20mm cannon shells are very unforgiving things but, remarkably, Kozlov was still alive, at least by the basic definition of life.
His injuries were extreme and the two medics were unsure where to start. Electing to work separately, one placed a tourniquet over the stump of his left leg, stopping the blood loss, whilst the other tried to reassemble his face, carefully tying the shattered jaw in place after ensuring that eyes and nose were in their normal positions, not that the wounded officer would ever see again.
Penetrations to his stomach and chest were bandaged, although the piece of metal protruding from his back was padded and left in place, given its perilous position.
They had no pain relief, and so Kozlov suffered indescribable tortures as he was taken from the battlefield.
Around the desperate scene, soldiers of his unit flooded back in disarray, bloodied and disoriented, the only thought in their minds being to reach a place of safety.
Across the valley, and on the hillside, the fighting had stopped.
The aircraft had gone, the only mementoes of their presence being four burning pyres faintly resembling once proud aircraft.
The artillery and mortars of both sides had ceased fire, permitting small groups of men to recover wounded although, in the main, they only found the dead.
Never one to miss an opportunity, 6th Armoured Division’s commander, Major General Sir Horatius Murray, sent a request for a hasty bombing attack on Gemona, anticipating that it would be where the fleeing enemy would congregate.
He was absolutely correct, and USAAF B-26 Marauders from 17th Bomb Group’s 95th and 432nd Bomber Squadrons killed and injured many men who had escaped the inferno at Majano, as well as more from the 75th Rifle Division moving up to take over from the savaged frontline units. However, the killing of over five hundred Italian civilians did nothing for Allied relations with the ‘neutral’ Government in Rome.
Chuikov’s insistence on some offensive action had resulted in no gain of ground, and the loss of his 75th Rifle Division and irreplaceable tank and AA assets from 7th Tank Corps.
Whilst the 16th/5th had been manhandled, the Rifle Brigade bloodied, and the RAF fighters handed a beating, the casualty ratio was 10:1 in the Allies’ favour, and that was before the Marauders visited themselves upon Gemona.
Chuikov declined to order any more such excursions.
Chapter 136 – THE DECEIVERS
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks”.
The impressive Billiard House, built as part of the Marie-Antoinette estate, was sufficiently removed from the busier parts of SHAEF Headquarters complex as to be perfect for the extremely clandestine work of the disarmingly named ‘Joint Committee on Identification and Interment Procedures’, the cover used by the group manipulating information to mislead the Soviet intelligence apparatus regarding Allied intentions in 1946.
The central document to which they worked was as secret as they came. It was known, tongue in cheek, as the Ash file, and was an exact copy of the file presently receiving the undivided attention of Soviet Military intelligence, as passed to them by a Soviet agent in the Foreign Legion forces.
This was supplemented by the recent Mosquito internment by Sweden, which directed more misinformation into Soviet hands, and, again originating from the Baltic, Swedish protests regarding increased Allied submarine activity in the Gulf of Bothnia.
The RAF liaison officer reported back on successful reconnaissance trips over Northern Russia and the Baltic States, designed to further convince the enemy as to their intentions in the Baltic and Arctic Ocean.
‘J-Cip’, as it became known, was also responsible for clandestinely recruiting Finnish, Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian speakers and giving them secret courses in military radio procedure and terminology, which secret courses were subsequently deliberately revealed to known Soviet agents in the UK.
It was also the group to which Rossiter had, on Donovan’s explicit order, revealed the Achilles/Thetis file. Whilst the collective whistle had been well and truly whetted, the decision was made not to use of the head of GRU West’s son for now, giving them more time to develop something of true worth.
As the latest D-Day, Tuesday 26th March, approached, the group became anxious to ensure that all that could be done, had been done.
SAAG, noisily announcing its growing readiness to move, was monitored by Soviet eavesdroppers and a picture of an all-arms army, ready to take to the water, was established by both GRU and NKVD listeners.
Some reserve Soviet formations were moved up tighter to 1st Baltic Front, as Allied units in Northern Holland became noticeably more active, supporting the notion of an imminent assault from the Low Countries through the North German plain.
In Northern Norway, Allied patrolling increased, suggesting that combat was imminent in Scandinavia.
A Soviet reconnaissance flight, sent as an act of desperation, achieved the unachievable, and took photos of Harstad, confirming an agent’s report on a large assembly of military transports, all of which rode tight to the load line, indicating each carried its full share of the manpower and hardware required for an invasion.
Each had been painted to reflect a fully laden vessel, a masterstroke of subterfuge beyond the detection ability of the Soviet Naval Aviation photo interpreters at Severomorsk.
Permitting the Soviet Yak-4 aircraft to escape from Norwegian air space grated on the Spitfire pilots of 331 Squadron, RNoAF, but orders were orders, and it miraculously survived their attack.
Building up a picture of Allied intents, Soviet reinforcements moved to Kirkenes, sparking a brief but intense exchange with Finnish forces, north of Lake Radjejavri, when Soviet units accidentally crossed the national boundaries.
All of it was the work of ‘J-Cip’, but still they were not satisfied.
Major General Kenneth Strong, chairing ‘J-Cip’ called for a final statement from each man present before calling for a show of hands to the latest proposal. His US counterpart, Major General Harold R. Bull, agreed with USMC Colonel Rossiter, resisting any attempts to bring more people into the committee, preferring to seek opinion and advice without exposing the workings of ‘J-Cip’, thus avoiding the inherent risk of more people knowing its real role.
De Walle and Gehlen both thought it an excellent idea, provided any potential new member was already screened to the highest level, and came from a section of the intelligence services.
Colonel Kazimierz Iranek-Osmecki, the Polish presence in ‘J-Cip’, was simple in his approach.
“Nie!”
Dalziel, annoyed by the Polish officer’s curtness, voted for further inclusions with the security codicils.
Horst Pflug-Hartnung, Oberst and Intelligence Officer advising the German and Austrian leadership, followed suit.
Last to go was Brigadier Tiltman of GC&CS, their cipher and cryptanalysis specialist.
“So long as the buggers don’t flap their lips, why not?”
The vote was agreed without the need for Strong’s input.
The cigarette smoke hung heavily in the air, reflecting not only the number smoked, but also the length of time that the group had been working.
Nazarbayeva had called a break, to permit bladders to be emptied and lunch to be taken on board.