The Way Ahead Page #10

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Robinson?

- Livingstone?

- Sir.

Call the roll.

- Stewart?

- Sir.

- Jackson?

- Sir.

- Peters?

- Sergeant.

Get that hose over here!

That hose! Look out!

- Are you all right over there?

- OK!

Mr Mate!

Yes. What is it?

The cargo's shifting!

Can I have some more hands below?

Right!

- You fellows there, come with me.

- Leave your rifles here. Follow me.

Bosun?

Yes. What is it?

Starting on the upper twin deck.

Fire on the upper twin deck, sir.

Get below.

Keep the magazine cool with the hoses.

You, you three, go with him.

The rest of you, lose as much weight as

possible from this side of the ship.

- Start with this transport.

- Over the side with these trucks!

Unship those rails!

- Can't we get that stuff out of the magazine?

- 200 tons of it.

Come on, get a bloody move on!

- All our new stuff, eh, sir?

- I know.

Right, brake off!

Take this rope! Make it fast there!

Make it snappy!

Chuck that sling over them rails! Look out!

Chuck that rope round the back of it!

Now put a chock in front of that carrier.

Get another hose on that magazine!

That magazine'll save us

the trouble in a minute!

- Hold it! Hold it!

- She's going! She's going!

12 feet of water in No.4!

No.5 bulkhead's bulging!

Brake off!

Bosun! How's it going? What's the position?

- I can't hold it any longer.

- Right, I'll tell the skipper.

The fire's out of control down there!

We can't hold it any longer!

Right! Destroyer coming alongside!

Abandon ship!

Abandon ship! Destroyer on starboard side!

Other side! Abandon ship!

That soldier there!

Destroyer calling trooper,

am coming alongside.

Get your men down as fast as you can.

Look out for my heaving lines.

Let down your nets.

I'm sending some men aboard to help you.

Come on down, mate.

Want to have a look at the bonfire?

Don't look down, Bert.

Keep clear of the nets.

Take it easy, men. Don't rush. Don't rush.

Get that rope!

Round the wheel!

Luke!

How many more men are there?

Time we were leaving.

Right!

Come on, sir, it's time we were away.

Get your nets adrift. Get down, men.

Keep your heads down.

She may go any minute.

I knew we needn't have bothered

with them carriers.

She might have gone up sooner if we hadn't.

A nice lot of transport, that.

The best we've had.

- All right here, boys?

- Yes, thank you, sir.

How's the sergeant?

The doctor says he'll be all

right in a week. He was lucky.

What happened to your hand, Stainer?

A burn?

It's just a graze, sir. It's nothing.

- Take care of it. Have you got a dressing?

- Yes, sir.

I expect the Colonel will be pretty disappointed

when he finds himself with only half a battalion.

They can't start without us, though,

can they, sir?

In this ship, we'll get there before them.

Yes, that's right.

I'm sorry, boys. I'm

afraid we're out of it.

We're being taken back to Gibraltar.

The Hampshire Regiment,

the Lincolnshire Regiment

and units of the Guards.

I don't know.

They seem to have forgotten all about us,

they do.

No wonder they've made

no progress in Tunisia.

There's not a sign of the Dogs anywhere.

Not since Crete.

Too many Guardsmen up the top,

that's the trouble.

Still, the 8th Army ain't doing so bad.

If the government only kept its eyes open

and put the Dogs in when there was trouble,

the war'd be over by now.

It ain't the government's fault, Bobby.

That's who I blame.

The government, the men at the top.

I wonder what they have done with the Dogs.

What does your husband say, Mrs Brewer?

He says things are still very dull.

Well, they all say that, don't they?

I don't care how dull it

is as long as he's safe.

They're glad they've left the Rock.

Of course, he couldn't say Gibraltar

because of the censor, but I know.

They must be either in Algeria or Tunisia,

mustn't they?

If only we knew.

- Perhaps it's better we don't know.

- Mm.

Ted says there's a stripe

going, and old Perry...

He says your husband's

certain to give it to him.

You've no more recent news than that,

have you?

Bill says something about a stripe, too.

He says he has a sporting chance.

- I wonder whether you...

- I'm afraid I don't know.

All Jim writes about are the flies.

Where the hell are we?

- You're driving.

- What a dump.

Not even a flick house with an army picture.

I'd hate to be an Arab in peacetime.

How about them harems?

I haven't seen any yet. Nothing but flies.

Talk about "the mysterious East".

I reckon Lyons Corner House, Coventry Street's,

got more mystery than what this has.

This isn't strictly speaking the East.

What is it, then?

You could call it the Middle East,

or the Near East, at a pinch.

Heaven preserve us from the Far East,

that's what I say.

Perry! That's your area over there.

By Rispoli's cafe.

Right, sir.

You come with me.

Beck!

Good afternoon.

Beck, tell him that this

is the platoon area,

and we hope he'll cooperate with us

while we're here.

Monsieur le Lieutenant dit qu'ici est le

centre de l'Arrondissement de notre platoon

et qu'il invite votre coopration

pendant notre sjour.

- Ah, oui!

- He laughs at the idea, sir.

Tell him we're going to kick the Germans

out of his country. Maybe he'll like that.

Monsieur le Lieutenant dit que nous voulons

vous dsemparer des boches.

- Et srement vous voulez la mme chose.

- Je veux qu'on me fiche la paix.

Says he's a pacifist, sir.

Monsieur, il y a des batailles qui se droulent

dans le nord et dans le sud et dans l'est.

Ici, il n'y a rien. Allez l-bas

dans les grandes villes, Sutre.

Je n'ai pas le droit de vous permettre

de rester ici.

Dites-lui, s'il veut des batailles,

que je peux lui donner des renseignements.

He says to tell you, sir, that the fighting's in the

north, in the south, in the east, but not here.

He's telling us.

And that he cherishes the

peace in these parts.

He invites us to go to Sutre,

where there are many Germans.

He says that Sutre's a bigger place than

this. That is a fact, incidentally, sir.

If you wish, he can give

us an address or two.

That's very cosy of him. Our orders

are to stay here, and here we stay.

- Monsieur...

- Je dteste les soldats!

Je dteste le bruit! Allez vous-en!

He's not very fond of

noise, sir, or of troops.

Repeats that he's a pacifist

and invites us to go.

Allez, filez!

- He says...

- I've got it. Sergeant Fletcher, we'll move in.

Very good, sir.

Rock, nothing but rock.

Fancy having to farm

this stuff, poor devils.

- Well, it ain't exactly a picnic for us.

- Aye, but we haven't got to live here.

Why should the enemy

want to take this place?

No such luck. We won't

even see him from here.

Now who's worrying?

It couldn't be you, could it, Brewer?

No, sir, it's Luke here.

He's worrying about how the farmers get on.

Let's hope we won't be here long enough

to find out.

- Are we moving, sir?

- Not yet. That's what I'm here to tell you.

- All here, Fletcher?

- Just coming, sir.

At the double, there! Hurry up!

Are we going to have an ENSA concert, sir?

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