Should England Fall
Page 33
Lizard, “Boss is asking if we can get an away team to Hartford?”
Hammond, “We’ll make it happen.”
ARTHUR 1 OVER RAF KENLEY
Spike, “Okay, we need a fuel check.” After the fuel check, she gets on the radio, “All open airfields in southern UK, this is Arthur. If you are open for landing, please turn on your lights.”
“Yankee, Hartford, lights on.”
“Yankee, Biggin Hill, lights on.”
“Yankee, Tangmere, lights on.”
“Yankee, Middle Wallop, lights on.”
“Yankee, Dover, lights on.”
“Yankee, Heathrow, we are closed.”
Spike, “If you are closed, standby. Are there any other open fields?”
The radio is silent. “Very well. All squadron leaders, Yankee, sort out your birds to keep a quarter in the air at all times. They should have gun ammo and fuel at the outlying fields.”
All remaining squadrons check in, “Roger, Yankee.”
Major Floyd B. Parks, USMC, commander VFMA-324, Devil Dogs, “Arthur, Dog 1, be advised, I’m down to 5 usable aircraft.”
Spike, “Understood, Dog 1. How are Rusty and Dusty?”
LCDR William N. Leonard, USN, commander of VA-11, Iron Angels, “Arthur, Rusty 1, I have 6. Three of them made emergency landings.”
“Understood, Rusty. How are Golden Gator and Bad Bird?”
“VA-211, Dragons have lost two, and VA-213, Hell Hawks, have lost one.”
“Keep me posted. Status on Percival flight and Gawain 2?”
Mouse, “Arthur, Percival 2. We’re safely down at RAF Hartford. Bird needs significant repair.”
Spike, “Injuries?”
Trollop, “None, but my pride.”
Spike continues, “Percival 1? Gawain 2? Percival 1? Gawain 2? Anyone know where they are?”
Speedy, “We lost them over London.”
Mouse, “Sorry, Arthur, we haven’t heard from them.”
Then, “Arthur 1, Valkyrie 1, we’re recovering downed pilots as fast as we can. All birds are out.”
Spike, “Valkyrie, Arthur, roger.” On intercom, “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” She turns on her running lights, and on radio, “No-No, get on my wing. We’re going hunting.” She turns her plane east.
Robot, “On our way, Spike.”
Speedy, “On our way, Spike.”
NOB, “On your wing in a bit.”
Spike, “Galahad, take the rest and refuel and rearm.”
Gandhi, “Roger, Arthur.”
Then, they hear Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, “Spike, Stuffy, what are your intentions?”
“Stuffy, Spike. Fighter sweep up the channel. They need to know we still have fight.”
“Spike, Stuffy. God speed. God speed.”
CHAPTER 27
WESTMINSTER, LONDON
0339, 6 October, 1942
Churchill stands at a window looking out across the Thames. South London is burning. People are fleeing across the bridges. Fire fighters are desperately trying to save all they can north of the river, battling scattered fires. Air Marshal Arthur Tedder says, “Sir, Yankee has lost three Tomcats and nine Warthogs. No status on two of the crews.”
“Thank you, Arthur.” They stand, mesmerized by the magnitude of the fire. A fire boat gallantly attempts to put down flames on the south bank.
“Sir, is it as bad as it looks?”
Churchill sighs, “Worse.”
“Sir, please? Is the King safe?”
“He is. His heir, though. We’ve lost contact.”
“Where was she?”
“Somewhere between Buckingham and Windsor. Heathrow was hit by V-1s and bombs, and it’s so near Windsor.”
“Why was she moved in the middle of the night?”
“My fault. When I realized the target was London, I asked him to split them up, so at least one would survive.”
“But she was at Windsor.”
“She was. When I realized the Germans were leaving north of the Thames alone, I ordered them back.”
“Heathrow is still manned. I’ll put out the word.”
“Do so, but don’t make a fuss. His Majesty would not approve.”
ARTHUR 1, 35,000 FEET OVER DOVER
Spike on radio, “Lights on. Stack it up. Close formation.” The big planes move very close together, wings overlapping.
Lizard, “Boss, what are we doing?”
