I shook my head, “And so bloody mad that if anyone in my flight had done that I would have had them on a charge! I have to see the Doc. I will catch up with you all at dinner.”
Doc Brennan frowned when he saw the stick. I held up my hand. “Before you start I don’t need a stick to fly. This is just until my knee gets a little stronger.”
In answer he waved a manila envelope at me. “Sir Michael sent me the report. You are lucky to be walking! You do know he is one of the top surgeons in the country?”
“Well there you go! My knee must be fine then!”
“You are incorrigible. Get your trousers off and let me have a look at this knee.”
He put me through my paces but I was prepared. I had been through this with Beattie and Sir Michael. I never showed any discomfort even though it was agony. He nodded, “You can put your trousers on. Well Bill I guess you can fly but take a tip from me; when this war is over get yourself on the stage. You are a marvellous actor!”
Bates had a worried look on his face when I went to my quarters. He had unpacked my bags already. He said nothing but I saw the concern in his eyes. “Thank you for looking after my gear so well and for being so concerned. Mrs Harsker sends her regards.”
That made him smile. “Did you find time to be together, sir?”
“We stayed at the Mayflower!”
He grinned, “Excellent, sir, excellent!”
“Could you take two bottles of that whisky to the office please, Bates?”
The next day I met my young pilots. I had seen them the previous night at dinner but Gordy and Ted had monopolised my time as they quizzed me about my escape. I did manage to see my old flight and told them of the new arrangements. I was touched by the disappointment on the faces of the three who were to leave me. I took Jack to one side before either of us had consumed too much whisky. “I need you to be baby minder for these lads. Keep them tight to me. You are the one they will be able to talk to. I will be the bastard who shouts at them.”
He had smiled, “They won’t mind that. The fact that they are in the flight of a leading ace with a VC is like their birthday and Christmas have come together. They will be fine.”
“Right boys. My orders are simple. We fly line astern and you follow me and do as I do. You can fire your guns, just so long as you don’t blow my arse off in the process!” They laughed, as I knew they would. “If we meet these invincible triplanes I intend to get right among them. That may frighten you but you are young lads and if I have the reactions then you should have them in abundance. If you have to fire then a short burst will do the trick. Jack and I have found that snap shots work the best isn’t that right lieutenant?”
“Yes sir. A couple of bullets in the right place can do serious damage to the Hun. You stick with the major and you might survive and remember that I am watching your back. You just concentrate on staying close to the Major.”
Their take offs were a little wobbly but I had more to worry about than a couple of bumps. This was the first time I had flown with my dodgy knee. I did not need to use my left leg a great deal but I did need to use it. As I climbed to reach a good altitude I decided to ask Flight Sergeant Lowery to see if he could move the seat on the new Camel back a little. I had hoped that the new bus was as carefully tuned as the one I had crashed. As we climbed it purred like a kitten. The ground crew had not let me down.
Randolph had briefed me and told me that the Germans were trying to bully us out of the air. They were coming mob handed. They never sent over less than twenty four aeroplanes and normally over seventy percent were the triplanes. At least that was the picture in our sector. It was why we were flying as a squadron. We needed protection in numbers. Freddie and I flew higher than the other flights and we flew line astern. Archie led the other Camels at a slightly lower altitude in line abreast. I hoped that this combination might just work.
When I saw them I realised that they were higher than we were. I waggled my wings and began to climb. Freddie and I had the flanks of our formation. I intended to repeat my charge into the heart of them again. I had yet to have Freddie paint my horse on my cockpit and, as far as the Germans were concerned, there was nothing to identify me. My tactics might only work once but if it bought my pilots another two and a half hours in the air then that would satisfy me.
The Jasta we faced was not the Circus; the aeroplanes all had a squadron livery. They were green with what looked like a black and white checker board design on the side. I stored that for future reference. It was cold as we climbed. I hoped that the young pilots behind me would not be overawed in this, one of their first combats. Archie had wisely kept them on the ground the previous day.
