I rarely believe in luck or the absence of it. "Unlucky" is an excuse that people use for their lack of skill, or to, explain their incompetence. I have always believed in making my own luck from my skills, proficiencies and analytical abilities. As to my failures, I readily accepted them, believing them to be an opportunity for future self-improvement.
Those who rely on luck do not realistically assess the situation, whether it is a success or a failure. As a result, they fall into a trap of lost opportunities. By not recognizing their shortcomings or working to raise their standards, they never really take command of their own destiny. Instead, they are always waiting for the opportunities to arrive and be delivered to them in a tidy package with a bow.
I had never been one to wait for an opportunity, but I now found myself in the unexpected position of wishing for a lucky break, no matter how small, to successfully accomplish this mission. I had done everything I believed possible to locate the Rat Patrol, but still had had no success. They were the needle I needed to find, the needle that kept eluding me no matter how diligently I pursued it.
Finally, this needle showed a glimmer of itself and I was granted an unexpected piece of luck the following day.
I received a report from a lone Luftwaffe pilot who had spotted two American Jeeps approximately 30 kilometers away. He had been on a reconnaissance patrol when they caught his eye, definitely not belonging in this part of the desert and so far behind German lines. Believing them to be an easy target, he unsuccessfully engaged them before having to break away.
The pilot was unable to confirm if it was the Rat Patrol. I had no doubts in my mind it was they. Obviously there were focused on the same goal as I and they had resurfaced. There was no other reason for them to be in this part of the desert. It was as the oberst has theorized: they would be the likely ones assigned to destroy the buried supplies. As much as I hated to admit it, I would have been greatly disappointed if the Allies had sent another commando team for this raid. I made a mental promise for this meeting to end differently than the last. I would that this time when the smoke from the battle had cleared, that the Rat Patrol would cease to exist.
The pilot's sighting provided me a definite geographic location of the commando's current position. From their tracks, he was also able to provide me the approximate direction in which they currently were heading. I now knew the approximate area the British had buried the supplies, but it was still too vast for me to search. I needed one more reference point to extrapolate the depot's actual location.
There was a part of me which cursed the idiot pilot. Except for providing a fixed location for the commandos, all he had accomplished was shooting up the desert. It would have been better if the pilot had pretended not to notice them, instead just noting their position. Deep down inside I knew I was being unfair to him. How was the pilot to know of my orders? In the pilot's mind they were the enemy and needed to be dealt with harshly.
I believed we now had the advantage and had forced the Rat Patrol to be on the defensive. They must have assumed that their mission was compromised and their position noted to German headquarters. Their best case scenario was that we would dismiss the pilot's sighting and not correlate it to the hidden supplies. Their worst case scenario was that they knew we were aware of their mission and would actively pursue them based on their last known position. If they assumed this scenario, their mission would become more urgent. The commandos would become more dangerous and unpredictable to ensure its success. From my single encounter with him, I strongly suspected their leader would do anything necessary to accomplish his mission.
I focused on the latter. The leader's logical choice was to expect the worst to guarantee his success. He was resourceful and must know that their sighting had been forwarded to all units of the Afrika Korps. He would assume we also knew of the reason for their position. Even if the Rat Patrol was unsuspecting of our pursuit, they were deep behind German lines and every moment they delayed put them at greater risk of being captured or killed.
The pilot provided one piece of information which I did find very interesting. The two Jeeps were again fully manned with four men. The leader hadn't delayed in finding a replacement for his team. But then again, I hadn't expected him to wait. He could not afford the luxury given the urgency of his mission. In even the few moments I had encountered him, I had determined his character. Like me, he was also a man of action, one who had neither the desire nor patience to wait.
I could not help but wonder about the quality of the replacement and how he would contribute to the team's success. I briefly speculated about the man, but I dismissed these thoughts. My conjectures meant nothing without any solid evidence of his abilities. I would discover who he was and learn about his proficiencies in good time, but for the moment it was an unknown I was unable to address.
