1916 Angels over the Somme (British Ace Book 3) (7 page)

The down side of giving the major the easiest sector was that we had the toughest.  We had to fly to Warlencourt. It was an objective for the advance but it was thought unlikely that any British elements would have reached it. It was not far from Bapaume.

We flew as high as we could once we had all taken off.  I wanted to avoid being observed if we had to cross the German lines. Three stray RFC aeroplanes would be a very tempting target for a squadron of German fighters. We saw the advancing British soldiers as they moved through freshly dug trenches to reinforce the new front line and I watched as the Major and his flight peeled off to patrol the small hamlet of Bazentin le Petit.

“Right Sergeant, let’s go down and keep your eyes peeled.” Warlencourt was just five miles from Bapaume and that was supposed to be the ultimate target for the advancing soldiers. Warlencourt was a tiny hamlet just across from a small stream. I dropped to five hundred feet when we reached the peaceful looking settlement. The peace was shattered by machine guns as the troops in the hamlet and the nearby woods opened fire on us. I banked around. 

“Lumpy, give them a burst with your Lewis.”

“Waste of bullets sir.  Let’s try this instead.” As we flew over the woods and the gunfire increased he dropped two grenades. “These have longer fuses, sir.  The armourer sorted them out for me.  Said as how he was afraid I would blow the arses of the other lads!”

There were two large cracks from below and a pall of smoke began to rise.  The gunfire stopped! “Well done.  Let’s see if we can find the nearest British forces to here.”

As we flew down the Albert to Bapuame road we were fired on as we flew over Le Sars, another small hamlet. So far we had only seen Germans. It was at Pozières that we saw the first signs of brown uniforms. There was a hedge and tree lined road and the Germans had blocked the road.  We saw advancing soldiers wearing brown.  They were moving both down the road and across the fields.

“Any more Mills Bombs?”

“Sorry sir.”

“Right then we will have to give them a hand with the Lewis guns.” I waved my arm to signal the other two that we were attacking.  I hoped my words had sunk in with them. I banked north east and then swung around to come on a north to south line.  We would fly along the German defences and machine gun them. I took us as low as I dared and I fired along the line of grey.  Hutton sprayed the soldiers to the right.  I heard one crack as we zoomed at tree top height and then we had run out of ammunition and I began to climb to enable us to change magazines safely.  As I banked to starboard I was relieved to see the other two safely with me but my joy was short lived as Hutton shouted, “Six Fokkers, to the east!”

Had we had altitude I might have been tempted to scrap it out with them but they would have superior speed, numbers and fuel.  It was time to run. I headed due west.  There was little point in climbing; we would go slower and waste fuel.

“Get on the rear Lewis, Lumpy.”

As his cheery face loomed into view I felt happier.  He could keep an eye on the two young pilots and the enemy. Of course he had to shout but I could almost lip read now. I kept watching the landmarks below me.  I knew that if we could reach the British lines then they might be discouraged from following us but we had some way to go before we reached the secured front.

“They are diving sir! Keep her steady if you can.”

Our one advantage was that the German pilot could only fire in the direction of his aeroplane.  Our three gunners could converge the fire of their machine guns and follow a moving target. I was not worried when I heard the chatter of Carrick’s Lewis; he was the rear Gunbus. The other two would be waiting until the first German came a little closer.  The German had one bite of the cherry; we had three. The second Lewis opened up.  I heard the double chatter and I saw Hutton cheer.  “Got you, you bugger!” He held up one finger to confirm a kill. Then he began to fire.  I could feel the sudden heat from the gun. He did it in controlled bursts.  I could picture what he was doing.  He would fire and the German would shift his aeroplane allowing Hutton to fire again. It conserved ammunition and ensured more hits. Then he held up a second finger. I glanced to the side and saw the British soldiers firing their rifles. We were over our lines. Suddenly, as Hutton stopped firing to change a magazine he held up three fingers.  He shouted, “The foot sloggers got the last one!”

