1914 (British Ace) (25 page)

“Contact!”

The approaching Germans gave me added strength and the propeller flew around.  It coughed and spluttered but it caught.  I ran around to the front of the moving aeroplane. There were no chocks to hold it.  The Germans infantry were less than two hundred yards away and they were firing at us. The captain’s Lewis was not pointing at them and they advanced quickly.  I had to run alongside the moving aeroplane and haul myself on board. As soon as I was in the cockpit I cocked the Lewis and sprayed the infantry. This was no short burst; I emptied the magazine and then reloaded while we were still on the ground.  We were now bouncing along the icy white field and the fence was rapidly approaching. The infantry were lying down and firing and I felt the bullets zoom and zip over my head.  The infantry were behind us now and I emptied my Lee Enfield at them. The front of the aeroplane suddenly lifted. I heard the sound of breaking branches as the under carriage clipped the top of the hedge but we were aloft.

I turned to give the thumbs up at the captain and saw him mouthing something.  I connected my tube.  “Good flying sir.”

“Yes we were lucky.  The thing is old chap, I appear to have been hit.”

That was the worst news I could have heard.  If he succumbed to his wounds then the
aeroplane would dive to its and my death. “Is it bad sir?”

“I don’t know.  It’s my leg and it hurts like buggery! How is the engine doing?”

I saw a thin plume of smoke coming from the engine.  It did not like its new oil but it would survive. “It was an oil pipe.  It is repaired and should get us home.”

“Right then.
  It’s up to me.  How far away are we?”

“I reckon fifteen miles, sir.”
I readied the Very Pistol. I would need to signal the field that we needed the doctor and a fire team. I kept watch on the captain.  He looked a little pale beneath his helmet but he was smiling.  “You’ll make it sir.  Just hang on. Think of the pretty nurses who will see to your every need.”

“Knowing my luck she will have a moustache and
breath like a week old dead pig!”

I glanced around. 
“Airfield ahead sir.” I fired a flare into the air.  It would tell the field that we had wounded and the doctor would be standing by. “Hang on sir, the doc will be waiting for you.”

I watched as the wings wobbled.  I did not risk a glance astern for fear it would unsettle the captain. It was in God’s hands now; God and the captain.  I was just the passenger. One wing seemed to be lower than the other.  I prayed that we would not cartwheel.  I had seen what it had done to the other observer.  The quick death I had so blithely dismissed now seemed a little more painful. Inexorably the ground approached and I watched as the wing tip came up a little. We bumped down and then sprang up but the second bump saw us roll towards the huddle of anxious looking people.

As soon as we stopped I leapt out and went to the captain’s assistance.  He had passed out.  The doctor and the medical orderlies were there in an instant.  “He has been shot in the leg.”

The doctor nodded, “Thank you Flight Sergeant, we’ll take it from here.”

The major glanced at the unconscious captain as he was taken away and then came to me. “What happened?” I told him, describing the machine guns on the train. “You were damned lucky then.  Well done Flight Sergeant.” I gave him a pleading look.  He smiled, “Don’t worry, I will tell you any news as soon as I get it.”

Gordy and Ted came over.  I could see from their faces that they felt guilty.  We had been alone. I told them what had happened.  Ted went around to the engine.  “I’ll sort out the oil.  She will need draining and refilling.” He glanced at the propeller.  “You’ll need a new one of these too. You two sort out the holes.” He shook his head, “Looks like a piece of Swiss
, bloody cheese!”

Gordy and I began to assemble the canvas and glue for the repairs.  “He is right you know, Bill, you are lucky.  Not many can land, repair a crate and then take off again.”

“I wish we had dual control aeroplanes, Gordy.  I hated being helpless in the front.  I kept remembering poor Stan.”

“Aye, I know.  The thought had crossed my mind.”
He shook his head, “I think I shall put in to become a pilot. I would rather be in control than being a passenger.”

“What will the major say?”

“I think he would be happy about that.  It saves getting a new boy from home.  At least we have combat experience and know how to fly out here.  Anyway I’ll give it a go.”

It too
k two days to repair the F.E. 2 and about the same length of time for us to find out about the captain’s wound.  The captain’s leg was saved and he was sent to the same hospital in England where I had been hospitalised. I went to see him the day he left.  “How is the old bus?”

“She is all repaired, sir. 
As good as new.”

“Well I hate to leave you in the lurch like this.” He hesitated, “The major is letting
Captain Dixon fly the bus until I return.” I could see in his eyes that he wanted me to cooperate.

I smiled, “Righto sir.  I’ll look after them both.”

“I know you will. They say I’ll be away for a fortnight or so. If I can I’ll try to get you a decent coat.”

“You don’t have to
, sir.”

“I know, Bill.  I want to.  I know that it was you who saved our bacon out there and I am grateful.”

As I passed the squadron office I noticed that there was a letter from home for me.  It had been some time since mother had written.  I knew that letters were low down on the priorities of the war department but to us they were a lifeline home.

Boxing Day 1915

Dear Bill,

Merry Christmas! I hope you are managing to celebrate.  It was quiet this year, just Albert, Alice and Kathleen. Kathleen wanted her young man to come but I told her that until they are engaged then there are rules.

We have been reading about all the poor soldiers wounded and killed in the trenches.  I am glad that you are in an aeroplane.  We never hear about any of those coming to grief.

Did you read about the shelling of the East Coast?  Some German ships sailed up to Hartlepool and Scarborough.  They killed 78 women and children. They are evil those Germans.  I didn’t agree with this war at first but if this is the sort of thing that they do then you need to sort them out and teach them a lesson. It was bad enough when they shot those poor Belgians but these were English families!

