The Bluebirds Trilogy Box Set

by Melvyn Fickling

  On the wharf, Jacobella pushed through the jostling crowds and found a space against some railings next to the water. She stood Luċija in front of her, resting her hands on the little girl’s shoulders, and surveyed the docks opposite. Four large merchant vessels nestled against their moorings, stevedores still busy on their decks, unloading the last of the treasures they had delivered.

  A flight of six Spitfires roared down the harbour, curving away over the breakwaters and out to sea. Their passing clamour was greeted by a blast of a ship’s horn as a huge vessel loomed into view outside the harbour. Surrounded by tug-boats and low in the water, the battered grey tanker edged between the breakwaters like the majestic arrival of a fat, drunken pharaoh into a newly conquered land.

  Cheers rippled through the crowds lining the harbour walls and somewhere a brass band kicked up a dance tune. Jacobella bit her lip to contain the swell of emotion that filled her throat. Then she laughed. For joy and relief, she laughed.

  ‘Ommi!’

  Luċija’s voice penetrated the noise of the crowd and she bent to her daughter. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.

  Luċija heaved a sob from her chest and pointed through the railings, down to the water. There, bobbing in the languid swell several yards below them, her dropped doll floated face-up. The knitted blue figure spun slowly in the current that moved it away from the harbour wall. As it became sodden, its legs sunk, tilting its torso upwards, lifting one arm into the air. Then it succumbed to the weight of water and slid below the surface, out of sight.

  Sunday, 16 August 1942

  Jacobella smiled at her daughter across the table. Luċija’s features were still crumpled with sadness at her loss.

  ‘Will he be angry I’ve lost the doll?’ she asked quietly.

  ‘No, I’m sure he won’t.’ Jacobella reached across and stroked her daughter’s cheek. ‘Now stop worrying. Go and put on your shoes, or we’ll be late for church.’

  The pair hurried down the stairs and walked hand-in-hand along the edge of the gardens. On Mint Street, they mingled with the small flow of parishioners heading towards St Augustine.

  They dog-legged up the alley onto Bakery Street where the crowd grew denser. Jacobella looked ahead through the bobbing heads. There he was, waiting outside the church doors, his faded RAF cap visible above the milling throng. An electric jolt of visceral excitement clutched her breast and she caught her breath around it. She hurried the last few yards.

  The man half-turned and she lurched to a halt. His hair was too dark, his nose was too stubby. He took off his cap and scratched his head, then turned to look into her eyes. His face was drawn and his eyes were shadowed with sorrow.

  ‘Hello,’ he said, ‘are you Jacobella?’

  Her stomach twisted like acid and her heart thumped in a single shocked contortion. She blinked once.

  ‘Yes.’ She breathed the word through trembling lips.

  ‘My name is Ben,’ the young man said. ‘I flew with Bryan.’

  The past tense clanged in Jacobella’s ears and she shook her head slowly.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ The man’s eyes glistened with the beginnings of his tears. ‘He was posted as missing on Friday. I don’t believe there’s much hope.’

  Jacobella clamped her jaw against the cry that fought for release from her throat. She pushed past the young pilot, jostled through the crowd at the door and escaped into the cavernous, coolness of the church. She guided Luċija onto the rearmost pew and sat next to her. She tensed every muscle of her body to choke the spasms of nauseous grief that clutched at her stomach, the effort genuflecting her torso forward as if in prayer, rocking her body around the pain.

  The priest entered and the congregation stood, flowing into the sombre cadence of the first hymn. Luċija jumped to her feet, then noticed her mother had remained seated. Slowly, fearing rebuke, she sat down again.

  The service rumbled on. Jacobella remained silent and seated. Each time the multitude rose without her, Luċija huddled closer to her still form.

  The congregation sat once more and settled themselves to receive the reading. The priest advanced to his lectern, a smile beaming from his weathered face.

  ‘On this glorious day of salvation, I offer you a reading from Corinthians Chapter 15.’

  He paused and straightened his back. The silence in the nave deepened with attentive expectation.

