The Cadet Corporal (20 page)

The hardest thing Graham had to do for the next half hour was to ensure that every cadet got a chance to cook and eat and that the person on sentry was changed frequently. As the unit had done four bivouacs earlier in the year they were all experienced at preparing meals for themselves but they were struck by the novelty of the one man ration packs and were continually reading the packets and digging out the other meals and talking about the choices and contents. Graham ate as quickly as he could and then spent his time urging them to hurry up. Andrews wanted to experiment with cooking a mixture but Graham argued he didn't have time.

Sgt Grenfell put an end to that. “Get packed up and ready for Stand-to. If you need to go to the toilet go now while it is still light. Hurry up.”

Graham had explained the ‘Stand-to' procedure but the cadets had never done it so now he had to walk back and forth along the line chivvying them to pack up, put on their webbing, clean up any litter and then to lie down behind their packs. “We have to be ready to march or fight,” he kept repeating. “Dusk and dawn are favourite times for an enemy to attack.”

By 1825 he had them all lying down facing their front, with their webbing on. “Now stop talking,” he hissed, glancing to see if his section was first ready. To his delight he saw that they were. That gave him a really good feeling. ‘They are developing into a good section,' he thought with satisfaction. The sun had gone down by this and the whole western sky was bathed red. The glow of this painted the white trunks of the ghost gums along the river bank a ruddy-gold colour.

There was some murmuring but Graham quickly silenced this. He walked along and checked once again that every person had their webbing on and was ready. No sooner had he done this than CUO Masters came to inspect them.

“Very good Cpl Kirk,” he said, nodding with approval. That gave Graham another warm glow of achievement. This was added to by noting that both 1 and 3 platoons were having trouble getting settled. Magda and Erika still had a scatter of gear and litter around them and it took five minutes of angry hissing by Sgt Sherry to get them to pack it, and get into position.

3 Platoon took even longer and several times Graham heard Sgt Yeldham's voice snapping at cadets to stop talking and to stand to. Because he was now lying down behind his pack Graham could not see what the problem was but he could guess. Movement behind Graham caused him to turn his head. It was Capt Conkey and CSM Cleland heading for 3 Platoon. Even in the gloom Graham could see a look of annoyance on Capt Conkey's face. Slowly silence settled, the last angry voices still coming from 3 Platoon area behind him.

As darkness set in the whole company lay silent, facing out and ready. The night exercise had begun! A prickle of expectancy tingled through Graham and he strained his eyes trying to detect any sign of enemy moving.

Andrews began to fidget and that drew a hiss from Graham. Next the girls began to whisper and he had to pad down and tell them to be silent. He had only just done this and returned to his own position when he heard movement off to his left. Three figures appeared at Erika and Magda's position. It was Capt Conkey, CUO MacAlistair and CSM Cleland.

They spoke quietly for a minute or so, then CUO MacAlistair went back to his PL HQ. Capt Conkey and CSM Cleland walked across behind Graham and were met by CUO Masters.

“OK CUO Masters, let's inspect your platoon please,” Capt Conkey asked.

The trio walked back past Graham to where Roger and Pat lay. Graham was unsure whether he should get up and be with them while they inspected his section so he remained still. The inspection party did not linger but walked quickly along past the girls and onto where Halyday and Andrews lay, then kept on going to 5 Section. That reassured Graham that his section had passed muster. He lay quietly as full darkness set in.

A few minutes later CUO Masters returned. He knelt down beside Graham. “OK Cpl Kirk, stand your section down and then make sure you have your sentries on duty. Then get your patrol moving. Report to the OC before you go out and after you come back. Any questions?”

“No sir,” Graham replied. He quietly stood up and felt real excitement surge in him. Now he was going to be tested! But with the excitement came fear as well- fear of failure, of making a mess of the patrol. Squaring his shoulders he walked down to get the others.

