by Griff Hosker
“Of course not, but my driver is here and I did not wish to waken the house. I have three squadrons to run. I know you believe that others could do what I do but I am not certain that is true.” I took her hand and kissed it. “I shall be sure to return here and visit with you and your brother as often as I am in Kirkuk.”
She laughed, “And I am certain that will not be very often. Good luck Wing Commander. I have high hopes for this air force of yours if you are a measure of the officers.”
Once in the lorry I said, “Did all of our men get back?”
“Yes sir, and your Snipes went back with Mr Ritchie. Squadron Leader Harris returned last night too. He made sure that the airfield was locked up tight. Baghdad is getting worse, sir. The Group Captain has suspended transport by road. We can only bring supplies in by air from now on.”
“Any more good news?”
He smiled, “That is about it, sir. Oh, Sergeant Major Robson’s men did a service on your bus sir. They reckoned it was well overdue!”
Everyone viewed me as though I was an invalid when I climbed from the cab. I forced myself to smile and not to grimace at the ache in my leg. It was only the stiffness from the wound and the stitches which were causing me a problem. That would pass. Arthur Harris was grinning, “I go to Baghdad once and you end up having all the fun! Shot yourself some insurgents I hear?”
“While the cat’s away and all that. Is my flight heading up here?”
He shook his head, “Group Captain Wainwright decided to keep all the squadrons close to home. Baghdad is a tinderbox. He is using the pilots and gunners to defend the airfield. I barely managed to bring my Vernons north.”
“This plays directly into the Russian Count’s hands.”
“Russian Count?”
I nodded and told him my news. “The rebels will see their attack yesterday as a victory rather than the defeat I hoped it would be. He will be telling them that one more push will see them over the line. I will bring Ninaks and Snipes back tomorrow. I intend to put a spanner in the Count’s spokes. I am going to bomb the road he uses.”
The Snipe did fly better as I headed south. The mechanics had done a good job. I think they had managed to coax another two or three knots from her. I saw smoke and flames in the city as I landed. I saw that every aeroplane was neatly parked and the perimeter manned by almost the whole of three squadrons and ground crews. I climbed gingerly from the cockpit. My leg had stiffened up on the flight south. I made my way to the office. There were just two of them in there: Group Captain Wainwright and Sergeant Major Davis.
“How are you sir?”
“Fine Sergeant Major. Could you be a fine fellow and go and put the chocks under my wheels for me?” I glanced at the Group Captain.
Sergeant Major Davis nodded and said, “Will do sir and I’ll put on the kettle too eh sir? Nice cuppa!”
When he had gone I said, “Sir, what are you doing?”
“What? I am trying to save three squadrons!”
“Well you are going about it the wrong way sir. This will just get men killed.”
“Look Harsker I will defer to you on matters of aerial combat. You are the ace but I think I know about military strategy. There are times when you have to hunker down and ride out the storm.”
“True sir but this is not one of those times.” I went over to the map. “Sir, I have discovered who is behind all of this. He is a White Russian and he is based in Maivan. They are sending men from over the border in Iran. They are stirring up the Shia there. The Kurds are gaining in confidence too. I propose bombing the road from Maivan and the road to Mosul. It will buy our soldiers the time to strengthen our defences and those new aeroplanes might well arrive here. It is a waste of resources to have airmen defending streets.”
He looked very old and had reverted to the Group Captain who had been there when I first arrived. “What if they come here?”
“Major Fox can handle them don’t you worry. Look, I’ll get the men back now and we can prepare for our air raids in the morning. I am certain that the resident would prefer our aeroplanes to be flying overhead eh?”
Sergeant Major Davis returned with three mugs of tea.
“Ah Sergeant Major. Could you go and recall our chaps? We have done enough for the time being.”
He grinned, “Yes sir!”
I now had to work out a plan which would do just what I had told the Group Captain we would do.