  ‘But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: death is swallowed up in victory.’

  The priest raised his arms and lifted his face to the heavens in benediction.

  ‘Oh death, where is thy victory? Oh death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ He swept his gaze across the assembly. ‘Let us pray.’

  Jacobella rose to her feet amongst the sea of bowed heads.

  ‘Enough!’

  Her cry echoed around the gilt-edged archways and marble columns. It reverberated around the painted domes, the fine paintings and the alabaster statues. It died at last in the folds of gold-stitched silk on the altar. A sea of faces screwed around to stare at her, mouths open in surprise, eyes uncertain with fear. Jacobella ignored them, her gaze fixed on the priest’s shocked face as she drew another breath past the constriction in her throat.

  ‘I have had enough of God and Victory!’

  Jacobella bent and picked up her daughter. She turned her back on the murmuring congregation and walked out of the church door, away from the cluttered, muttering gloom and into the fresh, clean sunlight.

  Epilogue

  Thursday, 20 August 1942

  Ben walked down the staircase in Xara Palace with butterflies dancing in his stomach. He crossed the lobby and paused to take a steadying breath before he walked into the dining room. Chairs scraped the floor as the assembled pilots drew themselves to attention.

  ‘Sit down, gentleman,’ he said, aware of the blush that was creeping across his cheeks. ‘I know most of you have carried out offensive fighter sweeps in France at one time or another. Today’s operation will not be much different. We’re on the look-out for similar things - invasion barges, railheads, airfields and transport on the move. They’re not used to seeing Spitfires over their patch, so we’ll definitely have the element of surprise on our side.

  ‘For the first time in my memory, we’ll be flying with guns fully loaded and our tanks brim-full.’ He looked around the seventeen pilots seated before him. ‘The transport is waiting outside.’ He smiled. ‘Let’s go to Sicily.’

  Pronunciation of Place Names

  Valletta – As read;

  Sliema – Sleema;

  Lazzaretto – As read;

  Marsamxett – Marsam-shett;

  Manoel – Man-o-el;

  Ta’Qali – Tuh-Arli – Anglicised as Takali;

  Mdina – Em-dina – Anglicised as Madina;

  Mtarfa – Em-tarfa;

  Hal Far – As read;

  Kalafrana – As read;

  Marsaxlokk – Marsa-schlock;

  Xara – Shara – Anglicised as Zara.

  Glossary of Terms

  Abyssinia – Historical nation in the north of present-day Ethiopia

  Abyssinia Crisis – Incident resulting from the ongoing conflict between the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Ethiopia

  Adjutant – Administrative assistant to a senior officer

  AI – Air Interception, early onboard radar equipment

  Airframe – Structural skeleton of an aircraft

  Aileron – Movable surface usually near the trailing edge of a wing; controls the roll of the aircraft

  Andersen Shelter - DIY bomb shelter supplied by the government

  Angels – Code word for altitude; angels ten means 10,000 feet

  Anson Trainer – Double-engine aircrew trainer

  Anthony Eden – British Sec
retary for Foreign Affairs during Abyssinia Crisis

  AOC – Air officer commanding

  Armour-Piercing (AP) – Ammunition designed to penetrate plate metal

  ARP – Air Raid Precautions

  Avro Tutor – Bi-plane used by the RAF to train pilots

  AWOL – Absent without leave

  Axis Powers – Germany, Italy and Japan

  Ball – Standard machine-gun ammunition

  Bandits – RAF slang for enemy aircraft

  Beehive – Fictional codename for the sector control room at Kenley

  BEF – British Expeditionary Force

  Bf 109 – Messerschmitt 109; German single-seat fighter

  Bf 110 – Messerschmitt 110; German double-seat fighter

  Biplane – Aircraft with two sets of wings, one above the other

  Blast Pen – Tri-walled construction intended to protect aeroplanes from bomb damage

