Reluctant Hero

Prologue

This story is a rewrite of a story I previously wrote entitled "Coming Home." I have used many of the same characters but the plot has changed significantly. It is as far as possible historically accurate although of course the characters and the plot are fictional.

The Nazi U Boat threat in 1941 was gradually strangling the UK supply lines and Merchant shipping was being sunk faster than they could be replaced. The Germans were using their U Boats to great effect, and had introduced a new type of submarine called a Milch Cow which could re- supply U Boats with fuel food and ammunition to keep them at sea for much longer periods. The Milch cows had designated areas in the Atlantic where they would appear at pre-arranged times.

These areas were well beyond the zones in which the RAF and coastal command could operate and so they were relatively safe from interference. The Royal navy tried their best to destroy the Milch cows and much of the Royal navies Submarine Service was employed increasingly in anti-submarine operations.

Something had to be done to counter this threat. This story is based on one fictional and futile attempt to break the German stranglehold. At the time such an attempt in these circumstances would have probably been considered. This operation would as the story tells us have been made fruitless by HMS Bulldog capturing an Enigma machine on the 9th May 1941 from U110.

The crew of U110 were relatively inexperienced and abandoned their boat before ensuring that she would sink before being boarded. A very brave boarding party from HMS Bulldog boarded the U Boat and captured the Enigma machine and other documents. It became a turning point in the war and very gradually the Royal Navy and the Commonwealth Navies who were very much involved in the sea war were able to gradually get on top of the U Boat threat.

The following story tries to be historically correct. There was no Royal Naval Submarine called HMS Tenacious to my knowledge, but there was however a destroyer of that name. On which I served for a short time. The story which I have written and submitted for your enjoyment is purely fictional. I served in the HM Submarine service for three years and I also have a good working knowledge of the geography of Germany, and the low countries which I have used in this story.

I am using the Oxford English dictionary which probably irritates US readers, but as my spell check has US parentage, the story is balanced in a few places by US spelling.

Sirdar

*

It was a dark and windy night in April 1941, there was a strong sea running and spray occasionally wet the bridge crew as the patrolling T class submarine HMS Tenacious was just about to make her first sweep on the surface of their patrol area just off Ushant. Intermittent driving spray lashed the faces of the bridge crew. The Captain Lt Commander Tony Nash had just ordered a running charge to be started on the batteries, and the lookouts and machine gunners were closed up on the bridge. This was just the sort of night that German U Boats would consider ideal for slipping out of their base for the open sea, to attack the Atlantic convoys.

Below in the control room the asdic operators listened intently, to see if they could distinguish any propeller noises. On the surface they were highly vulnerable as were all submarines, but they must recharge the batteries, and although they could now have a hot meal, and use the toilet and have a quick clean of the boat as far as was humanly possible, they were all ready to dive again at a seconds notice if necessary.

Down below the Chef had started cooking breakfast off tinned sausages, tinned tomatoes (known affectionately as read lead), and powdered egg, and the off watch members of the crew were enjoying their first cigarette for over twelve hours. Even a few non smokers were stood around in the control room reveling in their first breath of fresh air, as the two powerful sixteen cylinder diesel engines sucked the chill night air down into the control room, quickly getting rid of the foul air, and diesel fumes which accumulated in a submarine during a long dive.

As was normal most submarines turned night into day as far as possible, although it was now about 10.00pm, they knew that Breakfast would be their first meal on surfacing and a hot dinner would, if possible be served t about 4.00 am before they dived for the day.

The Leading Signalman Mark Andrews came down from the conning tower to the control room to be replaced by a lookout as he slipped out of his Ursula suit and safety belt and made his way forward to his mess. He was always the first on the bridge with the Captain when they surfaced in case he had to reply to a challenge from another ship. Now Mark like the others were looking forward to getting dry, and having a hot meal. He knew that he could be recalled at any instant to the bridge. The dreaded cry "Signalman on the Bridge." always kept him tense and experience told him this was such a night when he could be called upon quite easily.

