by Griff Hosker
“Try the Lee Enfield.” I mouthed.
He nodded and took out the rifle. He leaned on the cockpit, his face close to my hands and he aimed at the aircraft climbing. It would be a lucky shot if he managed to hit them but, if he fired, slowly and methodically, it might unnerve them. We just had to buy some time. Time was as precious as the fuel which was rapidly running out. The FE 2 was not a good glider but, if I picked the right angle of descent we might be able to get down and refuel safely but we had to shake off our pursuers. If we had had more fuel then I would have used the Gunbus’ superior speed to escape. More speed would just make us run out quicker.
The crack from the rifle made me jump. I saw Sharp work the bolt as he fired again. I was curious to see the results but I had to concentrate on the fuel. The engine gave a little cough.
“I am going down, Charlie, brace yourself.”
As I pushed the stick forward I realised that we would, briefly be at the mercy of the Germans. I hoped that Lady Luck was still with us. I risked a glance over my shoulder and saw that there was just one Fokker and one Aviatik remaining. The other two were disappearing east. Either Sharp had discouraged them or they did not think we could be caught before we reached our lines. We began to pick up speed and the Germans dropped back slightly. I saw a patch of green ahead. It was behind the German lines but it looked flat enough to land.
Sergeant Sharp suddenly stood up and the Lewis began to chatter. At the same time I felt the thump as steel jacketed bullets struck the tail. I could see that the field was young wheat. It would not be as smooth as an airfield but it would have to do. I watched the ground. Sharp resumed his seat clutching the empty magazine. I wondered why the firing from behind had stopped. I hoped that they had run out of ammunition rather than the alternative that he was waiting for us to land and hit us when we would be a sitting duck.
The nose wheel touched and I gave the slightest of movements with my fingers. The other wheels caught. We had no power, the fuel had run out some time earlier and we soon came to a halt. I grabbed the Lewis and fitted a fresh magazine. Charlie leapt out with the can of petrol and raced to the rear of the aeroplane. The two Germans swooped down towards us. The Fokker had a difficult job to hit us for his gun was above his propeller and he had to risk putting his nose into the ground to hit us. The Aviatik would have to fire when it had passed. It all meant that we had some time.
I pulled the trigger and gave the monoplane a short burst. I hit the side of the cockpit and he banked away. I fired a second burst at the biplane. Although I missed he, too, jinked away. As he rose the gunner sent a hail of lead towards us. The end of the wing showed where he had hit us. I heard Sharp shout, “Contact!”
I sat down and pushed the starter. The propeller spun, the engine coughed and then fired. With no chocks to hold us we began to move and Charlie leapt into the cockpit like a jack rabbit. It was now that we were at the mercy of the two Germans. They had turned and were flying towards us. I began to pull back on the stick. They were heading for us. The Fokker was firing while the brave pilot in the Aviatik was trying to get his gunner a shot. He had to get ahead of us to do so and that would mean it brought him into Sergeant Sharp’s sights. Charlie’s Lewis gun sprayed both of the Germans and a momentary movement to the side allowed us to slip between them. The rear gunner sprayed us with bullets and I heard the thud as they struck home. The engine began to falter.
We had been hit and we were not yet home. I turned west, towards the setting sun. We did not have the luxury of being able to climb and so I headed across the German lines hoping that our low altitude would confuse them. We zipped over the trenches no more than forty feet above them. We could see the German faces as they stared at the apparition which raced for home. Their bullets buzzed like angry bees but, mercifully, none struck. When I saw brown uniformed arms waving I knew that we were over the British lines and I began to look for the airfield. It struck me that I had never landed in the dark and there would be no lights on the field.
“Sharp. Get the flare gun out. When we are close to the field, fire three flares. We will see if we can use them to land.”
To be honest I did not expect a landing we would walk away from. I just hoped I could get us down in one piece. There was still a glow in the west when I sighted the airfield in the distance. I began to lose altitude. Sharp fired the first flare and I saw the field illuminated as it slowly descended. As he fired the second one I saw a series of fires erupt along two lines. They were giving me lights to guide me. Although it was not the smoothest of landings I was just pleased to be down.
