by M L Maki
For a moment, Sam closes her eyes, fighting the relief rising in her chest. To herself, “God, I wish Papa and Puck where here to see this.” Then, “Thank you, Yankee. Thank all of you. Rook, fighter sweep the channel. Iron Angels patrol from London north looking for pockets of resistance. All other units, return to base. We still have a war to fight.”
HARROW ROAD, WIMBLEDON, NORTH LONDON
0835, 8 October, 1942
There are dozens of dead or dying German soldiers laying in the street in front of Sergeant Tom Thompson’s position. He checks his magazines. They need more ammo. When he looks back out of his window, he sees eight German soldiers walking out into the street without rifles and waving a white flag. Corporal Henry, “Is it a trick?”
Then, on radio, they hear their company commander’s voice, “Check fire. Check fire. The Germans are surrendering. They’re laying down their arms.”
He listens as the other platoons check in, then his captain, “Lieutenant Shay?”
Thompson keys his radio, “3rd Platoon acknowledges, check fire. Sir, Lieutenant Shay is dead.”
“Is this Thompson?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Take charge of your platoon, Lieutenant Thompson and begin policing the area.”
“Yes, sir.”
Thompson looks at the men in the room, “George, Willy, go accept their surrender. Make sure they’re disarmed. I’m going to see who’s upstairs.” He walks up the stairs to the third floor and into the front room. Standing in front of the open window is Lieutenant Maki, holding a Lee Enfield rifle. There’s vomit all down his front and on the floor, but his rifle and hands are clean. “What the fuck were you doing, Lieutenant?”
Maki looks stricken, “I had to. I couldn’t just sit in the rear. Please, don’t tell the Admiral.”
Thompson starts laughing, “Like I hang out with Admirals. God. Oh, and good job. Thanks.”
REICHSTAG, BERLIN, GERMANY
1135, 8 October, 1942 (1035 GMT)
Hitler sits in an overstuffed love seat with Eva Braun drinking coffee and talking. An aid walks in and hands him a message. Hitler reads it, and his hands start shaking. He abruptly stands, throwing the message onto the floor. Grimacing, his face red with rage, he stalks across the room, “Get my generals! Get my admirals! Germany has been betrayed. It will not happen again!” Spittle sprays the staff officers face.
“Yes, Mein Fuhrer!” He runs out of the room.
Hitler spins back, and looks at Eva. She’s shrunk back into the love seat, trembling. “The Americans will pay. That bitch will pay!”
FARMAN FACTORY, CHATEAUFORT, YVELINES, OCCUPIED FRANCE
1201, 8 October, 1942
Goering slowly walks around the huge Heinkel jet bomber. The six engine pods are attached, but the engines are not yet installed. On each wing, there’s an inner pod near the fuselage with two engines. Outboard of that is a single engine pod, with the outboard landing gear. The main gear is installed along fuselage just to the sides of the front and back bomb bay. The tandem cockpit is small. But it’s the wings that draw the eye, they’re extremely long, at a ninety-degree angle to the fuselage, and tapered their entire length. He asks, “Why does this bomber have glider wings?”
Ernst Heinkel smiles, “So, it may fly extremely high. Even the American missiles cannot reach it.”
Goering, “But with the wings so straight, it will be slow, yes?”
“This bomber depends on altitude, rather than speed. The Americans will look up and feel helpless as the bombs fall.”
“How many bombs?”
They walk under the fuselage and Heinkel points up to the three open bomb bays. Under the front and rear bomb bays are large fuel tanks on carts. “This is the genius. To reach America, the front and rear bays will have fuel tanks. The center bay can support the design weight for the special ordinance, when it is done. For Moscow and London, the fuel tanks are removed and additional bombs may be carried. It can carry up to forty thousand kilos of ordinance.”
Goering smiles, “Good. We gained this design from our American guests, yes?”
“Yes, Reichsmarschall.”
“The Horton flying wing is still very early in its development. When will this aircraft be ready?”
Heinkel, “It’s progressing. If our engines arrive on schedule, we’ll be ready to start testing in a week or two. We’ll be able to build enough to deploy in one to four months.”
An aid runs up, salutes, and hands Goering a message. He reads it and freezes. He looks up, biting his lip, and crumples the message.
