From Arctic Snow to Desert Sand

by Griff Hosker

  He grinned, “You want to make the rag heads think that there is a minefield eh sir?”

  “We call them Arabs or insurgents but yes, you are right. Make a couple of signs. Skull and crossbones; the usual thing. After dark Captain Fox will go and put a couple of trip wires with grenades around the outside to deter anyone from investigating.”

  “Right sir. Things are looking up here!” He went away whistling.

  I smiled, “Would that I could make everyone as happy. I am not certain that anyone will be happy after a few months here.”

  “You make the best of it don’t you sir. Brew?”

  “Why not Sarn’t Major?”

  “Hutton, get the kettle on!”

  I took out my pipe and slowly filled it. I had only managed a couple of smokes the previous day. I still had half a tin of Captain Hesketh’s tobacco. I would have to go into Cairo to augment it.

  “That’s a nice smelling baccy sir.”

  “I got it from a captain when I was in the Baltic. Flavoured with rum. Do you smoke a pipe Mr. Hale?”

  “I do indeed.”

  I threw him the tin. “Have a fill.”

  “Are you certain, sir?”

  “I put a piece of orange peel in but it is still drying out. Best to use it while it still draws. I’ll get some more from Cairo.”

  By the time the tea arrived we both had them going. “Lovely and smooth, sir and you can just get a faint taste of rum. Where did the sea captain get it?”

  “Cuba so I can’t see us getting more any time soon.”

  The pipe, the tea and Sergeant Major Hale’s team helped the morning to fly by. I heard a car pull up and Colonel Fisher arrived, “You must be Squadron Leader Harsker,”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Heard a lot about you, all good.” He gestured to a young lieutenant, “This is my aide, Lieutenant Simpson-Jones. He will be your liaison. Heard you had a spot of bother on the road yesterday.”

  I did not ask him how he knew, “Yes sir but it didn’t hold us up.”

  He nodded, “How soon can you begin operations?”

  “I could get a flight up this afternoon sir but tomorrow would be better.”

  He laughed, “Good God man, I thought you would have needed a week! The place looks like a Boy Scout camp. I shall have to reprimand Captain Cooper. He is slacking! I thought better of him.”

  I shook my head, “On the contrary sir, Captain Cooper has not stopped working since we arrived. His efforts have been exemplary. What do you have in mind for us?”

  “There are three areas of concern. The river is vital. We need a patrol there. The road, as you experienced yesterday, is easy to cut and then there are the outposts.” He nodded to his aide. “Lieutenant.”

  The Lieutenant unrolled a map and he pinned it to the wall. He took his swagger stick and used it as a pointer, “Here is Cairo. The red dots represent units of British soldiers. They are guarding crossroads, oases and important installations. Some have been attacked already.”

  “Right then we know what we have to do. I have twenty-five aeroplanes which are capable of aggressively discouraging the insurgents and I have three large transports which can extract soldiers from difficult positions and, at a pinch, bomb. Your Major Pickwick has loaned me two armoured cars until our machine guns arrive from the Quarter Master’s in Cairo.”

  The colonel shook his head. “I am afraid that our armoury was broken into last week. They took your guns. We will have to wait for the next shipment to arrive up the river.”

  “The armoured cars are fine. They can do the job until our replacement guns arrive and we can hope that they don’t have much ammunition for the guns they stole.”

  He stood, “Well Squadron Leader it seems you have a well-deserved reputation. You take things in your stride and appear to be a practical chap. I look forward to working with you. The Lieutenant will stay and discuss how he will liaise with you. I shall send the car back for him.”

  After the Colonel had gone I said, “This is the centre of operations. Until the adjutant arrives you will deal directly with Sergeant Major Hale. I will go and see my squadron leaders. Our work starts on the morrow!”

  Even as the Colonel had been telling me of my mission I had been planning. The Vernons had a longer range and endurance. They were not fast. More importantly they all had a radio. Out here, in the desert, they had more chance of working efficiently. I would have one flying each day to over fly the garrisons. The Snipes and Nanaks would work in teams of four; two of each. I would send one section up in the morning to cover the road and on the river and a second one in the afternoon. It would give them all a break and allow for maintenance. I would be the spare. I had no doubt that break downs would occur.

