Field was called during the afternoon and when the Court finally rose, he was waiting for me outside. ‘Marjorie asked me to give you her love.’ He smiled. He was looking younger, more buoyant, and his eyes had lost that nervous blink.
‘How was Braddock?’ I asked.
He hesitated then shook his head. ‘Not good, I’m afraid. Very nervy-looking; at times I wondered whether he understood what was going on. He’s still a sick man, I’m afraid.’
, I asked him about the nervous breakdown, but he didn’t know the details. ‘The strain of waiting, I imagine. Three months almost. It’s a long time. Too long. But once it’s over, probably he’ll be all right then.’
‘What are the chances?’ I asked.
He shrugged. ‘Hard to say. He’s got a good man defending him, good enough at any rate to handle the two brigadiers. But even if he gets them to say they had every confidence in the accused, it won’t outweigh the fact that Standing had him arrested. If Standing were here to be cross-examined …’ Again that little shrug. ‘But he isn’t, you see, and dying like that he’s something of a hero. That counts for a lot in a case like this. And there’s all the publicity. The Judge Advocate may tell them what the law is, but the Court is human; they can’t help being influenced by it. And the size of the disaster. Fifty-three men dead. Who’s to be blamed if Braddock is acquitted? The Press will say the Army is covering up and there’ll be more questions in the House.’
‘So you don’t think he’s got a chance?’
He hesitated. And then he said, ‘No. Frankly, I don’t.’
I was called the following afternoon, immediately after Cliff Morgan had given evidence. When I took my place at the witness table I was shocked to see how ill Iain looked, his eyes wandering vacantly, his big, powerful hands never still — plucking at the buttons of his uniform, toying with his pencil, sometimes brushing over his face and up through his hair with a quick, nervous gesture. I don’t think he once looked directly at me all the time I was being questioned. As Field had said, he still seemed a sick man — all his intense nervous energy beaten down, as though something had destroyed his will to fight back. I had that feeling very strongly, that his strength was being sapped from within, and I wondered to what extent he had been affected by the fact that Lane was in Edinburgh. I had seen Lane that morning, just a glimpse of him as I was entering the main gate of the camp. He was sitting there in a car with another man.
‘Will the witness please answer the question.’ The President’s voice, kindly but firm, brought me back to the stillness of the court-room and the rather bland-looking major who was defending Iain standing facing me, waiting patiently for my answer.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘Perhaps you would repeat the question.’
‘I asked you, Mr Ross, whether you could recall the time at which Major Braddock gave the order to evacuate the island?’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Or rather, I can remember when the landing craft came into the beach. She grounded at nine forty-eight.’
‘And Major Braddock’s order?’
‘About ten minutes earlier. The landing craft was coming into the beach as we left the hut. Say, nine-thirty.’
‘Now I want the Court to understand the circumstances in which that order was given. What was the direction of the wind at that time?’
‘Northerly. It had been northerly all day.’
‘And no indication of a change?’
‘No.’
‘After the landing craft beached you went on board?’
‘Yes.’
‘Where were you then?’
‘I was helping on the tank deck until nearly midnight. After that I went to the wardroom.’
‘Where you found Lieutenant Wentworth talking to Captain Stratton?’
‘Yes.’
‘What were they discussing?’
‘A radio message they had received from the Met. Officer at Northton.’
‘Do you know when that message was received?’
‘It had just come in so it would have been shortly after midnight.’
‘Two and a half hours after Major Braddock had given the order.’
‘Yes/
‘And the wind at Laerg was still northerly then?’
‘Yes.’ I saw the point he was trying to establish and I added, ‘It remained northerly for another four and a half hours.’
The Major reached for his glasses and glanced at his notes. ‘Mr Morgan in his evidence said that he was in contact with the Viking Fisher at twenty-three forty-seven. That’s the trawler that was finally lost with all hands. Thirteen minutes to midnight. In your opinion was there any way in which Major Braddock could have foreseen how circumstances were going to change?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘Definitely not.’ I glanced at Iain as his Defending Officer said, ‘Thank you, Mr Ross,’ in a satisfied tone. I was surprised to see him running his pencil back and forth across the table in front of him, apparently taking no interest in the proceedings.
The Defending Officer turned to the President of the Court. ‘That is the point I wish to establish.’ And then to me: ‘You have some experience of the sea, I believe. A year in the Navy and ten in the Merchant Service as a deck officer. Correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘You were on the bridge with Captain Stratton part of the time during the crossing to Laerg and throughout the events that led up to the loss of the ship. Would you say he was a capable seaman?’
‘Very capable.’
‘So that in coming in to the beach you would say, would you not, that it was the action of a capable seaman?’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I’m certain Captain Stratton would never have brought his landing craft in to the beach if he had thought there was any danger.’
‘And he was in a much better position than Major Braddock to assess the local weather situation?’
‘I think you have made your point, Major Selkirk,’ the President said.
The Major gave a nod and a quick smile. ‘I just wanted to make it quite clear, sir.’ He glanced down at the papers on his desk. ‘Lieutenant Wentworth in his evidence has said that after the ship was unloaded Captain Pinney refused to take his men ashore. Can you confirm that?’
‘Yes. I was in the wheelhouse at the time.’
‘When was this?’
‘Between two-thirty and three, I should say.’
‘Can you recall the conversation?’
‘It was hardly a conversation,’ I said.
‘A row?’
‘No, not a row.’ Briefly I told them what Pinney’s attitude had been.
‘So even then, somewhere between two-thirty and three, there was doubt about the wind shifting from the north?’
‘Yes.’
‘Not only in Pinney’s mind, but in Stratton’s as well?’
I nodded.
‘Thank you.’ He shifted his stance, glanced at my brother who was still fiddling around with that damned pencil, and then his gaze came back to me. ‘You remember that Captain Stratton asked his radio operator to contact Colonel Standing. About what time would that have been?’
‘Around twelve-thirty. We were in the wardroom then. He wanted to talk to Colonel Standing personally and he told the operator that the Colonel was to be got out of bed if necessary.’ And I added, ‘He said something about it being time the men who gave the orders lost a little sleep on our account.* Quick as a flash he said, ‘Are you implying that he knew Colonel Standing had gone up to his house, which was a mile from the camp — that he had, in fact, retired to»
But the President interrupted him. ‘Major Selkirk. I must remind you again that Colonel Standing is dead. References to him should be confined to facts. You must not include vague statements about him or expressions of opinion or the comments of other officers.’