“You have arrived in excellent time. I have been monitoring these men and it is as you say, but, not how you believe, Sir.”
Molyneux quickly moved from relief that a senior officer of France’s security service was present, to confusion, as the man suddenly cast doubt on his information.
“How do I know that you are not in league with these traitors, De Walle, eh?”
The ‘Deux’ man’s sage nodding gave weight to Molyneux’s thought that he was on top of the situation.
“If I could speak to you in private, then that is a matter than can be easily resolved, Sir.”
“I am not an idiot, De Walle. That will not happen.”
As he was ten steps ahead of Molyneux, the next line slipped easily from De Walle’s tongue.
“Then might I suggest that your aide, Colonel Plummer, stays with us, and covers me with his pistol, Sir?”
The matter was quickly considered.
“Yes, I suppose I can do that. Colonel, your pistol please, and shoot him if he does anything at all.”
Plummer withdrew his Browning automatic and mumbled his compliance.
“Shall we go next door, whilst your men stand watch over these officers, mon Général?”
Molyneux followed De Walle, with Plummer bringing up the rear.
Once ensconced in the small ticket office, De Walle transformed himself.
“Molyneux, you are a total cretin.”
“What?”
“Those men are not traitors to anyone, let alone France. They are soldiers, planning to hurt the enemy in a way that he may not recover for some time, and part of that is an operation with which I am closely involved. You have already placed that operation in peril by your actions and, by rights, I could shoot you myself, here, now!”
“Colonel Plummer!”
Molyneux turned to his man, only to find that ‘his’ man was not ‘his’ man at all.
“I suggest that you listen to what Monsieur De Walle has to say, mon Général.”
Stunned into silence, Molyneux did just that.
“Some very important people have sanctioned this operation, and it cannot be risked, am I clear on that point, Molyneux?”
“But I command the Corps, and have a right to know what my soldiers are used for, what my officers are doing…”
The confused man tailed off, his eyes again seeking some sort of clarification from Plummer.
None was forthcoming.
“Understand me, Molyneux…”
The man rallied as best he could.
“Général Molyneux, if you please!”
De Walle extracted a piece of paper, and held it under the Corps commander’s nose.
“You are Général Molyneux, until I employ this piece of paper, signed by Général de Lattre himself. At that time, you become Private Molyneux. Understand?”
The mouth worked, but no sound came out, such was the impact of De Walle’s words.
The ‘Deux’ man nodded at the aide, who extracted a similar piece of paper.
“Colonel Plummer has his own letter, empowering him to remove you from your command. Do I need to say more, Molyneux?”
Stunned, the Corps Commander remained silent as his mind sought a way forward.
He suddenly brightened.
“De Gaulle will hear of this outrage, De Walle!”
Nodding in acceptance, De Walle made a study of folding the document, before replacing it inside his tunic.
“That is correct, Général Molyneux. I shall be briefing him this very afternoon.”
This time the mouth also failed to function, hanging open, as the General realised he had no saviours.
“Now, shall we return to the main room and announce that an error has been made, before you return to your own headquarters and leave the fighting to real soldiers?”
“Yes.”
Molyneux turned on his heel and moved back towards the briefing area, completely missing the grins of his two tormentors.
Within ten minutes, the entourage had departed, Molyneux sharing a car with someone for whom he had a newfound respect, hand in hand with a newfound deep hatred.
De Walle watched the convoy leave, musing as to whether Molyneux would contact De Gaulle about the situation, and how that conversation might go, especially as De Gaulle had no idea of ‘Deux’s’ activities in partnership with SOE in general, and the Knocke affair in particular.
A swift conversation with Plummer had focussed the Colonel’s mind on the requirements of the situation, and the lengths that he could go to in order to ensure that secrecy was maintained.
That problem now removed, it now fell to the troopers of the Legion Corps to carry out the plan.
Chapter 94 – THE MEETINGS
To betray, you must be trusted, so who’s to blame? You, for doing what you needed to do, or them, for believing you in the first place?
The exhibits had long since disappeared, the building no longer a cultural focus.
In the thirteenth century, the building housed a Dominican convent, the nuns finally leaving during the French Revolution.
Open as a museum for nearly one hundred years, the Unterlinden boasted some of the finest works of European art.
Until the shadows of approaching conflict spread across the continent.
Some artefacts were removed by the authorities, prior to the sound of approaching jackboots in 1940, others afterwards, now somewhere in Germany, having been released from the Nazi’s ‘safekeeping’.
The empty rooms made for an excellent headquarters, and ‘Normandie’ had made its home there, ready for the upcoming operation.
Knocke had received another visit from Soviet agent Kowalski, and the timetable of Soviet expectations had been set, the Legion plan changed accordingly, actually withdrawing slower in some places than had been originally planned.
Lavalle and Knocke had taken a last quiet stroll through the thirteenth century cloisters, enjoying the sights and sounds of the old convent in silence.
Soviet aircraft had hit ‘Alma’ hard at last light the previous evening, seventy-six troopers killed, and half as many again wounded, and out of the coming fight.
The adjustments had been made and the gaps closed.
Now all that was needed was one small piece of information.
H-hour?
Kowalski was equally elated and scared; the effects of both emotions making his body feel more alive with every breath.
His meeting with the airbase commander had been brief, the man more interested in his own problems, than the arrival and swift departure of one aircraft.
Some hours beforehand, his visit with Knocke had been even more satisfying; the defeat he could sense in the man had started the boost that his body was still thriving on.
Whilst Kowalski would have preferred to be alone, the drivers that he and the other liaison officers had now been assigned, took the strain of the journey, and the Soviet agent had made the most of the extra time to examine the SS bastard’s plan.
It was simple, and should be effective, provided that the German stuck to it.
His sense of the man today was that he just wanted to get it all over with, and Kowalski annotated his summary report with his solid belief that Knocke would stick to his side of the bargain.
‘After all, when he had showed the man the latest picture of his wife in prime health, had he not shed a tear of joy’
He leant against the jeep, parked in the middle of the airfield adjacent to the ground controller’s cabin, enjoying the bracing air, and watching the morning mist slowly clear. The American aircraft had left just under an hour beforehand, off to do mischief somewhere unknown to him.