Chapter 5
We had all our aeroplanes ready to fly but we had a problem. Three men had been wounded in the defence of the city. I was just grateful that none had died. We were air gunners short. I decided to use this as an opportunity to see how effective the Ninaks were. “Flight Lieutenant Ritchie can command the Snipes. He will patrol the city and the airfield. I will fly as air gunner on one of the Ninaks whose gunner is wounded.”
Jack said, “But sir, you are a Wing Commander!”
“And I began life as a gunner. Are you saying I am not qualified Squadron Leader Thomson?”
He grinned, “No sir. I would never dream of doing that. Peter Foster is going to be delighted to have you as his gunner!”
I would be flying on the mission to Maivan but Henry knew Mosul better than I did. “What we need is for you to block the road on the Iraq side of the border. I intend to ask Squadron Leader Harris to take his birds up the following day to increase the damage. I don’t think we need to refuel but we have that option now anyway. Squadron Leader Harris will take his Vernons up and patrol the roads. I have a feeling that the rebels will think they have us beat. And the day after that I want Kirkuk supplying. If we lose Kirkuk then Mosul and Sulaimaniya will both fall.”
“What time do we leave, sir?”
“Before dawn. It will be cooler and we might even catch some of the rebels on the road.”
We did have some good news. We had three radios. I had them issued to Flight Lieutenant Ritchie, Squadron Leader Thomson and Squadron Leader Woollett. I spoke to Arthur before I went into dinner. I wanted him under no illusions about the enormity of the task which faced us.
Pilot Officer Foster was nervous. I saw him smoking as I approached the Ninak. The cigarette ends around his feet showed that he had been there for some time. He put on a false smile, “Good morning sir!”
I smiled, “It’s Peter, isn’t it?” He nodded. “Listen Peter I am just flying today because I want to see the effect of the bombs. Pretend I am your regular gunner and I will try not to let you down.”
“You couldn’t let me down sir. Besides Rooney hasn’t had to fire the guns in anger yet. No enemy aeroplanes.”
I frowned, “The Lewis has a Scarff ring. You can fire at the ground.” His face showed me that they had not thought of that. This was my fault. I should have flown with the Ninaks before now to see how they performed. Jack and Henry led the two squadrons. They wouldn’t be able to see what their gunners were doing. Perhaps this was a good thing.
Getting in was harder than in the Snipe. It was higher. However, once I was in the gun cockpit, it was quite comfortable. I had had the cooks make me up a flask of soup. I had also brought two Mills bombs. Old habits die hard. I checked that the gun moved freely on the scarff ring and that I had spare magazines. The problem with the Lewis gun was that you had to change your magazines too frequently. We were back to back and quite close. We would not need microphones.
“All set sir?”
“Ready when you are, Pilot Officer.”
For me the most unusual part of all this was taking off without being able to see the front of the aeroplane. I saw the airfield and Baghdad below me as we climbed. When we reached ten thousand feet I said, “I will test my guns.”
“Right you are sir.”
I made sure that the sky behind and below me was clear. I stood up and fired a three second burst. The Lewis worked well. I settled down again. We had exactly one hundred and seventy-six miles ahead of us. We would be there in under two hours. There would be no need to refuel. I wa
s soon aware that we were beginning to climb. We were in the second flight of four and just behind the Squadron Leader. Jack would be making these decisions. I looked over the side and saw the road snaking. There were people on it but we were too high to identify them. Jack would bring us back at a much lower altitude.
It was peaceful in the Ninak. When I had been a gunner in a Gunbus I could not afford to let my concentration drop for an instant. I was constantly scanning the skies for enemy aeroplanes. Here we knew that there were no enemy aeroplanes and our altitude ensured that we were safe from ground fire. I had time to have a cup of soup and to examine the terrain. I knew, from France, that you could never have too much information about the ground. You never knew when you were going to crash land.
“Sir! Approaching the pass!”
“Thanks!”
