The Second Battle of Britain - a Soviet Sealion

Sorry to hear that, James G; hope you can fix the mess...

The Britons; ten


Soviet paratroopers were coming at first light tomorrow. John checked the message a second time, then a third too. There was no mistake. This message – an innocuous but conversely clear communication – said that it would be tomorrow morning that the pathfinders needed to be ready to guide-in the landing of however many thousands of armed men due to arrive. Just as first Morgan and then Vanya had said, this was the only notice and it wasn’t something that could be delayed by whatever circumstances there were on the ground. He sat down on the floor. John needed a minute or two… maybe a lot longer than that. Sarah was standing beside him. She kept saying one word over and over again: ‘no’. She could say that as many times as she wanted, John told himself and then her afterwards. It didn’t matter what she did or even did. It was happening regardless. The invasion – or the strategic raid as Morgan said it actually was going to be – was all set to occur in just a few hours. Sarah wouldn’t shut up and give him the necessary time to clear his head. She kept repeating that it couldn’t happen and needed to be delayed. She was pacing up and down saying that it was impossible for any landing here to be successful, not with all that had gone on. John successfully fought the urge to tell her that ‘all that had gone on’ had in the main been down to her. His wife had shot Morgan, the man who had come here to make all of this work. It was her that had gotten Leah killed and Leah was needed just as much as Morgan was. It was her that had started shooting earlier in the woods, leading to the increased military activity that they knew would be certainly out there now. Sarah asked him if they should leave. Would it be possible for them to just leave and let what would happen occur without them? Finally, he responded to her. Didn’t she have family back home like he did? What would be the consequences for them should the two of them, Gunter and Sabine, not John and Sarah, desert like she was suggesting? Unsurprisingly, Sarah didn’t argue that point. All that could be done, he told her, was for them to complete their mission. If they did what they were supposed to, they could get to safety afterwards without leaving Vanya’s men in the lurch leading to a sure-fire later discovery where there would be personal consequences for them. Again, Sarah said nothing back. John was glad that she didn’t. He didn’t know if he could convince her of his sincerity in the two of them managing to get away. He intended to but John had no desire to find safety alongside her… not after all the lives she was responsible for taking and Sarah’s recent absolute insanity in endangering them.

There was a plan to follow. John took charge of seeing it through. The radio was broken down and he had Sarah strip the house of everything else that needed to be removed from here. He put her to work removing weapons and equipment from where all that was located throughout the house and taking it into the garden at the rear near the side gate. He himself went to the bedroom window, the one with the wide view out over the open countryside behind them. There was no natural light – clouds were covering whatever moonlight there might be – so he used the night-vision gear. It was something fancy, something foreign. The battery was running low (he’d forgotten to charge it) but there was enough power for the time being. Slowly, carefully, John sought to see all that he could. He was looking for groups of British soldiers on patrol either on foot or in light vehicles. There was nothing he could see of that. Part of him was glad but he was also concerned. To see activity meant that he would know where it was. To not see anything meant that it might be there unobserved and thus something he could stumble into. He put the sighting device back on charge (he’d give it a bit more power from the main’s supply) and then went to where the Land Rover was parked at the side of the house. It was a chilly night outside. Summer was still officially here but there was a breeze blowing cold air. John didn’t like that. It didn’t make him feel comfortable. Without turning on the headlights – though not being able to do anything about the noise – John backed the vehicle up as far as he could. He opened up the boot. Sarah was there and she opened the gate. Without saying anything between them, they swiftly loaded everything she had gathered up into the rear of the vehicle. Sarah handed him a pistol. He shook his head and turned away. Back into the house he went, upstairs to get that night vision gear. It’s power supply had only increased a bit but it was more than it had been before. He took that with him and left the house. John told himself that this was probably going to be the last time he was in here. Never a home, the house had been where they had lived for some time. He’d miss it. The dogs, Lady and Max, were let out into the garden. He’d miss them too but couldn’t take either. Sarah was in the driver’s seat and, once he got in beside her, she drove away.


