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William raised the tarpaulin half an inch, and peered in every direction No sign of anyone He checked his watch, before crawling out of the swaying lifeboat and lowering hirip He landed head first on the slippery deck

He tried to steady hiiddy that he had to grasp the ship’s rail Finally he gave in, leant over the side and was violently sick When he looked up, he noticed that the ship was now circling the bobbing buoy

It was soh to clamber back down the spiral staircase and collapse on his bunk, where he lay still, willing hiain

He decided not to wake Monti, as there was little point in his spending the next two hours in that lifeboat, when nothing was going to happen before first light William still didn’t sleep

0107 GMT

La frouar drove past and proceeded along the driveway, lights full on It came to a halt outside the house

The driver climbed out, opened the front door and disappeared inside Mohts came on

Lamont cursed several times, before he broke radio silence and issued an order he’d been dreading

‘Operation Blue Period aborted Return to base’

Perhaps it was a good thing he couldn’t hear the chorus of groans and expletives e from the two buses in which his loyal foot soldiers had remained silent for more than five hours Several of thean to pee in unison

0609 CET

‘Why didn’t you wake lared down at Willia sheet, and still sweating Williao up on deck

Squawking gulls hovered above the up and down in the waves, before he explained to Monti why he hadn’t bothered to wake him

‘Good thinking,’ said Monti

They looked up at the bridge, where the captain was steering the vessel in ever-decreasing circles around the buoy There was no sign of Carter or Grant, but William doubted they were asleep