“We’re presenting one radar return.” Again, on radio, “Once we break, the lights go off. To avoid collisions, any one of us can call lights. If we hear the call, we turn on our lights for one second then shut them off. We use vertical separation. I have the top, angels 20 and up. No-No, you have 15 to 20. Gunner, you have 10 to 15. Thud, you have 10 to the deck. If you have to leave your zone, call the name of the pilot your swapping with and say up or down for the direction they need to go. Clear?”
The three RIO’s answer in the affirmative.
GERMAN AIRFIELD, NORMANDY
0503, 6 October, 1942 (0403 GMT)
Oberstleutnant Albrecht Meyer climbs out of his fighter shouting, “Refuel! Schnell! Schnell! Rearm!”
A sedan pulls up next to his plane and Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering climbs out. Meyer salutes, “Heil Hitler!”
“Heil Hitler. Tell me Oberstleutnant, how did the battle go?”
“Herr Reichsmarschall, General major Weber’s plan went very well. We’ve destroyed at least four of their fighters and south London burns. I over flew their airbase at Kenley and it was in flames and an ordinance bunker went up. Those that survive are scattered to other fields. Some may have run out of fuel. We must strike again, immediately.”
PERCIVAL 1, EAST OF RAF HEATHROW
0406, 6 October, 1942
Gloria looks around, her parachute bundled in her arms. She’s standing in a small field and a stone barn is silhouetted against the flames in the east. South of her trees are burning, the flames crowning and jumping from tree to tree. West of her, there is less fire. She sees the fire from her own aircraft. Spinning again, she sees movement and walks toward it, finding GQ struggling to his feet.
He looks up at her, “Am I glad to see you. Please, a hand. I hurt my knee.”
“Yeah,” and she pulls him up. “We need to go.” They hobble to a nearby farm house, but the door is locked and there’s no one home. “Damn, I left my lock picks in my other pants.” She hears a noise and looks out. She sees the beam of a flashlight illuminating the fender of a car.
She helps GQ to sit on the stoop, “Stay here. Hopefully that light is a ride.”
She walks rapidly toward the light and sees a large car on a road. ‘Hello? Is your car running?”
The person holding the light spins and shines it in her eyes, “If it were, we’d be on our way, wouldn’t we?”
Gloria grins, “Yeah. Light down please? Lieutenant Hoolihan. We were shot down.”
The man bent over the engine straightens up, “Do you know anything about vehicles?”
“I do. What’s the problem?”
“Well, we seem to have sprung a radiator leak courtesy of all this debris.”
There’s a long thick branch sticking out of the radiator. She checks and the engine is extremely hot. She stops and thinks, “Look, I think there’s a chicken coop back there. So, I’ll go get some eggs. Do you have any tools?”
“There’s a small kit in the boot.”
“Right. You get the tools, I need pliers. I’ll get the eggs and find some water.”
“You can get us on the road with eggs?”
She chuckles, “Oh, yes. Then, can you give my RIO and myself a ride to Kenley?”
“You’re one of the Yank flyers. Of course, we can.”
GERMAN AIRFIELD, NORMANDY
0521, 6 October, 1942 (0421 GMT)
Oberstleutnant Meyer cleans up his aircraft and makes a climbing left turn as his twenty-four FU-279s can join him. When he reaches altitude, his radar warning goes off, “What is this? They kn
ow we’re coming. Should I abort? This is the main chance. If we wait, they will reorganize. We go.”
ARTHUR FLIGHT, SOUTH ENGLISH CHANNEL
Robot, on radio, “Raid warning. Ten plus climbing through angels 6 bearing 035. 60 miles out.”
Lizard, “Roger, Robot. Break on my mark. We volley at 25 miles.”
“Roger.” On intercom, “No-No, we found them first.”
“Good work, sis. Shit, this is hard.” No-No focuses on Spike ahead and above; Thud above and right; and Gunner above and left. They’re so close their wings overlap, presenting one radar return.
Spike, “I’m transmitting in the clear.”
Lizard, “What are we doing?”
“Baiting the hook.” In the clear, “Hey Hans. Aren’t all you assholes called Hans? The Dragon Lady is flying. Let’s dance.”
MEYER’S FU-279
His men are all talking at once, and there she is, clear in his scope. “Attack group, shut up. We shoot on the numbers and God damn it, don’t run into each other.”
To himself, “Okay Drachendame, what’s your game? You don’t give up so easy.”
