by Griff Hosker
The Admiral said, “That is out of the Squadron Leader’s hands I am afraid. It depends upon the weather. At this time of year, we are lucky if we get one day of fine weather and we need two.”
I caught his eye and he nodded to me. I took my pipe from my mouth, “However, Count, I have scouted the airfield. When we do attack, it should make life easier for General Yudenich.”
It was as though I had let all the air from his balloon. He gave us a smile, which was a false one, “That is good news but the General may not be able to attack until the spring. By then it may be I who leads the army. But first you must destroy the aeroplanes.” He turned to the Rear Admiral, “And Mr. Rees has assured me that your flotilla will do all that it can to eliminate the threat of the Bolshevik fleet.”
I saw that Mr. Rees kept an impassive face as did the Admiral. “At the moment, Count, a strike against the fleet would be disastrous. We would be outgunned and, at the moment, they enjoy the protection of the forts around Kotlin Island.”
“Surely, when the Bolshevik air force is destroyed then the Squadron Leader can attack the fleet!”
Mr. Rees and the Admiral both rolled their eyes. I shook my head, “Count, we would be able to drop a total of just three hundred pounds of bombs. That would not even destroy one of the ships. I fear that you must await the arrival of Major Donald and the rest of the aeroplanes.”
He scowled, “Is he an ace too?”
He said it with such scorn that the insult was obvious. I ignored it. “Sadly, sir, my expertise is in shooting down aeroplanes. I know of no ace who has sunk a large number of ships.”
“I had heard much about the potential of aeroplanes.” He glared at Vladimir. “Perhaps I was misinformed.”
“I think you will find, Count, that over the next few years they will change the face of modern warfare.”
The next hour was spent in plans to support General Yudenich. It was noticeable that the Count said little and Mr. Rees made the largest contribution to the discussion. When the three of them left, the Admiral spoke with me. “It seems obvious to me that the Count has his own plans. He would lead the White Russian army.”
“And he was complicit in the attempt to sabotage my aeroplane. Captain Parr now has extra men watching. It will not happen again. And I believe the sooner we take on the Bolsheviks the better. It will be safer for my aeroplanes.”
“Major Donald and the rest of the squadron will be ready to leave at the beginning of March.”
“That is almost upon us.”
“He has a young squadron and the aeroplanes they have are a mixed bag. I think he would appreciate you leaving him in as good a position as possible.”
“Of course. He has a sound start. Those three pilots are made of the right stuff.”
“Oh, and one more thing, although I would appreciate it if you kept this to yourself.”
“Of course.”
“This Captain Cummins is head of … well let us just say he is involved in a lot of planning of what might be termed subversive activities. He is sending out a Lieutenant Agar and some new-fangled coastal motor boats. Apparently, they are faster than anything afloat and it is believed they can sink the battleships. You are a bright chap. Keep your ears open and if you hear a whisper of this then let me know. My captains know and now you. I trust all of you: the rest…”
Ten frustrating days later we had the all clear from the navigator. We had two days when we could fly. I hoped to get the job done in one but a second would ensure that we had the best chance of success. The ten days had been the coldest we had endured. Even though we were close to shore we had to use high pressure steam hoses to clear the ice from the superstructure. All the cruisers suffered the same problem. Our aeroplanes were carefully wrapped up in the hangar.
We spent the ten days going over our plan until I knew that they could do it in their sleep. We had gone over the photographs again and again so that they could identify the targets for their bombs. They had four under each wing. None were huge but aeroplanes, especially on the ground, were vulnerable things. However, the workshops were a priority. While the other three bombed I would try to take out the most important of their aeroplanes. I also had four Mills bombs as well as my pistols and my Lee Enfield. I was going to war and I would be ready for anything.
