They were almost at the cottage now; still no shot from the ruins, Southcott crashed through a litter of bricks and stood, breathing harshly, within the three walls.

By the wall, his helmet just visible above it, knelt a German soldier. He did not look up. There was another, cowering in the far corner.

‘Up!’ growled Southcott. The German in the far corner rose to his feet, white-faced and trembling violently. He was very young and lanky. He clasped his hands behind his neck and waited for orders. Southcott shoved with his rifle butt, and the other German toppled backwards on his knees. There was a small, red hole in his forehead.

‘One of you two can shoot better than you think,’ he said. The fatigue men were delighted. They inspected the corpse closely and argued fiercely as to who had fired the shot.

‘Well,’ said Cook-Corporal Southcott, ‘we can’t hang about all day. Tea’ll be getting cold.’

‘What’ll we do with this?’ asked one of the fatigue men. He raised his rifle to his shoulder and looked appealingly at Southcott. The lanky German huddled against the wall, palsied from head to foot.

‘Not likely,’ said Southcott. ‘Giddyap, there.’

A few moments later they were on their way again to the forward positions. The two fatigue men panted uphill with their haybox. Cook-Corporal Southcott, rifle slung, hands in pockets, strolled at ease in front of them; and ahead of him stumbled the lanky German, bowed under the weight of the dixie.

At a signal from the men crouched by the roadsides the Bren carrier clanked to a stop.

A corporal rose from the ditch and came alongside. ‘Don’t go past that bend, sir,’ he said. ‘The road’s under observation from there. They start dropping eighty-eights on it as soon as they see anything move.’

‘Thank you, Corporal,’ said Major Maddison acidly, ‘I’ve come up here to take a look at the enemy. That’s what I’m going to do. No objection, I trust?’

‘No, sir,’ said the corporal, lying, for he and his men dreaded anything that might bring the enemy’s fire down on the road.

‘Good,’ snapped Major Maddison. ‘Carry on, Sergeant Bender.’

Sergeant Bender swore quietly at the controls; the two riflemen in the back of the carrier looked at each other; the carrier lurched forward again.

The carrier rattled along, swaying on its tracks, as it drew close to the bend. Bender pulled in close to the hedge and brought it to a standstill.

‘What’s the matter, Sergeant?’ asked Major Maddison icily. ‘Did I say anything?’ He felt fine; contemptuous of these creatures with him who cowered from death; flushed with his own manhood.

‘There’s someone coming,’ said the sergeant.