by E. R. Mason
Warm morning light from a barrack’s window awoke Jax. His misgivings from the night before had followed him to the new day. He pulled on his uniform, new insignia attached, and hurried through a breakfast in the mess hall. From there, he went to the Commodore’s office and in his most endearing voice asked if he could have a staff car for the day. There was a quick call to the officer on duty, and approval was given.
Southend-on-Sea was not that far. Jax went out of his way to take London Road so he could drive down his own street. All the houses including his were different. Still, being there began to restore his previous life back into the day’s reality.
He reached the library by 10:00 and parked among the debris and holes in the building’s parking lot. There was no sign of Skyla. He sat on the steps and leaned back against the alcove wall.
The town was busy. A vendor was pushing a food cart. Tired people were making their way here and there. Dusty cars were passing by. Two policemen on horseback rode by and waved thanks to the soldier on the steps.
Noon came and went. Jax had not dared to allow himself hope she would show. Perhaps the gloom of war was affecting him even more than he realized. Lately, the only time he seemed to feel positive was in the sky on his way to Germany. As he looked down Broadway West, farther down the street he noticed an old lady open her second floor window and look out at the world. A moment later she struggled out the front door of the building walking a poodle that appeared to be older than she.
Jax sat up straight. He stood and walked casually in her direction. As she approached he smiled and stopped. “A fine day, madam.”
“It is so far young man.” The woman was dressed in a loose fitting green flowered dress that was frayed at the hemline. Her grey hair was up in a bun. Her expression had an unusual smile fixed within it. The poodle sniffed Jax’s shoes. “My, my, a Lieutenant with wings. I am in your debt, young man.”
“We’re all in it together, ma’am. But I was wondering. There is a favor you could do for me, if it’s not too much to ask.”
“You needn’t ask twice, Lieutenant. Just keep that devil away from my England.”
“The thing is, I’ve lost touch with a friend. We were supposed to meet on the steps of the library building over there. Would you be able to keep an eye out for her, and if you see her give her my contact number?”
“Ah, a lost love then? I would dearly love to find her for you, Lieutenant. What does she look like?”
“Dark red hair, slender and very pretty. She’ll probably wait on the steps for me for a while. We need a pencil and paper.”
“No trouble. No trouble at all.” The old woman dug in her dress pocket and came out with a large pencil and a grocery list. She handed it over.
Very carefully Jax wrote the main office number and both his names on the back of the paper and gave it back to her. “Ma’am, can I ask your name?”
“It’s Gracey, Lieutenant. I promise to find your long lost love.”
“You don’t know how glad this makes me, Gracey. I will be in your debt now.”
“If she comes, you will know. I promise.”
On the ride back to base, Jax felt better than he had in a very long time.
Chapter 22
“Kent, you war dog. Whose uniform is that you’re wearing?” Patterson laughed so hard he had to bend over forward. He held his paper cup of fruit punch up in a toast. “Well, I’m just glad you kept Jacks for a call sign. I’ll be able to say I christened you with that for years to come. It’s what you get for cleaning me out in that poker game.”
The crowd filling the large hanger was animated and celebratory. Tables along the walls had pastries and other edibles. Against one wall was a series of blackboards with a very large, long list of names. Groups of people were writing their new crew assignment next to their names. The drone of voices echoing through the hanger was so loud it was difficult to speak.
Jax tapped his own paper cup against Patterson’s and marveled at the crew assignment party taking place around him. Here and there, high ranking officers were standing with drinks and food watching the proceedings with great interest.
“I’m going to get that money back from you in the next game,” added Patterson.
“Yeah, I believe you will,” yelled Jax.
“So what do you think? Want to take me on as your flight engineer?”
“What are you talking about, Patty? You were at the top of your classes.”
“Eyesight, my friend. Not really nearsightedness, but enough of it that turned out I had trouble spotting those little specs in the sky we call ‘other airplanes.’ So I had to settle for flight engineer, at least temporarily. They say I could have some condition causing it that may pass at some point, so with flight engineer at least I’m in the cockpit so to speak.”
