1914 (British Ace) (26 page)

After he had climbed down he walked over to me. “I am sorry about that.  I was convinced they were going to hit us and I forgot that you were just hanging on to the gun.” He looked up at the contraption.  “How did you stay on board?”

“I wasn’t ready to die.”

He shook his head and walked off with the other two pilots.

Gordy and Ted looked at the aeroplane shaking their heads. “Lucky, lucky, lucky!”

“I know Gordy.  I can’t believe that a piece of scrap wood kept me in the aeroplane.”

“Did he panic?” I nodded.  “I thought so.  You had it under control.  Captain Burscough would have flown straight as a die.”

“I know but I guess I will have to get used to Captain Dixon.”

In the end I didn’t.  He went to the major and they had a long talk. He left the squadron the next day.  The major had me in the office to explain. “You did very well the other day Flight Sergeant and I appreciate your attitude.  Many other men might have said something.  I am pleased that you did not. Captain Dixon is returning to England for a while.  He will train young pilots.  He is an excellent pilot you know.”

“I do sir. It was just one mistake.”

The major leaned back and nodded.  “Very philosophical of you however the fact remains that both of you could have been killed and a valuable aircraft destroyed. How long will it take to repair it?”

“If we had a propeller then we could be flying by the end of the week.  We just have to rebuild the tail but the quartermaster tells me he is waiting for spares.”

“Yes I know. Well repair it and hopefully Captain Burscough will have returned by then. Dismissed.”

I turned to go and then turned back, “Sir, may I ask you something?”

“Of course.  You have earned that right.”

“Would it be possible, at some time in the future, for me to become a pilot?”

He smiled, “I see you and Flight Sergeant Hewitt have been talking.” I nodded.  “I’ll tell you the same thing I told him. Take me up in the Avro and let me see what you can do.  He is going up the day after tomorrow. Is that fair enough?”

I grinned, “More than enough
, sir.  Thank you.”

When I saw Gordy I looked at him askance. “And just when were you going to tell us about becoming a pilot?”

Ted’s cigarette almost dropped from his open mouth. Gordy looked embarrassed.  “When I actually became one.  Sorry lads.  I didn’t want to put a hex on it.”

I smiled, “Don’t worry you will pass and, just so you know, I am having a bash too.”

“You don’t mean I will have to sir the two of you?”

“
Ted, we aren’t even pilots yet let alone officers.”

Ted shook his head, “I can see it happening already. Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir.”

Gordy looked at me.  “When are you going to try out?”

“I thought I’d see how you do. But I wouldn’t mind a couple more lessons over the next few days.”  They both gave me a quizzical look.  “Captain Dixon is returning to England to become an instructor.”

“That is probably for the best. Not everyone is cut out for combat and he is a good flier.”

None of us resented someone who did not have the nerve to be an air warrior.  It was a hard job and not everyone was cut out for it.  Our attitude was that a man should admit to his limitations before others got hurt.  The memory of Lieutenant Ramsden came to mind.  He had hidden his flaws and men had died.  I respected Captain Dixon far more.  He was a real man.

As it turned out we were all grounded for a week by vicious storms.  No one moved on either side of the lines.  It meant the aircraft were all serviced and we even managed to replace the propeller.  We rigged rear facing Lewis guns on the other two aeroplanes of the flight although neither Gordy nor Ted relished having to fire them in action.

Gordy said, “I have even more incentive to become a pilot now.  Bill here is the amazing trapeze artist but I am not.”

The sergeant’s mess had enjoyed teasing me by singing the music hall song about the young man on the flying trapeze.  When I walked in the mess they all sang:

He'd fly through the air with the greatest of ease,

That daring young man on the flying trapeze.

Surprisingly they never tired of it.  Even some of the officers thought it was amusing.  I took it in good part; if I had shown any kind of discomfort they would have taken it as a sign of poor character and so I smiled and I bowed each time they sang it.

When the skies did clear we all watched as Gordy took off with the major as observer
for his flying test.  He had been given clear instructions: take off, perform a figure of eight around the field, a barrel roll to port and one to starboard, climb to five hundred feet and then dive to fly across the airfield at one hundred feet.  Basically the major wanted to know not only if he could fly but also if he could handle combat situations. From the ground it looked immaculate but we knew that the major was a fussy judge. Nothing would get by him.

The major gave nothing away as he walked away from the aircraft.  We all crowded around Gordy. “Well, lads, I am now a pilot!”

It did not change things immediately.  We were still short of aeroplanes but we had volunteers from training depots in England who wished to be observers.  My attempt to become a pilot had to be deferred.  There was to be a new offensive and we had been tasked with photographing the area around Neuve Chapelle and Auber.   Lorries arrived with cameras and the observers were all given lessons in photography.  Later these would be attached to the aeroplanes but as March 1915 approached, we had to take the photographs by leaning out of the aeroplane. They were a little blurry. We now had wooden buildings.  Some Royal Engineers had spent February constructing barracks and messes as well as workshops. We used one of the new workshops to learn how to take photographs.

As luck would have it Captain Burscough returned from his convalescent leave.
I did not need to have the trauma of a new pilot.  He was fully fit and keen to get back into action.  He had a brown paper parcel with him and he proudly handed it to me.  “Here as promised, a leather flying coat.”

“Sir, you shouldn’t have.”

“Of course I should but perhaps you won’t need it now that you have learned to be a trapeze artist.” He was grinning as he said it.  Word had soon reached him of my feat.

