WORRALS IN THE WASTLELANDS
First Published in 1949 - 215 pages
Worrals is asked by Air Commodore
Raymond, Assistant Commissioner of Police at Scotland Yard, to go and arrest a
woman wanted for war crimes. The woman is Anna Shultz from Stenberg Internment
Camp - a concentration camp. A clue has indicated that Shultz is in Canada, at
Lake Desolation, an inhospitable place, that can only be reached by weeks of
land travel - or by an aircraft. Flying out in a twin-engined six-seater Ranger
aircraft, Worrals and Frecks go to Lake Desolation and glide in quietly to
arrive without anyone knowing. After a confrontation with a wounded bear,
Worrals and Frecks find a wounded and starving man in their camp. He is Max
Lowenhardt and he has an interesting story to tell, which ties in with certain
facts that Worrals already knew in advance. Lowenhardt was the wireless
operator for Hauptmann Otto Rumey. Rumey and a Fritz Hanstadt had been
prospecting for gold in Northern Canada before the war started. They were also
looking for suitable sites for a secret U-boat base. They had met with two old
trappers, Erik Hedin, a Swede and Angus Fraser, a Scot, who had told them that
war had broken out. With advance warning, the two Germans were able to avoid
internment and get back to Germany. In order to do so, they had to spend some
pale yellow gold they had found. After the war, a Captain John Larwood had
tried his hand at prospecting and teamed up with Hedin, whilst Fraser was in
hospital. Larwood and Hedin had heard about the gold and set off to Lake
Desolation to find it. They were flown up and had made arrangements to be
picked up on a certain date, but they failed to meet the plane and a search
could find no trace of them. The connection with Anna Shultz was this. Otto
Rumey was in love with Anna and had told her about the gold he found in Canada.
After the war, the two of them had flown to Lake Desolation to collect it by
panning it out of the sand. Rumey had taken Lowenhardt with him. Anna wanted to
bring a Doctor Wolfe with her. Rumey refused outright, but the Doctor stowed
away on board their aircraft. Unknown to Rumey, Doctor Wolfe is in fact, Anna's
husband. On arrival at Lake Desolation, the aircraft has had its wings cut off
and has been covered in stones. It is now the Germans' base and they refer to
it as "the box". The Germans had met up with Larwood and Hedin and
joined forces with them, to pan the gold. The plan is merely to use Larwood and
Hedin and then murder them when the work is done. Doctor Wolfe drugged Larwood
and Hedin to prevent them meeting the plane that was to collect them. When they
wake, they think the plane had failed to come and carry on working. One day,
when Larwood and Hedin are out hunting, Rumey catches Shultz and Wolfe hugging
each other and a confrontation results in Anna shooting both Rumey and
Lowenhardt and dumping their bodies. But Lowenhardt has survived and is now
able to tell Worrals the story. Rumey had a plan to get away from Lake
Desolation. He was waiting for his old partner, Hanstadt, to come. Worrals
realises that the lives of Larwood and Hedin are hanging by a thread. When
Shultz and Wolfe need them no more, they will kill them and have all the gold.
On a recognisance mission to view "the box", Frecks accidentally
meets Anna Shultz, who is quite friendly towards her. Frecks says she has flown
up and agrees to fly Shultz and Wolfe out, the plan being to arrest them both
when they are off guard. Worrals agrees with Frecks' plan and the following
morning they go to collect Shultz and Wolfe. However, Worrals has an unfriendly
reception because Shultz and Wolfe have had all their gold stolen! Worrals
offers to fly around and look for Larwood and Hedin who are the obvious
suspects in the gold theft. Only the four of them knew where it was hidden.
Worrals flies back to her camp, where the wounded Lowenhardt is recovering and
finds, not only Larwood and Hedin, but also Angus Fraser. He has come to look
for his missing partner. Fraser has found out about Anna Shultz and was able to
warn Larwood and Hedin that they were in bad company. This is why they have
taken the gold. Worrals forms a plan to catch Shultz and Wolfe and arrest them.
She will say she has found Larwood and Hedin's camp and when they go to get the
gold back, as they are sure to do, an ambush can take place. Flying back to
Shultz and Wolfe, the trap is set, only to be ruined by the arrival of Hanstadt
and ten men of the German navy. The Germans' plan is for the Germans to march
back to their secret U-boat base and escape with the gold. However, Hanstadt is
planning to take the gold to South America for the benefit of the surviving
Nazis, whereas Anna Shultz wants the gold for herself and her husband. Hanstadt
and four men go with Shultz to recover the gold. Worrals and Frecks are kept at
the camp. Allying herself with Doctor Wolfe, for the time being, Worrals
enlists his help to get away. Wolfe uses a drug to knock out the remaining
German sailors. Worrals then handcuffs Wolfe to the inside of "the
box". Worrals and Frecks then fly down to the ambush site to forewarn
everybody what the current situation is. The confrontation occurs. Lowenhardt
is able to tell Hanstadt the truth about what really happened to Rumey. Anna
Shultz runs for it and Worrals refuses to shoot her as she wants to take her
alive. Chasing after her, Worrals sees Anna meet the wounded bear, a bear she,
Anna, had shot and Anna is badly mauled. Worrals gets Hanstadt to promise that
he won't remove Doctor Wolfe on his return to "the box". Hanstadt
keeps his promise by leaving Wolfe's body after shooting him dead on seeing
what he has done to his men. Shultz's wounds turn septic and she dies two days
later in hospital.
Worrals in the Wastelands
Subtitle - none
Publication Details - published by Lutterworth Press