Jax stuck out one hand. “There’s nobody I’d rather have up there, Patty.”
“Great! And I hear you already have a bird. When can we go see it?”
“It’s brand new. Still ground bound. We can go climb around in it after this though.”
“You’re on. Who you got on your crew list so far?”
“You.”
“Really? Okay, we need to find Link in this mess. He ended up getting into the electronics end of it. He’s a wireless operator. And Scotty went navigator. Those guys are good and they don’t drive you batty if you know what I mean.”
“I would just love flying with them.”
“Okay, hang right in here so I can find you again. I think I saw Link over at the food tables.”
Patty disappeared into the crowd and returned a few minutes later dragging Link by one arm. The new wireless operator had a doughnut in one hand and a paper cup in the other and was still chewing. Jax held out one hand, but there was no way for him to take it. Then the Lieutenant insignia on Jax’s uniform was noticed and a puzzled look came over wireless operator’s stuffed face. Hurriedly he handed his cup to Patty and quickly chewed and swallowed then rubbed his hands on his pants.
“Wow! It looks like you except for the bloody uniform,” said Link and he gave Jax a sticky handshake. “Scotty’s over at the boards and he didn’t see any other nav guys signed up with you yet, Jacks, so he went ahead and wrote himself in. I told him he needed to talk to you first but he said he wasn’t taking no for an answer.”
Jax nodded. “I’m glad. And it’s good to see you, buddy.”
“You got wings already I hear? Is the wireless unit all beat to shit already or what?”
“Spanking new, my man, just like the rest of the airplane.”
“Well, hey, you got somebody on guns yet?” asked Link.
“I got Patty, you, and I guess Scotty. That’s it.”
“Okay then, mate. There’s this gunner by the name of Servo. The guy is crazy good. Insists on the rear guns ‘cause they got more shooting envelope. We need to get him. He’ll save our asses. How ‘bout I go latch onto him then?”
“By all means available, please lock him down for us.”
As they watched Link head into the masses, someone tapped Jax on the shoulder. He turned to find an individual who looked too young to be an airman. His blond hair was well beyond regulation length, though everything else about him including his uniform was precise military prescription. He had kid blue eyes, and was lacking the lines in his face that everyone else bore.
“Are you Jacks?” he asked in too youthful a voice.
“I am,” replied Jax.
“Pappy said I should look you up in case you needed a bomb aimer. Sir, would that position still be open? The name’s Kid.”
Jax had to hold back a laugh. “We are still needing someone. You’ve been signed off I take it?”
“Top of my class, sir. Pappy said to give you a message.”
“What’s that?”
“The message was, ‘Would I lie to you?’”
Jax looked around at the rest of his new crew. There were curious expressions but none seemed skeptical.”
“Well that’s good enough for me, Kid. How about if we take you on and see how it goes.”
“I won’t let you down, Lieutenant.”
For a moment no one seemed to know what to say. The impasse was interrupted by Link pushing back through the crowd. With him were two gunners. Both looked like they could handle themselves well in any standard pub fight. The first held out his hand to Jax and shook with a firm grip.
“Yep, I’m Servo, this is Mad Dog. He’s the best mid gunner I know of. We’ve chalked our names with yours, Jacks. You can always change your mind if you don’t like our work.”
“Only if we get back in one piece,” replied Jax.
The group slowly erupted in laughter.
Patty began to get antsy. “Jax, I’d say we got a pat hand then. Let’s go check out the ride.”
As discreetly as possible, the group withdrew from the celebration and headed across the long stretch of tarmac to the hanger where their Lancaster waited. The airplane’s boarding ladder was not in place but the side door was open. Mechanics working on aircraft nearby pretended not to notice them, seeming to hope they would not be bothered. Servo trotted to a nearby wall and grabbed a ladder. Once in place, the new crewmen began wrestle with each other to board first.
