Together Under the Stars

by Beryl Matthews

  ‘We’re not going to make it much further,’ he told them. ‘We’re losing height rapidly and by the time we reach land we’ll be too low for you to bail out, so this is your only chance. Jump now!’

  Luke shook his head. ‘I’m staying; you’re going to need help to get this bird down.’

  One by one the men came through and said they would take their chance on him being able to land somewhere.

  They were dangerously low when they crossed the coast, and as Steve turned the plane towards Lincolnshire, he was scanning the ground for somewhere with enough space to put down. Not that he was going to have a lot to do with it. The plane was leaking fuel and had been too badly damaged to go much further. It was a miracle they had managed to get this far. ‘Report on fuel.’

  ‘Nearly empty! There’s a field ahead,’ Luke told him.

  ‘Seen it. Everyone, brace yourselves, this is going to be rough.’

  They skimmed over a farmhouse and hit the field with such force the undercarriage collapsed, tearing part of the wing off as they hurtled across the land. They finally stopped just short of hitting some trees, and although at a crazy angle, the plane was still upright.

  ‘Everyone out!’ he shouted, fearing fire. The sweat was pouring off him and he hurt all over but didn’t think anything was broken.

  Luke moved swiftly, released his harness for him and hauled him out of the seat. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘I’m okay, but that was damned hard work.’

  They jumped out and joined the others a safe distance from the stricken plane. There were people running towards them from all directions. ‘Any casualties?’ one man asked, gasping when he reached them.

  ‘Just shaken up, sir,’ Steve replied.

  ‘So are we, young man. You damned near took the chimney off our house.’

  ‘My apologies, sir, I couldn’t keep in the air any longer.’ Steve surveyed the devastation they had caused. There was a great gouge through the field, with cabbages scattered everywhere. ‘We’ve ruined your harvest, I’m dreadfully sorry about that.’

  The man smiled and shook Steve’s hand, then greeted the rest of the crew. ‘I’m the farmer here and my name is Collins. Don’t you worry about the damage, son. The important thing is you’re all safe. Here comes the local police and the firemen. They’ll take care of everything. Now, come with me, and my wife will give you a good breakfast while you wait for someone to collect you.’

  Luke saw the crowd that was gathering, frowned and went over to one of the firemen. ‘Could you see that no one goes near the wreckage, especially the children? It could be dangerous.’

  ‘We’ll contact the army to stand guard over it.’ He studied the plane for a moment, and then turned back to Luke. ‘No bombs still there, we hope?’

  ‘No, but you’ll need to be very careful.’

  ‘We will be, son, don’t you worry.’ He shook his head. ‘How on earth did you all get out of that alive?’

  ‘We’ve got a good pilot,’ Luke told him, looking over at Steve.

  The sound of army vehicles arriving at speed made the crowd of onlookers move further back. ‘You can go and get some breakfast. These chaps will take control of the site now.’

  The farmhouse kitchen was warm and full of the sounds and smells of sizzling bacon, making them all realise that in spite of being bruised and shaken they were very hungry.

  ‘Do any of you need medical care?’ Mrs Collins asked after the introductions were completed.

  ‘All we have are a few bruises, ma’am,’ Ricky told her.

  ‘That’s good to hear. Now, sit yourselves down. I expect you could do with something to eat, and it’s almost ready.’

  ‘We can’t take your rations,’ Steve said. ‘They’ll feed us when we get back to base.’

  ‘That could be some time and I’m sure you need food now. We have our own chickens and pigs, and the military would want us to look after you.’

  They watched in amazement as plates were put in front of them, overflowing with eggs, bacon, sausages, fried bread, and after that feast there was toast, home-made jam and a pot of tea. Not another word was said as they tucked in and cleared everything, thanking her profusely.

  ‘Do you mind if we smoke, Mrs Collins?’ Andy asked.

  ‘Of course not. Please go ahead.’

