1915 Fokker Scourge (British Ace Book 2) (9 page)

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and took the tray.
I looked up at the captain. “Well go on, sir, while the condemned man eats a hearty meal.”

I could see that the cooks had gone out of their way to make the meal as hearty and appetising as they could. I doubted that Sergeant Shield and the major would approve.

The Captain sat on my camp stool while Gordy sat on the bed. “Let’s get the charges out of the way.  Firstly that you wilfully disobeyed orders,  by leaving your allotted patrol, secondly that you wilfully disobeyed orders by flying over the enemy lines and engaging German aeroplanes which were not attacking you and thirdly,” he sighed, “that you went to the aid of Lieutenant Holt landing your aeroplane behind enemy lines and jeopardising yourself, your gunner and your aeroplane.”

I continued to chew
. Gordy said, “Well? Aren’t you going to say anything?”

“What can I say?  I am guilty.  I did all of those things and I disobeyed standing orders.
As for the wilfully… well I am not sure what that actually means.”

They looked at each other.  Gordy laughed, “What did I tell you?”

Captain Marshall shook his head, “The major has convened a court martial. He and two other majors from other squadrons will be on the panel. They will be chosen by the major. Lieutenant Hewitt, here, will defend you.”

I slapped Gordy on the back, “That is excellent.”

“The fact that I haven’t the first idea what to do is irrelevant. I will have to muddle through.”

“And who is the prosecutor?”

The captain looked uncomfortable. “Me.”

“Oh.”

“I tried to get out of it but the major insisted that we need a more senior officer than one of the lieutenants.”

“Don’t apologise sir.  At least I kn
ow I will get a fair trial from you.”

“That you will
, Bill.” There was real sincerity in his voice.  I knew he meant it. “The thing of it is that I can no longer speak with you. There is only Gordy here allowed to communicate with you.” He shook his head, “In case you influence the witnesses.” He shook my hand.  “Good luck, Bill.”

After he had gone I put my tray on the floor and took out my pipe. Gordy lit one cigarette from the butt of his earlier one. “If the major is on the panel then he will influence the others.  It is pretty much a lost cause.”

“Don’t say that, Bill.”

“No, I don’t mind. This will expose the major for what he is.  I will be punished but I don’t think that
General Henderson and the other senior officers will want this to continue.”

“You may be right but,” h
e took a deep drag on his cigarette, “I think the major is going for a firing squad. It is war time and it can be used. So you see we don’t want you punished.  We need you found innocent.”

“Oh.” I hadn’t thought that he could ask for such a punishment. “Is
the firing squad a likely outcome? I know it is war time and the death penalty is possible but…”

He shrugged, “
I genuinely do not know and neither does the captain.  This is new territory for both of us. We will have to bring as many character witnesses as we can.  I will bring up your war record.  That has to count for something.  Your time in the cavalry will help as will the number of aeroplanes you have destroyed. Saving Lieutenant Holt’s life has to count for something too. The worst part of this is that we don’t know who the other two majors will be.  It is highly likely that he will pick his friends so that, no matter what we do, no matter how good your defence will be, it will still end up with you being found guilty.”

“You just do the best you can.  When is the trial?”

“The day after tomorrow.”

“Then let’s get started on the defence now.”

As we prepared my defence I discovered that Lieutenant Holt was not badly injured but he was upset that I had been placed in such a position by my action.  His pleas had been ignored by the major who had successfully alienated all of the younger pilots.  He had made me the hero and him the villain by his actions. However, if I was found guilty, that would avail me nought.

We had suffered another three damaged aeroplanes that day.  The Germans were being slightly more strategic than we were. They were well thought out ambushes.  Given that the aeroplanes they used were inferior to ours they had used their minds to defeat us.

We were both methodical thinkers and we went through each incident on that day one by one. We could not get beyond the disobeyed orders and so we decided to attack all of the standing orders which had been introduced by the major. I was exhausted when he left and I could get to my bed properly.

When Gordy brought me my breakfast he was quite excite
d. “You will never believe it but for once Ted has come up with a good idea which is not negative. He went through all the losses in the squadron since the major arrived and compared them with the days when the colonel wrote the orders.  We have lost far more aeroplanes and men since the major took over.  It is startling. If we attack the standing orders then we might have a chance.”

“Define a chance.”

“It might mean a lesser punishment.”

I suppose when the alternative is the death penalty then a less charge isn’t so bad.  The trouble is I did not think I had done anything wrong and, apparently, n
either did the rest of the squadron. I was saddened that the colonel’s son had been wounded but his absence almost amounted to dereliction of duty.  Men had died and been wounded and most of it was down to his absence. We worked until late in the night.  Both of us were exhausted by the time we had finished.

“However it turns out Gordy I want you to know that you are the best friend a man could have and you could not have done more for me.”

He shook my hand, “Don’t be daft.  We both know it could have been me.  It was only a matter of time.  He had it in for all three of us.  Ted told us that when we arrived.  I am just sorry that it was you.”

“Now you are being daft.  I am a single man and you have Mary.  It is better this way.” I hesitated.  “Listen if they find me guilty and, you know, the worst comes to the worst
; will they do it straight away or wait a day or so?”

He looked shocked.  “It won’t come to that.”

“But if it does?  Let’s plan. The thing is I need to write a letter to mum and dad. It would be a better letter if I knew what the outcome was.  But if they are going to, you know, shoot me immediately after the court martial then I had better write one now.”

“Now you are being daft.  They will not shoot you.  Get that into your head.  Now get a good night’s sleep.”

A good night’s sleep would not come. I tried to write a letter but there were too many unknowns.  If this was the last letter that they would receive from me then it had to be right. John and Tom had not written before they had been killed.  It was vital that I did so; if only to explain why I had been shot. I would write the letter after the court martial. I would write one even if they took me out to shoot me right away. This was too important to me. Sleep must have come for Gordy woke me the next day before reveille.  I was not certain that he had slept much from the bags around the eyes and the smell of stale cigarettes.