  Blenheim – British twin-engine light bomber aircraft

  Boffin – Slang for scientist

  Bofors gun – 40mm anti-aircraft autocannon

  Bogey – Unidentified aircraft suspected of being hostile

  Bought it, Buy it – To get killed in action

  Bounced – RAF slang for being attacked from above

  Brass – RAF slang for officers

  Brylcreem – Styling cream for hair

  Brylcreem Boys – Semi-affectionate slang for RAF fighter pilots

  Bumf – Slang for toilet paper

  Buster – Running a fighter engine on full boost; not recommended for long periods due to likelihood of damage and/or fire

  Cable defence – Heavy cables fired into the air in the path of approaching low-level attackers

  Canopy – Also known as Hood; covering for a cockpit

  Check step – A lateral movement in an aerial chase

  Chocks – Triangular lumps of wood used to wedge against aircraft wheels to prevent movement on the ground

  Chop (The) – To get killed in combat

  Contrail – Condensation left by high-flying aircraft

  Cowling – Curved panel covering the engine of an aircraft

  Crate – RAF slang for aeroplane

  Cupola – Gun turret

  Deck – RAF slang for the ground

  Demon – Two-seater RAF bi-plane fighter used between the wars

  Depth Charge – Specialist mine used against submarines

  DH-5 – Bi-plane in service during The Great War

  Dispersal – Area where planes are scattered widely to reduce potential damage if attacked

  Do 17 – Dornier 17; German twin-engine bomber

  Dogfight – RAF slang for fighter versus fighter combat

  Dorsal – Machine-gun position on upper side or back of a bomber

  Elevator – Movable surface on the tail, controls pitch of the aircraft

  Erks – RAF nickname for airmen

  Flagmen – Men who mark the flightpath across a field for a crop-duster

  Flaps – Movable surface on an aircraft, usually near the trailing edge of a wing; increases lift and decreases speed

  Flap – RAF slang for emergency

  Flash – Coded command to turn on Airborne Interception

  Flight – A fighting unit usually consisting of six aircraft

  Fuselage – Main body of an aeroplane

  Gaspers – Slang for cigarettes

  Gen – RAF slang for intelligence, information

  G-force – Force acting on a body as a result of acceleration or gravity

  Gilly – Shore crab

  Gone for a Burton – RAF slang for getting killed

  GP – General Practitioner (English Doctor)

  Hampden – British twin-engine light bomber aircraft

  He 111 – Heinkel 111; German twin-engine bomber

  Heath Robinson – Cobbled together from available materials

  Heavies – RAF slang for heavy (four-engine) bombers

  Heliopolis – A suburb outside Cairo, Egypt

  HMS – His Majesty’s Ship

  Homebrew – Fictional codename for a sector control room

  Hood – Also known as Canopy; covering for a cockpit

  HQ – Headquarters

  Hurricane – Single-seat British fighter; slightly poorer performance than the Spitfire

  Incendiary – Ammunition or bomb designed to encourage fire

  Jerry – Slang for German

  Jink – To fly erratically to put off an attacker’s aim

  Ju 88 – Junkers 88; German twin-engine bomber

  Kite – RAF slang for aeroplane

  Kraut – Slang for German

  League of Nations – Intergovernmental organisation founded in 1920 after the Paris Peace Conference at the end of the First World War

  LMF – Lack of Moral Fibre

  Madge – Affectionate nickname for Bluebird’s adjutant, Harry Stiles

  Mae West – British pilots’ inflatable life preserver

  Malta Dog – A virulent form of dysentery rife on Malta during the siege

  Mandrake – Codename for one of the sector control rooms

  Matelot – Sailor

  Me 109 – Messerschmitt 109; German single-seat fighter

  Me 110 – Messerschmitt 110; German double-seat fighter

  Med – Mediterranean

  Merlin – The celebrated engine used in many British aircraft, most famously the Spitfire

  Met – Abbreviation for Meteorological Office (Weather forecast)