I felt happy about that.  It would do the morale of the poor infantry the world of good to see such a tangible trophy tumble to the ground. The landing was bumpier than I had expected and as we rolled to a halt the whole aeroplane lurched alarmingly to the right and the tip of the wing crumpled.

I leapt out to see what the damage was.  As soon as I saw the branches and leaves stuck in the remains of the wheel I knew what had happened.  We had hit the trees when we had been machine gunning the Germans.  We were the last flight to land and a crowd gathered around. I could hear Freddie and Johnny regaling them with the story of our attack.

Ted came up to me shaking his head, “You want to watch out, you know some Germans still have the Pickelhaube.  That would make a right mess of your undercarriage.”

Everyone laughed at our expense.  The chief mechanic, Senior Flight Sergeant Mackay shook his head. “You’ll no be flying tomorrow sir.  That’ll take some repairing, all right.” We had such huge wings that damage to the ends required much repairing.

It was a high price to pay for alleviating the suffering of those men who were attacking but it was worth it. While I was reporting to Captain Marshall and telling Randolph what we had seen the colonel joined us. “So you won’t be flying tomorrow then?”

“No sir.  A bit of bad luck that.”

He nodded and said, “Perhaps not.  I thought we could pop up to the front and see that Colonel of the Liverpool Battalion.  Headquarters suggested it might be useful for us to see what it was like on the ground.  The experience might inform our reconnaissance a little better.”

“Good idea sir, could I bring Hutton?”

“Of course. In fact he can drive eh? It will give us a chance to chat.”

It felt strange to be watching the rest of the squadron take off the next day for a patrol to the front. Hutton was delighted to be driving the colonel’s motor car.  Before we left Captain Marshall stopped us.  “Apparently you need to take your gas masks and steel helmets.”

The colonel looked perplexed, “But we don’t use them!”

Randolph grinned, “I know. I got some from Quarter Master Doyle.” Sergeant Lowery put them in the front seat next to Lumpy.

He winked at him, “You are in charge of these Flight Sergeant Hutton I do not want you coming back with two officers who are gassed or have head injuries.  Right?”

“Right, Flight.  I’ll look after them.”

I was not certain of the protocol and so I had my Sam Brown with my service revolver.  Lumpy had his Lee Enfield and Mills Bombs. As we drove through an ever more depressing scene of destruction and wounded men in ambulances the colonel began to talk.  Ramble would be a better word to describe it because he did not stay on one topic for long.

“If it wasn’t for the war you know, Bill, I would be back in Surrey tending my garden and looking after my son.” He waved a hand around. “I am too old for all of this.  I did my fighting in a different time. Travelled all over the world:  India, Afghanistan, West Indies and Sudan.  My wife and I travelled the world. Most of it was peace time work.  Even when we fought, well, we thought the South African wars were bad but they were a picnic compared with this. This is not a proper war.  This is a slaughter.” He sounded depressed.

We had been stopped by a military policeman at a bottleneck to allow a field ambulance to pass us. The colonel pointed out of the window at a piece of barbed wire some fifty yards away.  There we saw a hand hanging from the wire. “Shocking.”

There was nothing for me to say and I sat back in the seat. Like the colonel it depressed me too.

“I hear you have a young lady now?  A nurse in London?”

“Er yes sir, Beatrice.”

“Are you keen on her?”

“Well, er , yes sir.”

“Then do something about it!” There was real passion in his voice.” You never know what is around the corner. Life is too damned short! I hate it when you young lads go out each day and I have no idea how many will be coming back. I get more grey hairs every day.  You know that Green and his gunner are prisoners of war?”

“No sir, I didn’t, but I suppose that is better than lying dead in some foreign field.”

“Hmn, I suppose you are right.  At least they will survive the war.”

He was silent as he stared out of the window.  It was sad to see an old warhorse like the colonel so depressed.  His words had, however, made me wonder about my life. What would I do when… if, this war ever ended? Would I be like the colonel and keep the uniform? Would I drag Beatrice all over the world? I needed to think about life after the war.

