Commando- The Complete World War II Action Collection Volume II Read online

  Commando: The Complete World War II Action Collection Series, Volume II

  Jack Badelaire

  Commando: The Complete World War II Action Collection Series, Volume II

  Kindle Edition

  © Copyright 2019 (as revised) Jack Badelaire

  Wolfpack Publishing

  6032 Wheat Penny Avenue

  Las Vegas, NV 89122

  wolfpackpublishing.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, other than brief quotes for reviews.

  eBook ISBN 978-1-64119-655-0

  Contents

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  Disclaimer

  Historical Note

  I. Operation Dervish

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Author's Note

  II. Operation Archery

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Author’s Note

  III. Operation Eisen

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Author’s Note

  If You Like This, Take A look At: The Termination Protocol (Scott Stiletto Book 1)

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  About the Author

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  Disclaimer

  This novel is a work of military adventure pulp fiction. While it takes place against the backdrop of the Second World War, the story and characters depicted here are entirely fictional, and any reference to or use of historical characters is also fictional.

  Historical Note

  Hitler’s Blitzkrieg has ground Europe into submission under hobnailed jackboots and steel tank treads. With the evacuation at Dunkirk, Britain stands alone, a small island nation standing defiant in the path of a ruthless juggernaut.

  Unable to mount a counteroffensive against the Germans, but unwilling to let them rest easy and reinforce their positions unmolested, the British military began the formation of small, independent companies of light infantry raiders, well trained and heavily armed. These elite soldiers would launch swift, decisive attacks against vulnerable targets within German-occupied territory: bridges, communications centers, ammunition, and fuel depots.

  The men who formed these raiding companies were volunteers, men who were not willing to wait at home on English soil for the eventual invasion of Europe, but instead felt the call for action in their blood, the need for danger and adventure, the chance to strike back against the Third Reich. Tough, belligerent, loyal, and above all, brave to the point of madness, these men were the vanguard of an Allied counter-strike against Hitler, the forlorn hope sent to breach the walls of Fortress Europe.

  In naming these men, Britain’s high command remembered the superior marksmanship, field-craft, and cunning of the militiamen who opposed British forces during the Boer wars. Those irregular units, consisting of hunters and ranchers skilled in guerilla warfare, campaigned successfully against far superior British numbers, launching raids and fading back into the veldt time and time again. The Afrikaans name for these units was bestowed upon the British raiders, who now fought their own unconventional war against a vastly superior foe.

  These men were known as Commandos.

  Commando: The Complete World War II Action Collection Series, Volume II

  I

  Operation Dervish

  Operation Dervish

  Kindle Edition

  © Copyright 2019 (as revised) Jack Badelaire

  Wolfpack Publishing

  6032 Wheat Penny Avenue

  Las Vegas, NV 89122

  wolfpackpublishing.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, other than brief quotes for reviews.

  Chapter One

  Five Miles North of The Siwa Oasis, Egypt

  November 13th, 1941, 0930 Hours

  “Enemy formation ahead! Five hundred yards and closing!”

  Corporal Thomas Lynch racked back the bolt of his Vickers machine gun and adjusted his sand goggles, looking over the weapon’s sights. Off in the distance, Lynch saw the enemy vehicles; a half-dozen dots staggered across several hundred yards of desert.

  “Gunner ready!” he shouted through a kerchief tied across his nose and mouth, trying to be heard over the roar of the Chevrolet truck’s engine as the driver shifted into the vehicle’s highest gear.

  Lynch stood in the back of a 30cwt Long Range Desert Group transport, hanging on for dear life as the truck raced across the Egyptian desert, the driver swerving now and then to avoid rocks or other obstacles. Clutching the twin grips of the Vickers, Lynch tried to keep the weapon steady, a task which seemed to be complete folly, as every bump and jolt along the way caused him to lose his balance and swing the gun around wildly.

  “Bend your bloody knees, mate!” Corporal Lawless hollered from the seat in front of Lynch. The New Zealander looked up at Lynch through his own pair of sand goggles and pointed at the Commando’s legs. “You gotta move with the truck, not fight against her! Ease up, you’re not on a parade field!”