The Fokkers were stacked in four lines of six. It meant that, if they chose, then all of them could open fire on Archie and the two flights he led. I thought it unlikely that they would do so for it would be a waste of ammunition but I did work out how they would attack. Each six would fire and then climb to loop and come around again. In that way all four lines could fire at Archie and his eleven aeroplanes. Inevitably they would knock some out of the air. It was how they had gained air superiority. I hoped to throw a large spanner in their works!
I began a slow bank and headed for the second line of six Fokkers. I heard the Spandau of the first six as they opened fire and the deeper chatter of the Vickers as they responded. I held my fire. The pilot on the extreme right of the third line tried a hopeful burst at me. It was a waste of bullets. At fifty yards I gave a short burst and then pulled my nose up. I heard Lieutenant Grey behind me as he fired his guns for the first time in anger.
If the Germans thought I intended to fly across their second line they were wrong. I banked to port and kept climbing. I was rewarded by the aeroplanes from the first six as they tried to turn out of their loop. I had a flank shot at them. Head on they were small but side on they were a bigger target and I fired a long burst. I saw the stays and the wires as they parted. The bullets continue on and hit the fuselage. The Fokker began to dive. The pilot was struggling for control. I left him and turned to starboard. I had a sudden flash of déjà vu. Fokkers were appearing all around me. I snap fired as each triplane appeared. As had happened before I had no idea of what damage I was doing but this time I had the reassurance of my young pilots as they fired at every triplane that came before them. Suddenly a Fokker appeared less than fifty feet from me. I pulled my triggers and then braced myself for the crash. The pilot was a gifted one for he managed to pull up his nose. It did not save his life for the twin Vickers pumped a hundred bullets into the base of his cockpit. As he soared, trapped in a death loop, his Fokker slammed into an Albatros which was trying to bring his bus around to hit me. In my mirror I saw that a gap had appeared. Poor Lieutenant Grey could not keep up with me. I began to bank to port to make it easier for him. The combat had lasted almost thirty minutes and the Nemesis of the Fokker came to our aid. They had to turn to return to their field.
It was not worth risking my young pilots in a pursuit and I led them back west. I counted my five chicks in a line and I was happy. They had survived. Sadly I saw two Camels burning on the ground. We had not had all the rub of the green. I had seen two enemy aeroplanes go down and I hoped that we had managed to get more in our wild charge.
I circled the field with my flight to allow the others to land and to get a few more minutes for my novices. When lives were measured in minutes then even extra seconds in the sky would help. When we landed I left Jack to listen to them. They were chattering like school children. I lit my pipe and wandered towards Gordy and Ted.
“Who did we lose?”
“Bell and Robinson.”
“Any chance they walked away?”
Ted shook his head. “Both were dead before they hit the ground. Not everyone has your luck, Bill.”
We strolled towards the office and Freddie ran to catch us up. He was grinning, “That was better! We gave them a shock this morning and no mistake.”
I gave a word
of caution, “And we know that they will learn from this. I would expect two Jasta tomorrow.”
Freddie’s face fell. “Really?”
I nodded. “I had chance to read the papers back in Blighty and I spoke with General Henderson. The Germans have brought whole divisions from the east. They must be massing behind their lines already. Fritz is stopping us from having a look see. They will do anything to knock us out of the air.”
“Well they might wait until they have all of their men here.”
“The Yanks are coming. It will take a few more months until they are at full strength. They will want to beat us before the Americans arrive. I think they are only waiting to get as many new aeroplanes as they can.”
We had reached the office and Ted said, “You seem remarkably well informed.”
“Like I said I had time to read and I visited the Army and Navy club a couple of times.” I tapped my medal ribbons. “These loosen an amazing number of tongues.”
Archie was there already and he had opened one of my bottles of malt. “Well done for today and thanks to Bill we have a new malt so cheers.”