CHAPTER 20

IN THE DARK

Graham had led patrols before, most notably during the exercise near Bowen in August, but he still found this one a real challenge. The reason was that the company was acting on the defensive, trying to keep raiders away from the company position and he therefore felt the responsibility more heavily. ‘If I muck up everyone will know,' he thought.

Having collected the other three who were to go he checked that Dianne and Lucy were both awake and on guard. “And don't go to sleep,” he warned. “We will look bloody silly if Heatley just walk in.”

He then led the patrol over to where CUO Masters and Sgt Grenfell sat. CUO Masters wished him luck and Graham led them on to Company HQ. A small shelter had been rigged with sleeping bags draped over ropes tied between trees to hide the torchlight. There Graham found Capt Conkey bending over a map marking it. He had a radio handset in his hand and Graham gathered that he was in contact with the raiders over near the airfield. Curiosity about the situation made him lean over to look.

Capt Conkey looked up. “Yes Cpl Kirk?”

“Four Section patrol moving out now sir,” Graham replied.

“Good. Off you go.”

Capt Conkey turned back to the map and Graham was unable to see more than a few red marks on their side of the airfield. He turned and led the other three away. His route out was through Stephen's sentry post so he led the patrol stumbling over the rocks to there. After a quick word to his friend he continued on. The patrol made its way down on to the low saddle and back towards the parked vehicles. The vehicles were not in the exercise, being needed for safety and administration, so he steered clear of them. Lt Maclaren and Lt Standish were sitting there in the dark, talking quietly.

Fifty paces past the vehicles the patrol came to the fence that ran down to the grid. After listening for a minute they rolled under, discovering in the process that the ground was covered in small two-pronged prickles. They then went on South East down the rocky slope. Graham took it very slow, stopping every twenty paces. After listening for half a minute he then walked another twenty paces. It was quite dark by then but he could still see quite well in the starlight.

Over to his right he knew was the dirt road to Canning Junction but it was not visible till they were quite close to it. Here he paused again to listen. The side road was his boundary between him and any patrols from 3 Platoon. Likewise the fence on his left was the boundary between 1 Platoon's patrols and 2 Platoon's.

Fifteen minutes after starting out, the patrol reached the Canning Road just near a small dip mid-way between the grid and the Canning Junction turnoff. During another pause to listen, Graham carefully looked both ways along the Canning Road. In the starlight it appeared as a wide grey clearing. Satisfied there was no-one on the other side Graham signalled the others to follow and walked quietly across, his boots crunching lightly on the loose gravel.

As the other three joined him in the clumps of grass on the other side of the road Graham heard the sound of people moving. He hissed for silenced and went very tense as he listened. The noises were behind the patrol. The sound of someone cursing and of boots clattering on loose rocks came clearly to him on the still night air. For several minutes he lay and listened. The others lay close, also listening. After a while the direction of movement became clear.

“That is Three Platoon's patrol going out,” Graham whispered. Mentally he shook his head at the poor fieldcraft and self-discipline. ‘That will be Crane's section,' he thought.

Rising quietly he moved on, the others following. He led the way across a small depression lined with trees and on across a sandy flat fifty paces wide on which grew several small, twisted trees growing in a clump. The patrol continued on another twenty metres to the bank of the sandy creek that led down from Sandy Ridge. The white sand in its bed showed clearly in the starlight. Turning right, Graham led the others to a small ridge about five metres high and 25 long that protruded into a bend in the creek. A stand of trees and various clumps of bushes provided good cover.

From there they could see back towards the road and both up the creek and out across the flat beyond it. It wasn't a perfect position and, like most military problems, was too big to be adequately covered by the available force. ‘Six would be a better number,' he thought. But he only had four, and the dilemma of who to put where.

At this point he gave in to what he knew was foolish temptation. Kirsty had been following close behind him all the way so he kept her with him and placed Pat and Halyday ten metres away They faced East and North. Graham then found a spot where he could watch the road, and the creek line to the South. When sat down he could just make out Pat's head among the trees.

