1918 We will remember them

by Griiff Hosker

  Inevitably it took us some time to get organised and we were not able to fly a patrol again until the nineteenth. We had further to fly to reach the front and a shorter time over the combat zone. It was not a satisfactory arrangement. Each sortie showed the devastating effect their aeroplanes were having.

  We were sent towards Bapaume and then Cambrai. That battlefield still held bitter memories for me. As we flew over the battlefield I saw the detritus of battle. There were wrecked aeroplanes littering No Man’s Land. It had been fought over as though it was a pot of gold.

  That morning it was lucky that we were at altitude else we would have fallen foul of Von Richthofen and his Flying Circus who were on the prowl. I prayed that my young lads would not be upset at the thought of fighting such a renowned Jasta. The Red Baron was clever. He knew that the sight of his garishly painted buses inspired fear in the enemy. He had the advantage as soon as he appeared. My lads knew how to fight Fokkers. They had done so before but it was the psychological aspect which I could not predict. What was in their heads?

  We had retained our four line astern formation and I was happy with that. The Flying Circus had not seen how we worked. The stacked Camels above me worked and gave us a marginally better rate of fire. I hoped it would be enough. Once again Freddie and I were in the middle and slightly ahead of the other two flights. This time we had no height to make up but we would have the same endurance issue as the Germans. We would have no more than thirty minutes to defeat them and then we would need to break off.

  I saw that the Red Baron was in the centre of the line. It would either be me or Freddie who had to come against him. I hoped it was me. I had fought him three times. Perhaps this would be the day when it was decided. I waited until I was but fifty yards away. I fired just a heart beat ahead of the Red Baron. Such are the margins of victory. Smoke began to drift from his engine and, more importantly, his nose dipped as he lost power. That dip saved his life for it took him away from Wally’s guns which would surely have ended his life. Grey’s bullets hit his upper wing and his fuselage. I had no time to fire at him again as I saw another triplane ahead. I fired and, this time, Wally did too. I felt the German’s bullets strike me but the Hun drifted to port as some wires gave way and he lost some control. I fired again before he moved away as did Wally and this time we hit his cockpit. I could see that he was in trouble. I slowly banked to port to continue to pour bullets into him. This time Roger Stuart, in the third Camel, had a shot and he managed to hit the pilot. The triplane plunged to the ground.

  I turned to starboard to tackle the other Germans but they were descending as they headed east. I saw another damaged Fokker to port and headed after him. I saw Archie lead the rest of the squadron to pursue the Flying Circus. The Fokker I chased twisted and turned. I kept firing. I hit him again and again. Eventually a hand came up and he descended. He was surrendering. I kept my eye on him but I was suddenly aware of a barrage to the east. The Flying Circus had led Archie and his two flights into a trap. There were machine guns and artillery waiting for them. I saw one Camel explode in the air and another two spiral to earth before Archie extricated the squadron and headed west. We had come within a whisker of a great victory and we left with a draw; it was honours even.

  It seemed an inordinately long flight home. Perhaps that was the maudlin thoughts which filled my head. I had had a brief moment when I thought we had had a victory. The sight of the Flying Circus fleeing had filled me with the hope that we might win. Instead we had been led into a trap and two pilots lay dead. The tents which lined our new field did not look welcoming. I thought of the bottles of malt which waited at our old field and yearned for them.

  There were few comforts on that cold field. However we had bowsers for our fuel and parts were arriving to repair our buses. Jack Fall showed himself to be a good leader. He jollied along the younger pilots. It was hard to believe that he had but a few months more experience than they did. It showed what aerial combat did to a young pilot. If you survived the first few weeks then you became a changed man. We made the best of our new home. I think Bates was upset by the new arrangements more than anyone else. He disliked dirt and he positively hated anything which upset his ordered life. Our short time on that field was the low point in his life.

  We were awoken on the morning of March twenty first by the sound of a barrage. The noise was so intense that we knew it could mean only one thing; the offensive had started. The cooks had breakfast already going but we ate on the hoof. We had to be in the air by dawn. We were on the receiving end but we understood how these things worked. The German fliers would be in the sky to direct the fire of their guns and to support their infantry.