  Lynch widened his stance and bent his knees, letting his legs take more of the shock and movement. He immediately felt more stable, the abuse to his spine lessened. He gave Lawless a nod and a thumbs-up.

  Lawless lifted his goggles to his forehead and peered through a pair of field glasses. “Three hundred yards! Get ready!”

  The LRDG patrolman let the gl
asses drop, hanging from his neck by a strap, and put his goggles back in place before snapping back the bolt of his Lewis gun, pintle-mounted to the dashboard of the Chevrolet. The driver, another Commando named Higgins, fought to keep the truck steady despite the rough desert terrain.

  Lynch pivoted his Vickers gun and brought it to bear on the enemy vehicles as they grew closer. He saw an Italian armoured car in the lead, followed by two German Kübelwagens and three Opel Blitz transports.

  “Fire as the target crosses your sights!” Lawless shouted. “Don’t try to track ‘em as we pass by, you’ll just waste ammunition!”

  Lynch steadied the Vickers, pointing the weapon ahead and to the left in the eleven o’clock position. Lawless fired first, his Lewis rattling out a short burst. Lynch saw puffs of dust and paint as the .303 calibre slugs ricocheted off the armoured car’s hull. Lynch fired as soon as the car entered the sights of his weapon, a ten-round burst that raked the Italian Autoblinda from nose to tail in just over a second. Although he knew the rifle-calibre bullets were no match against the car’s armour plating, it would keep the enemy vehicle buttoned up, restricting the crew’s visibility.

  One by one, they passed a target every few seconds and riddled it with gunfire. By keeping his bursts short and avoiding the temptation to swing the machine gun around and follow the target, Lynch found he was connecting with most of his shots. As the Chevrolet passed the last vehicle, Higgins put them into a wide turn, swinging around the enemy transport, and Lynch watched as Lawless ran his Lewis gun dry, quickly swapping the empty pan magazine for a full one taken from a canvas bag at Lawless’s feet. Lynch glanced down into the ammo can attached to the Vickers’ pintle mount; the 250-round fabric ammunition belt was roughly one-quarter used. Lynch was pleased with his fire discipline, considering how impossible it would be to try and change ammunition cans and reload the Vickers while staying on his feet as the Chevrolet tore across the desert at combat speed.

  As Higgins brought them around for a second pass, this time running up alongside the enemy convoy from behind, Lynch glanced back and saw the other four LRDG vehicles in their formation. The last Chevrolet was passing the Blitz at the rear of the convoy, while the other three trucks were swinging around to continue their gun run. It was important that the last vehicle get out of the first vehicle’s arc of fire, lest they find themselves driving through a hailstorm of “friendly” .303 calibre lead.

  “Tail car clear!” Lawless shouted at Lynch. “Free to engage!”

  Steadying the Vickers, Lynch began his second gun run. The heavy, water-cooled machine gun spat out its deadly payload at a rate of approximately eight rounds a second, and between its great mass and the sturdy pintle mount, the Vickers remained quite steady over level ground, even in his inexperienced hands. Compared to the Thompson submachine gun he normally carried into battle, the Vickers was truly a massive beast, and Lynch couldn’t imagine how difficult it must be to carry the huge steel-and-brass weapon, balanced across his shoulders, for hours and days at a time. Or, even worse, having to move from one battlefield position to another, setting the weapon up on its tripod and engaging the enemy while under fire. His Commando squad’s Bren light machine gun, normally carried by Trooper Higgins, was a relative lightweight compared to the Vickers.

  Within a minute’s time they’d passed the Autoblinda armoured car again, Lynch hammering the Italian vehicle with a dozen slugs. Their weapons finally silent, Higgins swung the Chevrolet out in a wide arc to the right, away from the enemy formation, and he brought the truck around so they were facing back towards the remaining LRDG vehicles as they finished their second run, each truck performing the same wheel to the right at the end. Within another minute, all five of the Desert Group trucks were parked abreast, the New Zealanders and the Commandos all congratulating each other on a well-executed manoeuvre.