When the Captain was confident that the boat had sufficient buoyancy then he would hand over the watch to one of the junior officers, and he himself would be looking forward very much to a hot breakfast. If the night went without incident, then they would dive again with full batteries just before dawn, followed by a day when they cruised at a bout three knots dived, watching and waiting. The off duty crew members sleeping and conserving air until dusk, when they would prepare to surface once again.

In the wireless office Peter Mowbray the Leading Telegraphist was listening and waiting to see if any signals would be broadcast for them. Suddenly he stiffened, and reached for his pencil as their call sign came over the air. He started writing rapidly taking down the blocks of code in a message addressed to them. It was soon decoded by the signals officer and taken to the Captain.

It was a recall, but not back to their depot ship, but to HMS Dolphin the Submarine home base at Portsmouth. The message was stressing the need for them to return with all dispatch. The Captain Tony Nash called for the navigating officer, and asked him to set a course for Portsmouth and within a few moments HMS Tenacious had left her patrol area and was 'cracking on' at full speed for Portsmouth harbour still with her full load of torpedoes intact.

It was two days later and they were just on time as they surfaced at the rendezvous to be greeted by their escorting destroyer. Who having quickly established their identity signalled briefly "Follow mama."

It was almost sunset, as Tony patiently conned the Tenacious into Portsmouth harbour. Tony was highly intrigued as to the reason that he had been recalled from patrol, after only fourteen days, but this was wartime, and Tony knew anything could and would happen. The signalman piped the salute as the boat came level with the signal tower flying the Admiral Submarines flag, and the casing party came to attention, and they all saluted. As soon as they got the "carry on. Everyone's attention was focused on making the 90-degree port turn into Dolphin Creek, and preparing to berth, as well as the urgent need to change the engines over to run on the motors.

"Stop starboard, in starboard engine clutch" The captain ordered.

Within seconds the starboard engine spluttered to a stop, and within a few seconds the control room reported that they were now running on the starboard motor.

This was followed by a similar order for the port engine change, immediately afterwards. Once the Captain had power from both motors, they were almost alongside their allotted berth, and a brief glance showed him that there was a sizeable welcoming party waiting for them on the jetty, including Capt Submarines. Tony was curious, and slightly concerned at the size of the waiting group, which indicated something special was on the cards. Once they were secured, Tony turned to Bill his First lieutenant.

"Refuel as soon as possible Bill, full battery charge, and replenish provisions as soon as we get orders. But do not pipe leave until we know why, and how long we will be here." "Right Sir" He replied saluting as Tony climbed over the bridge rail, and climbing down on to the casing. The casing party came to attention, as Tony made his way ashore, and saluted the senior officers waiting for him on the quayside.

"Welcome home Tony." Captain Submarines said shaking hands.

He did not introduce any of the other people with him, some of whom were unknown to Tony.

"We will go to my office where we can make the introductions and talk privately."

Tony looked at the Commander, an old friend of his who was Staff officer Operations. He looked at him, and just shrugged his shoulders, not giving a clue as to all the secrecy. Tony followed the party along the quay to the Captain Submarines office. He was very intrigued by the presence of a slim attractive sexy blonde female that walked silently with them. She was about 5'6" slim with short pageboy cut dirty blonde hair covered with a beret of the type usually favoured by the French. She wore a fawn rubber mackintosh, high heels and a lot of make-up. Tony could smell wafts of her very exotic cheap perfume as they walked. She walked silently, almost moodily with her hands in her pockets, and a large black shoulder bag slung over her right shoulder.

As they walked, Tony sensed from time to time that she was giving him curious sidelong glances. But each time Tony turned to look at her, she immediately looked away. They got into the office, and drinks were served, and to his amazement everyone except Captain S/M the young lady and a civilian who was introduced as Mr. Broughton from the admiralty, were asked to leave the room. Immediately the civilian started to talk.

"Commander Nash first of all may I introduce Anne- Marie to you. The lady just nodded in acknowledgement of his smile. We have studied your past history, and your service record with a very special operation in mind. As a holder of the Victoria Cross, and because of your German parentage and background, you are the ideal man, for a very dangerous mission we would ask you to consider. You of course, have a perfect right to refuse if you wish. God knows man, you have done your bit in this war, and you deserve a break. I would also like to congratulate you on your immediate promotion to full Commander, which was confirmed just after you sailed."