Knowing that we would be flying we rose before dawn. I wanted every piece of daylight I could get. This time I allowed the other three to take off first. I was faster and could overtake them. Once we were all safely aloft I took the lead. We climbed to five thousand feet. There was good visibility with clear skies. We needed our covers for our guns as it was freezing. That was also a reason to avoid going too high. We flew in line astern and I glanced in the mirror to make sure that they were on station. I had Peter Rogers at the rear with his new gunner. The wait for the window had helped for Peter Rogers had worked hard to bring the sulky gunner into line. The proof of the pudding would be in the air. I hoped I had made the right decision. After Totleben I headed due south. I was more confident this time. As we passed Kronstadt I saw the fleet. I noticed that they had a destroyer guarding the fifty-yard-wide entrance to the harbour. If that was sunk… I had more useful information to take back to the Admiral.
The engine was not running as smoothly as I would have liked. I put it down to the cold. I made a decision as we passed the line of forts in the sea and I held up my hand to signal a descent. I dropped to two thousand feet. If this had been the Western Front such a move would have necessitated a crick in the neck as I searched for the Hun in the sun. The Bolsheviks would not be hunting. The engine began to run smoother. In many ways, it suited as we would be dropping to four hundred feet a few miles from the coast.
I saw more ships this time. Spring was around the corner and there was more movement than a couple of weeks ago. More information for the Rear Admiral. Ahead of me I saw the smudge that was the coast. I began to descend. I was quite happy at four hundred feet but I knew that my young pilots would find it stressful and intimidating. It would be even more so if the enemy had defences prepared to greet us. I hoped that they had not.
I risked taking the canvas cover from my guns and I cocked them. I had the grenades in my pockets and I took two out and laid them in my lap. The sea seemed to fly by at such a low altitude and I saw the coast loom up quickly. I began to bank to port. I knew that the others would fall into their allotted positions. We were only travelling at ninety miles an hour. It conserved fuel and, until we were in combat, we needed go no faster. As I turned on an easterly course I glanced left and right. My men were in position. I held up my thumb and they all responded. There were no problems. I relied on them following my movements. I adjusted my course to steer more south easterly than easterly. They followed me.
Ahead I saw the town to my left and knew that the airfield was directly ahead. I hoped we had caught them napping. I saw the aeroplanes lined up on either side of the airfield. There were now two lines of eleven. The canvas had been removed. I had no time to assess the quality of aeroplane. We had a plan and we had to stick to it. As luck would have it, there were no aeroplanes in my sights. I heard the other three Vickers as they chattered in short bursts. Then I heard the first crump of a bomb. It was followed in rapid succession by another five. The first loads had been dropped. As I passed the end of the field I banked to starboard, as we had planned. We would now fly obliquely across the airfield. I had deemed that would maximise the damage we could cause. As we turned I saw that some of the enemy were already racing down the runway but there were numerous burning aeroplanes and buildings. We had had success but we had not finished the mission.
This time I did have targets. A Fokker Eindecker crossed into my sights. I fired a short burst and then a second. The monoplane skewed around and stopped. I had either hit the pilot or the aeroplane. I took a Mills bomb, pulled the pin and dropped it as I flew over the Fokker. They were firing all the weapons they had at us. They had rifles and machine guns but we were flying at a
hundred miles an hour. By the time they had seen us, we were gone. I prepared a second grenade and dropped that a heartbeat later. I had spied drums. They would either contain fuel or oil. Both were good targets. I heard the last of the bombs as they were dropped behind me. In my mirror I saw explosions and flames. We had hit targets. I did not know what we had destroyed but the mission was a success. Even if we were all shot down we had done what we had intended. When we had passed the airfield. I checked my fuel gauge. I had just over half a tank left. It was time to head home. I whirled my hand above my head and then looked to see the response. They had all understood and I began to climb. My orders were clear. If the enemy pursued us they were to head home and I would deal with the Bolsheviks.
I looked in my mirror as I began my climb. I saw Harry Greaves there. He should have been to the side of me. His gunner was firing at the ground. I frowned. He had been ordered to save the Lewis gun in case we were attacked. I also saw, as they took off, an Albatros D V and two Fokker Triplanes. The Albatros D V was faster than the Strutters. The Fokker was faster than mine. I looked to the side and saw both Rogers and Newton. I waved them ahead of me. Newton, in the absence of Greaves would take the lead. I throttled back to allow them to get ahead and Greaves to catch up with me.