I toasted them and asked, “How many did we knock down then?”
Randolph looked up from the tally sheet he had before him. “Three Fokkers and three Albatros; better than any other day this or last month.”
I noticed that they all looked at me. “It was luck and using new tactics. Now we need to work out what to do when they send thirty odd birds after us tomorrow.”
In the end the weather closed in the next day and we had a short storm of Biblical proportions. Some of the enlisted men’s tents were blown away and one Camel was damaged when its mooring peg came loose.
The storm gave me the chance to get to know my new pilots. “Well Walter what was it like hanging on to my shirt tails?”
“Er, it’s Wally sir and it was scary. I didn’t want to lose you.”
“And you didn’t.”
“I nearly did. I pulled back to avoid a collision.”
“Understandable.”
“But you just fired when you were going to collide.”
“Did you get to fire your guns?”
“Yes sir.”
“Did you hit anything?”
“I am not certain but I think so. Not enough for a kill. I will never get the number that you have sir.”
“I can remember when I was desperate for my first kill. It will come.”
I waved to Jack and sat with him. “How did they do?”
“Better than when we first arrived, sir. I can understand that they were frightened. I was. It seems unnatural to fly into the heart of the enemy.”
“I know but it seems to work. We are turning the tide. Their better pilots are being killed. The ones they are bringing from the east haven’t faced a bus like the Camel yet. They are in for a shock.”
When we did fly again we saw no Germans in our sector which was strange. Archie led us, tentatively, towards the German lines. Their guns blasted away at us. We noticed they had far more than they used to. It was always dangerous; all it took was one lucky shot. Once we reached their rear areas we saw trucks, vehicles and horses filling the roads. We went in for a low level attack and soon the roads were emptied as the soldiers and vehicles fled to the safety of side roads and ditches. When we were empty we climbed high and returned west.
All the way back I was wondering why we had seen no German aeroplanes. It was not like them. My unease was lessened somewhat by the knowledge that we had given the new pilots more hours in the air and they had fired their guns at the enemy. Confidence was all.
Randolph gave us the bad news when we landed. The German aeroplanes had been over our lines. They had bombed the area to the west of Bapaume and several airfields had been attacked. It was a disaster and it told us, quite clearly, where they would attack; it would be the Somme and we were in the line of their advance. Someone at Headquarters was thinking and we were sent a company of machine gunners. It was not as good as artillery but it was effective at keeping aeroplanes at a distance. We advised the soldiers on their sandbagging. We were the poacher turned gamekeeper.
Things began to escalate from then on. Between the tenth and twentieth of March we were in the air every morning fighting to keep the Germans at bay. Although we lost no aeroplanes in the dogfights we did have damage to both pilots and Camels which had a debilitating effect on the morale of the squadron. On the seventeenth, St Patrick’s day, we had twenty Camels in the air. We found ourselves facing twenty four Fokkers. Twenty were the triplane while four were a new bus we had not seen before. This was the Fokker D.VII. It proved to be a dangerous opponent.
We flew in four lines astern. Our aim was to keep the Germans guessing. They seemed more than happy with four lines of six abreast. Freddie and I were in the middle. He and his flight were to my right. We had varied our line astern by stacking each Camel just ten feet above. I had more confidence in my pilots and Wally knew to fire a heartbeat after I opened fire. In the first few moments of combat our plan seemed to be working. The triplane fired at me and I felt the bullets as they hit my top wing and then I fired. As soon as Wally joined in we had a cone of fire from four machine guns. The propeller disappeared and smoke started to pour from the engine.
The next Fokker was just fifty yards behind the first and we were soon upon him. He fired first and I felt the camel judder as his bullets struck my undercarriage. Once again our combined fire hit him although less spectacularly. We tore into his underbelly as he pulled up his nose to correct his aim. He kept on rising and I was not certain if this was deliberate or if he was already dead.