"Moving on, your perfect knowledge of German, and intimate knowledge of Germany plus your past record as a signals expert, are just what we need. In short, we want you to defect to Germany with Anne-Marie here as your wife. She is a trusted double agent, and you will be working with her as your boss. This is a lot to ask of you, and you will of course be reviled in the press here in the UK as a traitor, and also in America. That is sure to happen, your defection will soon become public knowledge as the Germans love that sort of propaganda, and Lord Haw Haw will exploit it for all he is worth. But we need you somehow to get hold of the German naval U Boat codes, and you can only do that if the Nazis trust you implicitly.

We are almost certain that Admiral Doenitz will want to make use of you in some way, and could give you the opportunity to get those important codes. We can only hope that will happen quickly. The U Boats are sinking our merchant ships faster than we can build them, and getting those codes back to us will be vital in winning the U Boat war. Your fluency in German and your signals experience is a vital component of this operation. The main thing is that we need to get a copy of them without their knowledge. If they suspect we have a copy, they will certainly change the codes, and the whole exercise will be pointless."

Tony hesitated for a few moments, as he absorbed what he had just heard, the whole idea had come right out of the blue, and various thoughts and problems ran through his head. Anne-Marie who spoke in a strong French accent interrupted his thoughts.

"Of course if you don't have the balls to do the job you are useless to me Commander"

Tony reacted angrily. "There is more than a question of balls, mademoiselle I have a ship to worry about, and certain other practicalities to consider."

Mr. Broughton spoke up with anger in his voice. "You should learn to keep your mouth shut mademoiselle. You have had time to consider and work on the scheme, but the Commander has just been told of the task ahead. He has just returned from an arduous patrol, and he is entitled to have a few moments to consider all the options."

Tony said. "Sir', would it be possible to work with someone else, rather than this lady here? "

"I am sorry Tony, but Anne-Marie is a good and trustworthy operator, in fact she is the best, and the only option. It takes great skill to do what she is being asked to do as a double agent. But as you have noted, she has an unfortunate habit of being a bit headstrong."

"A deadly fault in a secret agent, I would have thought sir." Tony replied sarcastically.

The whole idea was buzzing around in his head. Tony was happy with Tenacious, she was a good boat with a good crew, but Tony also knew that hundreds of seamen were dying every day, bringing vital supplies to our shores, and if he could do anything to save their lives Tony would do that.

"Yes sir. I will do it; I must do it, if there is no other way."

"According to your record, you are not married or engaged or anything are you Commander?" "No sir" Tony replied.

"Good, because you two have to be husband and wife in every way." Mr. Broughton responded.

"You do not seem happy with that idea Commander?" Anne-Marie asked.

"We have not got off to a good start Mademoiselle, and on this short acquaintance it would seem we may have significant marital problems." Tony replied.

"M'siur, we are booked in at the Keppels Head for the next 10 days as Commander and Mrs. Nash she replied, I already have a room, and tomorrow we marry for real at Portsmouth registry office. You see the Germans are not fools they know a lot about what happens over here, especially in the Portsmouth area, and we can take nothing to chance. When we leave this office we go hand in hand, as a happily betrothed couple."

Captain S/M shook his hand. Sardonically he said "Congratulations on your sudden marriage. In a way Tony, I was secretly hoping that you would refuse. However, your number one is due for his perisher's course and he can go on that straight away. I have a new Captain and First Lieutenant for Tenacious standing by. The crew will be told that as you have been promoted you are being re-appointed. Which you were going to be anyway at the end of this patrol."

"Bill is ready for command sir, so he should do well on his course. But I need to have some handover time" Tony replied. "Sorry Tony you have little or no time, we will sort out those problems ourselves the with base staff. But I am pretty sure there is a party for you being laid on at the Keppels Head to celebrate your promotion at the present time."

After a detailed briefing taking about two hours, they arrived at the Keppels Head, hand in hand. To Tonys amazement most of the boats crew were already there drinking. It gave him a chance to introduce Anne-Marie as his prospective wife to the ships company, who seemed very puzzled at why it had been kept such a secret. "My fiancé has been working away for some time on secret war work, and it was essential we did not advertise our relationship, now the situation has changed, so now we can get hitched properly. I am afraid also, that I am leaving you anyway, as I now have my other half ring and I am now a full Commander, a new captain and First Lieutenant will be joining tomorrow." Tony told them.

