‘We get no news,’ Henderson said. ‘Do you know what’s happening?’

The soldier laughed. ‘Do you think I get any more news standing out there than you get sitting in here? All I know is that the tanks are advancing and it’s the usual struggle to get enough fuel and food up to our troops to keep things moving.’

Henderson smiled. ‘I bet you’re happier back here than up at the front.’

‘Too bloody right,’ the German said, nodding. ‘I was one of the first over the border at Sedan. I’ve had my share of fighting, and hopefully it will be over soon.’

‘I hope so too.’ Henderson smiled at him.

As the German wandered back to his post the proprietor came across to the table and announced that he was closing.

‘You and the Boche are the only custom I’ve had in the last two hours,’ he explained. ‘It’s not worth staying open with no bread, no eggs and sausage that’s hardly worth the name.’

‘Fair enough,’ Henderson said, as he grabbed his hat off the table and stood up. ‘This bakery – you wouldn’t happen to know where it is?’

‘Of course,’ the proprietor said, as he began lifting chairs on to the tabletops. ‘It’s less than a kilometre – you must have passed by as you came towards us. But there’s no way you’ll get any bread. The master baker told me that the Germans are taking every loaf and ordering him to run the ovens flat out. They’re threatening to shoot anyone who stops working or asks to go home. He says he’ll be out of flour by tomorrow.’

Henderson left a decent tip and Marc followed him outside into the sun as three trucks crammed with troops roared past on the cobbles. They were waved through the checkpoint without slowing down.

‘What can we do?’ Marc asked, as the pair began walking towards the bakery.

Henderson wanted Marc to start thinking for himself and tested the boy as they walked. ‘What did you notice about the checkpoint?’

Marc shrugged. ‘They weren’t stopping anyone unless they were French.’

‘Exactly.’ Henderson nodded. ‘And any vehicle that either looked German or had a German at the wheel got waved through. Plus, most of the trucks only had one man in the cab.’

Marc smiled. ‘Which makes them easy to pinch if the driver steps out.’

Henderson nodded again. ‘The soldier mentioned a basic flaw in the German tactics. It caused them problems in the east last year and with luck it might make our journey across the front line a lot easier than it would have been to cross the trenches during the Great War.’

Marc was confused. ‘What flaw?’