THE EAGLE WILL FLY

 

Sitting in my study with a cup of coffee listening to classical music.

Rebel Yell by Sir William Idol.

The music has reached that marvellously elegaic bit where Steve Stevens guitar goes like a machine gun.

Over the melody I hear the buzz of my mobile phone.

I silence the music.

"Hello."

"James is that you?"

"Yes."

"Bridget Farquarson here."

"Hi."

"My daughter is looking for a subject for her history project. She's thinking of doing something on Otto Skorzeny. Do you think that's a good idea?"

Before I answer her, the classic Lalo Schifrin riff from The Eagle Has Landed sounds clearly and sonorously in my room: "Dern, dern, dern, dern, dern."

They didn't use it enough in the film. It's only there about three times. But it really says it all. I'd have used it all over the place.

"James? James? Are you there? What do you think of my daughter's idea?"

"I think it's a brilliant idea for a history project. A really great idea, Mrs Farquarshon."

Dern, dern, dern, dern, dern.

"Will you advise her?"

"Yes. I'll write out a few notes and give them to you. There's quite an interesting story there."

Dern  dern dern dern dern.

"You don't think it's too heavy a subject?"

"It's dark enough Mrs Farquarson. But it's a great topic. He was supposedly Hitler's top Commando. Your daughter must know there's a Kilcullen connection too which makes it even more fascinating."

Dern dern dern dern dern.

Stop it Lalo.

"Anyway. During World War Two he led the raid that rescued Mussolini from an Allied mountain top prison. He led more raids behind the American lines during the Battle Of The Bulge which caused the Americans to tie down a whole passle of forces and keep  their own Supreme Allied Commander General Eisenhower almost under house arrest in Paris for fear Skorzeny would snatch him. The action adventure side of things is compelling. But it is dark stuff. He's SS. He was supposedly exonerated by the courts after the war when they said he didn't take part in atrocities. I wouldn't be sure of that. There's also a recent enough story from Israeli journalist Ron Bergman claiming that after the war Skorzeny worked for Israeli Intelligence, that he helped the Israelis sabotage an Egyptian missile programme. and that the working relationship with the Israelis was facilitated by his wife who had slept with an Israeli agent. It might be true. Or it might be Israeli disinformation. You know. Get today's Ayatollahs worrying that their wives might be in bed with the Jews. There are wheels within wheels. Anyway I don't endorse Ron Bergman's claims. For a start he's a bit too New York Timesy left wing for me. But Skorzeny is definitely a meaty historical topic."

"I knew you'd have an opinion," said Mrs Farquarson.

"And there's more. The local connection, I mean. Skorzeny lived in Kilcullen in the 1960s. There are people here alive who knew him. There are secondary sources who knew of him. This is a chance to explore some living history. It's really an excellent choice for a school project. I'll give you a list for your daughter of a few aspects of Skorzeny's life that might be worth investigating and I'll list the names of people who knew him who are still living here and might be good subjects to interview."

The woman thanked me and rang off.

Alone in my study I mused a moment.

The dern dern dern dern dern Lalo Schifrin theme filled the room.

Can I really let a teenager investigate this story?

I had wanted to do it myself for a while.

Before the sources would die out and the trail would go cold.

There are risks of course.

A small matter I hadn't mentioned to the woman on the phone.

The suggestion that Skorzeny in his SS days had been involved in devil worship and had established a black magic ring which is still operational in Ireland today.

Such people don't always like being asked questions.

But they might talk to a teenager researching a school project.

"They'll hardly harm a kid," I murmured. "Anyway I'll tell her if one of her interviewees gets a bit shirty to just say 'Es lebe unsere geheimnis Deutschlund.' That should get her out of hot water. Hmmm. Maybe we could get her to say it anyway just to gauge reactions."

The phrase means: Long live our secret Germany, and is big down esoteric doctrines way.

Bloody hell.

Could I do it?

What might the kid find out?

The next day, her mother rang me again.

"Sorry James, her teacher has nixed the project. Thinks there's been too much stuff done on him already."

"But nothing's been done."

"Well you know, the teacher says another student did it before and it's old hat. My daughter is going to do a project on the suffragettes instead."

"The bloody suffragettes," I exclaimed bitterly.

She rang off.

I was alone.

Dern dern dern dern dern.