Force 10 from Navarone Read Online Free PDF

fighting the cruellest, hardest, most brutal war in Europe today. A ruthless, vicious war with no quarter and no surrender on either side. Arms, munitions, food, clothes – the Partisans are desperately short of all of those. But they have those twenty-eight divisions pinned down.’
    ‘I don’t want any part of that,’ Miller muttered.
    Mallory said hastily: ‘What do you want us to do, sir?’
    ‘This.’ Jensen removed his glacial stare from Miller. ‘Nobody appreciates it yet, but the Yugoslavs are our most important Allies in Southern Europe. Their war is our war. And they’re fighting a war they can never hope to win. Unless -’
    Mallory nodded. The tools to finish the job.’
    ‘Hardly original, but true. The tools to finish the job. We are the
only
people who are at present supplying them with rifles, machine-guns, ammunition, clothing and medical supplies. And those are not getting through.’ He broke off, picking up a cane, walked almost angrily across the room to a large wall-map hanging between a couple of Old Masters and rapped the tip of the bamboo against it. ‘Bosnia-Herzegovina, gentlemen. West-Central Yugoslavia. We’ve sent in four British Military Missions in the past two months to liaise with the Yugoslavs – the Partisan Yugoslavs. The leaders of all four missions have disappeared without trace. Ninety per cent of our recent airlift supplies have fallen into German hands. They have broken all our radio codes and have established a network of agents in Southern Italy here with whom they are apparently able to communicate as and when they wish. Perplexing questions, gentlemen. Vital questions. I want the answers. Force 10 will get me the answers.’
    ‘Force 10?’ Mallory said politely.
    ‘The code name for your operation.’
    ‘Why that particular name?’ Andrea said.
    ‘Why not? Ever heard of
any
code name that had
any
bearing on the operation on hand? It’s the whole essence of it, man.’
    ‘It wouldn’t, of course,’ Mallory said woodenly, ‘have anything to do with a frontal attack on something, a storming of some vital place.’ Heobserved Jensen’s total lack of reaction and went on in the same tone: ‘On the Beaufort Scale, Force 10 means a storm.’
    ‘A storm!’ It is very difficult to combine an exclamation and a moan of anguish in the same word, but Miller managed it without any difficulty. ‘Oh, my God, and all I want is a flat calm, and that for the rest of my life.’
    ‘There are limits to my patience, Corporal Miller,’ Jensen said. ‘I may–I say
may
– have to change my mind about a recommendation I made on your behalf this morning.’
    ‘On my behalf?’ Miller said guardedly.
    ‘For the Distinguished Conduct Medal.’
    ‘That
should look nice on the lid of my coffin,’ Miller muttered.
    ‘What was that?’
    ‘Corporal Miller was just expressing his appreciation.’ Mallory moved closer to the wall-map and studied it briefly. ‘Bosnia-Herzegovina – well, it’s a fair-sized area, sir.’
    ‘Agreed. But we can pinpoint the spot – the approximate location of the disappearances – to within twenty miles.’
    Mallory turned from the map and said slowly: ‘There’s been a lot of homework on this one. That raid this morning on Navarone. The Wellington standing by to take us here. All preparations – I infer this from what you’ve said – laid on for tonight. Not to mention –’
    ‘We’ve been working on this for almost twomonths. You three were supposed to have come here some days ago. But – ah – well, you know.’
    ‘We know.’ The threatened withholding of his DCM had left Miller unmoved. ‘Something else came up. Look, sir, why us? We’re saboteurs, explosives experts, combat troops – this is a job for undercover espionage agents who speak Serbo-Croat or whatever.’
    ‘You must allow me to be the best judge of that,’ Jensen gave them another flash of his sabretoothed smile. ‘Besides, you’re lucky.’
    ‘Luck