The Spitfire Sisters

by Margaret Dickinson

  ‘Oh Harry, you look wonderful.’

  ‘So, why haven’t you been to see me?’

  ‘I – I didn’t know you’d come back.’

  ‘Yes, you did, Kitty. Everybody knows. And are you going to keep me standing on the doorstep? It’s still a bit painful to stand in one place for long.’

  ‘Sorry – yes – come in.’

  He walked through their scullery and into the kitchen where her mother and father were sitting at the table finishing their evening meal.

  ‘Harry,’ Ted Page stood up and held out his hand, ‘it’s good to see you. Sit down. Mother – a cup of tea for the lad.’

  Lottie Page bustled about the kitchen and after a few moments set a cup of tea and a buttered scone in front of him.

  ‘Thank you, Mrs Page,’ he said, but then he turned to Kitty and asked again, ‘So, why haven’t you been to see me?’

  Kitty blushed and glanced down at her fingers twisting in her lap. ‘I – I thought – after I saw you last time and – and then once you were better, all the girls . . .’ She gulped and fell silent.

  ‘There’s still this.’ He touched the scar that still cut deeply into the side of his face, running jaggedly from temple to chin.

  ‘But you can have an operation to make that a lot better, can’t you? Your mother told me.’

  ‘Maybe I don’t want to,’ Harry laughed. ‘It’s my badge of honour. And it gives me a rather raffish look, don’t you think?’ He paused and then asked softly, ‘Does it make a difference to you, Kitty?’

  ‘You know it doesn’t.’

  ‘Perhaps we’d better leave these youngsters to it, Mother,’ Ted said, making as if to get up.

  ‘No need, Mr Page. What I have to say to Kitty can be said in front of you both.’ He grinned suddenly. ‘In fact, perhaps it ought to be.’ He turned back to Kitty. ‘Before the war, I was a bit of a flirt, I know that – just having a bit of fun, I suppose. And then the war came and I became a bomber pilot. I could have been killed at any time – an awful lot of my mates were – and it didn’t seem fair to get serious about anyone then, but now that I’ve survived – well, almost . . .’ He took her hand and gently put his fingers under her chin to make her look at him. ‘I’m ready to settle down. I’m ready to get married and have a family right here in Doddington and there’s no one else I’d rather do that with than you. So – forgive me if I don’t get down on one knee – but Kitty Page, will you marry me?’

  Kitty blushed furiously and glanced at her mother and father, who both burst out laughing. ‘Go on, lass. For goodness’ sake tell him “yes” afore he changes his mind. It’s what you’ve allus wanted when all’s said and done.’

  ‘So, there’s going to be another wedding,’ Bess told anyone who was willing to listen. She counted them off on her fingers. ‘There’s Daisy and Johnny’s already being planned for when the war’s over, then there’ll be Luke and Gill, and now’ – she waited a moment, keeping her listeners in suspense before saying dramatically – ‘Harry and little Kitty have got engaged.’

  ‘And about time too,’ was the consensus in the village. ‘He’s kept that poor lass waiting long enough.’

  It was arranged that as soon as he was released from the RAF, Harry would take up his work with Len Dawson again.

  ‘I don’t think I’ll be able to shoe horses, Mr Dawson, but I reckon I could tackle most other things.’

  ‘Aye, well, we can work round that,’ Len said and almost smiled. ‘The young evacuee lad, Bernard, he’s shaping up nicely and working here full time now he’s left school, though I expect he’ll be back off home soon. I’m surprised he hasn’t gone already, and I can’t see Luke coming back here. He’ll want to become a farmer in Yorkshire, I reckon.’

  ‘He’s saying nothing at the moment,’ Harry told Len. ‘Even we don’t know what his plans are.’

  ‘More fool him,’ was all Len would say.

  Sixty

  ‘Right, let’s get cracking then,’ Daisy said as she and Gill walked towards their Spitfires. ‘Deliveries first to White Waltham, then to Lee and finally back to Hamble. I’ve got to do that twice today. What about you?’

  ‘I’m off up north, but I should be back by tonight.’

  They parted with the usual hug they gave each other when they were setting out on deliveries and climbed into their cockpits.