  We sat in our buses watching the first hint of dawn peer over the eastern horizon. We could see the sky punctuated by the flash of artillery and Archie fired the Very pistol when it was still dark and we trundled down the grass. The German guns guided our flight.

  As we flew towards the front we realised that there was thick fog. We had assumed, at the field, that it was a sea mist. As we flew beyond Amiens we saw that it looked like a low cloud which covered the earth. It would make observation difficult. The nearer we went to the front the more terrifying became the noise from the barrage. Archie began to fly higher to avoid the shells. There were so many that the air seemed to be filled with flying metal.

  When dawn did break all that we saw was the fog below and explosions as the shells struck. We were helpless to aid the soldiers who must have been suffering hellish conditions. We saw no one and had to return to the field to refuel. Our new home was safe but we had a longer journey.

  The barrage stopped shortly before ten o’clock. It had lasted five hours. We took off again and the mist and fog began to dissipate. To our horror we saw that there were brown uniforms fleeing west. The Germans had broken through. The barrage had ceased and it was safe to descend. Not all the British soldiers had fallen back and we saw islands of soldiers fighting desperately in redoubts. I saw pockets of the dreaded storm troopers, Stoßtruppen, attacking with flamethrowers, bombs and hand held machine guns.

  I led my flight down to machine gun the Germans who had surrounded one beleaguered island. By the time our guns were empty the redoubt was surrounded by a sea of grey uniforms and the corpses of the elite Stoßtruppen. We saw the rest of the squadron supporting other such redoubts and we headed back to the field.

  Randolph was waiting with mess orderlies. Piles of sandwiches and buckets of hot tea awaited us. While we ate Randolph filled me in, “It is bad, Bill. HQ knew it was coming and most of our soldiers had been pulled back from the front line trenches but the barrage caused huge damage to our advanced positions and they have exploited it. What did you see?”

  “There looked to be redoubts holding out but the Hun is using those storm troopers you told us about. I don’t think our lads can hold out.”

  “It looks like they are heading for Amiens. If they capture that we are scuppered. That is the main rail link for the whole of the front. If that falls then so do we. Those redoubts have been specifically built to hold out and slow the enemy advance down. I hope they work!” I nodded and washed down the bully beef sandwich with hot sweet tea. “Did you see the Hun in the air?”

  I shook my head, “Not yet and that surprises me.”

  The other flights began to land. “Headquarters wants a third sortie this afternoon. I know that causes problems but we have to hold them, Bill.”

  “I know. I’ll go and brief my lads.” I waved Jack over. “Lieutenant, get the lads gathered around. We are going up again.”

  They had all taken off their goggles and their helmets. I wondered if I looked as amusing. There was a blackened area where oil and dirt had spattered and then two white patches where their eyes were. We looked like owls!

  “We are going back up, chaps. Now the Hun is breaking through. We have to stop them reaching Amiens. This time keep your eyes open for Fritz in the air. We may not be able to keep formation. If we are
attacked then I think we will be outnumbered.” I smiled, “You are not raw recruits any more, you are pilots. You can handle anything the Germans throw at you. Yesterday we sent the Flying Circus packing!” I saw them stand a little taller at the memory. “When you are low on fuel or out of ammunition then get back here as soon as you can.” I looked at them all one by one, “Our backs are to the wall but then British soldiers have had their backs to the wall before and we have always come through. Your ancestors were outnumbered at Poitiers, Crecy, Agincourt, Blenheim and Waterloo.” I paused, “We always won and you lads are going to win today.” I nodded when I saw the sparkle in their eyes. They would not let me down.

  Bates had been standing to one side. He handed me a flask which I knew would contain something hot. “Make sure you come back today, Major Harsker. The men who led in those battles you spoke of all came home and made our country a better one. Make sure you do too.”