“Right Bill, let’s have a good breakfast and then put on your number ones.  We have to look smart. Wear your cavalry sword.  You never know one of the other officers could be a cavalryman too.”

When we were quite ready I stood before Gordy.  He nodded, “You’ll do.”

The guard outside said, “They are about ready Lieutenant Harsker.  Two staff cars have just pulled up.” There was a pause.  “It wouldn’t do to keep them waiting eh sir.”

I stepped out and the sun was shining.  It was a beautiful morning. The Flight Sergeant in charge of the detail snapped, “Attention.” Two airmen stood behind me and two in front.  He sergeant stood next to me and said, out of the corner of his mouth, “Sorry about all this sir. But don’t worry it will turn our all right.” Then he snapped, “Prisoner and escort, quick march!”

As we entered the mess tent I noticed there were
airmen seated outside.  I saw Lieutenant Holt and Sergeant Sharp amongst them.  They would be the witnesses. Once again I was thankful that it was Captain Marshall who was prosecuting. He would be fair.

Inside the tent there were four tables. Sergeant Shield sat at one with a sheaf of papers in his hand.  He glanced up as we entered and grinned maliciously. There was a long table with three seats behind it.
In front of it was a single chair and then there were two tables facing it. Gordy took us to a small table with two seats. Captain Marshall smiled as we passed him reading his papers placed before him on the desk.

Suddenly Sergeant Shield shot to his feet and shouted, “General Court Martial, attention!”

I watched as Major St.John Hamilton-Grant strode in.  Behind him was a taller officer I did not recognise.  However he had the same look on his face as the major and my eyes dropped to the desk.  It was as we had feared and Major St.John Hamilton-Grant had ensured that it was men like him who would judge my fate. I was aware of Gordy sitting and I joined him.

I heard the major’s voice.  It seemed to be coming from far away. I knew I should have written the letter to my paren
ts explaining what I had really done and not what the newspapers would say.

“Would you read the charges, Captain Marshall?”

As the Captain went through the list I wondered if I would be able to begin the letter now.  I was about to turn and ask Gordy for some paper when the major said, “How do you plead Lieutenant Harsker?”

Gordy nudged me to rise.  I did so and brought my gaze up. The words, “Not guilty,” were just coming from my lips when I saw the third member of the panel of officers.  It was Major Burscough.  Although his expression was as serious as the others I convinced myself that I had seen hope in his eyes.

“You may sit. The other two members of the panel who will make judgement toady are Major Burscough and Major Stuart.” They both nodded when their names were mentioned. “Captain Marshall, you may proceed and we can get this over with.” Major Burscough shot an irritated glance at Major St.John Hamilton-Grant.  He had not liked the comment.

“
The prosecution calls its first witness, Flight Sergeant Charles Sharp.”

Charlie came in and was asked the predictable questions about the events of the day in question. I could see Charlie trying to make it seem as though I was really obeying orders but Captain Marshall stuck to his task. At the end of his testimony it was quite obvious that I had disobeyed orders and the court martial could have ended there.

Gordy stood. “Sergeant Sharp I just have a couple of questions for you.  Did you object to risking your life to rescue Lieutenant Holt?”

Before he could answer
, Major St.John Hamilton-Grant snapped, “What difference does that make, Lieutenant Hewitt?  He is just a sergeant.”

“In which case his answer will not influence the panel will it sir?” There was no answer and Gordy said softly, “Just answer the question
, Sharp.”

“Of course not sir.  It is our duty to help our comrades.  I am just sorry we could not save his gunner
Bert.”

“A sentiment we all agree with. Now a final
couple of questions for you and then you may leave. You have served with Lieutenant Harsker since you arrived in Belgium?”

“Yes sir.”

“You have served in this squadron then all that time?”

“Yes sir.”

“Tell me then Sergeant Sharp, if this had happened say, during the Second Battle of Ypres, would Lieutenant Harsker be on trial here.”

Major St.John Hamilton-Grant almost exploded, “Captain Marshall, are you not going to object to this line of questioning?”

“I can’t see the harm sir.  It does not change the facts that Lieutenant Harsker disobeyed standing orders, your orders.”

“Answer the question Sharp.”

“Of course not sir.”

“And why not?”

“The standing orders.  The new ones stopped us from being airmen.”

“Thank you, Sharp, no further questions.”

“You are dismissed Sergeant.  Lieutenant Holt.”

As Charlie walked by he winked at me. It seemed to make me feel better for the three majors all had stony and cold faces.

Lieutenant Holt had a bandage around his head and his arm was in a sling. Captain Marshall stood and asked, “Would you like to tell us what happened on the day in question; the day you received these injuries we can see.”

“Sir we were patrolling the front as ordered.  We had been told to stop any German aeroplanes observing movements behind our lines.” Even as he was saying this I knew that it had been rehearsed. “I was the last aeroplane in the line and Lieutenant Harsker was on my port side. A Fokker E1 had managed to come from behind our lines and he attacked me in my blind spot below the engine. I took hits from him and I was forced to fly over no-man’s land. Two other aircraft were waiting for me.  They attacked from the German side.  That was when
Bert, my sergeant was hit. I was forced to fly south.  Lieutenant Harsker discouraged the first Fokker and then took on the other two. My bus was losing power and I looked for somewhere to land.  The German ground fire and the fact that my rudder had been shot out meant I had to go behind their lines.  There was no chance of landing in No-Man’s Land.  The engine lost power and I tried to land. The wing caught and I blacked out.  When I came to the doctor was watching over me and I was back at the airfield; here.”