As soon as the engine stopped I closed my eyes and leaned forward.
I heard Gordy shout, “Are you all right, Bill? Are you wounded?”
I opened my eyes and smiled, “No Gordy but I am a little tired and I could eat a horse with the skin on.”
My two friends helped me down. Ted chuckled, “Don’t worry, the cooks have kept the mess open for you.” They clapped me on the back. “Did you do it then?”
“Find the airfield?” He nodded. “Aye and we dropped the bombs on a couple of their planes.”
Before I could say any more the major strode up to me. I wondered if I would get a well done or some praise. I should have known better. “I will expect your report in the next hour Lieutenant.”
“But sir he hasn’t eaten!”
He gave a grim smile, “This is war, Lieutenant Hewitt. He can eat when he has written the report.”
I stared at him. He had hoped I would have died on the raid. I changed the stare to a smile. “I will really enjoy this food Gordy. Lead on!” I gave the barest of salutes and walked into the mess tent.
The major just spluttered. “In an hour Lieutenant. An hour!” He was almost squealing and I began to laugh.
As I picked up the plate of food Ted said, in all seriousness, “He means it! He’s mad as a fish that one. He will court martial you.”
“He can do. I am not worried any more. Besides we have the map and the report will be brief and to the point. It will take me no more than ten minutes to write it.”
Gordy handed me a bottle of beer. “We thought you might like this too!”
“You beauty!” I drank the beer first. It went down in one and was probably the best beer I had ever drunk. The food was wolfed down in less time than it took to collect it. “Here give us some paper. Ted, go to the bus you’ll find the map in Sharp’s cockpit.”
I had the report already in my head and I wrote it simply but I made sure it was well organised. By the time Ted had returned it was finished. “Here Gordy,” I gave him some money, “Buy the three of us a couple of bottles of beer. I reckon we deserve it and I’ll deliver this to the adjutant.”
The lamp was burning in Captain Marshall’s tent. He smiled as I entered. Before he could say a word I heard, from the major’s tent. “Captain, if Lieutenant Harsker is not here in thirty minutes I want him arrested.”
I grinned and Captain Marshall shook his head. I handed the map and the report and waited. The major had obviously expected a reply for I heard his voice as he approached, “Captain Marshall did you hear…” He entered the tent and his mouth opened and closed.
“I have delivered the report and the map sir. Was there anything else?”
He snatched the report and the map and stormed out. Captain Marshall stood and shook my hand. “I take my hat off to you, Bill. You have got more nerve than anyone I have ever met but a word to the wise,” he lowered his voice, “don’t push him. It will not take much to send him over the edge.”
“I think it has gone beyond that, sir. This is more than him just being a martinet. I can live with that but we have dead pilots and gunners now. That cannot be right. Can it?” He shook his head. “Any news from the colonel?”
“The last letter I had said that he would be leaving England in the next week or two.”
“I just hope there is still a squadron for him to return to.”
Chapter 5
&nb
sp; The first week in July saw us spotting for the artillery. It had been decided to soften up the Germans. The rumours ran around the airfield like wildfire. This was going to be the start of a push. We would be attacking all along the front. For those of us for whom this was the second year of our war we were more sceptical. It might be a bluff. It might be a diversion. However, whatever was the truth, our task remained the same; we were to position ourselves over no-man’s land and signal back to the gunners of the artillery below.
The major elected not to fly. His Gunbus was used by one of the pilots whose aeroplane had been destroyed in the bombing raid. We still only had eight serviceable aircraft and ten crews. It would be some time until we were at full strength again. The major put Billy Campbell in command. It was, of course, a snub to the three sergeant pilots but it did not bother us. Lieutenant Campbell was a good egg and he was sensible.
