Captain Stirling’s desert command tent was always a hive of activity, at this moment in time it was occupied by four special individuals planning to steal a cargo ship from Tobruk harbour. The co-conspirators were Mademoiselle Mimi Dubois, La Résistance fighter and mistress of skills; Miss Madeline Forsyth, SOE operative and a living shadow; Sven Hyse, Norwegian Resistance soldier and shapeshifter; and Doctor Jackal, timid physician with his less than timid friend Mister Hades.

El Imayid, Egypt, August 1942

In discussion with Captain Ledman we find out that the cargo ship is carrying food supplies, fuel and machine parts. Madeline and Henry raise their eyebrows at the mention of machine parts, Madeline believes that could mean anything including military hardware. Ledman tells us that the ship is due to sail in about a weeks time and that it will take us at least three days travel to reach Tobruk. We realise that we will not have time for a lot of planning and so we request a list of items from Captain Ledman and let him know that we will leave first thing in the morning.

The following morning Captains Ledman and Stirling meet us outside our tents and talk us through the loose plan to get us to Tobruk. We will be escorted by two jeeps from Captain Stirling’s detachment following a broadly similar route to that which we took in operation Black Cat, we will need to travel the last day of the journey on our own and make our way to the safe house in Tobruk. Captain Ledman tells us the pass phrase and the correct response to gain entrance to the safe house. He also issues us with a radio frequency and the code word that we will need to use to get the cargo ship safely into harbour at Malta.

Captain Stirling issues us with our fake documents; papers for a Captain Orleff, a Lieutenant Schlin, a Miss Furhmann and a Nurse Klum. We are not issued with any specific travel documents or orders, and so we will have to work something out if it becomes necessary. To that end, Madeline pulls together a quick forgers kit and some old German orders. Sven and Henry are issued with German weapons and Madeline grabs an MP40, I slip my Browning into a bag and strap my knife to my inner thigh. Finally, Captain Ledman hands Sven an oilskin containing enough currency for a significant bribe.

We climb into our kübelwagen, and bookended by the two jeeps, set out on our journey behind enemy lines. Two and a half days of travel finds us approximately thirty miles west of the German base that was the focus of operation Black Cat, it is here that Captain Stirling’s men leave us and we head north on our own. We have planned to enter Tobruk from the coast road to the east so that we can get a good view of the harbour and more importantly the cargo ship itself. We travel without incident for several hours, passing lots of local traffic and several German vehicles, and pass through a couple of checkpoints. Whenever we approach a population centre, Madeline shifts into shadow form, just in case we require the element of surprise.

Eventually, we can see Tobruk laid out along the coast in front of us. Sven slows down to a casual speed so that we can observe as much as possible. Ahead of us we can see a significant checkpoint and Sven pulls us into line behind a motorbike and a transport truck waiting to be checked. When it is our turn a German sergeant steps forwards, salutes Captain Orleff, and requests our papers. We hand over papers for the Captain, Lieutenant Schlin and Miss Furhmann. Anyone who had been following the kübelwagen may have spotted that there was no sign of the fourth passenger, a nurse, but fortunately no one had been following us.

The sergeant hands back the papers saying that everything is in order and then he asks for our orders. Captain Orleff looks him up and down and says that we are getting our orders in Tobruk. The sergeant nods and says;

May I ask who you are getting your orders from?

Henry, wearing the role of Captain Orleff very comfortably, sternly replies;

NO! YOU MAY NOT!

The effect of those four words is truly astounding. German troops scramble about like frightened rabbits and the barriers blocking our way are quickly drawn back and we are waved through. I remember thinking then that Doctor Jackal may have a future on the stage, but that was not to be.

Tobruk, Libya, August 1942

We pass through fields and olive groves as the road drops down to sea level and then we drive through what appears to be residential premises of the local population. We finally emerge onto the harbour road and Sven drives slowly by the docked ships. It is then that we catch the first sight of the Orphelia. Everything looks quiet as we pass, there are a couple of crew on deck carrying out some maintenance work but little evidence of anything else. We turn left up one of the side streets and drive past the safe house, it is situated in a quiet residential street and all looks quiet.