I stood and cocked the Lewis. I pulled my goggles over my eyes. I had not needed them yet but soon I would. The road was on our port side and so I swung the Lewis over that side. We began to descend. As I glanced ahead I saw that Jack and his first three pilots were a hundred yards ahead of us. In combat that was too far but when you were bombing it was perfect. We would be able to see the effect of the first bombs and adjust accordingly. We were using a steep dive. I was a better fighter pilot than a dive bomber. When we had developed the photographs, we had seen a huge chunk of rock which jutted out over the road. Its outline was a little bit like that of Prince Albert. As I glanced down again I saw that we were now just five hundred feet above the road. The rocky figure rose above us.
“First flight making their bombing run, sir!”
I saw the flash from the ground. We were being fired at. Now we were within the range of small arms. Then I saw the arc of bullets as they stitched holes in the nearest Ninak to us. They had a machine gun and I saw them arc. This was definitely bad news for it showed that they were coming equipped to fight and down aeroplanes. I swung the Lewis around and fired five shots. The advantage I had over the gunners on the ground was that I could see where my bullets hit. If they were not using tracer a direct hit was the only way they would know if they were on target.
I could not identify individuals but their muzzle flashes showed me that they were hiding in rocks. I fired at the rocks and gave a sustained burst. Flying chips could be just as deadly as bullets.
“Sir, they have hit Hargreaves and Hill. Their Ninak is on fire.”
“Concentrate on the bomb run. Squadron Leader Thomson can call up the Vimy.” I didn’t add, if it was needed. Unless they managed to make an emergency landing the odds on them surviving a crash up here were slim. I changed my magazine. I heard the sound of the twenty-five-pound bombs as they exploded. The concussion made us rise and then fall.
“Our turn, sir!”
One advantage of our bomb run was that I had a better angle to hit the rebels. The disadvantage was that they would be firing at us. I could see them more clearly now. There appeared to be about twenty of them. They had two machine guns and the rest had rifles. I guessed they were Lee Enfields. I emptied my second magazine and then, as we were just four hundred above them, I took out a Mills bomb and, pulling the pin, dropped it over the side. My pilot banked and I did not see the effect. I knew that it would explode in the air. The question was how far above them?
The huge rock was almost directly in front of us. The Snipe would have easily turned but I wondered about the huge Ninak. We seemed to leap in the air as the four bombs were dropped and then Foster used full power to bank away and follow the other pilots. The angle we banked prevented me from seeing the effect of the explosions but I heard them and I felt them. As we banked around I saw that another Ninak was smoking. Standing orders meant that he would head to Kirkuk which was the closest field. I saw the huge rock begin to shiver. Large boulders fell and then more. Annoyingly, when the dust had settled I saw that half of the tower remained but the road was almost completely blocked for a distance of some three hundred yards. The men who had ambushed us were also covered in rocks. They were entombed. I was able to watch the last four Ninaks as they dropped their bombs. Without the groundfire and having seen the other bombs fall they made a much better job of it. The whole of the rock crashed to the ground. You could no longer see where the road had been.
“Well done, Peter.”
“Sir.” He pointed down. I could see that the first aeroplane which had been hit was now a fireball on the ground. There were two blackened shapes. The crew had been on fire and, mercifully, thrown to the ground in the crash. They were dead. We would not need the air ambulance.
I saw that the damaged Ninak was heading for Kirkuk. “Foster, follow the damaged Ninak. They may need help and he is on his own.”
“Sir.” I saw that Jack Thomson was organizing his Ninaks to head home. I stood and made the sign for we will follow. He waved back and they peeled off south and west. He dropped to strafing height. He had lost one his aeroplanes. There would be no pity for any enemy he spied.
We soon caught up with the ailing bomber. I could see smoke coming from the engine. He had been shot up badly. The gunner’s head was slumped forward. I tried to recall his name. The pilot was Pilot Officer Cole. The gunner had to be Flight Sergeant Matthew Hugff. His head lolled about. That was worrying. I took out the map. I estimated that we had seventy-five miles to go. It would take us just under an hour, if the other Ninak held together.
