OTT-BYM Mission 1B: C Flight Denies the Enemy - again - By Vagabond
Uncle was worried, he went over his decision once more and knew it was the right one, but even so he was worried.
You might wonder what would worry a veteran of the air war, after 2 years sending men and boys into the sky to fight and sometimes die; well he was worried about the latest mission from HQ.
Another Balloon busting one!! Usually the scout pilots drew the short straw and so it was only a question of who would go and who would not go.
Lately things had been tough for the scout pilots of C Flight, tougher than usual that is and there were only 3 medically fit for duty and they were all a little frazzled round the edges. He could call on Vagabond at a pinch but the M.O. had gone ballistic when the lunatic flew without his authorisation and he was grounded, and a little bit in disgrace. The C.O. didn’t know the full story of the joy ride with Nurse Schultz or he might have had Vagabond RTU, but Uncle needed all the pilots he could get and so wasn’t going to have one RTU because he flew when he shouldn’t, only if he didn’t fly when he should.
There was a knock on his door and 6 Airmen filed into the cramped space that Uncle called his office, he looked them over and his misgivings faded, these men would do what he asked without complaint and they would do it well. OK, maybe not without complaint, but to the best of their ability, what more could he ask.
“Right ho chaps I have a balloon busting mission for you” and Uncle looked straight into the eyes of Lieutenant Charles Plaskitt-Smythe, CO of the tandems attached to the Squadron. Plaskitt-Smythe didn’t blink or raise his eyebrows in resignation, his clear blue eyes looked straight back at Uncle and he just murmured, “Where is it, Sir”.
“What the Hell is this”, exclaimed Jock 1 or maybe Jock 2, “we’re just supposed to go and throw a few bombs at the Huns on the ground every now and again, or maybe direct some HE artillery shells in their direction not actually go and do anything serious like fight anyone”. “Ouch” he exclaimed as Jock 1 or 2 kicked him and muttered “shut up”.
Cowan and Ryan looked slightly amused and slightly interested in equal parts, they both enjoyed fighting and it didn’t really matter who they were fighting. They knew Balloons didn’t fight back and that’s all they needed to know.
Uncle did the briefing, coordinates, likely opposition, weather forecast, flight time, etc etc, all routine and then they left.
Outside on the grass Plaskitt-Smithe laid out his plan of attack:-
“Cowan, you take the new Sopwith Strutter, draw Incendiary rounds for your forward facing gun, you take down the balloon. Joe you will use normal rounds against any Hun who tries to discourage Cowan from killing the balloon. Just make sure you don’t have incendiaries in your Lewis when firing at anything other than the balloon or you’ll be shot by the Hun if they catch you”.
“The Jocks, Podgy and I will take the Fee’s. We’ll make sure if there’s any Hun scout’s protecting the balloon they won’t get near you” he said to Cowan, who just grinned back.
He knew bull sh*t when he was hearing it.
Two hours later Uncle heard a knock on his office door and Plaskitt-Smythe walked in. “How did it go” he asked, “do you want a moment or two to get your thoughts together, you look as though you’ve been through the ringer”.
“No it was fine” P-S responded. “The balloon was exactly where your intel said it would be. It was protected by a couple of Hun scouts but we saw them off as Cowan and Ryan took on the balloon”.
“Ryan put the final shots into it, there was one almighty explosion and that was the end of it. We all got back in one piece. My Fee took some damage to the engine, not too serious and having completed the mission I called the boys back home”.
“If there’s any confirmation from the ground then Podgy might have a possible but we didn’t see it go down. He sprayed one of the new Albatros scouts from close range and there was definitely oil leaking from its engine as he left for home”.
“That’s about it” he finished lamely. “I’ll write up the Mission Report this evening if that’s alright with you Sir”.
“Of course that’s alright, do it tomorrow morning, I don’t think you are on the rota so you and Podgy can have a lay in if you like”.
P-S gave a grim smile and said, “we’ll see how that pans out Sir, I’ll be off to the Mess if it’s alright, we’re just going to have a memorial drink”.
“Oh” said Uncle “anything I should know about”. “No Sir, nothing important” was the reply.
Strange thought Uncle, he seems very down, I’ll ask one of the other chaps and see what went wrong, but then he thought again. They were a close knit bunch the tandems and if one wasn’t telling him something, the others probably wouldn’t either. Not like the Scout flight, there was a lot of tension between some of the pilots, another reason he’d passed this job onto Plaskitt-Smythe’s men and something that would need sorting out once Biff was back flying.
The mood in the Mess was sombre, they were all thinking about that morning’s mission and feeling various things, but jubilation was not one of them, the exploding balloon had rather knocked the wind out of their sails.
Podgy was the first to voice the general feeling, he looked ashen and when he spoke his voice quavered a little. “I didn’t mean to hit him, I was aiming at the balloon but was being buffeted about so much that my shooting was all over the show”. “I know” muttered Cowan, “I was pumping incendiaries into the balloon for all I was worth as we came in and saw you hit one of the observers, but that’s what happens when leads flying around indiscriminately, you can't blame yourself”.