  The day went well for Daisy and by late afternoon she was on her way back to Hamble for the second time that day. As she flew over airfields near the south coast, she noticed lines of aircraft with unusual markings – ones she hadn’t seen before. There were hundreds of aeroplanes all with black-and-white stripes painted on their wings. As she flew on, she noticed a huge build-up of all sorts of ground forces and armoured craft. Her curiosity heightened, she would have liked to have flown directly over the coast, but, for once, even Daisy did not dare to break the rules. Something big was about to happen and she didn’t want to cause trouble by venturing where she shouldn’t.

  When she landed, the other girls were chattering excitedly about what they too had seen.

  ‘It’s the invasion. I bet it’s the invasion,’ Violet said.

  Gill, who had been flying in the opposite direction, had seen nothing. ‘Oh, I wish we could take a peek,’ she said. ‘Anyone up for it?’

  ‘Best not,’ Daisy said.

  ‘What? You not taking a dare, Daisy Maitland? I don’t believe it.’

  Daisy shook her head. ‘Not this time. If what Vi says is true, then it’s far too important for us to get in the way. Besides,’ she added with an impish smile, ‘they might think we’re spies and shoot us down.’

  ‘I bet you’re right, though,’ Gill said. ‘I had noticed that we’re getting a lot more aircraft around here now.’

  ‘They’ve recruited several more women for the ATA,’ Daisy said. ‘Half a dozen or so arrived last week.’

  Gill sniffed her displeasure. ‘And they’re going to train them from scratch. They haven’t had to do the flying hours we had to before they’d even look at us.’

  ‘Southampton is chock-a-block with armoured vehicles of all shapes and sizes,’ Violet said. ‘And there are all sorts of ships in the Solent.’

  ‘And they’re building some sort of jetty.’

  During the first days of June, the activity around Hamble increased. The CO received top secret documents marked Invasion Orders.

  Gill rubbed her hands with glee. ‘It must be on.’

  ‘I’m sure it is,’ Daisy said. ‘Violet said there are hundreds of soldiers camping out in the woods and more motor vehicles are arriving by the minute.’

  ‘And bridge sections are being towed behind ships as if they’re going to construct some sort of harbour.’

  ‘Perhaps they are. And have you heard, bombers have been seen towing gliders?’

  ‘Come on, Daisy. We’ve each got deliveries to Biggin Hill . . .’

  ‘I hope I’ve got a Spitfire.’

  ‘Of course you have,’ Gill teased. ‘I don’t think our operations manager would dare give you anything else now.’

  When they landed back at Hamble, Daisy told everyone, ‘The roads around here are jammed with trucks and tanks. No one can get in or out and there’s a massive gathering of aircraft, all with those black-and-white stripes I told you about.’

  Although the weather wasn’t at its best, the invasion armada set off on the night of 5 June. The ATA girls listened to the noise filling the air that went on and on, until, at last, it faded into the distance and all was quiet.

  ‘So, they’ve gone,’ Daisy whispered in a reverent whisper and sent up a silent prayer.

  ‘We’re closed down tomorrow. Did you know?’ Gill said.

  ‘I suppose there’s no more aircraft to take anywhere for a few days.’

  ‘No, it’s because we’re likely to become a repair unit for damaged aircraft.’

  ‘Makes sense. Oh, but I do wish we knew what was happening over there.’

  The
D-Day landings were successful; the Allies were back in Europe, though at the cost of many lives. The ATA girls were busier than ever, with several different types of aircraft to ferry. Then came a new threat. Hitler’s ‘secret weapon’ was unleashed on London; the evil doodlebugs, pilotless jets launched in France, began to terrorize Londoners. Now the RAF fighter pilots had a different mission: to chase the bombers and steer them off course by tipping their wings.

  ‘I hope Uncle Mitch and Aunty Milly, and Uncle Paul too, of course, will be all right,’ Daisy fretted. She did not even dare to voice her concerns about Johnny and Luke.

  It would seem like tempting fate.