  I explained to the three squadron leaders what I wanted. “We need to make sure that we have a flight leader or one of us with each of the patrols. Without radios someone will have to make a decision about the threats that we are presented with.”

  Ben said, “At least we can call in for help. Bill, do you think I could modify our Vernons?”

  “Of course.”

  “I want to be able to drop bombs and that means fitting bomb racks and devising a sight.”

  I tapped out my pipe and looked at him, “Go ahead!”

  “Really?”

  “Of course. You have three Vernons here. Adapt those and when the three which had problems arrive, leave them whole. We will need to use those as transports and air ambulances.”

  They all suddenly looked pleased. “Do we fit bombs to the Snipes, Bill?”

  “We have that option but I would rather use the Snipes and the Dolphin to strafe. The DH 9a has a good bomb load and the mixed flights will help.” I put my pipe in my pocket. “I leave it to you to arrange your crews. You know them better than I do. I was pleased with the performance yesterday of Dixon and the other pilots. I shall fly one flight tomorrow with the river patrol and the second with the road patrol. I want to see my pilots in action.” I stood. “And now back to the paperwork.”

  It was the middle of the afternoon and I was ready for a break when I heard a very noisy vehicle drawing up. I went outside, more because I was fed up of sitting down than anything else. I saw a 1912 Siddeley D Easy open topped Grand Tourer draw up. The driver wore goggles, a flying helmet and had a cigar in his mouth. He stepped out and bounded over to me. Pushing the goggles from his head he held out his right hand. Even as I took it, automatically, I noticed that he had a savage scar running down his left cheek and he had a patch where his left eye should have been. He had no left hand, instead he had a sort of metal attachment with what looked like an open ball on it.

  “Squadron Leader Harsker.” I said it in such a way that he would tell me just who he was.

  “Of course, sir. I am your new adjutant, Captain Ted Connor. Sorry I am a little late. I had a spot of bother with some chaps in Palestine. They tried to take the damned car off me. Had to wound a couple of the blighters! Still I am here now and raring to go!”

  He was like a whirlwind. For once in my life I had no idea what to say. Sergeant Major Hales, who had been standing behind me, came to my assistance. “What the captain needs is a nice cup of tea. Hutton, tea, Winspear, take the Captain’s luggage to his quarters.” He stood aside to allow us to re-enter.

  I nodded my thanks to the Sergeant Major. “This, Captain, is your domain. I am glad you are here for I hate paperwork!” I gestured to a seat and he sat down.

  “To be honest, sir, so do I but since I had my little prang then it is all I can do unless I want to leave the Royal Air Force”

  For once Sergeant Major Hale was intrigued and he filled his pipe. It seemed a good idea and I filled mine.

  The captain took out a lighter and lit the cheroot in his mouth. He smiled as he sucked in the smoke, “Ah that is better. It is always a shame to smoke when you are driving. It burns too quickly but I like the taste of the cheroot in my mouth, what?” He smiled, “From your expression, Squadron
Leader, I take it that I am not what you expected?”

  I tried but I could not help glancing at his hand and the attachment.

  “Ah this.” He grabbed hold of the attachment and unscrewed it. “I use this to change gears. There was a mechanic in Bagdad, looked after the R.E.8s there. The man was a genius and he made this. I have all sorts of attachment to help me do things. Marvellous! Changed my life.”

  Corporal Hutton brought in the tea. I said, “Thank you Corporal. Yes, well, I was not told of your…”

  “Disability?” I nodded. He smiled and sipped his tea. “That, Squadron Leader, is because the Royal Air Force doesn’t know about this.” I thought that Hale was going to choke on his pipe. The Captain leaned forward conspiratorially. “The thing is I don’t want to leave the Royal Air Force. I accept I can’t fly.” He grinned, “That is to say I am able to fly but I know they won’t let me. My old boss let me stay on after my little accident and I became adjutant. I know pilots and I know flying. With a face like this and a disability like this what is there for me back in Blighty?”