Heinkel, “Reichsmarschall?”
“Sheisse. England is lost.”
LAMMAS PARK, EALING, WEST LONDON
1510, 8 October, 1942
Showered and in a clean uniform, LT Maki climbs into an undamaged Tiger tank. His guide, a British officer, says, “One of my men found it hiding here in the trees.” There are only two rounds left, otherwise, the tank is complete.
“I’ll be taking it back to the states.”
“I expected so.”
Maki, “I need to brief Field Marshal Brooke and General Eisenhower. Can you arrange to get this to RAF Kenley?”
“Of course, but we wish to inspect it as well.”
“Not a problem. The tank we’re designing is meant to meet the requirements of both armies. God, what a find.”
COMMODORE’S OFFICE, RAF KENLEY
1538, 8 October, 1942
Spike walks in and sits down at her desk. Cooper immediately follows with a cup of tea and a plate of sandwiches. She laughs, “Thank you, Radar.”
“Is it over? Have we won? Is it real?”
“Yes, Radar, it’s real. We may have a few SS units that won’t surrender, but, by and large, it’s over.”
“Thank God.”
“There’s a knock on the door and Gloria walks in. She spreads her legs and puts her hands on her hips, “What are you doing, young lady?”
Cooper chokes on his tea.
“I’ve a lot to do, Gloria.”
“You have higher priorities. That flight suit will not do. Let’s get you into your greens. Hanger 9, Radar. Go!”
Radar jumps to his feet, “Yes, ma’am.”
Gloria drags Sam into her bedroom. “Get undressed.” She turns on the shower, “Well, hurry up.” Sam strips down and gets into the shower. Gloria hauls out her dress greens, “I see Cooper is keeping up your sartorial splendor. Your ribbon bar is up-to-date. Good.” She lays out Sam’s clothes and shoes.
“What’s going on, Gloria?”
“Young lady, over three thousand flight and ground crews want to celebrate and you must be the guest of honor.”
“Gloria, I’m tired. Please?”
“Be tired later. We need our leader.” She hands Sam a towel, “Sam, we really do.”
“Okay. But we haven’t talked since I dragged Swede…”
“Darling girlfriend, you gave him what he needed and I love you even more for it.” She hands Sam her uniform, piece by piece, then checks her out. “Okay, comb out hair. You need a haircut.”
“No time.”
“You and your no time. You have time for everything and everyone, but never yourself. Thank God for Cooper, or you’d be dead of starvation and lack of sleep. Get a haircut.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Let’s see. Looking good. See, that wasn’t so bad. Let’s get going.” Gloria drags Sam out to her sports car. She drives them, at speed, to one of the few remaining hangers. Sam can hear music as they near.
When they walk through the back door, a huge, ear-numbing cheer breaks out. Gloria leads her to a stage improvised on top of some white gear. As they walk through the crowd, men and women touch her on her shoulders, her arms, her back. It’s a sea of faces and she knows so few of them.
When she gets to the stage, the band gets down, except the drummer. He starts a drum roll as she climbs up. She looks out at the expectant joyful faces looking up at her. She steps to the mic
rophone and can see a wet bar in a corner with kegs of beer going. The hanger is packed, the doors open. As she stands there silent, the crowd quiets down, and someone shouts, “We love you!”
Laughter ripples across the hanger and she smiles, “Thank you. I love all of you, too.” Her people cheer, then settle. “I…I am struggling for words. To find a voice for how I feel. There are few parallels in history for what we have accomplished. For what each of you have done. We fought a battle we had to win. We had no choice. The consequences for our countries, for the war, for our future were dire.
“If we had failed, the world would have felt the pain for generations. But we didn’t fail. A million tiny details that had to be gotten right, were done, and done correctly, every single time. Our sortie rate was unprecedented. You did that.”
They applaud, cheering.
“It wasn’t without cost. We lost so many. Bright, kind, dream filled, beautiful people, who are now gone. Friends. Colleagues. Each time, I…we lost a piece of our hearts. Their loss could have broken us. But it didn’t. We lost them, and we miss them, but in their names, we did this. We won.