“Yes” responded Podgy “but then the thing caught fire and I expected them to jump”.
“I know that we’re trying to beat the Hun, but you know, usually these chaps have parachutes and jump before we actually start to shoot at them. They don’t stand much chance hiding in that wicker basket and his partner, he should have jumped when the thing caught fire. There’s no chance of survival once that happens but I could see him trying to get his wounded mate over the side of the basket”.
In his broad Bronx accent Ryan chimed in, “I missed seeing you hit the guy, it’s that damn top hat you wear Cowan, it’s OK in the Fee but in the Strutter I can’t see half of what’s going on up front. It’s probably a good job I missed it though or I mightn’t have fired as we passed underneath the thing.
I nearly wet myself when it exploded right over head, and what were you doing flying through the tethering wires like some mad fool” he demanded of Cowan, who just grinned back. “It’s the hat”, he smiled, “I’m as mad as a hatter but you know that” and they both smiled a wry smile. Mainly because it was true, not because it was funny.
“Well” Ryan continued “I know we can’t give the enemy an even break but this feels more like murder than usual”. That sort of summed up everyone’s feelings about it, hence the sombre mood.
“He tried his best to get his mate out” chimed in Jock 2 “and he didn’t have much time before that thing exploded, he probably would have made it though if he’d just abandoned his partner and looked after himself”.
And that was the real rub!
They all went quiet, thinking about tandem flying and how close you and your partner became, closer even than marriage. A partnership of life or death, a partner you would die for, just as they would die for you and they had just killed two defenceless men, partners just like themselves. It didn’t sit easy.
“I expect it was quick” someone said; although no one responded.
“Their escorts weren’t close enough either”, said Jock 1, “you were shooting up the balloon even before they arrived”.
“We were almost past the balloon before we encountered the first of them, a cameo Albi, Jock had a field day putting holes in him without much response, I don’t think they were up to the job” he concluded.
“True but, I think his gun might have jammed” Jock 2 replied, then continuing his train of thoughts he remarked “they’re fast these new Albatross but speed isn’t everything, you just out flew him and I couldn’t miss with those last shots but then my gun jammed as well.
It’s funny though, when you’re in the middle of it, your body reacts without the brain having time to tell it what to do. I had that mallet out, beating seven bells out of the Lewis before I had even thought about it” he grinned.
“I know what you mean, instinct takes over” said Cowan, “I was flying back through that ball of flames without really being aware of making the manoeuvre. The deaths of its crew were forgotten in the heat of the moment and I was only looking to do the same to the Hun scout pilots he admitted wryly”.
“I could see them up ahead, both of them turning hard to starboard, smoke still streaming from the one you shot up Jock. I just wanted to fly straight at them and see my tracers shoot straight into them but remembered the incendiaries in my gun at the last moment.
I guess it’s only when the adrenaline stops pumping that you have time to reflect on what you’ve done”.
“Anyway I tried to get them off to one side of us so Joe could get in a shot. I have to get close, what with his poor eyesight and all”. “Ouch” he said “was that a peanut you just threw at me”.
“Just showing how accurate my shooting really is” drawled Joe with a smile.
Cowan rubbed the middle of his forehead where the peanut had struck and continued, “I half expected them to head home having lost the balloon. They were outnumbered and we all know there’s no percentage in fighting against the odds when there’s no need to”.
“Anyway” Cowan continued “I could hear Joe’s gun firing but I’ve no idea where his shots went, maybe he managed to pot some lone pigeon as it flew home, I don’t really know”.
“What do you mean” Joe drawled, “My shots were right on target same as always. Well at least they’re on target when you get me into range”.
The tension of the morning was starting to ease with the natural flow of banter between this tight knit group.
“How did you get on with the new harness” Podgy asked Jock 2, “did your b***ard driver pull an Immelmann like mine did”. He looked accusingly at P-S. “Hey don’t give me that fish eye look” P-S retorted, “I shouted Immel as loud as I could and saw you fiddling about with your harness and you put your thumb up before I turned”.
“Only just” Podgy said. “Well you must have been secure because you didn’t fall out” P-S retorted “and your shooting was pretty damn perfect after being thrown all over the sky, most unusual”.
“That’s only because my reflexes are faster than a falling cat” was the response from Podgy. “You mean sleeping cat don’t you”!! was P-S’s come back to that one.
“You sound like an old married couple” Joe drawled, “stop bitching at each other. I was pleased though when you fired the green very light signalling to break off and go home” he continued.
“Well in that last pass we took damage to the engine and I knew you would be like lost sheep without us” said P-S “so with the engine shaking fit to break from it’s mountings I needed to leave pretty soon. I think Podgy might have damaged the Huns engine as well, they seemed to lose their appetite for the fight at the same time so it made an easy break for us”.
It went quiet again.
“Look” said Podgy “about these balloon observers”!! “Yes OK” said P-S, “I’ll get a wreath made up in the village tonight and we can go and drop it over them tomorrow”.
Everyone looked more or less relieved at this and Joe went to get another round.
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