I could see that the DH 9A was labouring but I was more concerned with the gunner whose limp arm showed that he was unconscious. We had lost our first aeroplane and almost lost a second. Had this been a deliberate ambush or had we just been unlucky? They could not have known that we were going to hit the road. Only the pilots knew the target. Perhaps our patrols over the road had shown our hand. If this was Count Yuri Fydorervich then he would think nothing of sacrificing twenty or thirty men to bring down one aeroplane. He had plenty of men who were fanatical enough to sacrifice their own lives for the good of their God and to kill what they saw as the invader.
Turning, I saw Kirkuk in the distance but I was aware that we had lost altitude. We would be needing Doctor Bainbridge again. As we descended to make a landing I saw that the two sergeant majors had not been idle. There were more buildings and I saw that the fuel tank was finished and that they had surrounded it with sandbags. The two sergeant majors had shown initiative. It would be harder for an enemy to sabotage it. The Vernons were not there and the Vimy was missing.
Peter allowed Pilot Officer Cole to land first and then we turned to make our own landing. The smoking Ninak had warned the men on the ground what was happening and mechanics swarmed over it as it landed. The sooner they began to repair it the more chance we would have of saving it. “You did well there Pilot Officer. That was good flying and good bombing.”
“I’ll pop over sir and see if Malcolm needs a hand.”
Sergeant Williams, with a Lee Enfield slung over his shoulder, came towards me, “This is a surprise sir.”
I nodded, “How are things here, Sergeant?”
“Hairy sir! We have had more trouble in the town. Captain Willoughby lost three men. I took a lorry load of the lads down and we helped them clear the danger.”
I pointed to the gunner, “Better get the lorry and take him to the doctor. He looks badly shot up.”
“Sir.” He turned to go.
“Where is the air ambulance?”
“Squadron Leader Woollett has a bird down sir. They have an injured man.”
He hurried off to see to Cole. My suspicions appeared to be justified. Three aeroplanes hit on one day was too much of a coincidence.
I went to the office. There was just the duty clerk there. The rest were beavering away. “Crank up the radio, Benson. I need to talk with Baghdad. And then get the kettle on. We need a brew.”
“Sir.”
Sergeant Major Hale came in. “The gunner is dead, sir. He must have bled out on the way back.”
I nodded, “Get on to Baghdad tell them that I will be stayin
g here overnight as will Cole and Foster.”
I went back to the runway. They were laying out Flight Sergeant Matthew Hugff on a stretcher. A pilot and his gunner had a special bond. I knew exactly how Malcolm Cole was feeling. I had lost gunners myself. “Sorry about Hugff, Cole. Peter, take your friend to the office. There should be some hot tea. We will talk about this later. We are going to spend the night here.”
He nodded dully, “Sir.” He was about to go and then he said, “Thank you sir, for today I mean, not just the fact that you let me get on with it and didn’t offer advice I appreciated all that. The grenade, that took me by surprise sir!”
I smiled, “In the early days we did not have the luxury of bombs. We learned to improvise. We will talk later.”
I knew that the two of them would have to go over every detail of the raid. In Cole’s case, it would be to see if he could have done anything different. Could he have prevented his gunner’s death? I heard the sound of Rolls Royce engines. It was the Vimy. Carruthers and Grundy were coming back. As I waited I began to think about what else we needed at this emergency airfield. We needed a vehicle which could be used as an ambulance and we needed a fire engine. Or a lorry equipped with gear to put out a fire. Having a mob of Erks running towards a smoking aeroplane was not the answer.
The mechanics had pushed the two Ninaks under the canvas awning which served as a hangar. The Vimy had plenty of room to land. Rodney taxied it close to us. I realised, as two Erks opened the hatch, that we had no medical staff at all here. We needed first aiders. Pilot Officer Grundy was first out. “Watch out for his leg. I have applied a bandage.”
I saw that there were two in the ambulance but one was not moving. Grundy looked up and threw me a salute, “The pilot’s dead sir. Killed on impact. His gunner took a bullet in the leg. I applied a dressing.” He nodded to the cabin. We brought back the Lewis gun sir and blew up the Ninak before we left. There were natives heading for it.” He pointed to the fuselage. There were bullet holes. “They got a bit close, sir.”