The Cadet Sergeant Major Read Online Free PDF Page A

his control sheet; then gave Cpl Ward the next Grid Reference he had to head for. Cpl Ward sat and pulled out his notebpook and map. As he did his section 2ic, Lance Corporal Wendy Werribee, took out a torch and knelt to help him by shining the beam on his map. While doing this Wendy leaned on Cpl Ward’s shoulder. The section commander seemed not to notice this as he plotted the position on the map, ruled a pencil line from one check point to the other, measured the angle with a protractor; and converted it from a ‘Grid Bearing’ to ‘Magnetic’.
    Peter watched, checking to see that he made no errors. But seeing the way Wendy was leaning on Lofty Ward, obviously pressing her breasts against his shoulder got Peter thinking. Part of him thought he should tell her not to do that but the other half was just jealous. ‘I wish a girl would do that to me,’ he thought, adding ‘Kate’ to the idea. But he said nothing, merely noting that it confirmed some of the rumours that had been circulating for some time about Lofty and his busty 2ic.
    When Cpl Ward had completed his calculations he held them up for Peter to check. Peter then wrote down the bearing on the control sheet.
    â€œThat is correct Cpl Ward. Now, calculate the distance in paces and get going.”
    There were more voices and another section arrived. It was No 4 Sect., Cpl Barbara Brassington. Peter made them sit on the other side of the tree. As soon as he was sure Cpl Ward was ready he sent 2 Section on its way and then sat next to Barbara. He didn’t particularly like her. To his mind she was a bit too pushy and aggressive; and she had joined the cadets with a reputation for being a bit of a tart.
    â€˜She is very capable though,’ he conceded as he watched her deftly plot the bearing on her map. ‘And she is attractive- but not as attractive as Kate.’
    4 Section tramped off into the night. Peter stood and stretched. It had been a long day and he was tired. The sound of a train attracted his attention. From where he stood he could not see it as the curve of the crest hid it from view. ‘It will cross the rail bridge,’ he thought. He had a sudden desire to watch that so he walked quickly across the road and stood on the highest point to look South West. That rail bridge had been the scene of the most dramatic event of his life and he often thought of it.
    The rail bridge was nearly two kilometres away, south beyond the highway. On the previous year’s annual camp the unit had done a ‘Commando’ type exercise to raid the bridge. After the bridge over the Burdekin at Macrossan this was the largest bridge in the area; a massive steel girder construction nearly a kilometre long. Peter had been the leader of a patrol which had infiltrated the defences to do a ‘close reconnaissance’ of the bridge and to note the deployment of the defending cadet units. He was particularly proud of that patrol. It had taken a day and a night and covered 20km. They had avoided several patrols of defenders and he had been able to make detailed field sketches and sketch maps.
    While his patrol had done this the unit had been hiding in the close country at the junction of the Canning River and the Bunyip, two kilometres north of the highway bridge. At the end of the patrol Peter had helped the Intelligence Section make a large sand model of the rail bridge and the surrounding area. This had been used to brief the section and platoon commanders during the OC’s ‘Orders Group’ before the raid.
    â€˜Kate was a cadet in the Intelligence Section then,’ Peter remembered. ‘She was on that patrol. How come I never noticed her then?’
    By then the train was rumbling onto the far end of the rail bridge, the sounds a loud roar even where he stood, nearly three kilometres away. ‘It’s the ‘Inlander’ on its way from Mount Isa to Townsville,’ he decided, seeing the