Though she saw no one, Sarah was certain that she was being seen by everyone. From every window, there had to be eyes looking outwards at the noise being made by her driving the Land Rover away from the house, past several houses, and then down the lane which ran beside the Royal Oak. She could only hope that the nosy people sure to be watching thought that she and John were moving their vehicle up to the pub (for whatever reason) and not taking it and themselves far from here. She wished that some of those infernal RAF jets from the airbase would be flying over to hide all the noise being made but she wasn’t that lucky. With a mandated blackout and Sarah now taking them off-road, there was no choice but to turn on the headlights. John had dimmed them yesterday – one of Morgan’s instructions – but she could only imagine how bright they still were. Attention would be drawn to their vehicle as it went away from the edges of Narborough. John asked her if she was sure she knew the way. She told him that she did, keeping her answer short & unsweet. This was now a time for concentration. Sarah had to pay full attention to where she was going. She kept the speed down as they cut across a field and towards the gate ahead. Spotting that with ease, she slowed down. John was out of the vehicle the very second Sarah brought the vehicle to a stop. He opened the gate and she drove forward through it. There was another country lane ahead. Sarah brought the Land Rover to a halt again while John re-closed that gate. Something inside her head said ‘go!’. She paid no attention. Abandoning John and driving far away from here just wasn’t tempting when she thought of her daughters back home in East Germany. He was back inside the vehicle soon enough and Sarah drove onwards. A few minutes later, there was another gate to go through and another field to cross to reach another exit point. This was farmer’s country but there were no animals wandering about. Sarah kept the speed low despite the urge to go faster. All sorts of hidden dangers were waiting in the darkness and she had no desire to blunder into them.

The trip took fifteen minutes. In a straight line and at a decent speed, the Land Rover could have covered it in a third of that time. The safest way to do this, the only way to make this trip, was by following the route taken though and that meant going carefully. John got out of the vehicle when she stopped and disappeared into the trees. He had a whistle with him to attract the attention he sought. Once more, Sarah had that thought about driving off. It could still be done even at this late stage. She didn’t though. She sat where she was in the darkness. The engine, and thus the headlights, were off while she waited. There was a pistol in her lap to keep her safe. John had agreed with Vanya that this was a meeting place where his men would pass by at selected times. How they had come to agree on those details, she didn’t know. Yet this was the place and this was the time. John had gone out here into the darkness with just that whistle. She wished he had taken the gun she offered him. Sarah waited and waited some more. Her mind ran over ideas as to what to do if something went wrong. The majority of those ideas began with her firing her pistol.


It was Kolya whom John met with, the Soviet commando whom he and Sarah had previously agreed was Vanya’s second-in-command. There was another man with Kolya and he gave the distinct impression of being keen to shoot John just for being here. Kolya was told what was happening. John impressed upon him the time restrictions. He repeated back to John all that he was told to make sure the details were exact. John was then instructed to unload everything that he and his wife had brought with him next to the roadway in the undergrowth on the northern side: Kolya would find it there when he returned with his comrades. With this all arranged, John informed the pathfinder that he would now do as Vanya had previously told him and take himself plus his vehicle to the next pre-arranged location. Kolya asked who was in that vehicle with him. Just his wife, John replied; two of them as had been agreed beforehand. Kolya gave him a suspicious look and asked him if he was certain about that. Neither he nor Vanya would be happy to find anyone else with them and if that was the case, should there be a surprise guest, then unfortunate things would occur. John assured him that it was just the two of them and no one else. So, as Kolya said, he would only find John with whom he described as the woman with brown hair, a large bosom & a black heart. John confirmed that again. It certainly would be a woman with a black heart whom he was with.