We park the kübelwagen on a side street and removing all of our bags we head to a local eatery to get some food and kill some time before dark. There are once again four members of our party and we have a very pleasant, and leisurely meal and at eighteen hundred hours we all head for a stroll along the harbour wall. We watch the Orpheila from the dockside and can see that she has two gangplanks and that there are a couple of crewmen standing chatting at the top of one of them. Henry also spots two other crew members in the ships wheel house.

Captain Orleff, Nurse Klum, and Miss Furhmann continue their walk along the harbour wall but there is no longer any sign of Lieutenant Schlin. In the shadows behind where Schlin was standing, a seagull takes to the air and, circling once, lands atop one of the Orpheila’s masts.

The German Captain and his two female companions circle from their harbour walk back into Tobruk and just happen to stroll by the harbour masters office. It’s door is guarded by two German troopers and it has been daubed with a large, white swastika. As the three walkers are passing a left turn towards the harbour, about three hundred feet from the harbour masters, Lieutenant Schlin steps out from the shadows and joins them once again. The four of them then walk to the nearest bar to the safe house and settle in with a drink and wait for dark.

Thirty minutes after dusk two men, and two women leave the bar and head towards the safe house. After a few seconds there is only Miss Furhmann arm in arm with Captain Orleff walking along the street. They are being followed by a large domestic cat and a shadow flitting from pool of darkness to pool of darkness. When we get to the safe house I step forwards and knock lightly on the door.

The door is opened by a small Egyptian man, who looks quizzically at the pair of us. Henry gives the pass phrase and after a moment of shock, the man utters the correct response. He then ushers us into the small hallway. The cat quickly slips through before he can shut the door and rubs itself around the legs of Miss Furhmann. The man calls his wife in from the kitchen and introduces them as Ahmir and Amin Al Hassir. He welcomes us and apologises for being shocked by our appearance, we are not quite what he was expecting. Little does he know.

As he is showing us around his small house, Madeline gives them a fright by stepping into the hall from the kitchen. We introduce her and once they have calmed down, they welcome her also. We inform them that we are expecting one more person to join us. Ahmir and his wife head to the kitchen to prepare some drinks and food for us, as soon as the door is closed Madeline listens to see what they are saying, but they are talking in Egyptian so we can not tell.

The cat transforms back into Sven, he walks to the front door opens it a little and slams it closed once more. The Al Hassir’s return once more with food and drink, when they do I introduce them to Sven. As I am doing so, I place my hand on Amin’s arm and ‘borrow’ her ability to speak Egyptian. We eat with the Al Hassir’s and discuss what has been happening in Tobruk. We also ask Ahmir to get us some local clothing so that we can pass through Tobruk in disguise.

Once we have spent enough time with them so as not to appear rude, we retire to our own room to discuss what Sven discovered. While Sven is retelling his tale, I ‘borrow’ Madeline’s ability to see in darkness and transform into shadow. This leaves me very tired and so I rest while Sven talks. Sven confirms that there were very few crew moving about on deck, and that there were only a couple of crewmen in the ship’s wheelhouse. Most importantly, Sven discovered an anti-aircraft gun under a tarpaulin behind the ship’s wheelhouse. It seems unusual for a neutral cargo ship to be so armed.

We decide that we are going to head back out and scout the Orpheila further. Henry dresses in local garb and heads for the docks. He is closely followed, or should that be shadowed, by myself and Madeline. Meanwhile, Sven takes to the sky as a seagull once more and lands again on the mast of the Orpheila to keep watch. Henry stops on the docks and lights a cigarette, he stands and watches the harbour. From the shadows that he is standing in, two smaller shadows break off and slide across the jetty towards the cargo ship.

I slide up the aft gangplank and slip around the sides of the aft castle and up to the top of the wheelhouse. I steal a glance into the wheelhouse and spot two sailors inside. Neither of them seem to be very alert, and one of them is even reading a newspaper. I slide down to the next level and glance through one of the portholes, all I can see is a corridor with a couple of exists leading off. One of them is clearly a staircase leading back up to the wheelhouse.

I hope that Madeline’s search is bringing better results.