He sought me out before we flew. “Bill, I don’t like this. You are a much better leader. The colonel made you Flight Commander; it should be you in command. You are a First Lieutenant.”
I put my arm around his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t. I think we all know how the major feels about me and the other two. It is a snub to us but you are good enough to lead Billy. I think he would put someone who had never flown over enemy lines in command before one of us. You have combat experience. It will be good for your career. You will command one day.”
As we took off I realised that there was little to go wrong for Billy. We would be relatively safe from ground fire and we knew that our aircraft were better than the Germans we faced.
We reached our allotted sectors. We were all within sight of another two aeroplanes and could mutually support each other. We spotted the fall of shot and Sergeant Sharp would flash back if they were on target. The Royal Artillery gunners were good and it did not take too many erroneous shots for them to find their range. We then just had to fly up and down watching the shells rain down upon the enemy wire and trenches. We could have gone home but our orders were to stay for an hour and so we did.
It was close to the end of the hour when the Germans came. It looked to be a mixed Jasta. They had Fokkers and Aviatiks. Our problem was that we were spread out and they came in three flights of four each one targeting an individual aeroplane. We were nicknamed Gunbus for good reason and we had little to fear, unless they found our blind spot. Billy Campbell showed that he had what it took when he fired the flare to signal a retreat.
As it happened I was the rear aeroplane when they attacked. They found my blind spot. I felt the bullets crack behind me. I pulled hard on the stick and went into a steep climb. I had enough fuel to be able to use the maximum revs. Two Germans tried to follow me but the others went for the next aeroplane in the line. I heard the guns as they chattered but I was too busy trying to escape from the Fokker and the Aviatik behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that they had fallen back a little. They would expect me to turn west, towards our lines. I did not do what they expected and I banked and dived east. It took them both by surprise.
Charlie was ready with the Lewis and, as we plunged down through the air he gave both aeroplanes a burst. He missed the Fokker but struck the cockpit of the Aviatik. I saw the gunner slump in his seat. I yanked the stick to bring us back on course and behind the other Germans who were pursuing my comrades.
I saw that Lieutenant Holt’s aeroplane was pouring smoke. There were two Aviatiks beneath him and they were riddling him with bullets. I had the advantage that I was diving with a superior aeroplane and, cocking the rear Lewis, I dived on to the tail of the first one. Sergeant Sharp emptied his magazine into the first one. He took off the spent magazine. The gunner in the Aviatik saw this and he began to swing his gun towards us. I fired a short burst from my gun and I saw the bullets stitch a line from the cockpit towards the engine. Oil began to spit out over the pilot and he took evasive action. The second German turned his attention to us. I emptied my magazine towards him and then Charlie opened fire. The tail was shredded and the aeroplane began to spiral back towards the east.
The other aeroplanes had been beaten back and had to run the gauntlet of British small arms fire as they headed towards the safety of their own lines. I scanned the skies. Holt was in trouble and I stayed close to him as he took the aeroplane down in a shallow dive. He could not remain in the air. He would not make the airfield. He bounced the aircraft down on a short ploughed field. How he had found it I did not know. I thought he had made a good landing until the nose wheel broke and the right wing caught the ground. The Gunbus slewed into the ground. I brought our bus around and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the pilot and gunner emerge, somewhat unsteadily, it has to be said, and wave at me.
“Right, Sharp, let’s go home.”
As soon as we landed I saw the senior sergeant, “Sergeant Jackson, you had better get a lorry. Lieutenant Holt has crashed in a ploughed field about six miles away. They are both walking and I think we can save the engine.”
“Right sir, if we keep going on like this we’ll have to begin building aeroplanes ourselves.”
I left Sergeant Sharp and the mechanic to repair the holes in the bus and to service her. I had a report to write. I was half way through when Lieutenant Campbell came in. “That was a bit of a shambles today.”
I gestured for him to sit on my cot. “Don’t be daft, man. Holt is a young pilot. He will get better and you got the rest back, didn’t you?”
