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  Copyright & Information

  Golden Eights

  First published in 2014

  © Nigel Seed; House of Stratus 2014-2016

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  The right of Nigel Seed to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.

  This edition published in 2016 by Astor and Blue LLC

  Suite 23A, 1330 Avenue Of The Americas,

  New York, NY 10019, U.S.A.

  Typeset by Astor and Blue LLC

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library and the Library of Congress.

  ISBN EAN Edition

  1681200619 9781681200613 Print

  1681200643 9781681200644 Kindle

  1681200627 9781681200620 Epub

  1681200635 9781681200637 Pdf

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's express prior consent in any form of binding, or cover, other than the original as herein published and without a similar condition being imposed on any subsequent purchaser, or bona fide possessor.

  This is a fictional work drawn from the author's imagination and all characters (alive or dead), places, incidents, quotations, and events portrayed herein are either fictitious, or are used fictitiously at the Author's discretion and responsibility, including historical facts and intimate aspects of the lives of those mentioned, along with descriptions of the tragedies and mysteries surrounding some deaths.

  www.houseofstratus.com

  About the Author

  Born in Morecambe, England, into a military family, Nigel Seed grew up hearing his father's tales of adventure during the Second World War which kindled his interest in military history and storytelling. He received a patchy education, as he and his family followed service postings from one base to another. Perhaps this and the need to constantly change schools contributed to his odd ability to link unconnected facts and events to weave his stories.

  Nigel later joined the Army, serving with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in many parts of the world. Upon leaving he joined the Ministry of Defense during which time he formed strong links with overseas armed forces, including the USAF, and cooperated with them, particularly in support of the AWACS aircraft.

  He is married and lives in Spain; half way up a mountain with views across orange groves to the Mediterranean. The warmer weather helps him to cope with frostbite injuries he sustained in Canada, when taking part in the rescue effort for a downed helicopter on a frozen lake.

  His books are inspired by places he has been to and true events he has either experienced or heard about on his travels. He makes a point of including family jokes and stories in his books to raise a secret smile or two. Family dogs make appearances in his other stories.

  Nigel's hobbies include sailing and when sailing in Baltic he first heard the legend of the hidden U-Boat base that formed the basis of his first book some thirty eight years later.

  Photograph Courtesy of Grupo Bernabé of Pontevedra.

  Acknowledgments

  "We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world and the best that we can find in our travels is an honest friend."

  —Robert Louis Stevenson

  I have been blessed with a number of honest friends who have helped me by reading my book at the embryonic stages and giving me useful criticism. You know who you are and thank you all. I have also been privileged to have my book critically examined by that exceptional author John Gordon Davis and to whom I owe a great debt for his advice and encouragement. Equally, I am indebted to Robert Astle, Jillian Ports, and Kate Murphy at Astor + Blue Editions for their support and considerable advice in re-editing the text and in preparing the cover.

  The biggest debt though is to my wife who has lived this project with me and been supportive throughout, especially when I was struggling.

  The story is a mixture of fact, legend and pure fiction. Only one of the characters in my story bears more than a passing resemblance to any real people and the names have been conjured from somewhere in my head.

  Author's Note

  This story relies on a number of apparently unconnected historical events in order to work. Do they make a realistic story? I think so and let me lay out the facts so that you can be the judge.

  The Spanish Empire was huge and rich. Galleons sailed across the Atlantic carrying gold and silver to Spain for many years and some were attacked by English ships captained by privateers such as Drake and Hawkins. The Spanish naturally regarded these people as Pirates. It seems doubtful that the papers signed by Queen Elizabeth I giving them authority to attack enemy shipping would have prevented a rapid and unpleasant execution for any of them captured by the Spanish. One ship that Drake took, in the Pacific, was named Nuestra Seňora de la Concepción and the cargo she carried made a rich haul. There was a considerable quantity of gold and silver registered with the Spanish Authorities. In addition, there was an appreciable amount of privately owned gold and silver that had not been declared to those Spanish authorities. There were at least 1,300 silver bars plus fourteen large chests stuffed with gold and silver coins. The amount of treasure was so significant that it allowed Queen Elizabeth to pay off the whole of her foreign debt with her share and to have money left over to invest in the Levant Company, a forerunner of the hugely successful East India Company. See Stephen Coote's excellent book Drake for more information.

  The coins known as 'Pieces of Eight' were the first truly world currency, since the fall of the Roman Empire, due to the purity of the silver used. They gained the name because of the practice of cutting them into eight pieces for smaller transactions. They were minted in various places in the Empire, including Lima in Peru and Mexico City.