Eventually they got to their room, and to his surprise found all his kit waiting for him, with Anne-Marie's toilet gear and wardrobe. They had agreed not to bicker or fight with each other after their initial clash, and each of them were making a positive attempt to become better acquainted. She had apologized, using the excuse that they had been planning the whole operation for about three weeks and the success or failure of the whole operation hung on his acceptance.

"Tony I am really sorry. You had me very worried for a few moments." She had said.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Anne-Marie

Anne-Marie lay back in the bath and thought about the afternoon's events. She was pleasantly surprised at meeting Tony. She had seen his record, and she had been informed that if anything he had a bit of a record as a bit of a womaniser, so she had no doubts that the sexual side of their marriage would not create a great problem. She bitterly regretted her hasty remarks earlier that afternoon, and now she was feeling increasingly optimistic about the whole operation. She was fairly sure now that he was a man she could work with. However the big hurdle was yet to come. She had avoided nearly all sexual contact since her disastrous marriage, and now to have to climb into bed with a strange man was a wee bit nerve wracking. She knew it had to be done, the Gestapo were no fools, and any inconsistency in their cover story could be fatal.

Anne-Marie was 24, and was born of a Belgian mother and a French father, and brought up in a small town on the Belgian coast not far from Zeebrugge. They were a relatively wealthy family, and well known and respected in the area. In 1938 she had met a young German man named Wolfram who was on holiday. They had fallen in love, and despite her parents dislike, and distrust of Germans they had married. The wedding in Zeebrugge had been a typical German drunken affair. On her wedding night she retired to bed awaiting her husband, who she was sure would join her shortly for their honeymoon. She had taken great care of her toilet, and was wearing a lovely silk nightgown which was a present from her mother. It was past 1.oclock in the morning when he had arrived at the bridal suite.

He had that night taken her virginity in brutal and drunken fashion. Leaving her dazed, and bruised. After he had finished, and before staggering away to get more beer he had invited his best man to avail himself of his "French whore" as he called her. In all she was raped four times that night by Wolframs friends. The next morning, Wolfram had been very apologetic, and eventually, because she was so deeply in love with him when he was sober, and she was frightened to tell her father what had happened fearing a violet reaction from him, so she decided to stay with him. But the desire for revenge, burned somewhere deep inside her. She could never completely forgive him, and she stayed with him out of pride, and to give him a chance to redeem himself. However she ensured that in the few months before war was declared she never conceived. It was in August, when Wolfram was recalled to Germany to join his SS unit. She was obliged to go with him, and they stayed in the family home at the village of Rickelrath near Wegburg.

His family were nice respectable people, and when eventually his sister Ursula, sensing Anne-Maries marital unhappiness, and eventually after persistent questioning discovered how her brother had treated his new wife on their wedding night, she was angry, and told the whole family. Naturally the family were shocked, at first they found it hard to believe her, but apparently unknown to her, he had previously twice been accused of similar rape offences against local single girls. His father blamed the SS doctrine, and training for his behaviour. He personally hated the Nazi regime, and like many others of his generation was convinced that they would bring disaster to Germany.

In 1939 the war started and after the fall of France she was informed that her husband had been killed by the resistance in a partisan ambush. She was shocked and saddened, in a way, but she also felt a big sense of relief. After a short period of mourning she was considering returning to her parent's home in Belgium. However, the Germans firmly believing that she must be seeking revenge for the death of her newly wed husband, and knowing that she spoke both French, Flemish and German reasonably well, invited her to join them as a secret agent working with the Gestapo. They wanted her to return to Belgium and join the resistance, to betray the underground fighters. Anne Marie had no illusions about the ruthlessness of the Nazi regime felt that it would be better to go along with them. She suspected that to refuse outright could bring her greater danger. She agreed that she was seeking revenge and was the right person for the job. Feigning enthusiasm, she threw herself into the mandatory training programme.