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been joined by C + B companies with
A abreast to pesert Batt front that
night they dug in- in an orchard ^Pvt Ian Headley
(one of the Bren gunners who had been left
behind) shared the dug out with Hollis
He was the runner Hollis thought back over
the day he told Headley about the mistake
the 17 + 18 platoon had made in by passing
the pillbox on landing "It could have
been fatal, "he told Headley " might have
caught B + C companies when they landed
in the next wave" That night as he made
rounds of his company he discovered
for the first time that his friend
Pat Mullally had been killed on the
way up to the battery It never
dawned on him that he might
have been killed that day But
he did wonder why he hadn't
killed the germans in the battery
truth was that he couldn't have
done so even if he'd wanted
to Hollis didn't go asleep
that night For the first time that
day he remembered he was
lunging He has a can of sel-
heating soup and sitting on the
step of the dug-out he waited
for the counter-attack which he
was sure would come
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