were behind
the fuel trouble.'
They reached Barclay's office. 'Ready, Jack?' said
Blackstone. 'I'm looking forward to this.'
Tanner stepped inside and saluted. Quite a crowd had
assembled in Barclay's office and the room seemed smaller. The OC was behind
his desk but on wooden chairs at either side sat three other officers, two RAF
and one from the company. Blackstone had once again made himself at home on the
armchair in the corner. Tanner eyed the men - he recognized the squadron leader
and flight lieutenant from the previous night - and his heart sank. Christ , he thought, it's a bloody
court-martial. And no Peploe. No wonder Blackstone had been
gloating.
Barclay coughed in a manner that suggested the proceedings
were to begin, then tersely introduced the other men in the room: Squadron
Leader Lyell and Flight Lieutenant Granby from 632 Squadron; and Captain
Wrightson, the T Company second-in-command.
'Now, Tanner,' said Barclay, his brow furrowed, 'what
the devil do you think you were doing last night? You could have killed those
pilots.'
'They crossed a checkpoint, sir. It was quite obvious
we were there, even in the dark and with reduced headlights. I walked out into
the middle of the road as they approached and held up my hand, signalling for
them to stop. They ignored this, swerved and drove on so I shot out one of
their tyres.'
'It was bloody dangerous,' said Lyell. 'There's no way
you could have known you were going to hit the tyre. That bullet could have
gone anywhere.'
'With respect, sir, I'm not a bad shot.' He lifted his
arm to show his Skill in Shooting badge. 'I aimed at the left rear tyre and hit
it.'
'Still a huge risk, Tanner,' said Barclay. 'They could
easily have been badly injured or even killed when the car crashed.'
'I doubt it, sir. The car wasn't travelling fast and,
in any case, as I discovered afterwards, they were so drunk they could barely
stand, let alone drive.'
'That's absolute rubbish,' said Granby. 'We'd had a
few beers, that's all.'
'One of you threw up,' said Tanner, 'and you, sir,
took a swing at me and fell over.'
'I did no such thing.'
'Ludicrous exaggeration,' added Lyell.
'I remember it distinctly, sir. So, I'm sure, will the
men who were with me at the time.'
'Are you saying I'm lying, Sergeant?'
Before Tanner could reply, Captain Wrightson intervened.
'Perhaps, sir, the drink affected your memory?' He chuckled.
'He's talking rot,' said Lyell. 'We'd had a few beers,
and it was dark. I saw the checkpoint too late to stop, swerved to avoid the
sergeant here and then he shot at us. Luckily no one was hurt but it could have
been far more serious. As it is, my car's in a bad way and will cost a fortune
to put right.'
Barclay sighed. 'Wasn't it damnably obvious,
Tanner, that the car was
full of pilots who'd had a few?'
'No, sir. I was told that Kingsgate was out of bounds
to servicemen. I wasn't expecting any pilots to come from that direction and,
as I said, they didn't stop. I was following standard procedure.'
'Damned heavy-handed, though, Tanner.'
'They could have been Germans, sir.'
Barclay snorted. 'Swerving around in their car?'
'We were ordered to stop any vehicles that passed,
sir. A lorry had already driven through the checkpoint and men had got
themselves killed. I didn't want that to happen again.'
'I think what Sergeant Tanner is trying to say, sir,'
interrupted Blackstone, 'is that he was thinking of the pilots' safety. I know
it's not really an NCO's place to make such decisions, but I'm sure he felt
that by shooting at them he would save them from further mishap.'
Tanner glanced at Blackstone and saw the sly smile on
his face. Damn him! Tanner had believed the
questioning had been going well until that point, but once again Blackstone had
made him look a puffed-up fool.
Wrightson smiled again. 'So you were doing 'em a
favour, eh, Tanner?'
'They still had a couple of miles to go to get back to
Manston, sir. That's quite a long way to drive when
the fuel trouble.'
They reached Barclay's office. 'Ready, Jack?' said
Blackstone. 'I'm looking forward to this.'
Tanner stepped inside and saluted. Quite a crowd had
assembled in Barclay's office and the room seemed smaller. The OC was behind
his desk but on wooden chairs at either side sat three other officers, two RAF
and one from the company. Blackstone had once again made himself at home on the
armchair in the corner. Tanner eyed the men - he recognized the squadron leader
and flight lieutenant from the previous night - and his heart sank. Christ , he thought, it's a bloody
court-martial. And no Peploe. No wonder Blackstone had been
gloating.
Barclay coughed in a manner that suggested the proceedings
were to begin, then tersely introduced the other men in the room: Squadron
Leader Lyell and Flight Lieutenant Granby from 632 Squadron; and Captain
Wrightson, the T Company second-in-command.
'Now, Tanner,' said Barclay, his brow furrowed, 'what
the devil do you think you were doing last night? You could have killed those
pilots.'
'They crossed a checkpoint, sir. It was quite obvious
we were there, even in the dark and with reduced headlights. I walked out into
the middle of the road as they approached and held up my hand, signalling for
them to stop. They ignored this, swerved and drove on so I shot out one of
their tyres.'
'It was bloody dangerous,' said Lyell. 'There's no way
you could have known you were going to hit the tyre. That bullet could have
gone anywhere.'
'With respect, sir, I'm not a bad shot.' He lifted his
arm to show his Skill in Shooting badge. 'I aimed at the left rear tyre and hit
it.'
'Still a huge risk, Tanner,' said Barclay. 'They could
easily have been badly injured or even killed when the car crashed.'
'I doubt it, sir. The car wasn't travelling fast and,
in any case, as I discovered afterwards, they were so drunk they could barely
stand, let alone drive.'
'That's absolute rubbish,' said Granby. 'We'd had a
few beers, that's all.'
'One of you threw up,' said Tanner, 'and you, sir,
took a swing at me and fell over.'
'I did no such thing.'
'Ludicrous exaggeration,' added Lyell.
'I remember it distinctly, sir. So, I'm sure, will the
men who were with me at the time.'
'Are you saying I'm lying, Sergeant?'
Before Tanner could reply, Captain Wrightson intervened.
'Perhaps, sir, the drink affected your memory?' He chuckled.
'He's talking rot,' said Lyell. 'We'd had a few beers,
and it was dark. I saw the checkpoint too late to stop, swerved to avoid the
sergeant here and then he shot at us. Luckily no one was hurt but it could have
been far more serious. As it is, my car's in a bad way and will cost a fortune
to put right.'
Barclay sighed. 'Wasn't it damnably obvious,
Tanner, that the car was
full of pilots who'd had a few?'
'No, sir. I was told that Kingsgate was out of bounds
to servicemen. I wasn't expecting any pilots to come from that direction and,
as I said, they didn't stop. I was following standard procedure.'
'Damned heavy-handed, though, Tanner.'
'They could have been Germans, sir.'
Barclay snorted. 'Swerving around in their car?'
'We were ordered to stop any vehicles that passed,
sir. A lorry had already driven through the checkpoint and men had got
themselves killed. I didn't want that to happen again.'
'I think what Sergeant Tanner is trying to say, sir,'
interrupted Blackstone, 'is that he was thinking of the pilots' safety. I know
it's not really an NCO's place to make such decisions, but I'm sure he felt
that by shooting at them he would save them from further mishap.'
Tanner glanced at Blackstone and saw the sly smile on
his face. Damn him! Tanner had believed the
questioning had been going well until that point, but once again Blackstone had
made him look a puffed-up fool.
Wrightson smiled again. 'So you were doing 'em a
favour, eh, Tanner?'
'They still had a couple of miles to go to get back to
Manston, sir. That's quite a long way to drive when
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