  Steve lit up and drew in deeply, scarcely believing they were not only all alive, but uninjured as well. At that moment, his love and gratitude for that plane was enormous. It was nothing short of a miracle he had been able to keep them in the air as long as he did. With that amount of damage, she should have dropped out of the sky long before they had reached land. He stubbed out his cigarette and noticed a young girl of about three standing by her mother and staring at him. He smiled. ‘Hello, what’s your name?’

  ‘Beth.’ She clutched a rag doll tightly.

  ‘That’s a pretty name. What’s your dolly’s name?’

  ‘Mary.’ She came over to him then and held out the dolly. ‘Mary was frightened when the house shook. She thought a bomb was coming down.’

  ‘I’m sorry we frightened you, Mary.’

  She was resting the dolly on his knees now. ‘Daddy said it was a big plane. Were you the driver?’

  He nodded. ‘My plane wouldn’t fly any more and I had to come down in your daddy’s field.’

  ‘Can I see it?’

  At that moment a young boy of around eight tore into the kitchen and came to a skidding halt, gazing in awe at the strange men filling his kitchen.

  ‘Did you find out if the constable had contacted the RAF, Johnny?’

  ‘Yes, Dad. He said they would be coming, and I told him they weren’t German. There are men out there and they won’t let me in the field to have a proper look at the plane.’

  ‘So that’s where you’ve been.’

  Johnny nodded. ‘I tried to sneak in, but they’ve got it surrounded.’

  Steve stood up and hoisted Beth into his arms, making her giggle, then he held out his free hand to the boy. ‘Come on, they’ll let me in, but we can’t go too close because it’s dangerous.’

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ Luke said.

  ‘Do we have your permission to show your children the Lancaster?’ Steve asked the parents. ‘They’ll be safe with us.’

  ‘Of course you can.’ Mrs Collins gave the youngsters a stern look. ‘You do as they say, now.’

  ‘We will, Mum,’ they both declared.

  ‘I want to have another look.’ Andy stood up. ‘In fact, we all do.’

  After some discussion they were allowed through the guard and stood staring at the crumpled plane. The sight wrenched at their hearts as they had all become very attached to their Lancaster.

  ‘Wow!’ Johnny couldn’t believe his eyes. ‘It’s huge.’

  Beth stared open-mouthed, then slipped her arm around Steve’s neck and whispered, ‘It’s broken. Will you get into trouble?’

  ‘I hope not, sweetheart.’

  ‘Can we go closer?’ Johnny was tugging at Steve’s hand.

  ‘Just a little.’ Keeping a firm grip on the excited youngster they moved a few paces forward.

  Eddie came and stood beside him. ‘You saved our lives, mate.’

  ‘We were lucky this field appeared just at the right time. If we’d crashed into trees, or God forbid, houses, we’d have been standing at the pearly gates now.’

  ‘What would you have done if we had all bailed out?’

  ‘Dumped her in the sea before we reached land to avoid any civilian casualties.’

  Eddie nodded. ‘We didn’t give you a choice, did we?’

  He smiled at Eddie. ‘I’m glad it turned out this way. At least all we’ve done is ruin a field of vegetables.’

  ‘That field must have looked like a postage stamp. You’re one hell of a pilot to have got us safely down.’

  As Eddie moved away to have a look at the plane from a different angle, Beth claimed his attention again. ‘Will it fly a
gain?’

  ‘No, it won’t.’

  ‘What will you do without a plane to drive now?’

  ‘They’ll give me a new one.’

  She leant back to look into his face. ‘Will they?’

  ‘Yep.’ He touched the dolly she was still holding. ‘Is Mary all right now?’

  ‘Oh, yes, she knows you didn’t mean to frighten her.’

  ‘Good.’ The others joined him, and after thanking the military guard they went back to the farmhouse to wait for someone to pick them up.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The mess wasn’t very busy by the time Nancy arrived for breakfast, but Jean was still there.

  ‘Sorry I’m late. I overslept, which isn’t like me. I even missed seeing Steve going for his usual walk around the field.’ When Jean didn’t answer she studied her more closely and saw her staring at the half-empty cup in front of her. It was unusual for her to be silent. ‘What’s the matter, Jean?’