Your sister, Sarah, suits marriage.  We don’t see a great deal of them as s
he and her hubby, Cedric, live in the big house.  There’s more room for the girls but I miss her. And I miss you. Take care, my dear boy, and come home safely to us. I pray for you every night and hope that God watches over you and all the other brave English boys.

Your loving Mother

xxxx

And so I had to work with a new pilot. I wondered how Captain Dixon would cope.  He had not flown combat since before Christmas and I thought that the crash and his dead observer would be on his mind.  They were certainly on mine.

Captain Dixon turned up the next morning as I was running through the early morning checks we performed. He was older than Captain Burscough and he was a serious looking officer. He came towards me with hand outstretched.  “I just wanted to say that I am honoured and delighted to be flying with you.  I’ll try to keep up Captain Burscough’s high standards.” His lordship had more kills than anyone else and was still the only pilot to have a confirmed kill on an enemy aeroplane.

“Don’t worry sir, you’ll do all right. Are we up this morning?”

“Yes
, we will be with Captains Dundas and Devries.  We are to be tail end Charlie.”

I patted the rear facing gun. “That’s because we have a sting in our tail sir.”

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.  I was petrified.  You get used to a pilot.  The take off seemed edgy and the flight not as smooth.  It was probably my imagination but I had a queasy feeling in my stomach. Perhaps he would get better as the flight progressed.  I kept turning to look behind us.  Gordy, in the lead aeroplane would be spotting the enemy targets.  I was looking for the Hun in the sun.

We headed for the observation balloons.  They had been absent since we had destroyed them earlier in the year.  The effect on their artillery had been dramatic and they had not had the same success.  We were told that they were back up and our job was to destroy them. We were given the ones in the middle of the line.

As soon as we neared them we could see that they had beefed up their defences.  There were now machine guns and other weapons firing directly up at us as we approached.  It made it much harder to concentrate on the enemy balloons.  I was the last to fire and it afforded me the opportunity of observing their defences.  I saw that they had erected sandbags around their winchmen.  They could not be hit quite as easily. They also had machine guns there too.  They had learned their lessons well. Then I had to concentrate on the balloons as the other two aeroplanes peeled away.  Captain Dixon was not making life easy for me and the aircraft was moving up and down too much for me to concentrate my fire. I managed to puncture the balloon but I missed the observer.

As the captain wheeled away I saw, out of the corner of my eye, German aeroplanes heading in our direction from the east. 
“Sir, German aeroplanes!” I stood and pointed. 

He nodded and began a slow bank. Once we were heading west I stood on my seat and cocked the Lewis gun.  We would be the target for their first attack. There looked to be something different about the leading Albatros.  As it came close I could see that the machine gun was no longer on the wing but over the engine and there were two of them.  We had been told they were working on a machine gun which fired through the propeller.  Was this one of those? Speculation was an idle luxury I could ill afford.

The first of the four planes began its roaring descent.  I saw Captain Dixon glancing nervously over his shoulder. “Fire, Flight Sergeant! He’s almost on us.”

“Not yet sir.
  I have to be sure.” I had no idea why the captain was so nervous; the Albatros had not even opened fire yet.

The machine guns ripped into action when they were a hundred yards away. 
It was too far to be effective and I saw only one bullet strike our tail; the rest flew harmlessly through the open fuselage. At fifty yards I fired a burst.  I struck the propeller and the engine.  As the Albatros wheeled away I could see smoke but it was not a fatal wound. The second aeroplane had also fired too early.  Our aeroplane was not flying as straight as Captain Burscough would have flown it and that mistake saved us as the machine stitched a line through the wing. I gave a second burst and struck the undercarriage.  I saw a wheel fly off and the aeroplane began to fly slightly more erratically as its balance shifted.  I took the opportunity of putting another burst into the fuselage and I managed to hit the observer.

The third aeroplane and the fourth came at us together.
They both fired their guns from two sides and lead struck the engine and the wings. I emptied one magazine at one and I quickly changed the magazine.  I had just done so when Captain Dixon panicked.  He went into a steep climb whilst rolling the aeroplane.  It was a good manoeuvre but not when you had a gunner in the front and he was not attached to his seat. I was suddenly upside down and clinging to a Lewis gun which was held in place by a piece of wood. I felt like a trapeze artist at the circus.  I thought my arms would be wrenched from my sockets and I was amazed that the gun did not tear away from the aeroplane. I saw the look of horror on the captain’s face.  He corrected his roll and my feet found purchase on the seat again. 

We had briefly lost the other two Germans but also our companion aeroplanes.  We were isolated and there were still three enemy aeroplanes which could hurt us. Once I was secure again I lined up on the nearest German.  This time he held his fire as did I. When he did open fire he hit the tail which suddenly shredded. I saw pieces fly from
our propeller. We yawed to one side and it gave me a perfect shot at no more than forty yards range. I fired a short burst directly into the pilot.  His head was struck and I saw the blood and brains spray the observer. The aeroplane went into a vertical dive.  I saw the fourth German line us up and then I saw bullets strike him from both sides as our two companion aircraft struck him from both sides.  They must have emptied their magazines and hit the fuel tank for the aeroplane exploded in a fireball. The shockwaves made all three of us bounce up and down. 

I reconnected the speaking tube. 
“Time to go home, sir.  He hit our tail and our propeller.  I think I have used up all of our luck for today.”

There was silence and I wondered if the tube had broken.  “Sorry
. Flight Sergeant.  That was my fault.  I could have killed you!”

“We can talk about that when we land sir.  I am still in one piece.”

As tail end Charlie we were the last to land and the other crews were waiting for us.  I saw Ted shaking his head at the propeller.  It had barely got us home and I was impressed with the captain’s skills for he had landed us without a real tail.  He might panic but he could fly.  His earlier crash must have really damaged his confidence.