A huge military policeman came over.  “This is as far as you go sir.  Who are you looking for?”

“The 17
th
Liverpool Battalion.”

He pointed to the north.  “They have just been brought off the line.  You’ll find them in the reserve trenches up there.” He leaned in to Hutton and pointed, “Driver, put the car on that patch of land over there.  We need to keep the road free for ambulances.” He nodded as one drove away from the front.  “The Aussies are getting it today.”

As Hutton parked the car he walked over with us. The colonel asked, “Where did you say, Sergeant?”

He pointed, “Go down Buckingham Palace Road until you come to Lime Street and ask there.” He smiled, “And wear your tin lids too, sirs.  The Huns like to lob the odd shell or two over. They are proper sneaky buggers.”

We saw the crudely made sign which even had a crown drawn on it and we entered the trench.  At this stage of the year it was relatively dry but later they would have duck boards down and the bottoms would become a muddy morass of slippery slime.  It was wide enough for two lines of men to pass each other. We saw firing steps but there were no sentries. This had been the front line before the advance and was a measure of the gains that we had made. We met men coming the other way and I couldn’t help noticing how dirty they all looked.  It made me more aware of our smart, clean uniforms. We received a cursory salute but the look was one of disdain.  They thought we were staff.  They didn’t know that we were warriors just like them.

Hutton said, “Here we are sir, Lime Street.” He gave me a quizzical look.

“It is a street in Liverpool.  It is the name of the railway station.” Enlightenment dawned and he nodded.

We walked down and noticed what looked like caves carved out of the soil along the sides.  There was a ragged piece of canvas for a door on each one and we could hear men within. It did not seem prudent to invade their privacy and so we walked on until we saw two soldiers having a cigarette and lounging against the trench wall. They stood to attention.

“Any idea where the 17
th
are, we are looking for Colonel McCartney?”

One of them took his cigarette out of his mouth and pointed to a trench thirty yards away. His voice marked him as a Liverpudlian as soon as he began to speak, “He’s down there sir.” He suddenly seemed to see the uniform. He pointed to our flying boots. “Are you the lads who flew those funny looking aeroplanes the other day?”

The colonel nodded, “These two were.”

He stuck his head inside the canvas door.  “Hey lads it’s some of them fly boys we saw the other day!”

Eight men poured out of the hole.  They all saluted and stared at the caps.  The corporal said, “Can we thank you lads? We were up the creek without a paddle and no mistake.”

“You’re welcome.  It was the least we could do.”

“Are you from near Liverpool sir?”

“Burscough, how can you tell?”

“It sounds like home.” He pointed to the medals on my uniform.  “And, lads, this is a real hero.  Look he has the Military Cross.”

Some  more men came out of nearby trenches and one shouted, “Lumpy?  Is that you?”

“It is our kid.” He shook the soldier’s hand. “It’s the wife’s cousin sir.  Mind if I chat?”

“Go ahead.  We’ll pick you up when we have finished here.”

Just then I saw a group of officers coming down the trench.

“Ten, shun!”

“What’s going on here, Marsden?” He saw the colonel and smiled, “I am guessing you must be Colonel Pemberton-Smythe.”

“Yes Colonel.  Headquarters thought it might be useful for us to see the land from the ground, so to speak.”

Colonel McCartney shook his head. “Well I can’t believe it.  They actually have someone at HQ who has an idea! Come on then I’ll give you the tour.”

I turned to the soldiers we had spoken to. “Good luck lads.”

“And to you sir.  You have plenty of guts to go up in one of those things!”

As we followed the colonel I thought the same about him. It took plenty of guts to do what they did.

“This is a reserve trench.  We will rest here for three days and then go back up the line.  I’ll take you to the front line so that you can see what it is like.” He seemed to see me for the first time.  “Were you one of the lads who saved our bacon the other day?”