  The anguish on her face when she looked up was clear to see. ‘You wouldn’t have seen him because they haven’t returned.’

  Nancy began to feel the room sway around her, and she wanted to cry out in despair, but she didn’t. Emotions had to be kept tightly in check. ‘They could have landed somewhere else. How many others are missing, and did the other crews see anyone go down?’

  ‘I haven’t been able to find out yet. The crews are still in debriefing, and no one else knows anything.’

  She reached out and took hold of Jean’s hand. ‘Let’s not assume the worst yet. They must be out of debriefing by now, so let’s go and find out if there’s any news.’

  All thoughts of eating were forgotten as they hurried out, and the first person they saw as they left the mess was Wing Commander Jackman. Nancy walked straight up to him and saluted. ‘Sir, can you tell us how many planes are missing from last night’s raid?’

  ‘Two from here.’

  ‘Do you have details of what might have happened to them?’ She knew she shouldn’t be questioning an officer like this, but Jackman was a reasonable man and what the hell. She couldn’t care less if she was reprimanded.

  ‘Not much. One was seen to go down and the other so badly damaged it was highly unlikely they could make it back. It was the opinion of the crew who saw it that they might have gone down in the sea. I don’t have any definite details at present.’

  ‘Understood. Thank you, sir.’

  As he walked away, the two girls looked at each other in despair. What they had just heard was the worst possible news, and there was little chance they would ever see their lovely Canadians again.

  ‘Oh, Sandy!’ Jean sobbed and held her arms out to the man running towards them. ‘Did you see them?’

  ‘Not sure. I saw one go down over Germany, but couldn’t identify it. Steve and his crew could have been in either of the two who haven’t returned.’

  Jean scrunched her eyes, trying to keep the tears at bay. ‘I prayed so hard that all of you would come through this.’

  ‘Don’t give up hope yet. They might have bailed out, and all we can do is wait for news.’ Sandy’s colouring was always pale, but now he was white with worry for his friends.

  ‘You’ll let us know if you hear anything?’ Nancy asked him.

  He nodded and walked away.

  Nancy took a steadying breath and held Jean’s arm, keeping calm for her friend’s sake. With such sketchy infor­mation there was hope. There had to be! ‘Come on, we must report for duty.’

  ‘I know.’

  They parted, each going to their duties, and when Nancy walked into the stores, Colin came up to her. ‘We’ve heard that Steve Allard and his crew are among the missing. You were close and I’m so sorry.’

  ‘Thank you. We don’t know what’s happened yet, so all we can do is wait and hope.’

  As she settled down to work, it was hard to keep this out of her mind, and every time fear crept in she fought it back. They had been daft to become close to them, but strange as it seemed, she didn’t regret that for one minute. Like her brother Dan, they would always have a place in her heart – never to be forgotten.

  She joined Jean for lunch, and they were just finishing when Sandy burst into the mess and hurtled towards them. He dragged the girls out of their seats. ‘You’ve got to see this!’

  Running outside they were just in time to see a lorry outside the main building and aircrew, still in their flying gear, jump down.

  ‘Damn me, he landed that bloody stricken Lancaster.’ Sandy took off at speed to get to his friends.

  The girls watched with relief and joy. The predictions had been that there was little chance of them surviving and, unbe­lievably, here they were alive, all seven of them, and unhurt, from what they could see. The ground crew were talking to them, and the commander and Jackman were urging them inside, so it was not possible to go over to them.

  However, before entering the building they all turned and waved, and the girls waved back with huge smiles on their faces.

  Sandy came over. ‘They’re fine, but we’ll have to wait for a while before hearing the details.’

  The girls weren’t off duty until the evening, and the moment they were free they rushed over to the NAAFI.

  ‘They won’t be flying tonight, so if they’re not here we’ll need to track them down. I must know what happened,’ Jean declared, almost running.