He sees explosions in the sea below, “Damn you all. Don’t drop your ordinance. Jamming pods on.” He flips the switch.
ARTHUR FLIGHT
On radio Spike, “Knights, break, break.”
Nix gently dives to clear Spike’s plane, “Do we have a radar picture?”
Robot on intercom, “Roger. 24 inbound. They’re jamming. I think they’ve fired.”
Nix on intercom, “I see it. Fox 3. Fox 3. G’s” He inverts and dives, firing off countermeasures.
Speedy, “Bust some moves, Thud.”
Thud, “Nope, it’s one missile. Keep radar lock on.”
Speedy, “What?”
Thud aligns his plane and fires his gun. The inbound missile explodes and their two missiles find their targets.
MEYER’S FU-279
Meyer sees the one jet become four on his screen, ‘Shit! Shit! Shit!” He releases his air to ground ordinance and climbs for altitude, spinning around looking for the Americans. In the dark, he sees nothing.
ARTHUR FLIGHT
Spike, “Walk me onto a target, Lizard.”
“We have four climbing. Our guys are diving. Okay, good lock.” On radio, “Fox 1.”
Spike fires one missile and it corkscrews into its target. The ‘279’s engine explodes and it falls, streaming fire.
Lizard, “Missile, 10 o’clock, low.”
Spike, “Got it.” She inverts and crosses the missile firing off chaffs and flares. She climbs to engage the enemy, “Where is he?”
“Two, high.”
Gunner, “Lights.”
Spike flips on their lights, then off. The plane in front of her does not. “Get me lock.”
Lizard, “Fox 1.” She fires.
Gunner, “Splash one.”
Spike’s missile tracks right to the ‘279’s engine, detonating, perforating the aft fuel tanks and blowing both engines, creating a comet tail of fire. They see the pilot eject. Lizard, “Break left. Countermeasures.”
Spike turns sharply and pulls up, pickling off chaff and flares, and the German missile explodes in the cloud of chaff.
Speedy, “Lights.”
Spike flips her lights on and off again.
MEYER’S ‘279
Meyer turns right, missing her break. He sees the lights turning on and off and sees she’s above and to his left. He pulls violently to the left, and on radio, “They’re using lights to avoid friendly fire.”
Thousands of feet below him he sees a fireball.
It’s the third time he’s set up his quarry, but she has evaded him. It has to be the Drachendame. In the light of another destroyed plane, he sees a ’14 below him and pursues. He can see lights below. He’s somewhere over England. On radio, “When they turn on lights, turn yours on.”
ARTHUR FLIGHT, 17,000 FEET OVER DOVER
Robot, “He’s pulling right. 8 miles.”
Nix, “On it.”
Robot, “Good tone.” On radio, “Lights.”
Nix flashes his lights on and off, but the fighter in front of them does not, “Fox 1.”
Their AIM-7 flies straight into the enemy plane and detonates. There’s a massive secondary explosion and the plane falls out of the sky like a spent firework.
Nix sees the shadow of a plane dive past him. He inverts and pursues. “Gunner, swap up.”
Gunner, “Will do, No-No.”
Nix tells Robot, “Lights.” She makes the call and he fires his gun. As the tracer track meets the jet, he sees the light come on, “SHIT!” The rounds hit, taking out the cockpit.
Robot, “Good kill, No-No.” On radio, “Splash 1.”
Nix, “The lights?”
Robot, “Wrong configuration.”
Spike sees a ’14 and a ‘279 below her, “Gunner, break up. Swap.”
Gunner, “Breaking.”
She follows the ‘279 as he flattens out and begins climbing to pursue Gunner. “Lights.” The plane she’s chasing turns his lights on a moment after she does. He inverts and dives.
Spike, “Thud, you only, lights.” Thud turns on his lights and so does the plane she’s chasing. She fires her gun and nails both of his engines.
MEYER’S ‘279
Meyer feels the rounds hit his jet. The screaming, grinding noise is deafening as his engines detonate. Warning lights show both engines on fire and his aircraft is shaking violently. He pulls the extinguishers and levels out. He looks at his compass and turns north. Mid-turn there’s a loud bang and he starts rolling. The nose angles down in a spin.