The patrol settled to wait. Within a couple of minutes Kirsty moved so that her sleeve touched Graham's arm. That got him thinking and excited. Slowly, so as not to make a noise, he shifted to press against her. “Is that alright?” he whispered.

“No, I want you closer,” Kirsty whispered back.

Graham eased over and leaned against her. She snuggled against him, her arm resting on his leg. That got him quickly aroused and hopeful. Greatly daring he took her hand and held it. She responded and snuggled even harder. As she did a curious muttering vibration began to fill the quiet of the night. Kirsty stiffened and looked around. “What's that noise?” she whispered.

As she asked the sound changed to a deeper rumble. Graham held her closer and whispered back, “Only a train going across the railway bridge.”

“What railway bridge?” Kirsty asked.

Graham was astonished. He was about to make a sarcastic comment about how observant she was but bit his tongue in time. “Look on your map,” he said instead. “It's a couple of kilometres away that way.” He pointed off to the south.

She nodded and looked into his eyes. He could see hers glistening in the starlight and felt sure she was sending him a message. His heart began to thump with hopeful anticipation and he licked his lips nervously. ‘I think she wants a kiss,' he thought. It was a real temptation and his mind raced with hopes and fears. ‘Will I?' he wondered, all the old arguments again flooding through his mind. ‘But what if she complains?' But there was also the dilemma of how she would feel if he rejected her fairly obvious advances! Then, just as he was trying to pluck up the courage to ask her, yelling broke out in the distance.

Graham snatched his hand away in fright then felt foolish. The noise was coming from hundreds of metres away over on the other side of the Canning Road. “Three Platoon's patrol bumping into someone,” he murmured. He heard Pat and Halyday both move and saw their black shapes as they stood up to look.

The yelling died down after several minutes and Pat and Halyday sat down again. Then the radio spoke. It was so loud Graham jumped in fright and then blushed with shame. ‘I should have turned the volume down,' he berated himself. With fingers that trembled slightly he did that. It was Capt Conkey wanting to know what was going on. ‘Not calling me,' Graham thought.

It took Capt Conkey three calls before Cpl Crane replied and reported that his patrol had run into an enemy patrol. From the garbled answer Graham decided that Crane had blundered into the enemy and he certainly wasn't sure how many there had been or which way they had gone.

‘I hope we don't get sprung like that,' he thought. After looking carefully in all directions and listening intently Graham again turned to Kirsty. She snuggled close and by mutual consent their heads came together and they kissed. Their hands began to explore.

As Kirsty stroked him Graham shuddered with pleasure and Kirsty murmured with obvious enjoyment at his touch. It seemed that with every passing second he was more and more in the grip of lust. Then, curiously, his desire started to wane. As each new act was carried out Graham felt the stab of his conscience more strongly. Added to that was his pride in trying to be a good soldier. ‘We promised to behave,' he thought uncomfortably. ‘And we are supposed to be guarding the company.'

He gave Kirsty another kiss and then whispered, “We shouldn't be doing this.”

“Don't you like it?” Kirsty asked.

“I love it, but I promised Capt Conkey I'd behave. And we are on patrol. We are the outpost keeping the company safe.”

Kirsty shrugged and gave him an odd look but then nodded. Graham took his arms from around her, sighing with regret as he did. Feeling quite unsure and self-conscious Graham eased himself away from her. Kirsty turned her head to give him a hurt look.

As she did Graham stared out across the creek. A movement caught his eye, the merest flicker in the shadows. Enemy! He stared hard and saw a dark shape that could only be a person move from one clump of bushes to another. The enemy group was at least a hundred metres away and were crossing his left front heading towards the shed. He gripped Kirsty's arm and pointed.

The sound of leaves rustling penetrated Graham's consciousness. Just in time he took his hand away from Kirsty's arm as Pat came over. Kirsty was still beside him but now moved slightly away. Graham felt shame begin to burn through him. Pat appeared not to notice anything unusual. “Someone moving out on the flat to the East,” he whispered.