  “How did it happen?”

  “Pure bad luck. We did a lot of flying and raiding for Colonel Lawrence, you know the chap who brought the Arabs on side. Funny fellow he is. Never knew how to take him. Anyway, the Turks are piss poor pilots but one got lucky, or at least his gunner did. He hit the Vickers on my Camel. The bullets tore through my hand and pieces of metal went into my eye. Of course, I shot down the bastard. I watched him burn. But that was the end of my career as a pilot. You can’t have a one-eyed pilot with just one hand. I was lucky of course. It was my left hand! Good job I am not a Muslim- I couldn’t wipe my bum, could I?”

  At that point, the rest of us burst out laughing. “Captain, your secret is safe with us. So long as you can deal with the paperwork, I am happy.”

  “Good show!” He beamed.

  “And can you speak the lingo?”

  “The dialect will be different here but, yes. I think so.”

  “Then get yourself cleaned up. We have no showers yet. Sort out your tent and then Sergeant Major Hale will bring you up to speed. I will then meet you in the mess where I shall buy you the biggest drink to show how glad I am that you are here!”

  “Good show, old boy! Good show!”

  I took a stroll around the camp. I saw that Swanston had almost completed his work. He gave me a cheery wave. The wire fence was almost up. Once again Captain Fox looked like a coal miner from Durham! The two armoured cars were parked at the two entrances to the camp and the mechanics were sitting around the aeroplanes smoking. They had finished and we were as ready to begin work as one might have hoped. I headed for my tent. My uniform was sweaty. I had a spare and so I decided to change it. Williams was already there. He was polishing my spare boots.

  “I can’t see me needing those to be shiny, Williams.”

  “I know, sir, but I was brought up to work hard. It doesn’t sit right sitting on my arse doing nowt. Sorry sir.”

  “I know. I was brought up the same.” I looked around the tent. “Where are my guns?”

  He pulled a locked box from beneath my cot, “I locked them in there, sir. “He handed me a key. “There are only two keys sir, yours and mine.”

  “Right then open the box. You can strip down and clean my guns. When you have done that go and have a practice with them. I have a feeling that we are going to need them before long.”

  “Hoped you would say that, sir.” He unlocked the box and carefully took the weapons out. He handled them reverently knowing their value. Then he took out his cleaning rags and oil. He whistled as he worked.

  He was happy. I reflected that he was typical of so many British soldiers and working men. A job and something to give them purpose was all that they needed. Money was not the issue. It was a case of self-worth. I had seen it on the estate. My dad never worried about money. He wanted to do the best he could for his lordship. He wanted his lordship’s horses to be the best that they could be. That was his job. He was always happy when that happened. I suppose I was the same. I realised that I had been lucky. I had been given a team that was as close to perfect as it got. If we did not do what was expected of then there would be only one man to blame. Me.

  Chapter 10

  Captain Connor might have the one hand but it did not slow him down. He had various attachments he used for different jobs. The open ball arrangement allowed him to drive and he had another which was a fork. A third allowed him to keep objects steady while he held them. How he managed to tie his tie one handed I will never know. He was a godsend. He helped Swanston paint signs in Arabic warning of the mines and he went with Captain Fox to explain to the locals, the ones who lived just a mile or so from the field, who we were. When time allowed, I intended to take him with me to Cairo. There were things the squadron needed. My priority, however, was the patrols and I had my bus checked over before I went to bed.

  I slept easier that night. We had fences and I had an adjutant. The daily update I to Beattie was almost cheerful. She had told me, when I was home, that my moods were clearly evident in my letters. When I had thought I had been hiding my sadness or apprehension she had seen through it. I decided to make my letters as cheerful as I could.

  Williams woke me with a cup of tea while it was still dark. “Morning sir. A nice time of the day is this. It is cooler. You feel you can breathe. I like a bit of sun but it is a bit too much here, if you know what I mean.”

  “I do indeed.” I pointed to my soiled uniform. “That could do with a wash when Captain Cooper gets the water going. Until then just hang it for the wind to blow through. Mr. s. Harsker packed plenty of other things but I only have the two tunics.”