On radio, ‘Gold 1 is hit. Going down. The fucking Drachendame got another kill.” He pulls the ejection handle.
ARTHUR FLIGHT
Speedy, “They’re bugging out. Lights.”
The Black Knights turn on lights and Thud fires an AIM-1 at the fleeing Germans. No-No, Gunner, and Spike fire their remaining missiles. Despite evasive maneuvers and countermeasures, three more jets go away. One hit by Gunner and No-No, and one each by Thud and Spike.
On radio, “All units, Whiskey Golf Sierra, raid warning north. 16 climbing out of Ouston. Designate raid 4.”
“Texas flight, Center, engage raid 4 with all available aircraft. Arthur, Center, status?”
Spike, “Arthur flight is bingo and skosh.”
Gandhi, “Center, Galahad and Camelot flight is up. Kenley is back in business.”
Spike, “Galahad, Arthur, roger. Did you get my pre-raid brief?”
“Arthur, Galahad, roger. We will adopt.”
“Galahad, Arthur, roger. Good hunting.”
CHAPTER 27
BARRACKS, GRUMMAN FACTORY, BETHPAGE, NEW YORK
1144, 5 October, 1942 (0444, 6 October GMT)
CDR Norman ‘Oyster’ Osterman, commanding officer of the VFA-33, Tomcatters, is in his flight gear and running from door to door, knocking and shouting, “Brief in twenty minutes. We gotta go.”
CDR John ‘Marshall’ Dillon, commanding officer of the VFA-22, Redcocks, steps out in his boxers, “What’s up, Oyster?”
“London is burning. They need us there yesterday.”
Marshall nods and goes back into his room. A female ensign walks out in her pajamas, “Does this include the pilots for the Knights?”
Oyster, “It includes everyone who’s completed ’14 certification. Get your people going.”
PERCIVAL 1, EAST OF RAF HEATHROW
0512, 6 October, 1942
The car is so hot the thermostatic slats are open. Gloria reaches in and pinches closed all the damaged radiator tubes she can reach. Then, she accesses the radiator through the engine compartment and pinches the tubes inside. GQ has limped his way over and is sitting on the running board. “Gloria, did you notice that this thing is a Bentley?”
“I did.”
The driver asks, “Sir, are you okay?”
“My knee is banged up, but I’ll live.”
He struggles to stand and the girl helps him. Once on his feet, he looks out at the fires. The smoke is getting heavier and the fires closer. “Gloria, you don’t have time to let it cool down.”
“I know, Byron. Almost done.”
“I’m not rushing you, but the fires are getting closer.”
Gloria asks, “Does this car have anything I can mix the eggs in?”
The girl says, “We have a container for ice in the back.”
Gloria stands up, “Please, fetch it.”
The girl gets the container, then helps GQ into the left front seat. Gloria breaks three eggs into the container and beats them up with her knife. The girl asks, “May I ask how this will work?”
“Where the egg escapes the radiator, it cooks and plugs the leak.”
“Amazing.”
Gloria looks at the driver, “Start the car and let it idle. Don’t rev it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Once the car is running, she adds some water, then the eggs, then fills it up with water. She checks for leaks. At first, it leaks pretty good, then the leaks slow to a drip. She tops off the water and puts on the cap.
They all get in the car and Gloria says, “Kenley, please.”
“Um, ma’am, I have another stop first.”
The girl says, “Donald, the lieutenant said Kenley.”
“Very good. Lieutenant, do you have a radio?”
GQ grins, “I’ve already called it in.”
YANKEE CONTROL, RAF KENLEY
0551, 6 October, 1942
Spike walks in, “Report.”
“Texas has hit three fighters. Galahad and Lancelot have accounted for five more. Texas has lost one. Valkyrie 027 is outbound to recover. Four A-10s are supporting the recovery…”
Fluffy and Andrews walk into the control center. Andrews says, “Boss, go to bed.”
Spike spins, acquiring her target, “We have fighters engaged and pilots down.”
Fluffy shakes his head, “And the duty officer can handle it. We need you sharp and you haven’t gotten shit for sleep for two days. Go to bed.”
Spike shakes her head, “Not while I have a pilot down.”
Fluffy picks up a phone, “Are you going to force me to call the flight surgeon? He’s treating burn victims and has more important shit to do. Go. To. Bed.”