Page 11 of A Call to Home (Women of the Resistance #3)

Cairo

May 1943

‘You’ve got your wish.’

William Deakin and Basil Davidson looked up from the map they were studying as Leo entered.

‘What’s that?’ Davidson asked.

‘We’ve just received a signal from the Fungus mission at Partisan HQ in Croatia. It reads, “We regard cooperation with the Allies as logical. Let them send a liaison officer to our Staff. He could parachute at once into Montenegro near Durmitor.” It says it comes from the Partisan Central Command.’

‘At once?’ Davidson queried. ‘That doesn’t give us much notice.’

‘Never mind,’ Deakin said. ‘I’m ready.’

Leo looked at him with a mixture of doubt and admiration. With his academic background he seemed an unlikely candidate for a mission that would certainly require a great deal of physical courage and endurance. He was obviously fit. She had seen him playing tennis and polo at the sporting club, but that was a far cry from fending for himself in the mountains of Montenegro. However, there was no denying the enthusiasm on his face.

‘Who says you’re the one to go?’ Davidson said. ‘I’ve been begging for a chance to get back into the action for months.’

‘Oh come on!’ Deakin responded. ‘You’re needed here and I’ve just been hanging around. It has to be me.’

Davidson sighed and nodded reluctantly. ‘I suppose you are right. But you can’t go alone. We must put together a proper team.’

‘Agreed,’ said Deakin. ‘I need a good radio operator for one thing.’

‘We need to bring Military Intelligence in on this, too,’ Davidson said. ‘I’ll get onto them and see who they suggest.’

‘Let me go with you.’ The words had left Leo’s lips before she had made a conscious decision.

‘You?’ Deakin and Davidson spoke in unison.

‘Why not? I know the country better than either of you and I speak the language fluently.’

Davidson shook his head. ‘That is probably true but it’s not on, Leo. You must know that.’

‘Why not?’ she asked obstinately.

‘For a start, you haven’t done parachute training.’

‘So what? It can’t be that difficult to jump out of an aeroplane.’

‘It’s not jumping out that kills you,’ Deakin said. ‘It’s landing without the proper know-how.’

‘Look,’ Davidson continued, ‘I hate to say this, but honestly at your age it would be incredibly dangerous.’

‘But my daughter’s there!’ Leo blurted out.

The two men stared at her.

‘Your daughter?’ Deakin queried.

‘How can you possibly know that?’ Davidson asked.

Leo pulled herself together. These were secrets she was not supposed to reveal, but now she had to give him some explanation. ‘A source in London. Someone contacted Sasha and told him she had been seen with Tito in a town called Bihac.’

‘What source?’ Davidson demanded.

‘I’m not at liberty to say. But I’m sure it is reliable.’

‘And you never thought to tell us about it?’

‘It was confidential information. But doesn’t it make sense for me to go, from an operational point of view? If I can make contact with her she would be a valuable source of information.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Deakin said. ‘How could this happen without you knowing about it?’

Leo took a breath and swallowed. ‘I haven’t seen her since war was declared. The last thing I knew, she was in Paris, studying at the Sorbonne. How she got out of occupied France and found her way to Yugoslavia I have no idea, but she must have arrived after Sasha and I left. I had no idea she was there until a few weeks ago. Please, I need to see her. Couldn’t I do a crash course in parachuting?’

The two men exchanged glances and Davidson said, ‘I’m sorry, Leo. It’s just not possible. Bill, and who ever goes with him, will be jumping into the middle of a conflict. Conditions may be very bad and they may have to move fast in rough territory. I know you’re not a stranger to working on the front line but you are not in training for that sort of life any more. You would be a liability.’

Leo slumped into a chair. She knew he was right. There was no point in arguing further. There was a brief silence, until Deakin said, ‘Okay. So, who are we taking?’

There were hasty consultations with other branches of the service and a team was assembled. Deakin was to lead the SOE section while Captain William Stuart was to take control of the Military Intelligence component. He had been involved in Yugoslavian affairs since before the war and had played a part in selecting the immigrants who were sent to Canada. He had worked in Zagreb and spoke Serbo-Croat fluently. With them were to go two radio operators, Corporal Walter Wroughton, RAF, and Sergeant Peretz Rosenburg, known as Rose.

A further message from the Partisans requested British air support and the bombing of several towns, including Sarajevo. ‘ The Germans are planning to clean up the whole area ,’ the message continued, ‘ and are preparing to defend it against a potential British invasion. Send representatives quickly and explosives ,’ it concluded.

On May 22nd, the party left, travelling by train and lorry, for the airfield at Derna, to await despatch. Operation Typical was underway.