As I dropped back I saw that a pair of old Halberstadt fighters had taken off. Although they were not the fastest, they had synchronised guns and it would mean they outnumbered us. As he came abreast of me Greaves was grinning. He gave me the thumbs up. I waved him forward. I saw that Hood, his gunner, was changing his magazine. It was costly. A third Fokker, a D V this time, must have taken off before the others. The first I knew was when the bullets tore into the tail of the Strutter. One hit Hood in the hand.
Air combat is about decisions made in seconds. I side slipped to starboard and I was already looking for my target. I turned to take on this attacker. I increased my speed as I passed before his guns. I was a smaller target and I was travelling faster. The bullets zipped over my head. My turn allowed me to aim at his side. There were no bullets firing at me and he had failed to try to turn fully and take me on. He was still trying to get Harry who was limping up into the sky. With no rear gunner, Harry was a dead man if the enemy caught him. I waited until I was just forty yards from the Bolshevik pilot before I fired. My bullets tore into the side of the cockpit and I saw him slump forward. The aeroplane began its death dive. I took in the fact that they had left the German markings on it. This one had belonged to Jasta 5.
The combat had allowed the other five aeroplanes to close with me. More importantly it meant they would catch an ailing Greaves. The bullets had damaged his tail and he was now slower. I needed to discourage the Bolsheviks. I still had the advantage of height. They were climbing in a loose V. That was dictated by their speed. The Halberstadt had the worst rate of climb and they lagged behind. I could ignore them. I calculated that they were two hundred feet below me. I would try a flank attack. It would present three good targets and the only way they could defend against me was to turn and that would allow my flight to escape.
I banked to port and throttled back. I needed to conserve fuel and the slower speed would enable me to hit more of the enemy. The two Halberstadt turned to try to attack me. As they were even further back I did not worry about them. I had one Vickers with a full magazine and a second which was half empty. I chose to use the one with the full magazine. I lined myself up so that I would attack the two Fokkers and then I could turn to take on the Albatros. I opened fire on the first one. I fired five short bursts. As I approached I kept edging to port. My first bullets hit his fuselage. My second hit his wings and rigging but my last burst struck his engine which began to smoke and the damage to his wings made the whole aeroplane unstable. It began to spiral to earth. The second pilot showed his inexperience. The pilot of the Albatros banked to port to bring his guns to bear on me but the Fokker pilot saw me coming for him and he pulled his aeroplane into a steep climb. It was too steep. I fired and hit the tail but what killed the triplane was the engine stalling. An aeroplane in flight is a beautiful thing to behold but a stricken one is tragic. It dropped like a stone. The weight of the engine pulled its nose around and it followed its consort to a watery and icy death. The impact would kill the pilot.
I heard the sound of the Albatros’ machine guns. He had fired early. I continued my loop. My Camel had a wonderfully tight turn and I pirouetted inside him. I knew that when I had my shot he would be very close to me. It would be a case of which one’s nerve held. His engine appeared just fifty feet in front of me. I gave one long burst. I hit his propeller, his engine and his upper wing. I suspect I hit him for he did not fire in return. And then I had passed him. I continued my turn to port and climbed. I saw that the two Halberstadt were still below me and gamely climbing. The Albatros was descending with smoke pouring from the engine. If he was lucky he would make land and crash land.
I looked at my fuel gauge. I had less than half a tank of fuel remaining. As much as I wanted to I could not afford any more air combat. I turned north and began a gentle descent to save fuel. I had the legs on the Halberstadt. They would not catch me. The fastest Halberstadt had a top speed of less than one hundred miles an hour. I kept mine at ninety-nine. I would maintain my lead. At five hundred feet, I was almost skimming the waves. I zoomed over the forts. Above me, in the distance I saw the three Strutters. Flight Lieutenant Rogers was keeping them together. They were flying at the speed of the wounded bird. They had learned something from me. But Flight Lieutenant Greaves had shown me they still had much more to learn. I reached Totleben just after they had begun their descent. I would arrive back shortly after they did. I would be flying on fumes.