We took off as a squadron and headed south east. We had rarely visited this quiet area of
the front and it was new territory for us.  The Germans had no aerial defences in the region so we had few machine guns and no aeroplanes to contend with.  It was actually a pleasurable experience and we spent a couple of hours flying as low as we could go photographing the railways and the trenches.  Others would analyse them but we all knew that our next task would be to support the attack.

Our next flight was on the
morning of 9
th
of March.  We were to destroy any enemy aeroplanes and balloons as we could.  For that reason we flew as a squadron with five aeroplanes being supported by six much higher up.  We had learned to protect ourselves once we were in enemy territory.

It was my first flight with the rest of the newly armed aeroplanes.  Our aircraft had been nicknamed the Gunbus for
we all now sported three machine guns. We might not be either the fastest or most agile of aeroplanes but we were the most dangerous.  We bristled with weaponry.  The armourer had even got us some small bombs.  We had had a demonstration of their use but, so far, we had not used them in action. There were racks fitted to a couple of the aeroplanes to hold the deadly projectiles.

We reached the German lines and quickly destroyed the four balloons that we found. Our foray with the cameras had alerted the enemy and we saw a Jasta of Aviatiks and Albatros heading for us.  We flew in a line abreast of five aeroplanes.  As the senior officer Captain Burscough and I were in the centre.  Above us Major
Brack and the rest of the squadron were waiting to pounce on any aeroplanes which attacked us.  The enemy formation was three wide and four deep. Against our firepower that was a mistake.  We flew directly at them.  Each aeroplane fired their two Lewis machine guns and a wall of bullets tore through the poorly armed Germans. The captain and I managed to destroy one almost immediately and a second, from the second tier, headed home with smoke trailing.

The major’s attack completely destroyed the Jasta.  We shot down three aircraft and all of the others were damaged.  We had done our job and we returned home elated. Our infantry attack would be a surprise.  The enemy were blind and would not be able to discern the troop movements.

After we had landed we saw that there were tables laden with bombs.  The armourer grinned at us.  “Right lads, you have shown you can use a machine gun.  Now let’s see if you can use a bomb. There are four for each aircraft. My lads will fit racks to the outside of your cockpits.” He laughed wickedly, “The last thing we need is for one to go off during takeoff.”

While the pilots all went to their briefing we helped the mechanics and armourers fit the racks
to those aeroplanes which did not have them yet.  The balance of the aeroplane was vital and no-one wanted them in the wrong place.  I insisted that they be put slightly behind me towards the pilot’s seat. I had enough weight in the front already. We finished by noon and the bombs were fitted. All we had to do was to detach the bomb from the rack and then throw it towards the ground. The fins on the back helped to steer the device and it would explode upon impact. We had no idea what our targets would be but we were like children on Christmas day with a new toy.  This was exciting and new.

We took off at dawn and headed south east.  Other squadrons could be seen to port and starboard.  Our target was the railway lines we had photographed
. Once the attack of the infantry began the generals wanted no support to reach the beleaguered Germans. Having photographed them then we knew where they were.  We were not the leading flight this time. The major did not anticipate any German aeroplanes and so we flew in line astern.  That way we could go to secondary targets if we were successful with the primary.

There was a little anti-aircraft fire but it was not enough to cause us concern.  It would have taken a very lucky strike to hit one of the bombs.  We found the railway and the major led the attack.  The first three aeroplanes managed to destroy the track and the major waved us further east.  We saw smoke in the air; it was a train.  The
aeroplane ahead of us dived and the observer threw his bomb. I saw it explode at the side of one of the freight wagons. Then it was our turn.  I deliberately threw it early and I aimed at a point ahead of the train. As we pulled up I saw the track as it was flung in the air and I heard the screech of brakes as the train tried to stop.  Glancing over my shoulder I saw that Gordy had managed to drop his bomb on the engine. There was an enormous explosion and we could hear the screeching of the railway cars as they slewed off the wrecked track.

Once again the major waved us up into the air and we bombed a marshalling yard.
This was almost too easy.  They had no defences and we had time to aim our bombs. When it was wrecked we all had bombs left and we were waved west, towards the battle.  We could see the smoke in the distance and hear the crump of the heavy weapons.  The Germans knew they were being attacked. We found a road and it was filled with a German column of infantry. We dived and threw out bombs at the helpless infantry below us.  They had nowhere to escape. Once our bombs had been thrown we flew up and down machine gunning the road until our magazines were empty.

Oddly enough I did not feel elated but deflated. We had slaughtered the Germans with impunity. I knew we were saving British lives but it did not seem right somehow.  It was not playing the game.  The Germans had had no chance to fight back.

The mood in the squadron was, however, one of unbridled joy.  We had done our job and more.  The major came into the sergeant’s mess that night with a wonderful boyish grin all over his face.  “Well done boys.  Thanks to your efforts we have broken through. The Germans are retreating.”

We found out that the canals we had seen to the south had been attacked by the other squadrons.  Nothing had reached the front.  For the first time in the war the Royal Flying Corps had had a decisive effect.
The soldiers might have only gained a few miles but this was the first gain since October and promised to be a sign of things to come.

At the time we all thought that the war would soon be over but that was not the case.  Still that night was one of celebration.  We had suffered no losses and the enemy had suffered a bloody nose.

We were brought down to earth the following day when the Germans counterattacked.  We had no more bombs to use; we later discovered that the artillery
had also run out of shells too.  We were forced to fly with just our machine guns.  As we headed over the trenches we found a hotter reception that we had had the previous day.  Roaring dangerously low over the trenches, newly prepared by the enemy, we found that they had machine guns aimed into the sky.  I saw at least three of our eleven aircraft turn back with damage from ground fire. We pushed on until we saw another column of infantry hurrying to get to the front.