  It felt a little lonely leading the six Camels over the enemy lines. We reached the front far quicker than we had done which showed the speed of their advance and we arrived as a mixed force of Albatros and Fokkers were dive bombing and machine gunning the redoubts. I waggled my wings and led my flight down. We were outnumbered but the enemy aeroplanes were busy machine gunning our soldiers. The first they knew of our presence was when I opened fire at twenty yards range. The pilot of the Albatros knew nothing for my first burst, delivered from above, hit and killed him instantly. I pulled the nose up and fired at the tail of the next German. We were faster than the Huns anyway and our altitude had given us even more speed. It meant we had seconds only to fire but there were six of us pouring round after round into the Jasta and receiving nothing in reply. After I had passed the last Fokker I pulled up the nose and began to bank to port.

  As I looked to my left I saw the devastation we had caused. At least five German aeroplanes were burning. Ground fire must have accounted for some of them. I came around and saw that the rest of the German squadron were heading east. I did not think that six Camels had made them do that; it was probably a need to refuel and rearm which had prompted it. I was faster than they were and I had more height. I followed. Inexorably I gained on them. I did not want to waste ammunition and I waited until I was thirty yards away from the rearmost Albatros before I fired. I could not miss him but he kept swinging his bus from side to side in an attempt to shake me off. Suddenly he plummeted to the ground. Either I had hit him or something vital. I sought my next target. As I did so I glanced below me. We were over what had been the front lines just eight hours earlier. It was now German territory.

  I saw an Albatros a hundred yards away. I would need to return home soon anyway and I tried a hopeful burst. I hit his tail and his wing and then my guns clicked empty. That was one lucky German pilot. I turned and headed west. I saw the rest of the squadron; they were to the north. My flight was spread all over the sky and was heading west. I counted five of them. I saw that David Dundas’ engine was smoking. I headed in his direction to keep an eye on him. As we flew over Amiens it was as though someone had kicked open an ant’s nest. Brown uniforms were scurrying around but I could see purpose there. They were shoring up the defences and preparing to make it expensive for the Hun to take it. Although Lieutenant Dundas dropped lower and lower he made the field at Abbeville and landed safely. I was relieved.

  The mechanics were around his bus as I taxied. By the time I reached him, Flight Sergeant Lowery was wiping the oil off his hands. “This one won’t fly tomorrow sir, sorry.”

  “Do your best, Flight.” Dundas looked crestfallen, “Don’t worry David, you’ll be up the day after. Did you get any today?”

  “I finished off two sir, does that count as two halves for one kill?”

  I patted him on the back. “No, young man! If you finish them they are your kills. Congratulations, they are yours.”

  “But sir you hit both of them first!”

  “And I didn’t finish them off. They are yours. Well done!”

  He raced off to join his fellows and tell them his news. I had never subscribed to this numbers game the press liked to play. It didn’t matter to me who shot down Fritz; just so long as someone did.

  It had been a long day. The tent Randolph used was not like the office at our old field but he had the whisky ready for me as I strode over. I gave him the figures and he nodded. “We did well today; I say we and I mean this squadron. As an army it has been a disaster. Still the plans they put in place have saved many men but I just wonder if this is the beginning of the end.”

  I puffed on the pipe I had just lit, “That is a little pessimistic Randolph. You sound like Ted.”

  “I guess it is because I get information from my chum at Headquarters and I see the bigger picture.”

  I shook my head. “My dad told me about a story he had heard when he served in the cavalry. It was in the Zulu wars and the Zulus had just slaughtered a whole British army. There was a little outpost with a hundred soldiers and twenty wounded and they held out and defeated four thousand Zulus. It was at a place called Rorke’s Drift. Those Welshmen knew that their army had been beaten and yet they still hung on. That is why no one has conquered Britain in almost a thousand years. We never know when we are beaten and the British Tommy has more steel in him than the Forth Bridge. The redoubts we passed were still hanging on despite the Hun using their best soldiers. Wait until we are crossing the Channel before you give up.”