  This was the first live-fire training exercise of the day, but the two units - the Long Range Desert Group and the men of 3 Commando - had been training together ever since their return to the Siwa Oasis headquarters eleven days ago. Before that, the two units had worked together to find and destroy an enemy raiding force hidden in the Libyan Desert. The Axis troops - a company of crack Italian Bersaglieri led by a squad of German Brandenburgers - had been hunting and ambushing British patrols and convoys for several months. That was bad enough, but the raiders had also posed a threat to the British ability to perform reconnaissance in the deep southern desert regions as their next major offensive drew closer. Lynch had been flown to Egypt along with three dozen other men from 3 Commando, and they’d linked up with the men of the Long Range Desert Group, a reconnaissance unit whose men knew the deep desert better than anyone else. Along with a trio of British armoured cars, the mongrel force had managed to find the Axis raiders and, in a daring night assault, Lynch’s squad had infiltrated the enemy’s desert fortress and caused chaos as the rest of their comrades struck the death blow, hammering the fortress’s defenders with mortars, machine guns, and autocannons. Although the Axis forces had put up a valiant defence, in the end, those who’d survived the assault surrendered to the British, although a handful of the Germans had escaped.

  Now, having no further orders, the men of 3 Commando bivouacked and trained with the men of the LRDG. Captain Eldred, the ranking Commando officer, held daily meetings with Captain Clarke of the LRDG and Captain Moody of the 11th Hussars, who commanded the unit of armoured cars attached to the strike force. The men knew something was afoot, but the officers appeared reluctant to share the information, and so there was little to do but train and train some more, all the while trying to acclimatize themselves to the extremes of the desert climate.

  The Commandos worked hard to adapt to the searing heat of the day and the frigid chill of night, all the while nursing sunburns and suffering the effects of dehydration. Although water rations at the Siwa Oasis were better than the six pints a day allowed while on patrol, the Desert Group men still maintained a good deal of water discipline, something the Commandos had great difficulty in accepting. The men had been in the damp autumn chill of Scotland only a few weeks before, and a few were laid low by the change, likely to be transported away from the Oasis on the next supply convoy back to the coast. Those who remained found themselves leaner of frame and darker of skin, more than a few joking that, were they to stay in the desert much longer, they’d end up like the mummies entombed under the pyramids.

  “Tommy! Oi, Tommy!”

  Lynch turned and looked down the line of LRDG trucks to where Corporal Harry Nelson, one of his squadmates, was waving to him.

  “What is it now, you great lummox?” Lynch shouted back.

  “Pity I didn’t have that bloody great autocannon just now. Would’ve turned those Jerry lorries into scrap-metal!”

  Nelson’s grin stretched from ear to ear, and Lynch just shook his head. During the assault on the enemy strongpoint, Nelson had commandeered a twenty-millimetre Breda anti-aircraft gun. The autocannon fired explosive shells from a twelve-round clip, and Nelson had used it to terrifying effect against a squad of Bersaglieri charging their position. Most of the squad had been blown apart by the shells, the few survivors huddled prostrate in the steaming offal that’d been their comrades moments before. Nelson had laughed at the carnage the weapon created, and he’d then used the Breda to shred the side of the stone fortress, ripping apart the heavy wooden doors and blasting fist-sized holes in the stone.

  After the attack was over, the Commandos and LRDG had stripped the enemy outpost of anything useful, confiscating weapons, ammunition, explosives, food, fuel, spare parts, and even vehicles. The Italians had operated a squadron of six Autoblinda armoured cars, and while three of the vehicles had been too badly damaged to ever drive again, the others were repairable. All six had been brought back to Siwa, the dead cars towed by those still moving under their own power. In addition, those heavy weapons - such as Nelson’s Breda autocannon - that still worked were gathered up and brought back to base. T
he Desert Group patrols weren’t especially well-armed, and the firepower acquired in the raid would make a significant difference if they had to engage Axis armoured vehicles in the near future. Given how likely it was they’d be at the forefront of the impending offensive, the “if” of engaging the Axis was more likely a “when”.