have ye got me back jimmy

Untitled Part 6

                                                                                       Chapter six

                                                                                     The Extraction

The night following my discussions with Captain Stride and Tomas the leader of the Resistance I positioned myself in a tree around 150 yards from the Camp with a clear view of sector eight and waited for Shamus to appear. I had along with two others removed the Billboard, painted over its lettering in black, and with yellow paint to match all of the others written, SHA-EXT-60-MID-15. Shamus and I had worked out a code as on many occasions we had looked at way's of escaping, he also knew where the night beam ended and where we had agreed would be the best place to exit the Camp. On the morning of the fourth day he appeared walking as we often did in a line 30 yards from the perimeter fence of sector 8. He wandered back and fourth for around 20 minutes accompanied by Ed Brooking and John Gillan. Suddenly he stopped with his back to the nearest Billet ST-1, looked into the forest and nodded his head, he had read the board. As he turned to walk away he raised his right hand and put it over his shoulder pointing to his back.

"I have Shamus, I have" said I.

I would later find out from Shamus that he was given 60 hours in solitary confinement, a brick built shed only 1 yard square with no windows sitting in the middle of the parade ground.

His main concern was the amount of men I had asked him to bring through the fence, our first estimation being 10, I then changed the number to 45 in order to get the attention of Captain Stride. The problem was that of the 12 standing Billets in sector 8 , at least 9 of them were out of reach of the forest and the extraction point and getting prisoners fro Sta-lags  2,3and 4 without being seen would be a major problem. but first Shamus would have to meet with Captain Rawlins, anything of this nature would need to be sanctioned by him.

There was no argument from the Captain, "you do as you must O,Leary" he said, "but only take men who are fit and healthy, it will be harder out there than in here"

"What about repercussions to yourself and the other Prisoners? asked Shamus.

"We are at war O,Leary" said the Captain, "in battle some live and some will die. It is our duty to cause as much disruption as possible. Now make your arrangements and good luck, the less I know the  better for all"

Shamus pondered the movement of men from Billet to Billet, but no significant ideas came. What did come was a visit from longtime friend Ed Brooking who was on the outside, a qualified Electrician. "I have something that might work Corporal" he said, "there are two head-lights on the side of each Billet which are turned on at 10-30 each night. If the lights furthest away from the compound gate and nearest to the perimeter fence on Billets 1,2,3 and 4 were turned a little to the left and tilted slightly upwards it would create a dark shadow around 3 feet from the ground, enough for a man to crawl through unseen"

"Are you sure of this Ed? asked an excited Shamus.

"Quite sure Boss" answered Ed Brooking, "but I would suggest we move them tonight and monitor any response from the Guards"

"Good Ed, let's do it" answered Shamus.

Shamus next told the leaders of Billets 2,3 and 4 to select 15 of their fittest men. Men who would not hesitate under pressure. that night two men of a chosen hieght under the instructions of Ed Brooking left their Billets at exactly 11-45 pm and simultaneously moved the lights. Shamus waited patiently until two in the morning to monitor if any difference had been noted by the guards. There was none.