by Griff Hosker
He seemed to remember that we had been on a raid too. “How about you? I saw six of you land.”
“The bombers did their job and we were jumped too but we hit them with my new formation. We downed two and then headed back home. Hutton and Laithwaite are deadly with their guns.”
He smiled, “It seems we need to watch and learn. Charlie Sharp is back isn’t he?”
“Yes sir,” I said, warily.
“I’ll take Hutton from you and we will have to try to get another replacement.”
“But sir, I am not sure his leg is healed.”
“I’m sorry, Bill. If the hospital released him then he is ready. We can’t afford any passengers here.”
I found Sergeant Hutton and Sergeant Laithwaite in high spirits. “Sergeant Hutton, may I have a word?”
He beamed as Sergeant Laithwaite headed for the Sergeant’s Mess, “Yes sir, what can I do for you.”
“You could regard this as promotion, Lumpy, you are to be Major Leach’s gunner. His gunner died today.”
To say his face fell would be the understatement of the year. He nodded and held out a hand. “Can I just thank you, sir for all that you have done for me. I had never even flown before I became your gunner and now I am the top gunner in the squadron. I owe it all to you. I may be going to the senior pilot but I am not going to the best pilot.” He nodded, “And you and Charlie, well, you are a team. I knew I was just filling in but it was worth every minute sir.”
“And Sergeant, I have learned much from you.”
He walked off slowly and then, as his natural happy nature took over, he began whistling and there was a bounce in his step once more. Charlie of course was delighted to be gunner again. When I mentioned his leg he shook his head, “No sir, it is fine. I must have landed heavily jumping out of the lorry. I am as right as rain today.”
“And a consummate liar. You might want to have a look at your cockpit. Lumpy was a little larger than you and he took out some of your bullet proofing.”
“Righto sir.”
The message from headquarters was that the raids had been unqualified successes. A handful of dead men and no bomber losses was their measure. I am not sure that it was mine. The colonel was also pleased. He had the major and me in his office the following day. “Archie here told me about your innovative formation. Do you think we should all give it a go?”
“Well sir, Gordy’s flight flew in line astern which gave us the best of both worlds so I am not sure. The best thing about it is the flexibility. We have been using three aeroplanes as one when sometimes they would have been better if we had given them leeway.”
“Well Archie?”
“I reckon we will try out the new formation. It can’t hurt. You can’t argue with success and young Harsker here is either the luckiest pilot on the planet or he knows something we can all learn from.”
Chapter 19
We were called upon to help four days later. There was a bridge which carried a railway line and a nearby road. They were both supplying the Germans. We were in a war of attrition. If we could make them divert resources to repairing roads and railways whilst putting their men on short rations then so much the better. We later discovered that the Germans were about to attack at Verdun. Our little raids were only pin pricks but they drew resources away from where they were needed. That was the problem of being one small fighter squadron; you never saw the big picture.
The major would only have four aeroplanes at his disposal. I had the luxury of two full flights. Lumpy Hutton waved cheerfully at Sharp and me as we went to our aeroplane. The nights were now marginally shorter and we left that little bit earlier than we had done previously. We were escorting the same bombers but we had a different rendezvous point. Gordy was trying out my arrow formation. I had his aeroplanes a little lower than ours and we circled the slow bombers as we flew across empty skies towards the target.
Sharp saw them first; the distinctive little crosses that were the monoplanes. They were in two lines. This would not be as easy. I estimated that they were over our target. We would have to try to disrupt them. I saw that there were just ten of them and I worked out that it had to be the same Jasta we had encountered earlier. They would know of our new formation. I waggled my wings to attract Gordy’s attention and then pointed at the Fokkers. We had one advantage; we were six aeroplanes but we had twelve guns. I had already discussed with my pilots how we could use our forward machine on the attacking aeroplane and the gunner to rake the sides of other aeroplanes. This would be the day when we would try that out.
