Page 70 of Forgive Not Forget
He exhaled deeply and collapsed into a chair at a nearby table, folding his arms over him like a cross child.
The man with the moustache entered the bar. “Katherine Atkinson?”
“Yes, that’s me,” Katherine said, half raising her hand.
“I believe you hold overall responsibility for the site?”
Katherine nodded, despite her wish at this moment that she’d never set eyes on it.
“I’m Major Terry Martin, retired. Shall we take a seat?”
Katherine retook her seat as the major sat beside Mark. Chris appeared with their coffees and lingered with interest.
“We’ve carried out an examination of the ordnance and believe it to be a five-hundred-pound device from World War II. I understand Abbey House and the entire site was used for military operations during the war, so it’s likely to have been deactivated and reburied, but we need to wait for a unit to confirm before we stand down. Until then, a four hundred and fifty metre outdoor exclusion zone will remain in place. We’ve got some chaps checking the archive in London to see if there is a record of its deactivation.”
“Likely to be deactivated,” Mark put in. “Can’t you be sure? I’ve got a ton of glass I’m halfway through installing. If a bomb goes off, it will shatter the lot.”
Katherine rolled her eyes. “Mark, glass shattering will be the least of our problems if a bomb goes off. There won’t be any abbey to attach it to.”
Mark leaned back in his chair as realisation washed over his face.
“Do you know what the military used the site for?” Anna asked.
The major spread his legs a little and crossed his arms. “I believe it was a communications post. They were often tucked away in remote villages like this to avoid the threat of bomb damage.”
“How did one end up right next to it then?”
“The Germans might have suspected there was a post here and dropped one, or they could have just been emptying their planes before they returned home; it’s on the way. About ten percent of the twenty-four thousand tonnes of explosives they dropped on us didn’t explode. They either have faulty fuses or some other defect, and we’re still dealing with it over half a century later, thankfully with no casualties.”
That was reassuring for Katherine.
“Though they had some casualties in Germany a few years back. A digger caught a British bomb that killed one and left four wounded. World War II is still claiming her victims.”
Katherine wanted to refute the use of ‘her’, if women had been in charge there would never have been wars. Women didn’t fight with guns they fought with words. The Major started up again before she could object.
“My teams detonate approximately sixty a year. The Germans commonly used electrical fuses in World War II, and they stopped functioning when the battery expired.” He chuckled to himself and continued, happy to have a captive audience. “Clearance efforts after the war were extensive. Some unexploded devices were either deemed of no risk or too inaccessible for practical removal.”
“What will happen if it is deactivated? Will you just cover it back up?” Katherine asked.
“Either way we’ll want to get it off-site and detonate it with modern explosives. If conditions allow, we’d detonate an active bomb in situ. Conditions here certainly don’t allow for that, assuming you want the abbey kept upright.”
Katherine nodded. “Very much so, please.”
A noise rang out from a walkie-talkie attached to his belt. “I better get this. I’ll send one of the chaps in to get some contact details from you. We’ll keep you updated.”
“Thank you,” Katherine said, standing and offering her hand. The major had a firm grip.
He disappeared, and within minutes a younger man entered with a notebook.
“If I can just get the contact details for a Katherine Atkinson, please.”
Katherine stepped forward and relieved him of his notebook. “I forgot to ask the major how long is this going to take. He said you were waiting for a unit?”
“They’re the best guys for the job. Considering what’s at risk here, it’s best left to them.”
“Timescale?” Katherine repeated.
“They may not be here until the morning, I’m afraid.”
