Uncle was incredulous when he received the call from the Fusiliers on the front; he thought he must have misheard them to start with but it became clear that he hadn't. One of his men, lost weeks, no, months ago had scrabbled into their position from the wreckage of a German machine brought down in no mans land early this morning.
He left immediately, few noticed his leaving as the afternoon show was on and it involved nearly the whole squadron; within the hour he was at a field hospital just behind the lines at the cot side of Corporal Thomas Gunn MM.
"How is it Corporal ?
"Not bad sir, bit painful but it could be worse"
"So I understand, are you up to telling me what happened ?"
"Do mi best sir but it may take a while, I'm a bit foggy."
"Well, you just do your best then".
"Well it started with that bloomin' convoy, as you know sir, we got the beggars but that 'Un got us when mi gun jammed and down we went.
We 'it the ground 'ard sir and no mistake, the old 'Arry Tate just came apart around us when it ploughed in and we was both pretty banged up, me and Mr Keye that is.
We tried to get back in all the commotion but somehow we got caught up wiv the fighting at the front and got rounded up wiv some infantry boys.
We must've looked a right state, our uniforms all torn up and bloodied like they were - anyway upshot of it all was they sent us to an 'ospital - they were going to split us up, Mr Keye bein' an officer an' all that, but 'e insists like that I'm 'is batman and 'ave to stay wiv 'im."
"And they believed that ?"
"Yes sir"
"Extraordinary !"
"Well, it meant we could stay together an' help each other sir. It weren't long before we realised we was near an airfield, we could 'ear 'em most days and we saw them occasionally - dirty big things they was - as we got fitter Mr Keye reckoned 'e could 'andle one of them Jerry kites and we started planning. We realised that Jerry was soon going to send us on our way so even though we weren't as mobile as we liked we went for it."
"That's remarkable Corporal"
"We must've looked a right pair 'obblin' down the road in the gear I knocked off from the wards during our stay sir - we went in the middle of the night, no one noticed we 'ad gone. We got to the airfield before first light an' found a kite on the end of the line that was fuelled an' ready to go. I got Mr Keye in the cockpit somehow and 'e figured out the switches an' that an' as first light came, an' he could see the field, 'e got me to swing the prop an' we were off , got away clean"
"Well done" enthused Uncle.
As he listened to the story unfold his mind wandered to the after action report of A/Capt MacRevis following that mornings Dawn Patrol...
"We was fine 'til we got near the lines then three scouts jumped us - new types I've not seen before - I didn't shoot at 'em, didn't seem right some'ow."
"- the first one 'it us both I think. It gets abit 'azy then sir...."A/Capt MacRevis' report " We hadn't long crossed the lines on our dawn patrol when I spotted a two-seater below us, Rumpler I think, I was surprised it was so low but wasn't going to miss the opportunity and led the boys down on it...."
"Funny thing was some 'Un came to 'elp us out sir....Red Albatros"MacRevis: I raked it from stem to stern - can't be sure but I think I hit both the crew...."
"'E 'ad a go at one of ours that was 'avin' a go at us .... for a moment I almost didn't know who to cheer for !"MacRevis: A Hun in a red kite with skulls appeared out of nowhere,
"but 'e didn't seem to see one of the others coming up behind 'im - 'e must've 'ad a shock ! "MacRevis: He had a go at Sgt Cade and caused him a bit of damage...
"We was goin' to make it - I could see the lines - we'd been properly shot up an' on fire at one point ...."MacRevis:... but didn't seem to be aware of me until I was on him, that seemed to put him off a bit !
"Those boys knew their stuff sir, they didn't arf knock us about, one of 'em jammed I think..."MacRevis: Cade had set them on fire with his first pass and he and Hammer harassed them
MacRevis: The boys kept on the Rumpler while I kept the Albatros entertained..
"Nearly there we were,"
"but they was like a dog wiv a bone an' we got 'it in the tail and that was our lot. Down we went...."
MacRevis: The Rumpler was just about to cross the lines when Cade finished it off with a long range shot in the tail and we saw it go down into no mans land
"We landed just in the wire on our side an' I was thrown out"
"What about Mr Keye Corporal ?"
"'E didn't make it sir, the crash you see..."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know"
"'E got me back sir. I wouldn't be 'ere now if not for him"
"He did well...Tom, damned well."
"E's a bloody 'ero sir, that's what 'e is"
"Yes indeed, and so are you Corporal. Now you get some rest and we'll see about getting you back to Blighty for some well deserved leave"
"Thank you sir" said Gunn as he closed his eyes and lay back on the cot.
Uncle returned to the airfield as quietly as he'd left. After a brief consultation with the C.O. they decided that this story was best left untold to the rest of the squadron lest it upset the morale of the chaps especially Sgt Cade. It was a victory that Uncle found hard to celebrate and he made his excuses from the Sgts Mess earlier than expected that night.
Butchers Tally:
Lt Donald Keye SD-FT / WIA / 0 Kills
Rolled 2 -1SD -1WIA -1 NML = KIA
Cpl Thomas Gunn SD-FT / WIA / 0 Kills
Rolled 8 -1SD -1WIA -1 NML = 5 Injured - Skip 1D3 Scenarios. Rolled 5 = Skip 3
E&E: Rolled 8 -1WIA -1WIC +1NML = 7 Landed almost home! - Skip 1 Scenario. Total Skipped = 4
A/Cpt Phillip MacRevis RTB / 0 Kills (L)
F/Sgt Barry Cade RTB / 1 kill (C)
2Lt Bradley Hammer RTB / 0 Kills (R)
Ltn Helmut Fichter RTB / 0 kills
He now has some splaining to do as to how when test flying his C.O's new kite it ended up full of holes !
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