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EET SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD JOHN BEATTIE, A M YOUNG HOME GUARD RECRUIT HIS OLDER HOME GUARD COMRADES WERE WORRIED ABOUT.

STORY MAC MACDONALD ART CARLOS PINO COVER CARLOS PINO THE WIND WAS BUFFETING HIM AS HE CYCLED FAST ALONG A CLIFF TOP PATH ABOVE THE SURGING NORTH SEA ON SCOTLAND’S EAST COAST IN WHAT WAS THEN THE COUNTY OF FORFARSHIRE.

4 THE WORLD WAS AT WAR AND JOHN KNEW ALL ABOUT THAT. HIS FATHER WAS SOMEWHERE IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC, AN ENGINEER ON A MERCHANT SHIP.

THAT LEFT JOHN AND HIS GRANDAD TO TEND THE SMALL FAMILY FARM. EVEN HIS MOTHER WAS AWAY AT THE MOMENT, VISITING RELATIVES. HOWEVER, THAT WASN’T THE MAIN THING ON JOHN’S MIND.

LIKE DAD SAYS, EVERYBODY HAS TO PLAY THEIR PART.

I’M LATE FOR THE HOME GUARD MEETING…THE CAPTAIN’LL NOT BE HAPPY WITH THAT.

ONE OF HIS OLDER BROTHERS WAS A MECHANIC WITH THE ROYAL AIR FORCE IN THE SOUTH OF ENGLAND WHILE THE OTHER WAS AN ABLE SEAMAN ON A DESTROYER OPERATING FROM SCAPA FLOW IN THE ORKNEYS.

5 JOHN LIKED BEING PART OF THE DEFENCE FORCE, EVEN THOUGH HE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A RIFLE TO PATROL WITH. THE OTHERS HAD FIRST WORLD WAR ROSS RIFLES, ALL HE HAD WAS A BROOM HANDLE.

ON PARADE, HE FELT LIKE A FOOL AND SUSPECTED THAT THE OTHERS DIDN’T THINK HE WAS UP TO THE TASK. EVEN A PITCHFORK WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER, HE MUSED, BUT THE C.O., CAPTAIN COLIN BAYNE, HAD NOT ALLOWED THAT… …AND NOW HE WAS GOING TO BE LATE AND THE BUTT OF THEIR JOKES AGAIN. NORMALLY HE WOULD HAVE USED THE SAFER INLAND ROUTE BUT THE CLIFF PATH WAS SHORTER.

MAYBE THEY WON’T EVEN NOTICE I’M NOT THERE FOR ALL THEY BOTHER ABOUT ME.

INSTANTS LATER, HIS TROUBLES DOUBLED AS HIS BICYCLE’S FRONT WHEEL HIT A ROCK AND HE LOST CONTROL. OH, NO!

6 HIS BODY WAS CATAPULTED HIGH INTO THE AIR AND OVER THE EDGE OF THE JAGGED CLIFFS.

AAGH!

THE COLD AND HUNGRY SEA SWALLOWED ITS PREY, THE SPLASH IN THE SURGING WATER MARKED THE SPOT FOR ONLY A SECOND.

7 IN THE NEARBY SMALL TOWN, CAPTAIN COLIN BAYNE WAS WRITING UP HIS REPORT ON THE HOME GUARD IN THE LOCAL HALL WHERE THEY HELD THEIR MEETINGS. HE WAS DISAPPOINTED THAT JOHN HADN’T TURNED UP.

THE LAD TRIES HARD, BUT HE’S GOT TO LEARN IT’S NOT JUST A GAME. WAR IS NO JOKE….

HE KNEW THAT FROM BITTER EXPERIENCE AS A YOUNG SOLDIER OUT IN GALLIPOLI AND FRANCE DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR. HE HAD SEEN THE HORRORS OF COMBAT AT CLOSE QUARTERS. AAGH! KEEP GOING, LADS, WE’RE ALMOST THERE!