  “Yes sir. The lads will be happy when we get the water. No one likes to stink do they sir?”

  The smell of toasting bread wafted over from the kitchens. Captain Connor had already told the cook that he knew how to make a bread oven. The men got through a lot of bread. The indefatigable and resourceful Captain had promised to get it organised. Williams and Swanston would be his helpers. Both enjoyed challenges.

  Henry and Jack sat with me and we discussed the patrols. I would be accompanying their men on the river patrol that morning. Jack would take the road patrol and Henry would have the afternoon river patrol. It meant the three of us could compare notes that evening. I had decided to try flying in shorts. I saw Ben walk in. He too had on shorts. He would be flying the Vernon himself. “A little late, Ben.”

  “Yes Henry, I was just making sure that the bomb racks were fitted and I took a Lewis and a Lee Enfield from the stores. Leading Aircraftman Newton has volunteered to use them from the door if we get a chance. We have rigged up a harness for him.”

  I left Ben to his breakfast and went to check over the Dolphin. The four pilots were all waiting for me. “You chaps will be flying together for the foreseeable future. I am just an extra pair of eyes. Carry on as though I am not here.”

  Lieutenant Dixon would be leading the flight, “Sir. Can I just be clear on what we are looking for and what we are allowed to do.”

  “Simple. We fly up the river until we see the sea and then turn around and come back. We provide cover for the ships which ply their trade up the river. If we see river pirates or insurgents trying to disrupt their passage we deter them.”

  “Strafe and bomb them.”

  “Yes, Lieutenant Murray. If that is what it takes. Such precise action means we will have to fly low and that means we are in danger of ground fire. That is why we have decided to fly with the Snipes behind the Nanaks. They are faster and can zoom in to deal with problems. Anyway, good luck. I shall be up there with you this morning.”

  I allowed them to take off first. I had more speed at my disposal. I watched them rise into the sky and then saw Jack lead his three aeroplanes up a moment later. I had the runway to myself. I heard the Vernon start up. Today was a new start for us and I felt quite excited. Although the sun had only been up an hour it was already b
ecoming hot and the cool air from my ascent felt good. The goggles we had been issued had sun blocking lenses in them. Here we needed goggles more than in France and the darkened lenses made it easier to see. I began to quickly catch the four aeroplanes which were in the distance. The Dolphin was even more powerful than my old Camel.

  When I reached them, I took station on the port side of them. I also flew above the four aircraft. The Nile snaked below us. It was wide here. Almost half a mile at its widest but I knew that it narrowed in places to just four or five hundred yards. In the winter, when the river was in flood then it could spread even wider. I would be on the limit of my aeroplane if I went all the way to the sea with them. I had decided to turn around before they did.

  We were thirty minutes into the flight when we saw the first convoy. There was a gunboat leading four steam barges. I saw crates on three of them and men on the fourth. They wore British khaki and naval whites. The convoy looked out of place amongst the elegant white sailed ships which seemed to dart about the water like water boatmen. I was under no illusions. The local ships could turn from things of beauty into creatures of terror if they chose to attack the ships. The men on the barge waved. I saw Lieutenant Dixon waggle his wings. We spied no danger as we headed north. When I had just over half a tank left, I turned and left the patrol to carry on north. I headed south.

  I caught up with the convoy at a bend in the river. I had descended to two hundred feet as I approached them. It proved a fortuitous move for, as I did so I saw something I had not seen as I had headed north, a gun. Insurgents had got hold of an old Turkish field piece. They had hidden it in a stand of palm trees next to the river. Had I not been so low I would not have seen it. Even as I cocked my Vickers, a puff of smoke came from the barrel of the field piece followed by a bang. I saw the waterspout just ten yards short of the leading barge. One sailor was knocked to the deck. I opened fire. They had neither seen nor heard me. The Dolphin was a quiet aeroplane. Although I was aiming at the old gun my bullets sprayed left and right. I saw a couple of the gunners fall, clutching wounds.