“We have tasted war, hell, we have lived on a steady diet of war. I find the taste bitter…but acceptable. I will miss Sweets and her kind soul; Jedi’s surf’s up act; Stinky and his absolute fetish for cleanliness. I miss Papa. I miss them all, as you do.
“I miss them, but I understand that their loss was the price we had to pay for our freedom and the freedom of our children; our children’s children. What we do here, what we have done here, will reverberate through history. People whose grandparents are not yet born will know freedom, because we fought here, and won.
“It isn’t over. There’s still much fighting to do. Some of us may yet fall. It’s the price I chose. It’s the price we’ve all chosen. It’s the burden we each lifted when we took our oaths and put on the uniform.
“Today, we rightly celebrate. We celebrate our fallen. We celebrate life. We celebrate our victory. Thank you.”
The cheering roars through the hanger, deafening in its intensity. Fluffy, in his booming voice, “To Spike!”
It becomes a chant, “Spike! Spike!”
LT Jeb ‘Skeeter’ McAllister makes his way up onto the stage with two beers and hands her one. She smiles and lifts the glass, and all goes silent, “To victory!”
The shouted response is deafening, “To Victory!”
As it quiets, Skeeter says, “I met your dad.”
“What?”
“I was winged over Guadalcanal and made an emergency landing. Under fire, he used a bulldozer to clear the field of unexploded munitions so I could land. You have one hell of a pop.”
Sam can’t help the tears now, “Thank you, Skeeter. Thank you. And, thanks for the beer.” She laughs.
She sees Cooper making his way through the crowd, a piece of paper in his hand. She shouts over the noise, “Can’t it wait?” He emphatically shakes his head and hands it up to her. She takes it and reads it.
Sensing something, the rowdy crowd quiets.
Wiping away her tears, she looks up, realizing they’re waiting to hear. She smiles and nods her head, “From, Commander Naval Air Forces, to Commander Task Force Yankee. Regarding reassignment of VF-154, VF-155, HS-1 and attached units. After completing at least two weeks of turn over training transferring Task Force Yankee to Commodore Earl Carpenter, former Commander Naval Forces, Australia, those squadrons and attached units will report to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland for thirty days leave.”
The hanger reverberates to the loud roar. She waits and when they quiet, “Following leave, squadron personnel will complete carrier qualification for reassignment. Signed, Admiral Lee.” She looks out at her people, “We’re going home.”
THE END
COMING SOON
BOOK 2
OF
THE FIGHTING TOMCATS HUNTER/KILLER SERIES
HUNT AND PROTECT
AND
BOOK FIVE
OF
THE FIGHTING TOMCATS
ROCKS AND SHOALS
GLOSSARY
16: VHF channel 16 is the international emergency channel. It is also, generally the channel used to communicate in the open, or non-encrypted communications.
1MC: General announcing system. Ship wide loud speaker system.
2nd Lt.: Second Lieutenant. Army and USMC rank. (O-1)
(Number)K: Fuel state. K for thousand pounds.
AA: Navy rank. Airman Apprentice (E-2).
AB: Navy enlisted rate. Aviation Boatswain’s Mate. They do many duties on the flight and hanger decks and maintain other aviation equipment. ABAA through ABMC.
AD: Naval aviation rating. Aviation Machinist. ADAA through ADCM. AD’s maintain aircraft structural components, flight surfaces, and engines.
ADM: Admiral. Naval Officer rank (O-10). Also used colloquially for Rear Admirals Lower and Upper, and Vice Admirals (O-7 through 9).
AE: Navy rate. Aviation Electrician. They maintain the electrical generation, conversion and distribution systems associated with jet aircraft. AEA through AECM
AGL: Above Ground Level.
Ahead (Bell): The standard bells, or speeds of a ship are ahead 1/3, ahead 2/3, ahead Standard, Ahead full, and Ahead Flank. The number is the amount of revolutions per minute of the shaft.
Ahead Flank Emergency: Order to come to the fastest ahead speed as fast as possible. See Bell.
Air Boss: The ship’s force air department head. The air boss commands all operations on the flight deck and hanger deck.
Air Chief Marshall: Royal Air Force Officer rank. Equivalent to Vice Admiral or Lieutenant General.