  There was a feeling of optimism in the air; there had been since D-Day. Steadily, the Allies gained ground, driving the enemy out of Normandy. By August, they had regained Paris and General de Gaulle led a triumphant walk the length of the Champs-Élysées. The Germans were in retreat, but now the full extent of the horrors they had inflicted upon their captives were being revealed to a shocked world. Rumours had existed, but now there was proof of the atrocities that had been committed. Yet still, there was resistance; the war was not quite over yet. Nevertheless, Christmas 1944 was a merry one in Doddington.

  Not everyone could get home, but Pips and Daisy managed it. Gill went home to her family, but Luke and Johnny could not get leave.

  ‘You have to give way to the chaps who have young families,’ Luke told a disappointed Gill. Then he kissed her, murmuring against her lips, ‘It’ll all soon be over, darling.’

  Henrietta invited Mitch, Milly and Paul to spend Christmas at the hall and they were there too to join in the usual Boxing Day party.

  Edwin made a short speech and raised a glass to everyone present. ‘You’ve all been so wonderful through these difficult times in helping each other when needed, we want to say “thank you”, and that includes our friends from London. Milly, I don’t know what we’d have done without you and Paul and Mitch too.’

  Milly blushed and Paul and Mitch winked at each other, thinking how shrewd and perceptive the Maitland family were.

  ‘And we’d all like to thank you, Mrs Maitland,’ Bess piped up, always the one to take the lead amongst the villagers. ‘You and all your family have kept the whole village going through some hard times. God bless you.’

  ‘I couldn’t have done it without the support of you all,’ Henrietta said, smiling.

  ‘Here’s to 1945,’ Robert said. ‘Let’s hope it brings the end of the war.’

  Sixty-One

  ‘Robert! Mother! Father!’ Alice ran through the house shouting at the top of her voice. ‘It’s over. The war’s over. Churchill’s just been on the wireless . . .’

  She burst into the parlour where Henrietta was sitting mending socks. Henrietta looked up quickly, her needle suspended in mid-air. ‘Really? Is it really over?’

  Alice nodded, her face pink with excitement. ‘Oh Mother, they’ll all be coming home. They’ll all be safe now.’ She clasped her hands in front of her chest, unable to believe that the war had ended and that her family were safe, if not quite sound. Poor Harry, whom she regarded as a member of the family, would live with the after-effects for ever, just as her darling Robert had done all these years.

  She whirled around. ‘I must find Robert. He might not have heard.’

  She hurried through the house to where the surgeries of both Robert and Conrad were situated. In the small waiting room, there were three patients waiting their turn to see one of the doctors.

  ‘Have you heard?’ Alice beamed at them. ‘It’s over. The war’s finally over.’

  They glanced at one another and then looked back at Alice. ‘A’ you sure, Miss Alice?’

  Alice nodded, unable to contain her excitement.

  At that moment, the door to Robert’s consulting room opened.

  ‘Robert – the war’s over. Have you heard?’

  But Robert was not smiling; he didn’t seem to be listening to her. Instead he crossed the room and took her arm gently. He turned briefly towards the waiting patients. ‘Please excuse me for a moment. An urgent family matter. Dr Conrad will see all of you.’

  ‘Oh, but Dr Maitland—’ one of the women patients began, but Robert ignored her and steered Alice out of the room. As he closed the door, Alice said, ‘What is it? Has something happened?’

  ‘I’ve just had a telephone call from Daisy’s CO. She didn’t return last night from collecting an aircraft due for maintenance.’

  ‘Oh no,’ Alice breathed. All the exhilaration at the news that the war was over drained out of her in an instant. ‘What – what are they doing?’

  ‘Looking for her, but – it may take some time.’

  Alice gripped his shoulder. ‘Robert – we must tell Luke and Johnny. Maybe they can do something.’

  ‘I understand Gill is dealing with that.’

  ‘Oh – yes. She’ll know how to get hold of them, won’t she?’

  ‘Luke? Luke? Is that you? The line’s awfully bad. Can you hear me?’

  ‘Yes, darling, I can,’ Luke shouted down the telephone. ‘Have you heard? It’s all over. We can all go home and you and I can get married. Say you’ll marry me, Gill.’

  ‘Yes – yes, of course, but listen a minute—’

  ‘Well, that’s not quite the response I was hoping for,’ he laughed, ‘but go on.’

  ‘Daisy’s missing. She didn’t come back last night from Scotland and we’ve had no word from her.’