The third and fourth Germans suddenly lifted their noses as they looped up and over us. We had no target. The last three Camels in my flight fired at them as they climbed and banked to the east. They had outnumbered us and we had only destroyed four of them. I could not understand why they had fled. As we headed back to our field we saw the reason why. They had been keeping us in the air. Other bombers and fighters had raided our field. The Hun had not had it all his own way and we saw three downed bombers and two downed fighters. The airfield was too badly damaged to land. Randolph fired the Very pistol which told us to land at the next airfield. That was close to Amiens and, by the time we landed there we were flying on fumes.
The adjutant, Captain Moncrieff came to us. “Get refuelled sir and take your Camels to your new field at Abbeville.” He handed me a map. “Here is where it is. Your field is being abandoned. Intelligence seems to think that it is in the direct path of the German advance.”
“But they haven’t started advancing yet!”
“Sir, they have bombed all the forward airfields. Your squadron was lucky, your buses were in the air. Two squadrons have been destroyed on the ground. General Trenchard is taking no chances.” He swept an arm around the field. “We are getting ready to move out too.”
“But we are forty miles behind the front here.”
“I know, sir and we are now the furthest forward field in the Somme area.”
As we flew west I reflected that the Battle of Cambrai had done more harm than good. We had lost good men and the gains we had made had been given back and weakened us. Until the Americans joined the war there was a better than average chance that we would lose the war before summer.
Chapter 20
The field was a windsock and some tents. It was, however, flat and free from pot holes. We landed. The lorries did not arrive until it was dark. We saw their headlights as they meandered along the road. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Bates in the car with Randolph and another three batmen. John smiled at me. “I saved all of your stuff Major!”
“Thank you John, I am just glad that you are unscathed.”
“It is only thanks to your bath that I am though, sir.”
Archie and the others turned when they heard Bates’ comment. “My bath?”
“Yes sir. The first bombs blew the windows out so I hid under the tin bath. It is a good job too
, sir. It looks like a giant colander now. I fear that you will never use it again. Your quarters are a mess.”
I saw Archie and the others smile. I, too, found it funny but Bates had a close encounter with death and it would not do to minimise its importance. “Well done Bates. I am afraid we will be in tents for a while.”
He sniffed imperiously. “I will go and claim one for you, sir.”
As the warrant officers arrived they did what they did best, they took charge. As we smoked our pipes and waited for the tents to be erected and for the cooks to make some sandwiches Randolph told us of the raid. “They came from nowhere and used the big Gothas as well as two seaters with smaller bombs. They strafed the gunners. Those sandbags stopped the bullets but they couldn’t stop the bombs. The Quarter master was killed and Percy Richardson.” He looked at me, “Geoff and Joe, your mechanics, were also killed. We lost thirty men all told. The doc is still at the field with the wounded. He refused to leave. He will join us in the morning.”
Archie shook his head. “Well, this a fine how do you do! No ammunition. No fuel and the Hun is about to begin an offensive. Randolph, get in touch with Headquarters and find out what they expect of us. We need some sort of telephone.”
“Yes sir. I’ll drive to Abbeville. There must be someone there who can help us.”
As he sped off Ted said wryly, “The Channel isn’t far over there. It will only take an hour and we will be back in Blighty!”
Gordy shook his head, “I wouldn’t joke about that. It might well happen.”
Archie tapped his pipe out. “Let’s not lose our heads. They have hit our fields but there is no offensive yet. We haven’t lost any ground at all!”
I agreed with Archie but this was ominous. Like everything the Germans did this was well thought out and well executed. Their offensive would be just as well thought out. They had sat back and soaked up all of our attacks. Our best soldiers, like Bert, lay buried in the fields of Northern France. We had planned for an aerial war and we had been outwitted. They had bided their time and waited for the soldiers to return from Russia. They outnumbered the allies now and they would use that advantage ruthlessly.
1918 We will remember them Page 18