  Phillip II of Spain was a dedicated ruler and a very religious man. As the head of government he could expect gifts from successful captains of his fleet and the governors of his dominions. These would probably have taken the form of religious artifacts or artistic items made by the indigenous peoples of the Empire for the most part, but a solid gold version of the currency that formed the basis of his Empire does not seem unrealistic. The British seem to think that Drake and others were a huge problem for Spain. The Spanish today think they were far less significant. While the attacks brought a lot of treasure to Britain the sheer scale and wealth of the Spanish Empire of that time is often not really appreciated and the relative proportion of treasure taken was actually small.

  In 1940 the British Army had been virtually destroyed as an effective fighting force. Much of its equipment, ammunition and heavy weapons were abandoned in France to allow the Army to escape through Dunkirk. Many troops arrived back in England without even a pair of boots. The German Army was a highly capable force and the invasion of Britain was a very real possibility. Had the Germans managed to land it seems likely that they would have taken control of the whole country, not easily, but almost inevitably. The Government made what preparations it could while rearming the Army as quickly as possible. Luckily the vastly outnumbered Royal Air Force was able to prevent the Luftwaffe from gaining control of the skies, without which the invasion, known as 'Operation Sea Lion,' could not proceed. This was by no means certain and a huge debt is owed to the young men of Fighter Command, including those from the British Commonwealth and those few airmen who had escaped from countries that had been overrun, such as the Poles and the Czechs.<
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  Operation Fish actually existed and the gold reserves of Britain were shipped to Canada for safekeeping. Had those ships been sunk in the Atlantic the effect would have been fairly disastrous for the war effort. Is it realistic to assume that all the gold reserves would have been put on ships in wartime, traveling through an area known to be infested with enemy submarines, without a back up plan? It seems unlikely that the authorities of the day would not have 'hedged their bets'. Interestingly one of the ships that carried the gold across the Atlantic was HMS Emerald, which was also the ship that took a large proportion of the Norwegian treasury out of Norway to keep it out of German hands.

  Churchill's Secret Army did exist and was officially known, in what few documents remain, as the 'Auxiliary Units'. The recruitment of these remarkable people and the bases they created are much as I have described them. Most of their small bases remain to be found, so well hidden were they. Churchill seems to have had a fondness for unconventional forces possibly because of his experiences during the Boer War in South Africa. The Boers created fast moving Commandoes that led the more ponderous British Army a merry dance until they in turn adopted tactics suitable for the South African terrain. Churchill was captured by one of these Commandoes that ambushed a military train on which he was travelling. The most famous of the Second World War unconventional military groups was probably the Special Air Service [SAS] who still exist as part of the British and other Commonwealth armies and were the original model for many Special Forces units around the world. But there were others such as the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) and even one called Popski's Private Army. The role of the Secret Army was to remain hidden until the Germans had taken over that part of the country and then to cause as much disruption as possible through sabotage and assassination of key Germans and any British collaborators. Captain Duncan Sandys, in a memo to his father-in-law, Winston Churchill, described the role rather well when he said "They are intended to provide, within the framework of the Home Guard organization, small bodies of men especially selected and trained, whose role it will be to act offensively on the flanks and in the rear of any enemy troops who may obtain a foothold in this country. Their action will particularly be directed against tanks and lorries in laager, ammunition dumps, small enemy posts and stragglers. Their activities will also include sniping."

  The people recruited to this organization were sworn to secrecy and their role was so secret they did not even receive the Defence Medal which was given to virtually everyone who served in any capacity during the war. During the 1990s when their activities were partially declassified a number of them applied for this medal, but, due to the lack of records, many were unable to prove they had served and were refused.

  The Auxiliary Units did build highly effective hides across the country and many have yet to be found. It is also true that they used hidden triggers to operate entry doors. One of these was famously demonstrated to General Bernard Montgomery along with the rabbit holes being used for observation and he became a major supporter of the Secret Army. The headquarters and training base for this shadowy force was in Coleshill House and at the time of writing a small museum is being created by a group of dedicated volunteers. You can find their website at www.coleshillhouse.com. Classified information, being released slowly from British Government archives, has also allowed the production of a very informative book by John Warwicker titled Churchill's Underground Army. One thing that has emerged since I started to write this book is that within the Auxiliary Units there actually was an even more clandestine group called the Special Duties Section. I doubt if they were just guarding gold though; I suspect they were engaged in something the Government still does not want to acknowledge, though I have been unable to find out what. The weapons that I have described as being issued to the Auxiliary Units are much as I have described although the Lewis Gun may not have been, as this powerful weapon would not have fitted into their clandestine role.

  As a side anecdote, in the late 1960s an older gentleman walked into the Army Recruiting Office in Preston, Lancashire and asked to see the Officer Commanding. When they met he asked when they were going to come and get "these damned guns" as he wanted to carry out building work on his garage. The Recruiting Office staff went with the man to his house and found that his garage had a false wall at the back, which concealed fifty Canadian Ross Rifles that had been stored for irregular forces during the war and had been forgotten about.

