Shortly afterwards the Torpedo Officer appeared. ‘You sent for me, sir?’
‘Yes, Torps. I’d like to run through the rig drill once more. I know Corrigan and I had a dummy run with you this afternoon, but I want to make sure I fully understand the nuts and bolts of the flooding arrangements. Don’t want anything to go wrong, particularly at the assembly and launching stages.’
‘You’ll have the TGM with you for those, sir. McGlashan is the specialist. He designed the rig. Supervised its construction from the ground up.’
‘The ground up presumably being my rough sketch,’ Barratt remarked drily.
The Torpedo Officer’s smile was apologetic. ‘Yes, of course, sir. That sketch was the ground work.’ He went on. ‘The rig’s really very simple and straightforward now. The engineroom staff have welded a longitudinal bulkhead into the DC drum. One half contains the Amatol charge, the other is free-flooding on launching. One of the two buoyancy drums has been cut in half and welded to the other, so their flooding now is done by a single bung with a topside vent to release displaced air. You can check the flooding at any time by shutting the vent.’
For some time after that they discussed the changes in the structure of the rig and the effect they would have on assembling, flooding and slipping. When they’d finished Barratt patted Taylor’s shoulder. ‘I must congratulate you and the TGM. You’ve done a splendid job. All that’s necessary now is to put it to good use.’
The Torpedo Officer looked pleased. ‘I’ve no doubt you’ll do that, sir. I only wish I was coming with you.’
‘You’re needed on board, Taylor. The ship can’t do without you and the TGM.’
In the early hours of morning Barratt turned Restless away from the southern end of the patrol line and brought her round in a broad sweep to sheltered water in the lee of Maji Island. About a mile south of the beach on which the landing was to be made he ordered slow astern together and, when the destroyer had all but lost way, stop engines. Having given orders for the motorboat and skimmer to be lowered into the water, he handed over command to the First Lieutenant. There was a minimum of formality. ‘She’s all yours, Number One,’ he said. ‘See you at the pick-up point at 0415 or thereabouts. God bless you and the best of luck.’
In the dim light of the compass binnacle Hamilton could see the whites of the Captain’s teeth and eyes in the otherwise blackened face. ‘Good luck, sir,’ he said, an unfamiliar tremor in his voice. They shook hands, Barratt adjusted his webbing belt, checked the revolver and fighting knife it held. With a final, ‘So long,’ he went down to the waist where the shore party was mustering.
The embarkation took place without lights in total darkness. Although Restless was downwind of the island Barratt had stressed the importance of silence, so orders were given and difficulties discussed in subdued voices. To his concern these factors slowed the pace of embarkation and tried a temper already strained by tension. When the Coxswain reported that a rifle being handed down to the skimmer had been lost over the side, Barratt exploded. ‘For God’s sake, which bloody idiot was responsible?’
‘Couldn’t rightly tell in the dark, sir.’
‘It was me, sir,’ came in an undertone from a dark shape near Barratt who recognized the voice as that of a leading seaman, a man well liked on the seaman’s messdeck. Barratt, who thought much of him and was already regretting his outburst, said, ‘Never mind. We won’t charge it to you, Johnson. Have another rifle put in the skimmer double quick, Coxswain.’
‘Already done, sir,’ said the Coxswain. ‘I had spare equipment mustered in case of accidents.’
That incident out of the way, the embarkation continued. The five men of the beach party under the command of Lieutenant Weeks were in the skimmer with the rig, while the attack party of twelve men, including Peter Morrow and Aba Said, were with Barratt in the motorboat which was to take the skimmer in tow since the latter’s outboard engine was too noisy for the landing operation. It would be used only on re-embarkation of the shore party or, if necessary, in an emergency.
Though to Barratt the time seemed a great deal longer, the motorboat bore off from the destroyer’s side less than twelve minutes after embarkation had begun. Moving away with its tow at low speed it was soon lost to sight in the darkness.
The landing place chosen on the advice of Aba Said was a small beach on the southern side of the island. It had been selected for its tactical advantages; from Aba Said’s information, confirmed by what Barratt and McLean had seen on the previous night, it seemed that the Japanese defences were based upon the possibility of an attack by a vessel entering the creek from seaward on the northern side of the island. The beach chosen had an added advantage; in a direct line, it was no more than five hundred yards from where the submarine lay. Because the creek was surrounded by a horseshoe of hills the distance to be covered by the attack party was considerably longer, involving as it did a climb and descent over rough, bush-covered terrain.
On this point, particularly, Said’s advice had been invaluable. T have been to the beach many times,’ he told Peter Morrow. ‘The journey over the hill will take about twenty minutes. There is a rough track, but it is not easy to follow, especially in the dark. You say your men will be carrying heavy things, Bwana. In that case the journey must take longer.’
It was on this assessment that Barratt in his planning had allowed forty minutes for the journey from the beach, over the hill and down through the forest to the creek.
Piloted by Aba Said, who had fished the waters round Maji Island for at least fifteen of his twenty-one years, the motorboat and its tow reached the beach twenty minutes after leaving Restless. How the African found it on a black dark night was an unsolved mystery to Barratt who assumed it was a combination of night vision and instinct which the ordinary mortal didn’t possess. Whatever it was, the white patch of beach showed up ahead soon after the African’s warning to Morrow, ‘We must go slow now, Bwana.’ The motorboat’s engine was throttled back, de-clutched and put astern. The bowman, sounding with a boathook, called out, ‘Shelving fast, sir.’ Seconds later the bows touched and disembarkation began. Once the motorboat had discharged its load, the bows of the skimmer were hauled up on the sand and unloading of the rig and other equipment took place. When this had been done the skimmer was again taken in tow by the motorboat which backed away in the darkness. Both craft were to lie off the beach until the return of the attack party. At the briefing Barratt had given the time of that return as 0400, stressing that it was no more than an approximation.
For the members of the shore party the journey to the beach had been an eerie one especially for the majority who had not landed the night before. Grouped together in the darkness, in silence, unable to see, each man’s mind filled with thoughts of what the next hour might bring, was an experience which tested the nerves of the toughest.
Once on the beach and able to move again, much of the tension went as they got busy with their various tasks. Most important of these was the placing of the rig units in the carrier. This was done by the TGM, Petty Officer McGlashan, and the rig’s crew. Working without lights of any sort meant that everything had to be done by touch; and in silence but for occasional whispers.