The bombers must have been worried at the sight of so many enemy aeroplanes. If we failed then they would die but they were brave men and not one of the eight turned around. There was little point in travelling at the slow speed of the bombers. We had altitude and we used it. I pushed the stick forward and we leapt towards the Fokkers. This time they were at a slightly higher altitude and we came together at almost two hundred miles an hour. Combat is over in the blink of an eye at those speeds and I hoped that Sharp had not lost his edge.
“Remember, Charlie, I will go for the head on Fokker. You choose one to the side.”
“Right sir.” There was a pause. “I won’t let you down.”
“I know.”
We hurtled towards the first one. It was a hard job to estimate the best time to fire. I cocked the Lewis and made the slightest of movements to starboard and then corrected. It would not affect Holt and Carrick but it might make the Fokker think I was banking. He fired and my manoeuvre meant he only struck the upper wing at the tip.
I held my nerve and, as he climbed to do the sneaky turn, I fired and ripped through his fuselage. I had no time to see what damage I had caused for the monoplane whizzed above my head. Sharp was pumping bullets into the side of one of the other Fokkers and Holt’s gunner was doing the same. I began to bank to starboard. I did it slowly to give Johnny time to react. It also allowed Freddy and his gunner to add to our fire power. Gordy and his flight kept going straight. We had gone from one arrow of six to two arrows of three and I could see one downed Fokker and one limping away.
I continued my bank to starboard and glanced down at the bombers. They were in line astern beginning their bombing run. I banked to port. Once again I made a slow start to allow my wingmen to see the move. It took the Hun by surprise. They were engaging Gordy and his flight. We arrived on their port side with six machine guns blazing. This time the speed was slower for they were moving up to attack Gordy and his men from beneath. My magazine was empty. I drew my Luger and emptied the magazine into one of the Fokkers as we passed above him. I had no idea if I had struck him but I was close enough to make him look up.
As I passed above them I saw that Johnny and Freddy had, quite rightly, taken evasive action. I could make tighter turns now that I did not have to worry about them. All semblance of formation had now gone and aeroplanes were coming from every direction. I heard bullets as they thumped into our rear.
“Charlie. Get on the rear Lewis, someone is on our tail.”
I dipped the nose slightly in case they were beneath us. When the bullets hit the tail I knew that they were not. Charlie cocked the Lewis and began to fire. Perhaps because we had not used it before the German pilots appeared to have forgotten about our sting in the tail or maybe they thought it could not hurt them. Whatever the reason, Sharp managed to hit the Fokker which began to spiral to earth. And then we were alone in the sky.
I checked the compass and saw that we were heading east. I banked around and saw the bombers heading west. It was almost the same as before except that there were three Fokkers chasing them. I could see the other Gunbuses engaged in aerial duels of their own.
“Charlie, get back on the front gun!”
As I pushed the stick forward I watched as the rear bomber was attacked by a Fokker. The gunner did his best but, when the second Fokker opened up he had no chance and the aeroplane began to fall from the sky. I used my knees to hold the stick steady a
nd changed the magazine. We were gaining rapidly on the enemy. The disadvantage with the monoplane was that you had no idea what was going on behind you. Sharp timed his shots perfectly. He began firing halfway along the fuselage and tracked the bullets until they smacked into the back of the pilot. He had to be dead but the aeroplane did not know that and it continued to fly in a straight line. I flew over the top of the dead German. Sharp was not as lucky with his next shots. The Fokker moved to port to bring his guns to bear on the next bomber and Sharp’s bullets missed, alerting the pilot to the danger.
I instinctively turned to port too and the Fokker came across my gun sight. I fired a short burst and saw the bullets stitch a line along the fuselage. Oil began to pour from the engine and he swung his aeroplane around towards the east and safety. The last Fokker was shredding the tail of the next bomber. Sharp emptied the magazine at the same time as the gunner on the RE 7 fired at the Fokker. He was caught between two fires and then I pulled my trigger. His fuselage looked like a piece of Swiss cheese and he turned to starboard and safety.