  Milk-run – A low risk mission

  Milk train – Earliest departing train

  MNFU – Malta Night Fighting Unit

  MO – Medical officer

  Monoplane – Fixed-wing aircraft with a single main wing plane

  MP – Military Police

  Night-warden – Fictional codename for night-fighter controller

  Ops – Operations, active service

  Orbit – To fly in a circle

  O’clock – Used to locate the enemy in relation to line of flight; 12 o’clock is straight ahead, 6 o’clock is directly behind

  Orderly – Officer in charge of administration of a unit or establishment for a day at a time

  Panzer – Heavy German battle tank

  Pea-souper – Slang for very heavy fog

  Peepers – Slang for eyes

  Perdition – A state of eternal punishment and damnation for the unrepentant sinner

  Plots – Radar contacts translated to markers on a map

  Port – Left-hand side of an aircraft; a port turn is to the left

  Prop-wash – Blast of air caused by a propeller

  Purgatory – A place of suffering inhabited by the souls of sinners who are expiating their sins in order to attain heaven

  Radial engine – Engine configuration in which the cylinders ‘radiate’ outward from a central crankcase

  RAF – Royal Air Force

  RDF – Radio Direction Finding – later known as Radar

  Revs – Revolutions of an engine

  RFC – Royal Flying Corps, precursor to the RAF

  Rigger – Member of ground maintenance crew

  Rigmarole – Official procedure

  Roger – Affirmative response to radioed instructions

  Rotary engine – An early type of internal combustion engine

  Roundel – Concentric red white and blue circles used as identification for British planes

  Rudder – Movable surface on an aircraft, usually on the tail; controls yaw of the aircraft

  Scramble – To take off, generally in a hurry

  Section – Fighting unit of aircraft usually consisting of two or three aircraft, normally codenamed with a colour

  Sector – Geographical area with dedicated RAF administration services

  Shilling – A British coin

  Shrapnel – Broken pieces of bomb cases

  Side-slip – Where an aircraft moves somewhat sideways as well as forward relative to the oncoming airflow<
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  Slipstream – Flow of air around an airborne aircraft

  Somaliland – Self-declared state internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia

  Sopwith Camel – Bi-plane in service during The Great War

  Spitfire – Single-seat British fighter; slightly better performance than the Hurricane

  Squadron – Fighting unit of aircraft usually consisting of 12 aircraft with six in reserve and 24 pilots

  Staffel – German word meaning Squadron

  Starboard – Right-hand side of an aircraft; a starboard turn is to the right

  Stick – Control column

  Stick (of bombs) – A ‘gaggle’ of bombs dropped from the same aircraft

  Stooge – To fly around without an apparent aim

  Strafe – Rake the ground with gunfire from an aircraft

  Stuka – Junkers 87; German dive-bomber

  Swastika – Ancient crooked cross symbol adopted by the Nazis

  Tail-plane – Also known as a horizontal stabiliser; a small lifting surface located on the tail

  Tally-ho – Huntsman’s cry to the hounds on sighting a fox; adopted by fighter pilots and used on sighting enemy aeroplanes

  Ten-tenths – Solid cloud with zero visibility

  Top Brass – RAF slang for commanding officers

  Tracer – Ordnance that glows in flight to show path of bullet-stream

  Undercarriage – Wheels of an aircraft; can be fixed or retractable

  UXB – Unexploded bomb

  Vector – Code word for heading

  Ventral – Machine gun position on the underside of a bomber

  Vic – An arrowhead formation of aircraft

  Vichy French – Collaborationist government of occupied France

  WC – Water closet, archaic term for toilet

  Wellington – British twin-engine, long range medium bomber

  Windy – RAF slang for cowardly

  Yaw – Twist or oscillate about a vertical axis

  Author’s notes – Bluebirds

  This is a historical novel based on real events. It is not a history of those events or of the people who found themselves entangled in those events.

  Andrew Francis and Gerry Donaldson are based on the true-life trajectories of real people. Their characters and personalities are fictionalised as I have never spoken to anyone who actually met the men on whom they are based. I have taken care to mould them as people to whom their families would find no objection.