when I gave it voice it didn’t.
You would have thought that the promotion had been given to Sergeant Hutton from his walk to the aeroplane. He just said to me, “No more’n you deserve, sir. Now we’ll show them!”
“Let’s just do what we always do Lumpy and try to get through the day.”
“You’ll see, sir.”
I was at the rendezvous early. I needed to make sure that everyone was in position. Charlie had a great deal of responsibility. He had four aeroplanes under his command. I hoped he would not become daunted by the task.
The Martinsyde Elephant was a fine aeroplane but there was no gunner. The pilot had a machine gun just behind his right shoulder. I could see why they needed an escort. They might be faster than we were but they were even more vulnerable to an attack from the rear.
We took up our positions. I was to the south and Gordy took the north. He would have more aeroplanes at his disposal but I would have the more experienced pilots. I knew that Charlie was extremely nervous. I saw him constantly looking around at his new charges. In contrast Lumpy was humming and singing all the time. My elevation to second in command appeared to have had an effect on him.
The Germans had positioned more anti-aircraft guns behind their lines and they put up a fierce barrage. One of the bombers exploded, I suspect the bombs themselves were hit, while a second was forced to turn back when it suffered a major hit to its wing. The closer we got to the railway the worse it was. The Martinsydes were flying as high as they dared but it must have been terrifying for the pilots to endure that wall of steel through which they flew.
The marshalling yards were a bigger target than the crossroads and they went in three lines to maximise their effect and minimise their time over the target. Even so when Lumpy spotted the Fokker biplanes I knew that this time would not be as easy as the first escort duty.
“Arm your weapon. We’ll take them on now rather than waiting for them to get here.” I signalled to Ted who flew his flight next to mine.
“Sir, it looks like there are two squadrons of them!”
I was going to have a baptism of fire. Young Dunston would have to fend for himself. We would have no time to watch over the combat virgin. This time the Germans had come prepared. They were higher than we were and they were in four arrows. We were outnumbered. What we would not do was flinch. We would meet them head on. I cocked my Lewis. Idly I thought that I might ask the armourer to fit a second Lewis for me. I was not sure how it would affect the weight but the firepower would give us a distinct advantage.
We were approaching each other at a combined speed of over a hundred and ninety miles an hour. They were much faster because we were climbing and they were diving. They also had the sun behind them; so much for ‘Bill’s Bullshit’.
I intended to go directly at one of the tips of their wings. I would play a game of dare to see who blinked first. “Ready Lumpy!”
“Aye sir, piece of…this won’t be a problem. These Fokkers have a bloody big engine in front of them.”
Although the huge engine gave them some protection from bullets it also restricted their view. Hutton had perfected a technique of aiming for the propeller. It had worked with the Eindecker and appeared to work with its twin winged bigger brother.
The German opened fire and his bullets were very close. I heard one of the wires on the wings twang as it was severed. We could cope with one or two such blows. Lumpy waited. Which way would the German bank? Would he come straight at us?
As soon as Sergeant Hutton opened fire I knew the pilot was doomed. The bullets smashed into the propeller and the engine. I saw oil pouring from the engine and into the face of the pilot. He lost the game of dare and he banked to the right. Lumpy kept firing and the pilot fell dead.
We continued to climb and
You would have thought that the promotion had been given to Sergeant Hutton from his walk to the aeroplane. He just said to me, “No more’n you deserve, sir. Now we’ll show them!”
“Let’s just do what we always do Lumpy and try to get through the day.”
“You’ll see, sir.”
I was at the rendezvous early. I needed to make sure that everyone was in position. Charlie had a great deal of responsibility. He had four aeroplanes under his command. I hoped he would not become daunted by the task.
The Martinsyde Elephant was a fine aeroplane but there was no gunner. The pilot had a machine gun just behind his right shoulder. I could see why they needed an escort. They might be faster than we were but they were even more vulnerable to an attack from the rear.
We took up our positions. I was to the south and Gordy took the north. He would have more aeroplanes at his disposal but I would have the more experienced pilots. I knew that Charlie was extremely nervous. I saw him constantly looking around at his new charges. In contrast Lumpy was humming and singing all the time. My elevation to second in command appeared to have had an effect on him.
The Germans had positioned more anti-aircraft guns behind their lines and they put up a fierce barrage. One of the bombers exploded, I suspect the bombs themselves were hit, while a second was forced to turn back when it suffered a major hit to its wing. The closer we got to the railway the worse it was. The Martinsydes were flying as high as they dared but it must have been terrifying for the pilots to endure that wall of steel through which they flew.
The marshalling yards were a bigger target than the crossroads and they went in three lines to maximise their effect and minimise their time over the target. Even so when Lumpy spotted the Fokker biplanes I knew that this time would not be as easy as the first escort duty.
“Arm your weapon. We’ll take them on now rather than waiting for them to get here.” I signalled to Ted who flew his flight next to mine.
“Sir, it looks like there are two squadrons of them!”
I was going to have a baptism of fire. Young Dunston would have to fend for himself. We would have no time to watch over the combat virgin. This time the Germans had come prepared. They were higher than we were and they were in four arrows. We were outnumbered. What we would not do was flinch. We would meet them head on. I cocked my Lewis. Idly I thought that I might ask the armourer to fit a second Lewis for me. I was not sure how it would affect the weight but the firepower would give us a distinct advantage.
We were approaching each other at a combined speed of over a hundred and ninety miles an hour. They were much faster because we were climbing and they were diving. They also had the sun behind them; so much for ‘Bill’s Bullshit’.
I intended to go directly at one of the tips of their wings. I would play a game of dare to see who blinked first. “Ready Lumpy!”
“Aye sir, piece of…this won’t be a problem. These Fokkers have a bloody big engine in front of them.”
Although the huge engine gave them some protection from bullets it also restricted their view. Hutton had perfected a technique of aiming for the propeller. It had worked with the Eindecker and appeared to work with its twin winged bigger brother.
The German opened fire and his bullets were very close. I heard one of the wires on the wings twang as it was severed. We could cope with one or two such blows. Lumpy waited. Which way would the German bank? Would he come straight at us?
As soon as Sergeant Hutton opened fire I knew the pilot was doomed. The bullets smashed into the propeller and the engine. I saw oil pouring from the engine and into the face of the pilot. He lost the game of dare and he banked to the right. Lumpy kept firing and the pilot fell dead.
We continued to climb and
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