Redemption - Leon Uris [154]
The Brigadier and Lord Roger were longstanding pals of the sort who always owed one another a favor. Lettershambo Castle, the Militia arsenal of questionable legality, became out-and-out under Brodhead’s protection with Brodhead’s cooperation in the gunrunning.
Roger saw to it that the Brigadier was let in on a number of “good bets” with his insider information.
The principal troops at Bushy were the King’s Midlanders, but the Coleraine Rifles were also included. When Roger exiled Jeremy to the Rifles, Brodhead assured him he’d keep the lad under control and out of trouble, which he did.
When Christopher went to the Rifles, he was earmarked for rapid promotion and became a close aide to Brodhead. Chris was having a problem getting his wife pregnant and was given all the time off he needed to get the old job done.
With Brodhead and Captain Christopher Hubble in on the scheme, Lord Roger contacted Weed to set up a secret meeting and bring along three or four cronies who could deliver vast amounts of money.
When Roger unfolded the plan, tens of thousands of quid were laid in the center of the table. Their principal German arms dealer had purchased a shipload of heavy arms for the Militia, and two nine-hundred-ton vessels. It was done with the cooperation and assistance of the German government, keen on anything to disrupt Ireland or embarrass the British government.
The ship was in a Hamburg dock with her empty sister ship in the next slip, to be used as a decoy. A story was circulated that the pair were bound for Mexico where the ousted dictator, Diaz, planned a coup.
Enter Captain Christopher Hubble, in civvies but blond, erect, correct, polished, moustached, the very model of empire man.
Christopher left with a German crew under a German flag, but instead of the usual North Sea route, swung into the English Channel and up the Irish Sea where the ship was shadowed by a British destroyer.
The sister ship trailed, then switched places with, the arms boat in the middle of the night. The captain of the British destroyer, a member of the plot, deliberately followed the wrong ship.
Christopher’s boat slipped through the North Channel separating Ulster from Scotland. At the Rathlin Islands, the German crew was replaced by a crew of Ulster Militia. They raised the banner of the Militia and in broad daylight sailed down Lough Foyle to Londonderry.
Emergency inquiries from the Admiralty and War Office to Camp Bushy went unanswered as the arms boat unloaded into a waiting freight train, which whisked its cargo into the safety of Lettershambo Castle.
Christopher Hubble was spirited back to Camp Bushy to the winks and back slaps of knowing staff officers and a whispered chorus of “Well dones.”
Asquith ordered a lid of secrecy clamped on the area as the cabinet went into emergency session. Brigadier Brodhead stiffened to take the blow. Two days after the landing, a personal message was delivered to Brigadier Brodhead by the Assistant Chief of Operations and signed by the Prime Minister.
Brodhead was ordered to place the King’s Midlanders and all attached units, including the Coleraine Rifles, on twenty-four-hour alert. All leaves were canceled and all personnel restricted to base.
STAND BY TO ENTER ULSTER FOR THE PURPOSE OF MILITARY OCCUPATION AND DEFUSE A GROWING REVOLT BY THE ULSTER MILITIA. ALL PORTS, RAILWAY DEPOTS, ARSENALS INCLUDING LETTERSHAMBO CASTLE, FACTORIES ENGAGED IN ARMS MANUFACTURING, BRIDGES, UTILITY STATIONS, AND OTHER FACILITIES LISTED ARE TO BE SECURED IN COOPERATION WITH THE ROYAL IRISH CONSTABULARY. MAKE IMMEDIATE PLANS FOR DUSK-TO-DAWN CURFEWS IN ALL TOWNSHIPS.
ALL TROOPS ARE TO BE DEPLOYED IN COMBATREADY POSTURE. IF RESISTANCE IS OFFERED BY THE ULSTER MILITIA OR ANY OF ITS SUB-UNITS, TROOPS ARE RELEASED TO RESPOND WITH APPROPRIATE GUNFIRE.