“I suppose so but what can we do when they come on our blind spot like that? Head on or flying alongside we are superior but once they get below us even the Aviatik can have a pop at us.”
I had been thinking about this. “The problem is, Billy, if we loop it works in their favour, they can fire at us as we go up and around and I have never tried to loop the other way. I suspect we might lose a few observers.”
I put the report to one side and took out a fresh piece of paper. I drew a crude FE 2. “Let’s try to visualise it.” I drew a Fokker beneath and behind the Gunbus and dotted lines to the engine. “Well that is the problem. The question is, how to solve it.”
When I had left home after my last leave my dad had given me a short pipe. He had been so pleased with his Christmas present that he had a spare which he wanted me to have. “It’s a good little smoker and, when you smoke it, it will remind you of home.” He had given me some bar tobacco. I had smoked it a couple of times already and, as well as making me think of home it helped me think. I filled the pipe while Billy looked at my drawing.
He took my pencil and said, “Do you mind sir?”
As I puffed I said, “Go ahead.”
He drew another FE 2 attacking the Fokker. “Now if we could do that then we would not have a problem.”
The pipe was drawing well. The pipe seemed to slow me down but that, in turn, made the brain work better. At least that is what I thought.
“Of course that wouldn’t work. The other Gunbus would have to be flying in the opposite direction.”
It suddenly dawned on me. “Not necessarily. Here give me the pencil.” I took the paper and drew a circle of aeroplanes. “If we flew in a circle this would work.” He looked at my drawing. “When I was in the cavalry we had a manoeuvre we sometimes used. It had a fancy name that I can’t remember now but it basically involved the troop riding in a circle and each man firing when they reached the same spot. We were all protected by the man behind. If we flew in a circle we could still move forwards but just a little slower. The gunner in the front could fire on any German which attacked another.”
Billy pounced on the paper. “It wouldn’t be a flat circle it would be like a spiral so that the vulnerable aeroplane; the one on the bottom would only be there briefly and another Gunbus would come up to help him.”
“Damned good idea!”
We must have been making a noise for Ted and Gordy came in. “Are you two ladies having a party in here and if so why weren’t we invited?”
Lieutenant Cam
pbell proffered the sheet of paper. “Bill has just come up with a way of eliminating the blind spot. Look.”
“Actually lads, we both came up with it.”
Billy nodded his thanks and explained to the two of them how it worked. They looked at it and I said, “Well?”
“It will work but I don’t think his lordship will wear it.”
Ted’s comment deflated us. “You may be right but the four of us know about it and if we are jumped then we can try it. The beauty of it is that the system works as long as you have at least four aeroplanes. More would be better but it gives us more of a chance and we might avoid ending up like Johnny Holt in a ploughed field.”
They nodded their agreement. Gordy put his right hand out, “We’ll be the four who watch each other’s backs.”
We all put our hands together and a bond was formed that night in the lamp lit tent. When I went to sleep later that night I felt much better. I no longer felt alone. The camaraderie of the cavalry was back; hopefully it would not end in the same slaughter as that experience had.
There were only four aeroplanes ready to fly the next day and as luck would have it those four were ours. We were ordered to patrol the front line and prevent enemy aeroplanes from observing our lines or attacking our field. Perhaps they had the same damage as we had because, disappointingly, no German aeroplanes appeared and we had no opportunity to try our new idea out.
The major had been noticeable by his absence and we almost had a normal squadron life. By the end of the week, when the eight aeroplanes we had were serviceable, all of that changed. The two pilots without aeroplanes were sent back to England to collect their new Gunbuses and to bring back the two replacement pilots. The rest of us, including our observers, were gathered in the large mess tent.
“There is going to be a big push in about a month or so.” We all looked at each other. There had been rumours running around the squadron for the last few weeks. “Quiet down! You sound like a bunch of excited school girls.” We were all suitably chastened and looked at his board again. “Our task is to prevent the German reconnaissance aeroplanes from observing the movements behind our lines. We have been given twenty miles of the front to cover.”