Air Commodore: Royal Air Force Officer rank. Equivalent to Captain or Colonel.
Air Marshall: Royal Air Force Officer rank. Equivalent to Rear Admiral or the current Rear Adm Upper Half or Major General.
Air Vice-Marshall: Royal Air Force Officer rank. Equivalent to Commodore or the current Rear Adm Lower Half or Brigadier General.
Amphenol: Multi-prong electronic or electrical connection.
AN: Naval Enlisted non-designated aviation rank. Airman (E-3).
AO: Enlisted rate. Aviation Ordinanceman. AOAA through AOCM. They inspect, care for and handle air delivered ordinance.
Arco: When an aircraft flies as a refueler they are given a special call sign. Usually the name of a gas station chain.
ASROC: Anti-submarine rocket. A torpedo delivered by a rocket.
ASW: Anti-submarine warfare.
AT: Navy rate. Aviation Electronics Technician. They maintain the complex electronic equipment associated with jet aircraft. ATA through ATCM
Auto-gyro: An emergency landing technique that uses the wind blowing through the helicopter rotors to keep them spinning, then uses the collective to slow the bird’s descent at the last moment.
(AW): Naval specialist Badge. Air Warfare Specialist. Placed after rate such as AD1(AW).
Back (Bell): Astern bells for a marine engine. Back 1/3, Back 2/3, and Back Full.
Back Full Emergency: Astern bell to be answered as fast as possible.
Bandit: NATO code for enemy aircraft.
Battalion: Army/USMC tactical unit smaller than a brigade or regiment but larger than a company. Smallest unit designed to function independently. Generally commanded by a LT Colonel.
BDU: Battle Dress, Utility. The basic Army and Marine uniform.
Bell: The speed a ship is traveling at: Ahead they are Ahead 1/3, Ahead 2/3, Ahead Standard, Ahead Full, and Ahead Flank. Astern they are Back 1/3, Back 2/3, and Back full. In an emergency the order given is ahead flank emergency, or back full emergency which is a command to go as fast as possible.
Bearing: Compass or relative bearing in degrees from 0 to 360. Compass is true north, not magnetic north. Relative bearing puts 000 as straight in front of the bow of the ship and clocks degrees clockwise around the ship.
Bingo Fuel: Near the minimum to safely return to base.
Binna
cle List: List of people sick or injured. Every unit and division maintains the Binnacle List and turns it in daily.
Blow: Submarines use ballast tanks to surface or submerge. By blowing high pressure air into the tanks water can be displaced and the vessel surfaces.
Blue Tails: Nick name for the VAW-122 Griffins. VAW-122 flies the E-2C Hawkeye radar plane.
Blue Water Ops: Carrier operations beyond reach of alternative air fields. You land on the carrier or swim.
Boatswain’s Mate of the Watch (BMOW): In charge of all the lookouts, the helm and lee helm. The BMOW pipes (whistles) required ships announcements.
Bogey: An unidentified aircraft.
Boiler: Boilers generate the steam for propulsion, electrical generation, water distillation, and other uses.
Bolter: An aircraft missing the arresting wire.
Bridge: The ship’s navigational control center. Where we drive the ship. The Officer of the Deck (OOD) is in charge except when the CO or XO are present. The Conning Officer directs the ship’s coarse and speed. The Boatswains Mate of the Watch (BMOW), Quartermaster of the Watch (QMOW), Helm and Lee Helm are stationed here.
Brigade: Army/ Marine Tactical unit smaller than a Division and larger than a Battalion. Sometimes called a Regiment. Generally commanded by a Colonel or Brigadier General. They are usually armor, infantry, or airborne focused for the Army but still contain other units to permit independent operations.
BTOW: Boiler Technician of the watch. Senior watch in a boiler room.
BT: Navy Enlisted rate. Boiler Technician. BTFA through BTCM. Currently the BT rate is merged with the MM rate. Boiler Technicians operate and maintain marine boilers.
CAG: Commander Air Group. The CAG is in charge of all the air squadrons attached to the ship. The CAG is the counterpart to the ship’s commanding officer. The carrier CO is always the senior.
Call the Ball: The Landing Signal Officer asks the pilot if they can see the Fresnel lens that shows the correct glide slope for landing.