  The government building known as 100 Parliament Street is the home of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and there is a fifth floor annex on the side overlooking Parliament Square in London. It is accessed by a door in the stair well and a narrow flight of stairs. There is also a rather good coffee shop on the ground floor.

  In the story, Geordie refers to 'Crab Airlines'. The nickname that the British Army and Royal Navy use for the Royal Air Force is 'Crabs'. There are various explanations about how they got this nickname, some more polite than others.

  The Hermitage in St Petersburg is a truly outstanding museum and holds the treasures of the rich and ancient Russian culture.

  During the Spanish Civil War the Republican government did ship most, if not all, of the national gold reserves of Spain to Moscow. This gold was used to pay for the arms and equipment that Russia supplied to the Republican Army. By the end of the war Russia insisted that all the gold had been used up in payments and none came back. There is a strong suspicion in Spain even today that this might not have been a totally accurate accounting.

  Richard Holmes, the historian, did lecture at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was very popular there. He has narrated some fine historical TV programs and written some very readable military history books. Sadly he is no longer with us, but I recommend his books to you, particularly one called Redcoat if you have an interest in the history of the British Army during the time when the musket and bayonet won battles.

  The village of Benidoleig in Alicante province is real. As is the restaurant and hotel called 'El Cid' and I recommend a visit. At the time of writing it really is being run by Charlie and she is making a very good job of it.

  There are a lot of place names in the area that start with "Beni". These are a throwback to the time when Spain was ruled by the Moors, as is the stone terracing still seen on many of the mountain slopes.

  The George Hotel in Huntingdon was an old coaching inn and is now a modern comfortable hotel that retains many of its historical features. My children were told all about the ghost when we stayed there. There is also reputed to be a ghost in Hinchingbrooke House which is a very attractive building that was once owned by Oliver Cromwell's family and is now part of Hinchingbrooke School. It is used for the senior classes and is also used for wedding receptions, antique fairs and other events at the weekends.

  The caves and caverns of the Hope Valley near Castleton in Derbyshire do exist and are well worth a visit. The commercialization of these caverns has been done sympathetically. The mineral known as ´Blue John' is found nowhere else in the world, it was mined by the Romans and mining continues on a small scale even today. It is still possible to buy small pieces of Blue John in the gift shops and some of them are very attractive. The Hope Valley and its show caves, plus the village of Castleton itself, are both very pleasant to visit.

  The tides in Morecambe Bay are fast moving and there really are quicksand patches. It is possible to hire a specially trained guide who can lead parties across the sands in safety and it is possible to catch flatfish, known locally as 'Dabs', with your feet. It is definitely not safe to try to walk across without a guide and people drown every year through underestimating the speed and power of the tides. The train line does run around the bay, close to the water and when I was a boy the smoke of steam trains could be seen running around the head of the bay.

  The village of South Cave exists and is near Hull in East Yorkshire. Cave Castle is an old building that is now a very comfortable hotel and golf complex in the heart of the village. The und
erground passage was found in 1866 and did lead to the parish church. There were Auxiliary Units operating in the area as I have described and Blackburn's, the aircraft factory, was in Brough and still is, though now under new management. The parish of South Cave appears in the Domesday Book in the year 1086 and Roman artifacts are sometimes found there, so this unassuming village has quite a history.

  Fulwood Barracks in Preston is a Victorian built complex and is still in use at the time of writing.

  Lancaster Castle is a prison at the time of writing but its days may be numbered as Her Majesty's Prison Service reorganizes. It is a fascinating place to visit, although not open to the public at present for obvious reasons. The cells where the Pendle Witches were held are still there and are pretty grim. There is a gun tower in the middle of the courtyard which was increased in height so that cannon balls could reach the Lune River at the time of the Spanish Armada and the change in the stonework can still be seen.

  The book Raise the Titanic is one from that most prolific of writers, Clive Cussler, whose inventiveness I envy and whose books I really enjoy.

  The ancient burial sites known as barrows are to be found in many places on Salisbury Plain and the British Army takes considerable pains to ensure they are not disturbed or damaged. The village of Tilshead really exists and is a very nice little village nestled in a shallow valley out on the plain, with Westdown Camp on the low hill above it. When the weather conditions are right it is possible to stand in the high street and see the artillery shells passing over the hill behind the village. Sadly the story about the hidden crypt and the suspect grave are pure invention, though there is a small church there and the vicar does have to manage a group of parishes in these days of reduced congregations. The Rose and Crown is there and serves a nice pint of beer on a warm day.