We began to climb above the bomber so that I could get a view towards the east. The gunner waved cheerfully as we rose above it and banked to starboard. I saw a couple of Gunbuses hurtling towards us. I assumed they would be my flight. I could not see any other aeroplanes. Where Gordy and the Fokkers were I had no idea.
As I had enough fuel I began circling. The bombers, those that remained, were safe now. We had lost one and nearly a second but that could not be helped. We had been seriously outnumbered and they had been waiting for us. I saw that it was Freddy and Johnny and both had taken hits. They waved to show that they could fly and took station on me. I had about ten minutes fuel left and then I would have to head for home. I decided to wait.
I saw a trail of smoke appear from the east. I saw that it was an FE 2 and there were four Fokkers chasing it. I wondered where they had come from. I had lost track of the damaged and destroyed aeroplanes. If these were four Fokkers from the same squadron then Gordy and his flight had been badly handled.
I saw that the smoke was from one of the Fokkers but the FE 2 was moving erratically about the sky. It was Gordy! I dipped my nose and we began to dive towards them. We closed the gap rapidly and, as we drew close, the four Germans fired a last burst at Gordy and then headed east. I flew around the stricken aeroplane and saw blood on the fuselage near to the cockpit. Either Gordy or his gunner was wounded. I signalled the other two to keep on station and we shepherded Gordy back to the base.
It soon became clear that it was Gordy who had been wounded for the plane rose and fell alarmingly. I saw the gunner look around to see what was wrong with his pilot. When we were a mile from the field I said, “Charlie, a flare!”
The Very light soared into the sky. Doc Brennan and his team would be forewarned.
We allowed Gordy to land and then with fuel tanks almost on empty we dropped to the ground. I saw that all of the Major’s aeroplanes had landed. We were now down to eight aeroplanes again. The pendulum had swung in the opposite direction. The Germans had had the upper hand.
Doc Brennan was leaning over Gordy when we reached him. “Stand back, you fellows. He’ll live but not if you lot suffocate him.”
I pulled his gunner to one side, “Tell me, Sergeant, what happened?”
“We followed you in sir and it was going well. Lieutenant Hewitt banked left to go after the Fokkers and Mr Hardy didn’t see him. He pulled the stick too hard or something and the Fokker ripped him in two. They outnumbered us then. My gun jammed and Lieutenant Hewitt ran out of bullets. That was when they got young Mr Penrose. They came after us. We looked around and I saw your two lads heading west. I got on the rear Lewis and then, well you know the rest.”
I patted his shoulder. You did well now before you do anything else strip down and clean all three Lewis guns. We both know yours should not have jammed.” He nodded and I could see that he was upset. “These things happen but only the once eh?”
The Lewis was a reliable gun. Sharp and Hutton made sure that our guns did not jam by taking them apart after each flight and completely cleaning them. It was still possible for them to jam but at least the gunner knew that he had done everything in his power to prevent it.
Doc Brennan had taken Gordy away and I went to the office. Archie took one look at my face and said, “Now stop that, Laddie! You have nothing to reproach yourself about. That was a good operation. I spoke to young Holt. You destroyed at least three and possibly four aeroplanes and damaged two more. Yes they got a bomber and two of our lads went down but we came out on top.”
“From what Gordy’s gunner said one of the aeroplanes went down because of pilot error. I still blame myself. I should have made Gordy practice that formation I did with my lads and it made all the difference. If they had flown line astern then both those young lads would still be alive.”
“Might be still alive. There is distinction. Combat flying is not a science, we know that. Good God man, there aren’t many pilots who can take on the Fokkers and come away successfully; you do it more than most. Now write your reports and then take some time off.” He paused and smiled, “By the way, Lumpy is quite a character. I can see why you two got on so well.”
“I am pleased he is working out.”
Ted was waiting for me in the mess. “I just went in to see Gordy. He won’t need to go to the base hospital. Doc Brennan reckons he can fix him up here. They were clean wounds and the bullets went through his arm and clipped his cheek. He’s lucky the German bullets make clean wounds. God help the poor devil who gets hit by one of our .303s.”