  He laughed, “I think I should take up flying, Bill. It seems to inspire you pilots. I’ll take you at your word. Here’s to Rorke’s Drift!”

  “Rorke’s Drift!”

  We were laughing when Archie and the others came in. “Well I am pleased that someone is happy!”

  Randolph poured a whisky for the others and said, “It was just Bill here giving me a history lesson and telling me that we will hold on here.”

  Ted shook his head, “I think you need a new bloody crystal ball, my old son. All I saw today was a beaten British army.”

  Archie shook his head, “Bill is right. We are not beaten but we are retreating.” He waved his hand around the room. “We didn’t lose a single bus today.” He threw his report down, “And how many Hun did we claim?”

  Randolph quickly scanned the lists. “It looks like twenty.”

  “There you are Ted. Can you think of another day where we shot down twenty Germans and didn’t lose any?”

  “Well no but what about the lads on the ground?”

  “They will dig in and gradually we will regain the ground we have lost.”

  However things got worse before they got better. By the end of the next day the front line was a mile or two from Amiens. As we climbed to our patrolling altitude I knew that we would not have it as easy again. They were making Amiens a fortress. We saw the Germans as they headed for our front lines. The two seaters which would bomb and strafe were protected by twenty triplanes. We would have to work to clear the skies.

  We did not have the luxury of time and I led my flight directly towards the Fokkers. Archie would make the decision about the two seaters. If I was leading the squadron then I would detach one flight to destroy them. The Germans had good two seaters but they were no match for the incomparable Camel.

  It was not the Circus we were attacking but it would not do to be over confident. I looked in my mirror and saw the four Camels were stacked one above the other so that Jack, at the rear, was fifty feet higher than I was. I knew that Freddie was to my right and we would, perforce divide the enemy fire. We needed to exploit that advantage quickly. I held my fire even when the triplane fired at me. I just dipped my nose so that his bullets ripped into my top wing and when I brought my guns up he was just fifty yards away and I was able to give him a short burst before he was forced to pull up and avoid a collision. Wally was able to give him a long burst and he continued a smoking loop away to the east.

  I banked slightly to the left and came up along the side of the third Fokker in the second line. I fired a hop
eful burst at a hundred yards but only hit his fuselage. He turned to bring his guns to bear and I fired before he had aligned his guns. Wally’s guns chattered out too and the combined cone of fire hit his engine. As he tried to climb Lieutenant Stuart finished him off with a longer burst.

  We had two Fokkers isolated on the right side of their line and they turned to face my five aeroplanes. In my mirror I saw Jack Fall hit by the fire of two Fokkers and he dived his damaged bus towards the ground with the two triplane in hot pursuit. The Camel had a better dive than the triplane and I hoped he could outrun them.

  Wally and I fired almost together and I saw the German pilot slump in his seat. Stuart and Fielding concentrated their fire on the last Fokker. I banked around to go to the aid of Jack Fall. I saw the tracer from the Fokkers as they tried to hit the elusive Camel. I fired at over three hundred yards. I had virtually no chance of hitting them but I wanted them to look in their mirrors and see two Camels coming after them spitting bullets. As we closed with them our bullets started to strike them and they banked away and headed east. Wally and I shepherded Jack safely back to the field.

  Once again we had a damaged bird that would not fly the next day but there was worse news to come. When Freddie landed he had two Camels missing. It was Tom Carpenter and Harry Duffy. Both were experienced pilots it would be hard to replace. Joe Dodds and Brian Hargreaves had also been shot down. We had lost four of the most experienced pilots we had. Although we had downed more than ten aeroplanes it was a heavy cost to bear.

  When Randolph told us that the Fifth Army was in full retreat and we should be prepared to leave our new airfield there was a mood of doom and gloom about the place. We knew that we could do no more and yet we were losing and we were losing badly. The Germans were within a hand span of taking Amiens. We also discovered that we were an isolated pocket of success. The Circus and the other Jasta had destroyed vast numbers of the DH 4 and SE 5 squadrons. The triplane ruled the whole of the front apart from our sector. It was worrying.