I saw the smoke of the flotilla as the three Strutters dropped to my height. I saw that Rogers had waved Greaves to the fore to allow him to land. A generous act, it was not necessarily the wisest move. If it crashed on landing, then we would all have a problem. It was a situation I had not covered. That was my fault. I would remedy that when I debriefed them; if we all got down safely. Greaves was a good pilot and he got his kite down in one piece. By the time I was ready to make my approach, only Rogers had to land. My engine gave an alarming cough and then picked up again. As soon as they had pushed the Flight Lieutenant’s Strutter to one side I headed for the deck. I doubted that I would need to cut the engine. It would probably run out of fuel as I touched down. I must have had more fuel than I thought for we not only landed, I was able to turn and take the Camel back to the hangar. I patted the cowling as I descended to the deck, “Well done, old girl!”
Chapter 6
Hood had been whisked away to sickbay by the time I reached my aircrew. Petty Officer Banks was shaking his head at the damage to the Strutter. “Mr. Nash, take the air crew down to briefing.”
“Sir.”
Harry Greaves turned to speak with me. I held up my hand, “Later, Flight Lieutenant.” I nodded to the Strutter. “How long, Petty Officer?”
“It is a mess but I can have it fixed in a few days, sir. Mr. Greaves did well to get her back. Some of the controls were shot out.”
“That is better than I might have hoped. Have the others checked over and rearmed. If this weather holds we will be back tomorrow to see what damage we have done.”
“Sir.”
“When you refuel leave it as late as possible and do it on deck where it is colder.”
“Why sir?”
“I want the maximum fuel aboard. I nearly ran out this morning.”
“Right sir.”
“The machine gun jackets worked. There were no problems with the guns.”
Sergeant Hepplewhite pointed to my fuselage, “Either you had moths up there, sir or you were a bit close to the enemy.”
I saw the line of bullet holes. They were repairable but it was a lesson. I had not even known that I was hit. “Thanks Sergeant. She did well today.”
I took off my flying helmet, jacket and gauntlets. I took off my scarf. I knew
that my feet would be too hot in my fur lined boots but I needed to speak with my men.
As I headed down the companion way Captain Parr approached me. “Did it go well today, Bill?”
I had wanted to wait until I had debriefed my men but I understood his anxiety. “Yes sir.” I gave him the gist of the operation. “When I have spoken with my men I will have a report prepared by Nash.”
He smiled and handed me an envelope, “The Rear Admiral was pleased with Nash. Read this when you have a minute.”
“Sir.”
As I reached the briefing room I detected the smell of bacon. When I entered, I saw a pile of bacon sandwiches and a bottle of HP sauce. Flight Lieutenant Newton was grinning from ear to ear. “See what Mr. Nash organized sir? Just the job, eh, sir?”
“Well done, Mr. Nash! Well done all of you.” I turned to Harry Greaves, “And how is Hood?”
“The sick bay attendant said he was lucky. It missed everything vital but he lost a lot of blood. He was unconscious when we landed. Sorry sir.”
“What happened, Harry?”
“I thought we could shoot up more of the enemy aeroplanes. I had run out of ammo and…”
“And you forgot my orders.”
“Yes sir. My fault. I will accept any punishment that you deem fit.”
“I am afraid, Harry, that you have punished yourself. When we go back tomorrow you will be grounded. Neither your bus nor your air gunner will be available. You will have to wait here for us to go over a second time. If we go over a second time.” His face looked as though I had just slapped it. He slumped in his seat and the half-eaten bacon sandwich was dropped to his plate.
I drank some of my tea and ate my own sandwich. I wanted the silence to sink in. Harry knew the consequences of his actions and I wanted the other four to reflect on the results too before I spoke. After eating my sandwich and pouring some more tea I filled and lit my pipe. I pulled out the envelope and read it. I was smiling when I replaced it.