They sat for five minutes before Taff and Dave moved to find the key for the pillbox, it wasn’t where it had been, Dave found it on the ground. Their guns were out as Taff unlocked the door, two figures could be seen through the night vision goggles, they were quickly taken outside. Colin handed them bars of chocolate, they were quickly eaten. Dave found two more pairs of night vision goggles, he handed them over together with black overalls and balaclavas. Taff and Colin had their own weapons, Dave handed out Uzi’s, Sally had a slightly smaller one, this was followed by Glocks and hunting knives, there was enough ammunition for a small war. Radio headsets were next, Dave said there was to be no communication unless it was necessary, “once the shooting starts it doesn’t matter, until then I only want one of two words said, we don’t know if they are monitoring radio transmissions. If you find the hostages, ‘Positive’, if they aren’t there, ‘Negative’. I will confirm with ‘OK’, keep repeating until you get a reply. Do not release them, we will pick them up later.” Colin and one of the SBS left, it would take them around an hour to make it the two miles to the south of the island. Taff put everything needed inside a backpack, each person carried their own extra ammunition, no allowance was made for Sally, Dave asked her if she was OK, “my heart is thumping, but I’m ready.”
Colin and Harry made good progress towards the southern pillbox, the other four waited. An hour after they left, Dave heard the message he wanted over the radio, he replied, Taff stood up, ready to move off, they stuck to the path, walking normally, it was only as they approached the small wall Taff had used as cover they crouched down. They could see Colin further along, the four went to join them. Taff now took over, he pointed to indicate they were to split into three groups, the darkness was beginning to go, in another half an hour, the goggles wouldn’t be needed. Harry and Simon were tasked with getting to the generators and switching them off, Taff and Colin were to take out the two who were in the wooden hut watching the screen, Dave and Sally knew they would be watching the doors into the caves. There wasn’t much cover for them, Dave pointed to a low wall at the shore end of the jetty, that would have to do. Taff had an idea, he took out two grenades, along the side of the path he had come there had been a cable for the radar installation, he asked if they had seen one on the way back from the south, Colin shook his head. One of the grenades was put back, he passed the other to Simon, “wait until we are in position, blow up the cable, that will alert the two on duty, we will take them out, hopefully the rest will come rushing out, kill the generators then we will all be in the dark. Only shoot those who are armed.” Ten minutes later everyone was in position. Dave moved and kissed Sally, he said he loved her. She was about to kiss him when there was the explosion from the grenade going off, an alarm was pressed, there was the sound of a siren. Everyone heard the two shots as those in the hut were killed. Dave took out the first one through one of the doors from the caves. There was a burst of fire, the generators stopped working. No one else came out the doors, shots were coming from the side of them, Dave pulled Sally down and onto the sand below the jetty, he shouted down the radio saying there was an exit behind him. A grenade was thrown, it landed in the water close to them. Dave pulled himself over Sally, thankfully it was mostly water which hit them. Taff and Colin were retaliating with the same. Two of the doors to the caves were now open, more fire was coming from there. Harry and Simon were now shooting at the people coming out from the doors. Dave pointed towards the other shed, they waited for a lull in the shooting, Sally was spraying bullets as she ran, she had no idea if she hit anyone or not. She was at one end of the hut, Dave at the other, now there was some protection, both fitted new magazines. They could now see the ones who had been firing on them. Sally decided to use her Glock, it would be more accurate, she picked off two of them, only ducking down when a bullet whizzed past her into the wood. The shooting became less sporadic, Dave shouted from where he was, “Anyone who comes out with his hands up will not be harmed, you are outnumbered so give yourselves up.” Nothing happened until one person stood up, his hands in the air, he was immediately shot by one of his own. Sally looked on in horror. The shooting started again, this time much more intensely. Taff threw two grenades towards the doors, the shooting from there stopped. It was only the ones who had come out the unknown doorway left. They wouldn’t give up, it only stopped when Taff lobbed another grenade into them. Sally had no idea how long it had lasted, it felt like seconds, Dave said later it was over thirty minutes. Taff passed him a radio, he called for the helicopters to come in, “make sure there are medics on board.” They would arrive in around twenty minutes. “Find the wounded, there must be sheets in the caves, leave those who will die, concentrate on the ones who can be saved. Sally helped, Colin had brought sheets he had found, Sally using her knife cut them into strips. Some of the sights were horrible, Dave had given them the chance to surrender, but only one had chosen it and he had been shot by his own people. Those who could walk were moved to the jetty. Dave sat with his Uzi pointing at them. There were seven sitting on the jetty, another four couldn’t walk, several more probably wouldn’t survive. The noise of helicopters grew louder, four were on the way, they touched down on the area above the bay. Marines came out from the first two to land. A team of medics were in the third one, Jane Goodley and Brigadier Storey were in the fourth to land. On the horizon was a Royal Navy ship, as it neared, two landing craft could be seen emerging from the back. The marines secured the area, the medics left those on the jetty and went looking for the more seriously injured. Sally sat down next to Dave, there was a bruise on the side of her face, she didn’t say anything. She was passed a Mars bar, she ate it mechanically, she was numb, she hadn’t been prepared for this, she accepted she would be shooting ‘bad people’ as she thought of them, but this was on a scale she had never seen before.
Jane Goodley looked round, she too was shocked by what she saw, “where are the hostages?” Dave said they were alive and in a pillbox a mile away, “one of the SBS men will show you where.” Taff came up to Dave, “we need to be out of here, it’s too busy for us, can you arrange it.” Dave handed over the keys to the Range Rover they had arrived in, “Brigadier, can we borrow a helicopter for a couple of hours, it’s to drop off my men.” He called over one of the senior officers, “will you tell one of the pilots to take these two to Mallaig and then return.” “Taff, tell me where you leave the car.” The four walked up to one of the helicopters. Sally pulled off her balaclava, pushed up Taff and Colin’s and kissed them both. Dave and her watched as they flew off. “It was horrible, why didn’t they give up?” “It’s the way they are, they hate the British and everything we stand for.” “But, they shot one of their own?” “The minute he put his hands up, he became a traitor.”
Jane had gone off to find the hostages, the Brigadier said there were nineteen dead, and fourteen injured, “we found the ones who made the drugs in one of the caves, they were cowering in a corner. David when did you last sleep?” “I’m not sure, maybe a couple of days ago.” “Sir, who are the hostages?” “The wife of the Stornoway trawler owner, an Irish courier firm’s director’s son and his wife, they were using his company to distribute some the drugs locally. The other three are from another Irish group they were trying to take over.” Jane radioed for paramedics to come to where the hostages were, some of them couldn’t walk. It was decided to fly them directly to the mainland where they would be admitted to hospital. A contingent of men were to stay on the island, the dead and wounded were to be transported to the Royal Navy ship using the landing craft. Another helicopter could be seen flying in, eight Military Police climbed out, they would be responsible for the investigation and supervise the removal of the drugs and chemicals.
Sally and Dave sat on the jetty, both were tired, Jane returned, she spoke to the Brigadier, looking at Dave and Sally, she said they could fly back with her and the Brigadier. Four hours later, they walked out of Garats Hay, Olivia had been called and was waiting for them, “Christ, you both look absolutely knackered.” Sally asked her to take them home, “what happened to your face, there is a huge bruise on one side?” “A grenade went off, something hit me.” “What about your car, it’s at mine?” Dave said they would collect it later. In the house, the backpack was dropped in the hall, Dave and Sally went upstairs, Olivia said she would make coffee and bring it up, when she saw them, they were both lying on the bed fully clothed and sleeping, she left the coffees, going out, she made sure the front door was locked.
© 10210ken 2026
