The Hornet's Sting by Mark Ryan Read Free Book Online Page B

it. But Denham had been around long enough to know when he was being told something important. He quickly excused himself, giving the impression that he hoped to contact London for further guidance on what action to take in light of what he had just heard. Tommy barely had time to ask him if he could be put on the next available flight to Britain, so that he could join the RAF and fight the Luftwaffe.
    ‘Well done on the sea-planes, Flight Lieutenant Sneum,’ said Fleet in his colleague’s absence. ‘We might be able to do something with those. By the way, there’s a Mosquito arriving in Stockholm in the next few days. We should be able to pull a few strings to get you over to Britain on that.’
    An elated Sneum felt as though he had almost made it to London already. He chatted for what seemed like hours to Fleet about the situation in Denmark, and what the British might do to undermine the Germans there. Finally they were interrupted by the return of Denham, who was noticeably more intense than before. ‘Look, I’ve got a proposal for you,’ he said.
    ‘First I have one for you,’ cut in Sneum. ‘There are about twenty Danish pilots, skilled in their jobs, just like me, men who want nothing more than to join the Allied forces and fight the Nazis. There is a large expanse of water at Lake Tissoe, near the west coast of Zealand, where they can be ready for you on any given night. All you have to do is send a message through to one of my people in Denmark. I can give you some names. Lake Tissoe is as big and as easy to recognize as any rendezvous point you could think of. One of your Sunderland flying boats will have no trouble finding it, especially if I coordinate everything.’
    ‘How could you do that from England?’ asked Fleet.

    Tommy didn’t hesitate: ‘If I receive a guarantee in London that the Sunderland will be sent, I’ll volunteer to parachute back into Denmark and prepare my friends for the pick-up.’
    Both Englishmen could see that Sneum was deadly serious. ‘We could arrange that for you in theory,’ said Denham cautiously. ‘But maybe you won’t have to parachute into Denmark. Not if you’re already there for us.’
    Tommy sensed he was about to be told something he didn’t want to hear. ‘I had hoped you could get me to England,’ he reiterated with as much insistence as he dared show.
    But Denham was equally stubborn. ‘This installation of yours on Fanoe may be more important, I’m afraid,’ he explained. ‘We need to understand exactly how these things work. Get as much technical detail as we can.’
    ‘I don’t see what more I could do,’ replied Sneum.
    ‘You could take photographs,’ suggested Denham.
    Tommy almost laughed. He imagined strolling nonchalantly around the restricted areas like a tourist, taking snaps at will.
    ‘You could use a little Leica,’ continued Denham calmly. ‘Nothing too conspicuous. And if that works out, you could use a Movikon camera. They take moving pictures.’
    Sneum couldn’t believe his ears. Make a film? But he agreed, and at that moment effectively became a British agent. He was well aware that his first assignment was only one step short of a suicide mission, despite Denham’s casual description of what was required. But Thomas Sneum wasn’t the sort to back out of a challenge.

Chapter 5
     

ON LOCATION
    B Y THE LAST WEEK of March 1941, Tommy Sneum was ready to take Leica and Movikon cameras across to Fanoe on the ferry from Esbjerg. He wore his naval uniform, including a billowing cloak, to make it easier to hide the bulky cameras. As he stood on the ferry deck and took in the crisp spring air, the engines began to rumble in preparation for departure. Then they suddenly stopped, and Tommy stumbled across the most amazing piece of good fortune. Lifted on board at the last moment by crane was what looked like a control cabin for one of the Fanoe radar towers. As it landed with a jolt on the lower deck, its door was flung open