  Immediately, Luke’s elation died. ‘Oh God, not now.’

  ‘Can you do anything? I’ve been given permission to take the Anson and fly the route she was supposed to take. I’m taking a couple of the girls with me as lookouts, but I just wondered . . .’

  ‘Yes, of course. I’ll see the CO straightaway.’

  ‘And Luke – tell Johnny. He might be able to help too.’

  ‘Right. Yes. Tell me her route.’

  Gill gave him the details and when he replaced the receiver he jotted them down quickly so that he could relay them to Johnny. He was sure Johnny would help – with or without permission. This was worth risking a court martial for.

  But no one demurred; both their superior officers were only too keen to help and soon both Luke and Johnny were taking off from their respective airfields in their Spitfires and rendezvousing by communicating over their radios. They could not get in touch with Gill, but they knew the route. They flew at a safe distance side by side and spoke to each other about how they should search.

  ‘We’ll fly as we are now as far as Prestwick. That’s where she was coming from. If we see nothing, we’ll come back on the same route but fly further apart,’ Luke suggested. ‘But we’ll need to land to refuel somewhere.’

  In the distance they saw the Anson, flying steadily in the same direction, but it was Johnny who spotted the crashed aircraft in a field just north of Carlisle. They flew lower and circled it.

  ‘There are people around it.’

  ‘I can’t see anyone still in the aircraft, can you?’

  ‘No, and they don’t look as if they’re making any attempt to get anyone out.’

  ‘She’s either been moved already or she bailed out.’

  ‘Would she have had a parachute?’

  ‘I honestly don’t know,’ Luke said worriedly.

  ‘Shall we land and talk to the folks down there?’

  ‘Where’s Gill?’

  ‘Gone on ahead. I don’t think they spotted this. She’s flying a bit further over to the left.’

  ‘I’ll go down and let you know.’

  Luke turned his aircraft to make an approach on the far side of the field away from the crowd who were milling around the aircraft. As he landed on the bumpy grass field and came to a halt, several people came running towards him.

  He opened his canopy but did not, at the moment, stop his engine or climb out.

  One of the young men clambered onto the wing to speak to him above the noise of the engine.

 
‘Any sign of the pilot?’ Luke shouted.

  The young man shook his head. ‘We’re searching . . .’ He waved his hands towards the surrounding fields and the wooded side of a mountain to the north. ‘It crashed last night and we came straight out to it, but there was no sign of the pilot. He must have bailed out.’

  Despite the seriousness of the situation, Luke couldn’t suppress a smile. ‘Actually, we think the pilot was a young woman.’

  The young man gaped. ‘Flying a Spitfire?’

  ‘Yes. She’s a member of the ATA. They’ve ferried aircraft around the country throughout most of the war.’

  ‘Blimey!’ He held out his hand over the side of Luke’s cockpit. ‘Name’s Dan, by the way. If we should find her, I’ll put a white cross on this field with sheets or something.’

  Luke shook his hand. ‘Thanks, Dan. We’ll take a look from the air.’ He gestured skywards towards Johnny, who was still circling the field. ‘If we see anything, Johnny will circle it and I’ll come back here. By the way, where’s the nearest airfield? We might need to refuel.’

  Luke took off again and once airborne, spoke to Johnny, relating what he’d found out.

  They circled the field in ever-widening circles until Johnny said, ‘I think we should take a look up that mountainside, Luke. She was coming from the north, wasn’t she?’

  ‘Good idea. Let’s go.’

  ‘But, Robert, where can she be? Wouldn’t she land somewhere for the night when it started to get dark? They’re not supposed to fly at night, are they?’

  ‘Alice, darling, you know Daisy. She can be a bit of a rule breaker. With all her experience, she probably thinks she can get away with night flying now.’

  Alice shuddered. ‘But what’s happening? What are they doing?’

  ‘They’ll be looking for her. Don’t worry.’

  ‘Of course I’m worrying.’ Alice had tears in her eyes. ‘We’ve had years of worrying about them all and for this to happen now – just when the war’s ended – is just so cruel.’

  Robert put his arm round her and pulled her close. ‘Come on, love, hold up. Don’t give in now. We must go and find Mother and Father. We need to tell them.’