  The girls stepped inside and saw them immediately. They stood up and smiled, but Nancy knew the signs of shock. From the outside, no one would guess they had just had a close brush with death – not until you looked into their eyes. She had learnt to spot this when her brother had been flying.

  ‘You gave us such a fright,’ Jean growled, sitting next to Ricky.

  Andy laughed. ‘I bet it was nothing like the fright we had. Steve dropped our plane into a field no bigger than a back garden, and ruined the farmer’s winter vegetable crop.’

  They were all laughing now, and Nancy glanced at Steve, who was sitting there with a slight smile on his face. ‘Tell us what happened.’

  Luke launched into the story with input from the others from time to time. They were treating it as a huge joke now, but it was clear to the girls that the situation must have been desperate.

  ‘Why didn’t you bail out?’ Jean wanted to know.

  Ricky threw his hands up in horror. ‘Steve told us to, but we were over the sea, and there was no way I was going down there.’

  John, the wireless operator, was nodding. ‘We wouldn’t have lasted long in the freezing water, and we knew Steve would get us down safely, if it was at all possible.’

  ‘Boy, and were we glad we stuck with him.’ Ricky slapped his friend on the back. ‘You should have seen the breakfast the farmer’s wife gave us.’

  They continued giving more details about the mayhem they had caused by crashing the huge Lancaster in the field.

  ‘Of course, Steve got reprimanded by the little girl of the family for frightening her dolly by nearly taking the chimney off the farmhouse.’

  This caused them all to roar with laughter, and grinning, Steve got up to get the girls a drink.

  As he walked away, Luke became serious, watching his friend move smoothly across the room. ‘How he ever got that plane back here was nothing short of a miracle, and to get it down without any of us being killed was unbelievable.’

  ‘Yeah, we all thought our time had come.’ Ricky shook his head. ‘That journey back is something I will never forget.’

  ‘I don’t suppose you will.’ Jean smiled at him. ‘But you’re here to tell the tale, and that’s what matters.’

  Steve returned with the drinks and sat down again.

  ‘What’s going to happen now?’ Nancy asked him.

  ‘We have to wait for a replacement Lancaster, so we’ve been given some leave. There will be one waiting for us when we get back.’

  ‘How long have they given you?’ Jean looked pointedly at her friend.

  ‘Five days.’<
br />
  ‘What are you going to do?’

  He shrugged. ‘We haven’t decided yet.’

  ‘Well, you could take up my parents’ offer and stay with them. There would be room for up to four of you.’

  Steve glanced round at his friends. ‘I’d like to do that, so who else wants to come?’

  The English members of the crew all said they were going home, and that left Luke and Ricky who eagerly accepted.

  ‘Will you be able to come with us?’ Steve asked Nancy.

  ‘I’ll go and see if I can wangle some time off.’ She stood up and left at once.

  ‘It would be nice to spend time in a proper home for a while.’ Ricky rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the lingering tension from the crash landing.

  Half an hour passed before Nancy came back. ‘That took a bit of doing, but when I said I wanted to take you to stay with my parents, they finally agreed. We can leave in the morning.’

  ‘That’s great, but how will you let your folks know we’re coming?’ Steve asked.

  ‘It’ll be a surprise for them.’

  ‘Nancy, we can’t descend upon your family without prior warning,’ Luke told her.

  ‘Yes, you can. Every time they write they ask me when I’m going to bring you home.’

  ‘Well, if you’re sure it’s all right.’

  ‘Positive, Steve, they’ll be delighted. I assure you.’

  ‘In that case, lads, let’s go and see what food we can scrounge. We can’t go empty-handed.’

  The three Canadians left on their quest and Jean smiled at Nancy. ‘A few days of normal home life is what they need.’

  ‘Yes, but it’s a shame you can’t come as well, Sandy.’

  ‘It is, but I’m still flying. I might be able to come some other time, though.’

  ‘Hope so.’

  They managed to get quite a few tins of food, some tea and even a couple of packets of biscuits.