Jax stood outside in wonder as Servo suddenly appeared in the rear gun canopy, adjusting things here and there and checking out his station. Seconds later Mad Dog’s head came up into view in the upper gun position. Jax knelt and spotted Kid on his belly in the nose looking over the bomb sights. Patty kept popping up and then disappearing on the flight deck.
A new wave of emotion swept over Jax. There was something surreal about seeing his crew take their stations for the first time. There was already a feeling of intense loyalty among these people. Jax shook his head in wonder and climbed aboard the “Jacks Are Wild.”
Slowly they grouped around the nav and wireless stations, seemingly very happy with their charges. As the small talk dwindled, Patty looked to Jax. “So Captain, the word is you’ve already made several visits to Germany. Care to tell us what it’s really like?”
Talk among the group stopped completely. They all waited to hear the answer.
“It’s not fun. You don’t hear the flak explosions much over the engines. And, the flak is mostly black so you only really see it when the search lights light it up. When it’s a tight group formation, you can’t even zigzag to miss it. You just have to sit there and take the ride. But, from what I’ve been told, the stuff that would happen if we weren’t fighting back against Hitler is too terrible to think about.”
“Got that right,” agreed Servo.
“There’s something else I’m probably not supposed to say. They’ve been sending out 1,000 plane bombing runs lately. They’ve been using trainees to get that many crews together. When we start going out to practice, maybe tomorrow, we need to make every minute count, because there’s no telling when they’re going to come tell us to get ready to go.”
The group looked around at each other in silent jubilation. They were ready.
The next morning, Jax visited the hanger to find the entire crew milling around with paint cans, tarps and a step ladder with Patty putting the finishing touches on “Jacks Are Wild” on both sides of the aircraft. They had brought a camera, and with help from a disgruntled mechanic, a proper crew portrait was taken with all due camaraderie. Seven days later, Jax’s warning about mission assignments came true.
The mission was an industrial complex over Bremen. Jax had little concern about the quality of his people. The two gunners were wild men quick on the triggers and just as fast with their foot pedals. Scotty always seemed to have a heading when asked and it always seemed to be the right one. Link had already repaired the wireless in mid-flight once and Patty was, in all fairness, a pilot waiting to happen. If there was to be any concern, it would have to be with Kid. In practice he had hit the target every time without fail, but Jax could only wonder how well he would do with the ship rolling around from flak thunder. Kid looked like a video game freak born too soon.
Joining up at the buncher went well, and rendezvous over the ocean routine. From there, the mood in the aircraft became one of quiet anticipation. But, Jax had misgivings from the start. The moonlight was too bright. He could see aircraft farther in the distance than ever before, and there were whitecaps on the ocean far below. The group was too easy to see.
Jax’s foreboding became worse as the coast came into view. No sooner had they crossed over than the flak began. It was sporadic at first but it had begun earlier as though their arrival had been anticipated. Fortunately the charges were set too short. The flak blasts were happening well below the group. As they continued on, the explosions grew closer and closer. Soon the airplane was passing over bumps in the night and farther along bigger blasts lifted the wings so that Jax had to fight the yoke and rudder to keep from side slipping into other aircraft.
Suddenly the antiaircraft shells seemed to zero in. Whirling spotlights from the ground confirmed the chaos. Blasts were happening on either side of Jax’s canopy and the formation was too tight to try to avoid the cascades. The aircraft was thrown about, pitching up and down. It was all Jax could do to hold the flight stream.
But those ahead were now opening bomb bay doors, and in front of them others were dropping ordnance. Jax yelled into the intercom. “Kid, do you have it?”
“We’re right on it, Captain.”
“You have the aircraft.”
There was no response. Then a few seconds later, Kid’s voice called back. “Bombs gone, Captain. Looks good!”