I met the Arab leader later in the afternoon at an agreed upon rendezvous point. Apparently, my luck continued to hold. He and three of his tribesmen had also spotted the Rat Patrol, but in a different location than the pilot. This was the other critical piece of information I needed: I now had a second reference point to determine their direction and destination.
I quickly calculated that the commandos were sweeping to the west, in a straight array from where the pilot had spotted them. It was now obvious to all of us the general location where the supplies were hidden. We only needed to locate the precise spot. They were to the south of us, forced to take a longer route given that they were our territory and needed to avoid any German patrols.
I quickly glanced up at the sun. The day was rapidly expiring for all of us involved, the Rat Patrol as well as for my column. By this time tomorrow it would all be over. Only one side could be victorious: Either the supplies would be secured by us or they would be destroyed by the Rat Patrol. We were now entering the final phase of this mission and it was time to bring it rapidly to a close.
I turned back to the Bedouin, to give him my final orders. I was at the critical phase and would be unable to complete my mission without him. He stood, face blank, not caring who the victor was as long as he was richly compensated. If the Rat Patrol had approached him first, he would have just as eagerly provided them information against us.
"This is the last place you saw them," I reiterated to the chieftain, showing him the map and their last known location. I detailed the direction they were traveling. He looked at me with amusement and contempt. He had no need of maps as we did to travel the desert. I was a European telling a Bedouin of the desert.
"They must halt somewhere for the night," I said out loud, more for my sake than his. I was already thinking ahead, trying to determine their next moves. To travel at night would be a foolhardy and dangerous move for them to make. It was an act I doubted even the Rat Patrol leader would dare.
He would be risking a major equipment failure which could strand them behind German lines, a catastrophic event. It would prevent him from completing his raid and open his team up for capture. This was the one time I did not want him to be apprehended. The success of my mission was dependent on his freedom. If he was captured instead of locating the supplies, I instinctually knew that he would never divulge the location.
For the same reasons, my column would also need to stop for the night. I briefly considered returning to my base camp but dismissed the idea almost immediately. It would place us too far away from the approximate site of the munitions. I needed to stay in the area and could not waste even a moment of time traveling tomorrow. I would have preferred staying at our current location, but I believed it would alert the Rat Patrol. If they knew we were pursuing them, I did not want them to know just how close behind them we were.
I knew of another German camp which was close and would be more advantageous to us. It would keep us in the field without the necessity of traveling any significant distance. I was reluctant to inform my camp of the change of plans, but I thought it an unfortunate necessity. I would need to take the risk of the eavesdropping Allies breaking our code and notifying the Rat Patrol of my location. I could not take the chance for the Germans to dispatch a search party and interrupt my plans.
"Don't disturb them yet," I stressed to the Arab leader. "You are not to engage or contact them. It is critical." I knew if the Rat Patrol suspected their involvement they would disappear like a cool breeze on a hot summer's day. They would, if necessary, wait for a more opportune occasion in the near future to detonate the supplies.
The chieftain gave me a mock bow and left, giving orders to his men as he did so. No doubt he felt obligated to show some respect to me, even if I was paying for it. He would receive his final payment tomorrow after he delivered me the third and final sighting of the Rat Patrol. The commandos would then be at the hidden cache.
I returned to my own men who were patiently waiting for their orders. I gave them the coordinates to the nearby camp, ordering them to change direction and leave immediately. We would quarter there for the night, even if we were forced to sleep outside in the elements.
I climbed aboard a half-track and signaled for the column to proceed. I sat instead of standing, allowing myself to slightly relax. The Rat Patrol would not attack us this evening. No, they would not risk the success of their mission. We were only a side issue, to be dealt with later at their leisure. The Rat Patrol would attack us first only if eminently threatened. Their leader, whoever he was, would maintain his focus and concentrate only on the buried supplies.