8 HE WAS CARRIED FROM THE BATTLEFIELD AND HURRIED TO AN AID POST AND THEN HOSPITAL…

HIS LUCK KEPT HIM ALIVE THROUGH MANY ATTACKS AND BOMBARDMENTS, BUT IT RAN OUT ONE NIGHT WHEN HE TOOK A BULLET IN THE ARM.

AAGH!

…BUT HIS LEFT ARM WAS DAMAGED BEYOND REPAIR AND HAD TO BE AMPUTATED.

AN ANNOYING, NASAL VOICE BROUGHT COLIN BACK TO THE PRESENT AS THE DOOR BANGED OPEN AND IN CAME SIMON SNEDDON. THE LOCAL LANDOWNER’S FAMILY HAD FALLEN ON HARD TIMES BUT HE STILL BELIEVED HE WAS A MAN TO BE RESPECTED AND OBEYED. A WORD, OLD CHAP. YOU AND YOUR PRETEND SOLDIERS HAVE BEEN EXERCISING CLOSE TO MY HOUSE AGAIN, DAMAGING TREES AND DRY-STANE DYKES.

I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT IT WASN’T US. WE KEEP AWAY FROM YOUR PROPERTY, AS I THINK YOU WELL KNOW.

9 AS THE LOCAL SOLICITOR, COLIN KNEW ALL TOO WELL THAT THE EVER HARD-UP SNEDDON WAS SEEKING COMPENSATION FOR THE SO-CALLED DAMAGES. THAT’S AS MAYBE, BUT THERE ARE RUMOURS THAT SOME OF YOUR MEN ARE USING HOME GUARD AMMUNITION TO POACH DEER AND BLAST FISH FROM THE BEST POOLS WITH HAND GRENADES. WELL, YOU CAN REST ASSURED THAT THAT IS NOT TRUE. ALL OUR MUNITIONS ARE ACCOUNTED FOR.

SNEDDON SAW HE WAS GETTING NOWHERE AND MADE TO LEAVE, BUT HE HAD TO TRY TO GET THE LAST WORD IN. IT MUST BE THESE BLASTED POLES THEN. THEY RAMPAGE ALL OVER THE PLACE. DON’T KNOW WHY WE NEED THEM.

THEY’RE OUR ALLIES, DRIVEN OUT OF THEIR OWN COUNTRY BY THE NAZIS. THEY’VE COME THOUGH HARD TIMES TO GET HERE AND WE NEED ALL THE HELP WE CAN GET TO GUARD OUR SHORES.

10 IT WAS A WONDER THAT COLIN COULD KEEP HIS TEMPER. MAJOR CYRIL SNEDDON, FATHER OF THE UNPLEASANT VISITOR, HAD BEEN AN INCOMPETENT AND COWARDLY STAFF OFFICER IN WORLD WAR ONE. HIS COWARDICE HAD LED DIRECTLY TO COLIN BEING SO BADLY WOUNDED AND LOSING HIS ARM.

THE MAJOR MAY HAVE DIED OUT EAST LATER IN THE WAR AND BARELY KNOWN HIS SON, BUT I AM AFRAID THAT SIMON SNEDDON IS EVERY BIT AS ARROGANT AND UNPLEASANT AS HIS FATHER. AND HE HAS SOMEHOW AVOIDED HAVING TO JOIN UP.

AS SOON AS HIS VISITOR HAD LEFT, COLIN STRODE OFF TO WHERE BILL BROWN, THE LOCAL GARAGE OWNER AND MECHANIC, WAS CHECKING OVER THE CONVERTED BUS WHICH THE UNIT USED AS THEIR PATROL VEHICLE. THAT SOUNDED HEALTHY ENOUGH.

RUNNING AS SWEET AS ANY IN THE LAND. PERFECT FOR OUR NEEDS.

IT CAN GO CROSS-COUNTRY TOO. COULD BE HANDY THAT.