Colin Gee - Breakthrough

This series of books is dedicated to my grandfather, the boss-fellah, Jack ‘Chalky’ White, Chief Petty Officer [Engine Room] RN, my de facto father until his untimely death from cancer in 1983 and who, along with many millions of others, participated in the epic of history that we know as World War Two, and by their efforts and sacrifices made it possible for us to read of it, in freedom, today.

Thank you, for everything.

The ‘Red Gambit Series’ novels are works of fiction, and deal with fictional events. Most of the characters therein are a figment of the author’s imagination. Without exception, those characters that are historical figures of fact or based upon historical figures of fact are used fictitiously, and their actions, demeanour, conversations, and characters are similarly all figments of the author’s imagination.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright holder. The author has asserted the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

The series deals with the violent events that commenced in 1945, through to the end of hostilities in the autumn of 1947; from birth in the mind of man through to the terrible conclusion.

All I have set out to do is relate the events as faithfully as is possible, and to leave the reader to decide the worth of those who wore different uniforms, and fought for different causes and reasons.

The reader will note that, in some areas, I refer to the 92nd Colored Infantry Division. This is an actual formation and I reflect its WW2 title faithfully. It is not for me to comment further on the reasoning and prejudices of those times.

Some readers of ‘Opening Moves’ have asked me whether or not I have an unhealthy respect for members of the Waffen-SS.

My answer is an unequivocal no.

In any field, excellence is to be admired, and any historian examining all the facts behind the service of World War Two’s fighting formations would, in my humble opinion, find it very difficult to justify not placing the members of the prime Waffen-SS formations in the top drawer of fighting elite.

Some, probably those who do not possess balanced knowledge, will always align themselves with popular myths and misconceptions, and will tend to lump the field soldiers in with those who defiled the uniform, their nation, and mankind, by serving within other agencies, such as the camps. Those who served in such places should be universally reviled.

I do not seek to excuse the excesses that were undoubtedly performed by some of the Waffen-SS, neither those well documented, nor those unheard of. Neither am I so stupid as to believe that we, the Allies, fought the war according to Queensberry rules. I know for a fact that we didn’t.

Within the ranks of the Waffen-SS there were psychopaths and sadists, and many are household names, or at least were, until the generation that fought them started to die out.

Such individuals also existed in the Royal Navy, the United States Army Air Force and the Canadian Army to name but three. However, I cannot name one such individual, as the Allied excesses received no coverage of note.

We won, and so no one was going to haul us up before a judge and hang us, were they?

Had the Axis triumphed, then maybe the Allied author of the ‘No prisoners’ order in Normandy would have had his day in court?

The political system that the German soldiers fought for was fundamentally flawed, and so lacking in moral restraint as to beggar belief, and nothing about it should ever be excused, dismissed or denied.

There are no bad peoples, just bad people. That is a view I have held since I grew up and developed an understanding of human nature. Many of the soldiers wearing field grey were good men, brave men, and soldiers par excellence.

War, by its very nature, brings up peaks in human behaviour, be it in the field of endeavour, science or horror.

For me, there are a number of unbelievable acts of courage that can be attributed to soldiers in WW2.

Of course, most of them went unrecognised and unrewarded.

Some continue to stir the heart to this day.

Pointe-du-Hoc and the US Ranger assault, the 116th/29th Infantry’s assault on Omaha, and Otway’s 9th Para Battalion and their assault on the Merville Battery, all on D-Day.

The 82nd US Airborne’s crossing of the Waal River during Market-Garden; 13th Guards Rifle Division and numerous others in the hell that was Stalingrad.

That is by no means an exhaustive list, but it serves my point, I hope, because I believe it is difficult for anyone but an historian to add the likes of the 352nd Infanterie Division of Omaha fame, ‘SS-Der Fuhrer’ Regiment during the Battle of Moscow, or the 1st Fallschirmjager Division at Monte Cassino.

Post World War Two, the Soviets became our de facto enemies, and so our view of them became jaundiced too.

In regard to Stalin and Beria, it is difficult to find any redeeming matters, I grant you.

But we must never forget that the Soviet people displayed an incredible national determination and an ability to sustain suffering on an unparalleled scale, and we applauded them for it, all the way to the centre of Berlin.

It was subsequent events that made them pariahs in our national psyche.

I have said enough for you to understand where I am on this matter. This is not a crusade, just my weak attempt to do justice to men and women in all uniforms who fought courageously, and with honour, for whatever cause.

I hope that you enjoy it.

Again, I have deliberately written nothing that can be attributed to that greatest of Englishmen, Sir Winston Churchill. I considered myself neither capable nor worthy to attempt to convey what he might have thought or said in my own words.

Those with an eye for detail will notice that the name of this book has changed. I produced ‘Stalemate’ as the second in the series, but it achieved in excess of 300,000 words and was too cumbersome. Therefore, it seemed sensible to split it into two parts. This is the first of those parts.

My profound thanks to all those who have contributed in whatever way to this project, as every little piece of help brought me closer to my goal.

In no particular order, I would like to record my thanks to all of the following for their contributions. Gary Wild, Jan Wild, Mario Wildenauer, Loren Weaver, Pat Walsh, Elena Schuster, Stilla Fendt, Luitpold Krieger, Mark Lambert, Greg Winton, Greg Percival, Brian Proctor, Steve Bailey, Bruce Towers, Victoria Coling, Alexandra Coling, Heather Coling, Isabel Pierce Ward, Ahmed Al-Obeidi, Hany Hamouda, and finally, the members of the ‘Red Gambit’ facebook group.

Again, one name is missing on the request of the party involved, whose desire to remain in the background on all things means I have to observe his wish not to name him.

Again, to you, my oldest friend, thank you.

The cover image work has been done by my brother, Jason Litchfield, and his efforts have given the finished article a professional polish beyond my dreams. Thanks bro.

Wikipedia is a wonderful thing and I have used it as my first port of call for much of the research for the series. Use it and support it.