In the midst of the fury of war Jax marveled at how well his young bomb aimer had performed. He reached up to click on the intercom for a moment of praise but was jolted by a sudden burst of hammering coming from behind. He dared to steal glances behind and found both gunners unloading shells at enemy fighters. Flares were dropping from the sky further lighting the ocean of airplanes. The fighters dove down through the sea of bombers, tracer rounds leading them down. Two aircraft were on fire but still flying. Gunners from a dozen ships were chasing fighters with tracer rounds. The bedlam of war was now complete.
As Jax fought to hold the ship steady a burst of antiaircraft went off directly ahead. A second explosion followed even closer. As he braced for a third, a violet explosion rocked the ship. It drove the nose of the plane upward and nearly flipped it. The noise echoing inside the ship was deafening followed by a jet stream of wind. Jacks Are Wild tipped to one side and nosed downward. Ailerons and rudder were still functional. Jax brought the airplane to level but it would not come out of the dive. The wind noise continued to be painful. There was enough airspeed to climb but the ship still refused. As Jax fought to keep back pressure on the controls the aircraft finally began to climb. Slowly the nose came up, but the ship wanted to dive once more. He pushed forward on the throttles and finally found the power setting needed to keep the nose up though he still had to fight to hold it straight.
Jax searched quickly around for Patty. He was on the floor holding his head, wind whipping his hair and clothes. He stared back at Jax in bewilderment.
Jax yelled down, “What happened?”
Patty pushed himself up, still holding his head. “I’ll check it.” He pulled himself forward.
Jax keyed the intercom. “How bad is it, guys? Who’s injured?”
Servo was the first to answer. “What’s going on, Jacks? It’s a cyclone back here!”
“Are you hurt?”
“No. ”
Jax craned his neck and tried to see Scotty or Link. “Scotty, Link, report.”
‘We’re both okay, Captain. But the ship is a mess.”
“What’s the damage aft?”
“Just some flak holes in the fuselage, but it’s blowing like a hurricane from up front.”
At that moment, Patty returned, yelling over the noise. “Kid is gone, Jacks.”
“You mean he’s been hit?”
�
�No. I mean he’s not in the nose. There’s a hole in the front canopy big enough to drive a jeep through. Half the bombsite equipment is gone and so is Kid.”
Suddenly the flak explosions stopped. The guns became silent. As quickly as it had all begun, it was over. Group leader was on the radio checking aircraft and giving return commands.
The ride home was a continuous fight against tossing and turning. Crew communications were few. Back at base, Jacks Are Wild was made to wait until last to land for fear of damage to the runway. Jax knew if he could get the main gear on the hardtop, everything would stabilize. When his turn came he was slightly off centerline, but still on hardtop. Jacks Are Wild landed smoothly and taxied to the service hanger, large pieces missing along with one crew member.
The crew stood at the front of the aircraft looking at the hole that had taken Kid. Everyone wanted to say something. No one knew anything to say. One by one they headed for debriefing. Jax remained last. He kept looking out at the runway thinking there must be some way to back up and change what had happened, but there was not.
Chapter 23
It was to be a large scale mission, nearly 500 aircraft to Dusseldorf and Nuess to attack more than fifty industrial targets. That Jacks Are Wild had been repaired, tested, and ready to fly surprised Jax to no end. His new bomb aimer was a veteran, call sign Jiggs, just released from the hospital for shrapnel in one shoulder. Despite the tragedy of the last mission, the crew did not seem war-weary but rather more sober and determined.
As the main body grouped over the ocean, Jax felt a tightening in his chest. There was too much moonlight again and the spread of airplanes was so large it was impossible to miss. But, there was nothing to do but brace and be ready.
Passing over the Belgium coastline the tension seemed to intensify even further. A line of broken clouds met them at the coast, drifting by like ghosts in the night. The lights of Antwerp were a warning to what lay ahead. When at last the first barrages of flak began, it was almost a relief that the waiting was over. But the vision of it was more surreal than ever. Sections of cloud being blown apart by antiaircraft, lighting the vapor for just a moment and condensing it into spray. Spotlights beamed though the cloud cover, strobing brighter in the clear areas and reflecting off airplanes as it swept by.