Graham nodded. “I know. I've been watching them,” he replied. As he did the distinct sound of a stick snapping came to them on the still night air. Murmuring voices could then be heard from the enemy patrol. Next Graham glimpsed another black figure flit from tree to tree about a hundred metres away. For the next minute he watched, gauging their direction of movement. As he did he moved further away from Kirsty and into a crouch.

“They are going to go past us,” he whispered. He calculated they would pass about 100 metres to their north. “Come on. If we are quick we can cut them off.”

He strode over to Halyday, trying not to make any noise as he did. Pat and Kirsty both followed. With a gesture to follow him Graham went past Halyday and slithered down into the dry creek bed. The others followed.

Down in the narrow, sandy creek bed Graham knew they were out of sight of the enemy so he broke into a run, hoping they wouldn't hear the thudding of their boots or webbing. The creek ran straight for about 50 paces, then curved left and then right and then left again before running straight for another ten metres. At that point an old road to the North Gravel Scrape crossed it, the actual road being washed away. The creek bank was chest high and steep enough to be an awkward climb.

By then Graham was panting for breath, the running on the soft sand having been harder than he expected. The others halted beside him, also puffing and gasping. A mist of fine dust, stirred up by their boots, enveloped them and tickled at Graham's throat. As he struggled to stop himself coughing or sneezing he strained his eyes in the darkness, afraid that the run might have been heard.

Then, only 20 paces away, appeared a person. He came out of the clumps of lantana up on the bank and went to cross the clear lane of the old road only ten paces in front of the patrol. Immediately behind the leader appeared four more cadets, all bunched closely together. For a frozen second Graham stood there staring at them. Fear of doing the wrong thing combined with fear of starting a battle and of being beaten.

By then there were six enemy and the first was almost at the top of the creek bank about 15 paces to Graham's left front. ‘I must open fire,' he thought in a near panic, knowing that his group could just crouch there safely and not be seen. ‘But if we let them past they might find the company position,' he thought unhappily. The realization that the whole reason for his patrol being there was to contact enemy patrols made his mind up.

With beating heart he screamed at the top of his voice, “Open fire! Bang! Bang!”

The other members of his patrol joined in immediately. By then Graham was running along the creek bed to intercept the enemy leader. The effect was astonishing. The enemy cadets stopped, then scattered. A couple fired back. One went to ground and two ran back the way they had come. The enemy leader saw Graham coming and fled, running off along the old road as fast as he could go.

“After them!” Graham shouted, scrambling up out of the creek bed. That decided the other enemy. They took to their heels as well. The one who had taken cover sprang up and ran. He was almost grabbed by Halyday but managed to get away. After twenty paces Graham called on his patrol to stop. The enemy went on running, scattering off across the flat.

Graham stood with chest heaving, exhilarated by the ease of their victory. In the distance he heard the enemy calling to each other as they tried to regroup.

“Nearly had a prisoner then,” Halyday grumbled. He was dancing with excitement.

“Just as well you didn't catch one,” Graham replied. “We don't need a prisoner to clutter us up right now.”

As he spoke he looked around to check that there were no more enemy. It occurred to him that the patrol might be only the vanguard of a whole company. ‘We can't see much from down here in the creek,' he thought. The notion that he had somehow abandoned his post made him blush with shame. Hoping the others had not noticed his indecision he said, “We'd better get back in position.”

“Won't they know where we are?” Pat asked.

“They will know we are somewhere here but not our exact position,” Graham replied. He set off back along the top of the bank. As he did he used his radio to call Coy HQ. Capt Conkey answered and Graham gave him a quick summary of what had happened. “The enemy have withdrawn to the east, over,” he concluded.

Capt Conkey replied, “Well done. Stay in position, over.”

Knowing that every CUO and section commander must have heard that made Graham glow with pride. Smiling with satisfaction he kept on moving, his eyes and ears alert for more enemy. The others followed and three minutes later they were back in their original position. After a big drink of water Graham stood and looked carefully in all directions before sitting down.