- Sir?

- He's the senior lieutenant.

He'll have a highly competent

battalion commander.

- He'll need one.

- Yes, yes.

As you know, Major,

we're extremely short of field officers.

On White's advice,

l'm giving you the battalion.

You'll assume the temporary rank

of lieutenant colonel.

- Yes, sir.

- Fast-moving war, isn't it, Major?

You'll have three Australian

companies. Congratulations.

- l might have known...

- Uh-uh! Careful, Colonel.

You may have seen the press dispatches

on our defence. l don't like them.

Defence is a state of mind,

and l don't want our troops to think this way.

We're committed to holding

Tobruk for two months.

Unless we take the offensive,

Rommel will overcome us in a week.

- Or less.

- Yes.

We're in no position to mount

a major attack, but we can hit and run.

There are the German positions

as accurately as our intelligence can say.

From now on,

every company on the perimeter

will raid at least one of

these positions every night.

lt's up to the commanders to select

the targets, brief the companies

and send lntelligence

a daily assessment of damage done.

- Can you handle it?

- lf that's it, that's it, sir.

- But...?

- Well, casualties may be high.

The troops have been bloodied,

but they're still green.

They won't be for long.

l'll look to you to keep casualties down.

Yes, sir.

- That's all, Colonel. And good luck.

- Thank you, sir.

- Good luck, Mac.

- Yeah.

Well, now what? Hm?

l was just thinking how happy l am

l'm not an infantryman.

Oh.

- We start with those.

- Mm-hm. Right.

l won't lie to you. This is hard, dirty work.

But if it's done and done right, it'll pay off.

The Jerries don't like people

wandering about in the dark.

There's one thing you've got to remember.

lf a man is killed or badly wounded,

you've got to leave him.

You can't endanger the rest

of your patrol for one man.

- Understood?

- Yes, sir.

That's it.

- Colonel...

- Well?

l wanted to thank you

for dropping those charges.

Thank the general.

l had nothing to do with it.

The copy of your letter's in the company files.

Oh.

- Well, l could have made a mistake.

- Maybe you did.

But the thanks still goes.

- Good night, sir.

- Night.

(man) He did drop

the court-martial proceedings.

(man #2) How do l know?

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