| The Machine Gunners | |
|---|---|
1996 New Windmills edition |
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| Author(s) | Robert Westall |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Historical novel |
| Publisher | Macmillan |
| Publication date | 18 September 1975 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback; Paperback) |
| Pages | 192 pp (1st edition) |
| Followed by | Fathom Five |
The Machine Gunners is a children's historical novel by Robert Westall published in 1975. It was awarded the Carnegie Medal for that year, and in 2007 was selected by judges of the Carnegie Medal as one of the ten most important children's novels of the past 70 years. A play based on the book has been written by the author, and it has also been adapted for television and radio.
The story is set during the Second World War and deals with a group of children living in the North East of England. Their town, Garmouth, regularly suffers from bomb attacks by the German Luftwaffe. The children make a game of collecting war souvenirs, e.g. incendiary bomb fins and pieces of shrapnel. One of the children, Chas McGill, finds a German He 111 that crashed in the area and takes a fully operational machine gun and over two thousand rounds of ammunition, with the help of a friend, Cyril "Cemtery/Cem" Jones, intending to set up their own fortress. This they build with their friends, including a boy from Glasgow called "Clogger" Duncan, and another boy, nicknamed "Carrot Juice" on account of his ginger hair and freckles. They also team up with a girl called Audrey Parton, and the boy who lives in the house, called Benjamin "Nicky" Nichol. They build the fortress solidly, and name it "Fortress Caporetto" after the World War I battle in which Chas's grandfather fought.
Later Nicky is the sole survivor when his house is bombed out, and according to Chas's puritan neighbour his mother and her non-married partner were found "Dead in their bed of sin with not a stitch on". Nicky is understandably shaken and upset, but he stays with Clogger. It is assumed he had been blown to smithereens, as obviously no trace of him has been found.
Later on during an air-raid by a Me 110, the children fire the gun at the German. He is surprised at the stream of bullets coming at him, although it goes wide, and swerves into the path of an AA gun. Badly damaged, he is finished off by three Spitfires from the nearby airfield of RAF Acklington.
Although the pilot is killed, the rear gunner bails out, and injures his ankle himself on landing. Nonetheless, Rudi Gerlath, victor of two air battles, evades capture for many days, until his ankle is sufficiently healed to allow him to walk again. However he then runs into the fortress where a meeting is taking place, and is promptly arrested by the children, who point the machine gun at him. Only later does he realise that the gun has been damaged and is not working, by which time he is being held prisoner with his own pistol.
In order to keep the fortress secret he is not handed over to the authorities but kept prisoner in the fortress, where Clogger and Nicky now live permanently. After a while he is bribed with the offer of a boat belonging to Nicky's biological father who is now dead, if he will mend the gun. He agrees, and mends it. Then he is taken to the dock and rows off.
The same night, the church bells ring, which was the signal for an invasion. The children hurry to the fortress from various parts of Garmouth. They do not see anything. Later on it is established as a false alarm.
Out at sea, Rudi finds he does not have the strength to row to German occupied Norway, and is forced back to England. He rejoins the children at the fortress.
The day after, the children are reported missing and some Free Polish troops are drafted in to look for them. The children on seeing a line of troops speaking in a foreign language advancing up the slope toward them open fire with the gun under the impression that it is the German invasion force. However they are soon overpowered and forced to surrender. In the chaos, Rudi is shot and wounded with his own Luger, now in the hands of Clogger, but not fatally.
The very well-made fortress is surrendered to the Home Guard, then Clogger and Nicky are taken to a children's home while the other children are handed over to their parents.
A sequel, Fathom Five, set two years later, was published in 1979.
The Machine-Gunners was dramatised as a BBC television serial in 1983, with scripts written by William Corlett.[1] It was further adapted as a ten-episode drama for BBC Radio 4 by the writer Ivan Jones in 2002.
A new adaptation by Ali Taylor has been commissioned by the Imperial War Museum and is currently playing at the Polka Theatre, London. [2]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Stronghold |
Carnegie Medal recipient 1975 |
Succeeded by Thunder and Lightnings |