Pacifica Military History Free Sample Chapters.pmd

Free Sample Chapters 23
final list had to be adjusted so that in each group of twenty, there were
three experienced diggers to act as haulers. Red Noble and Shag Rees
actually drew in the second hundred but were allotted numbers seventy
eight and seventy nine so they could act as haulers. Ivo Tonder, Tony
Bethell, and Bob Nelson were also assigned hauling duties.
*
With the escapers having been notified of their final exit numbers,
they could press on with their plans. Bill Fordyce had planned to go
with Tom Leigh, an Australian born ex Halton apprentice who had been
downed in 1941, but the latter drew in the 40s, while Bill drew number
86. Consequently he teamed up with Roy Langlois, who had also drawn
a later number. Paul Royle drew number 55 and, since he had no
particular plans, got in touch with number 54, who happened to be Edgar
“Hunk” Humphreys, another Halton alumnus and a prisoner since
December 1940. Hunk was glad to have some company, so they went
from there. Others, believing that a single escaper would be less
conspicuous, elected to travel alone. One of these was Flight Lieutenant
Albert “Shorty” Armstrong, a Bolton native and electrical engineer by
trade who was shot down in North Africa in August 1942. Shorty was
one of the few hardarsers traveling alone but the prospect of a solitary
trek didn’t bother him. On the contrary, he was anxious to get going.
When push finally came to shove, some of the escapers had
attacks of nerves and asked to be removed from the list. Paul Brickhill
had a spot in the second hundred and was allowed into Harry to get a
feel for it. As soon as he got to the base of the entry shaft and looked up
the tunnel, he knew he couldn’t go through with it—his claustrophobia
was just too strong. Rather sheepishly, he went to Roger Bushell and
gave his reasons for asking to be dropped from the list. Someone
panicking in the tunnel on the night of the escape could be disastrous.
“Thanks for being so honest, Paul,” said Roger. “You’re the
eleventh man to come off the list this morning.”
*
With the draw completed, the idea of escape suddenly became
more real for the prisoners, as they could actually see their chance to get
out of the backwater of the prison camp. They had missed much over