It had not occurred to Richard that they would not march south, but the decision was not his. He supposed that Platt was glad to have any senior officer to give him orders.
“Yes, sir. Split the men into two equal platoons, sir? Abbott and Ekins to have half each and work watches, Navy fashion?”
“Hadn’t thought – yes, that will work well.”
“I’ll give Sergeant Grace the order, sir. He will know which men to keep together and who it might be best to split up.”
“Make it so, Baker.”
“Yes, sir. Where can the men rest, sir?”
“They seem to be using the town hall, the Fusiliers, that is. Might be best to have our own billet, separate. Avoid any trouble. I’ll speak to the Major.”
Platt came back with permission to use any building convenient to the barricade.
“I’ll deal with it, sir.”
Richard marched across the square with Sergeant Grace. They glanced along the half a dozen shuttered storefronts, all with blinds down and iron grilles across the doors.
“Gentleman’s outfitters, sir – that will do. Likely be overcoats and such can be laid down for bedding. Keep the men comfortable. Corporal Abbott!”
Abbott produced two bronze pinchbars from his pack and ripped off the hinges of the grille across the front doors and then forced the door open.
“They come from the mine, don’t they, Abbott?”
“Yes, sir. Thought they might be handy. Never know when you might need to open a door, sir. Especial when you’re on the move, like, sir.”
“Where did you work, Abbott?”
“In the boot and shoe, sir. A laster, I was, what needs a bit of muscle to pull the leather onto the last. Did a bit of messing about on the building in me spare time and when the boot and shoe trade was slack.”
Richard thought he was very practised at breaking into buildings – but that really was no business of his.
The shop was large enough for twenty men to sleep on the floor and had racks of outdoor coats, as Sergeant Grace had predicted.
“Good English woollens, sir. Nice and warm and comfortable when you ain’t got a mattress. Corporal Ekins on the barricade first, sir. Corporal Abbott can have a bit of a look about, sir.”
Richard had no option but to agree – lieutenants did not argue with experienced sergeants, and Grace had not led him astray yet. He was almost sure that Abbott would be bringing burglarious skills into play and decided that the less he knew the better.
“I’ll go out to the barricade, Sergeant Grace.”
“Yes, sir. The men will be working on it, making it a bit more suited for the purpose, as you might say, sir.”
The barricade was no more than five feet high, a heap of roadstone with the light rails of the tram line threaded through and anchoring into the buildings at either side. It was sufficient to block cavalry and provided a firing point that would make any frontal assault expensive for infantry.
“Good against a machine gun, but artillery would soon bring it down, I think, Corporal Ekins.”
“Have to hit square on, sir, except it was big guns. I don’t think them little field guns we saw yesterday would do a lot to it, sir.”
“You may well be right, Ekins. What are you doing at the moment?”
“Poking a hole in the brick wall upstairs of the café to the side, sir. Set Pickford up a bit higher and with a clear view down the road, where he can do what he’s good at.”
“Company sniper. Ought to make him up to lance-corporal at least for the work he’s done.”
“Yes, sir. Funny sort of bloke. He don’t say much but you can see he likes the job. Must have killed two dozen and more this last couple of days, each one aimed at careful like. Not for me, sir.”
“No. Nor me, when you put it like that. Useful, though.”
“Done us some favours with the sergeants and officers he’s put out of the way, no question of that. Don’t have to like it, sir, even if it’s useful.”
“You’re right. Keep an eye on the men – there might be wine left behind in the café.”
“They won’t drink too much, sir. Half a bottle won’t do them no harm but I won’t let them go harder than that, sir.”
“Good. What’s that Grindley and Miller are doing?”
The pair had a length of brightly striped canvas between them.
“Sticking up a cover against rain, sir. One of them shop awnings stuck up on some iron poles they got hold of. Got a brazier and coal as well. Sentries got to stay out in the rain and get cold – not so warm at night even in August, sir. They can dry off again after, sir.”
“Sensible. It don’t look like rain at the moment, but you never know.”
“It’s foreign, ain’t it, sir. Weather can be different here.”
With his naval experience, Richard did not think Belgium was so very far foreign, but to most Kettering men even Northampton was far away and visited perhaps once in five years as a treat.
“Make sure the men clean their rifles, Ekins. They’ve fired a lot of rounds through those barrels.”
“As soon as they’re off the barricade, sir. First thing.”
The five right companies of the Fusiliers were pushed in during the following afternoon, one on each of the northerly roads that met at the square. They reported strong forces advancing slowly behind them, all infantry.
Captain Platt, who had not slept well for the pains in his belly and had spent the morning fretting, called Richard over to hear Major Higgins-Hall’s appreciation of the situation, given to his own officers.
“We know that there is a major body of Germans to our east. A full corps, presumably one of the columns denominated by the Schlieffen Plan. It seems reasonable that the troops to our front are the second line, mopping up and holding behind the columns. Cavalry out and scouting; artillery with the columns; infantry in smaller numbers and spread out across the countryside. Might be a battalion coming down each of these roads, but not likely to be a brigade. We can hold them for a day or two, until they have to call for artillery. Their riflemen are not as well-trained as ours – they rely on the machine gun for firepower. Not so easy to carry machine guns with you when coming up a narrow road to attack a strong barricade.”
There was a mutter of agreement. In this case, the barricades had the advantage.
“One company holding each of the five barricades. The right companies to stay back in reserve against call. Get the men into cover and rest them, gentlemen. Feed them. Be sure that you have a double issue of rounds. Check all water bottles are filled, with water only! A can of bully beef and a packet of navy biscuit to each man’s knapsack, in case of need.”
A young second lieutenant, a bright-seeming, fresh-faced twenty year old, very new judging by his clean and precise uniform, raised a hand.
“If we fall back, sir, what rendezvous point?”
“None given, Mr Sturton – I’m not entirely sure where we are. We will keep together and head for the coast, westerly if possible, if we are forced out. If not, as far south as needs be. I have sent a pair of runners back to find Brigade, or failing that, Division. We should be able to get into the slag heaps and steelworks on the southern outskirts and hold there if we are driven out of the town centre. Good cover there. I expect the sole limitation on us to be ammunition supply. I have ordered the quartermasters to send their wagons back individually as soon as they are emptied and to return full at soonest. No guarantee that they will be able to find resupply for us this side of Calais, and they may have problems getting the release of extras. You know what stores people are like!”
They did, scowling.
“It’s all very vague, gentlemen – because we don’t know what’s happening or where the Belgian and French armies are, or the location of the BEF. All we can practically do is fight while we can and run when we must. Tell the men that everything is in hand and that reinforcements are on the way – you might not be lying. One moment, Mr Sturton, I have a job for you.”