The pair of Soviets went one way, John went the other. He walked directly back to the vehicle without making any diversions or suddenly increasing his pace. He could feel the two armed men nearby at all times: he was sure that they were following close with their assault rifles at the ready. He half expected to find Sarah gone. It occurred to him as he got closer that she might have run, either on foot or with the vehicle. That wasn’t the case though. He went to the Land Rover, opened up the rear and quietly instructed her to help him. The rest of all of that signalling equipment which the aim had been to move piece-by-piece was left where Kolya told him to. John had already sent half of what they had, the bare minimum to complete Vanya’s mission, to the two hidden commando hides though this was the rest. It was all spares and here in case the rest didn’t work or had been lost. Sarah worked as fast as he did. She whispered a question asking where the Soviets were. He told her that he didn’t know and urged her on. The task was done. John closed the boot while Sarah started the engine. He stood where he was though. John shut his eyes and waited for the end to come. This had to be the moment where if Vanya was going to have him shot, it would be now. He thought of his family while awaiting what fate had in store for him.


John took an awful long time to get back in the vehicle. Sarah called out to him and he finally walked around to the passenger side door before climbing in. She asked him what had caused the delay. He didn’t reply. She drove away from where they had stopped, again going slowly. John had a question: what had she done to Adams and Norton? Sarah considered her reply. He was accusing her of having ‘done something’. Her first thought was to deny all knowledge but that was almost instantly dismissed. Enough lies had been told. If he wanted to know the truth, she’d tell him. It was anti-freeze that she had used. They wouldn’t have tasted it, she boasted as she basked in her own cleverness, and they were quickly incapacitated. John wasn’t impressed. He informed her that she only knocked Adams out of action: Norton was still capable of shooting back at her. Of course, he was correct. Sarah had realised afterwards that she’d struck too early. She admitted her mistake now. In response, John told her that once more she put him in danger! He could have been shot, by them or even her! While he didn’t shout, he snapped at her and called her a few choice names in that vicious tone he used again. His anger wasn’t as bad as it had been when he’d confronted her about the killing of Morgan but it was getting there. In what had to be a rhetorical question, he asked why she was so fucking stupid? Sarah opted to say no more and concentrate on driving.

This was another small country land infrequently used, one for farmer’s access, that she went down. There was a sharp turn coming up which Sarah knew she would have to take care going around. Before she reached there, her eyes caught sight of something in the distance. There was someone up ahead with a flashlight. At once, she hit the brakes while turning the ignition key. Some time ago, John had worked to modify the Land Rover to allow it to complete what he’d called a ‘dead stop’. The headlights went out and there was no noise. John asked her what she’d seen. Someone with a flashlight, Sarah replied: ahead and to the left. She handed him another one of the pistols which she’d taken from the house, these weapons among the treasure trove of weaponry which Leah had left them. Again, he wouldn’t take it. Like her, his eyes were narrowed and focused up ahead. If he could see anything, she wouldn’t. She checked with him: nope, there was nothing. He asked if she was certain in what she had seen? They had to be somewhere soon and… he didn’t finish what he was saying. John froze mid-sentence. Sarah understood at once. There were people on either side of the Land Rover. Her finger wrapped ever tighter around the trigger of the pistol.

He needs her. There is still that mission. However, once the mission is over, then maybe that might be the case. He's about to 'make his bones' too.
She has endangered them all. It is tempting to have her turn to him with a gun and say something along the lines of "I swore an oath to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and her heirs & legal successors. Die you East German pig!"... or something like that!

Depending on how you read Hague and Geneva conventions the wear of enemy uniforms and equipment by the pathfinders during their infiltration could (emphasis) be considered a ruse of war and still be afforded protection (especially if you’re doing similar things). Once they begin pathfinder operations and especially if they engage in any sort of combat while in enemy uniform they commit perfidy and lose all protection.

Conversely John and Sarah are spies and pretty clearly unprotected at this point- they would have to be in their true name in an NVA uniform when caught to be POWs.

However, both groups would be high priority captures worth keeping alive to exploit. If you can catch them alive.

These rules are why you’ll often see units operating forward of friendly lines retain at least one piece of identifying uniform if they are in an environment where capture under Geneva rules is a possibility. As an example, many long range observation units wear a “sterile” uniform with name and nationality/service tags to satisfy these requirements.

Second that, keep it up James G.