“You had a better time today then?”
He nodded, “But we still got knocked about a bit.” He gestured with his thumb at the airfield, lined with aircraft. “I know these are only a couple of months old but they are taking some hammer. We are going to start to feel it soon.”
“It’s the men I worry about more.” I lowered my voice, “Gordy nearly cracked and he is one of the most down to earth blokes I have ever met...”
“I heard. It surprised me. I could see you cracking up. You fly on the edge all the time but Gordy seemed more stable somehow.”
“He was and he will be again. It was just a difficult part of his life and he suddenly had to think about a future. That’s always hard.”
We sat down on our armchairs. The lieutenants had vacated them when they saw us. “This is my future, Bill. I like this life. Even after the war I think I will stay in.”
“No family then?”
“Nah, besides who would have a miserable bugger like me?”
Despite our losses our raid had been successful and the bridges and railways lines destroyed. We were stood down. We visited Gordy, briefly, in the hospital. He was still doped up and didn’t say much. The Engineers had done a good job and this was one of the reasons we did not need to send the wounded back to Blighty. We had room. As Ted and I wandered over to the field he commented wryly, “Of course a couple of nice nurses would make it even better.”
“I thought you didn’t want a family?”
“I don’t but I ain’t a monk my friend!”
We checked that the few remaining aeroplanes were in good order. Gordy’s gunner, Cyril came up to me. “I cleaned out all the guns sir. They won’t jam again.” He looked a little shame faced. “The lads from your flight had a go at me, sir. I am sorry I let Mr Hewitt down.”
“Don’t worry Sergeant he will be fine and it is a lesson learned. You will be a better gunner after this. Did the sergeants tell you to load the magazines yourself?”
He looked surprised that a pilot and an officer would know such things. “Yes sir.”
“Good. You have to be as careful about our weapons as you do about the engine. Carry on.”
Captain Marshall waved us over to the office; he looked excited. When we entered the office the major and the colonel were both beaming like the cat that got the cream. The colonel strode over and shook my hand. “Congratulatio
ns. You have been awarded the Military Cross.”
Ted’s normally dour face was split by a beaming smile, “Well done mate!”
“Thank you sir.”
“You will be awarded the medal by the King but that will not be for some time; probably nearer to the summer but the award has been made. We are all delighted.”
Archie shook my hand, “This will do wonders for morale. After the recent losses we need something to give the lads the spring back in their step.”
Captain Marshall added his congratulations and said, “It will be back to patrols tomorrow. We can only manage two flights. We will have a morning one and an afternoon one.” He smiled. “I assume you will be celebrating tonight and your flight has the afternoon one tomorrow.”
“Thank you sir. Do I have your permission to teach Sergeant Sharp how to fly?”
The colonel looked surprised. “Aren’t you happy with him as your gunner?”
“Of course but he would like to be a pilot. No disrespect to the younger pilots, but someone who has been an air gunner makes a better pilot.” I suddenly realised how arrogant that sounded, “I mean he…”
The colonel laughed and held up his hand, “You do not need to explain we agree.”
“And I daresay you would want Hutton back?”
“Well sir he is your gunner now.”
“I can do without, ‘Captain Harsker did it this way’ and ‘Captain Harsker likes to…’ ringing in my ears the whole time. No you can have him back whenever Sharp manages to convince the colonel that he can fly.”
And so I began to teach Charlie in the old Avro. It had been kept serviced for one never knew when it might come in handy. So far we had not had to bring it back into service but the mechanics enjoyed working on a different type of aeroplane.
I found it harder to teach than to learn but our shared experiences made Sharp a little more forgiving of my acidic outbursts than another trainee might have been and, once I saw what I was doing wrong, I was able to correct it. He was a fast learner. We went out either on the morning or the afternoon depending upon our patrol times. We would head towards the coast and then back. By the middle of March we were ready for him to try the Gunbus. This was a much faster aeroplane and a pusher. I sat in the front cockpit for the first time in a long time and it felt strange.