1917 Eagles Fall (26 page)

This time it coughed, spluttered and caught. Josef was delighted. He shouted down, “Climb up and we will take her up.”

I climbed into the front seat. “We will have to wait for a few moments.  It takes time for this old engine to warm up.” After a few minutes he seemed happy and he tapped me on the shoulder, “Now we fly.”

The young pilot took us down the airfield and we climbed into the sky. He did a loop of the field.  It was a slow beast after the Pup and I found the huge engine in front of me a distraction. Had the arrangement been the other way around I could have forced Josef to fly me over our lines. He was, however, behind me and I could not use my Luger. I just had to enjoy the flight and get a view of the land around the airfield.

We landed and the Staffelführer came over.  He snapped angrily at Josef who coloured and then rattled out his answer. The Staffelführer stopped scowling and started to smile. Josef looked relieved, “He asks how you learned about engines.”

“I learned about them when I learned to drive.” I smiled, “Tell him it is a handy skill to have.”

When my answer was translated Josef said, “The Staffelführer agrees with you.” he pointed to my hands. “We had better get you cleaned up before the Baron arrives.”

I found myself becoming excited about meeting the infamous Red Baron.  I took especial care with my toilet and I made sure that my moustache was trimmed and I had a close shave. They did not trust me with a razor but Franz proved quite adept with a blade. I was brought to the mess before the famous ace arrived and we waited for his car to pull up.

I was surprised, when he walked in, for he looked to be younger than I had expected. He was my age. He was, however, a very gregarious and pleasant chap.  I saw the reaction of the squadron and saw that this was hero worship. Surprisingly it did not seem to affect him. He was led directly to me. “So you are the English pilot who nearly shot me down.”

I watched his face as his words were translated.  He was weighing me up and my reaction. “Yes, sir, I think I would have done if it were not for your comrades.”

There was a silence and then he laughed, he nudged the Staffelführer and said something.  They both laughed. “He said that it cost him a bottle of schnapps for Ernst Udet, his rescuer.”

I would be lying if I said that it was an unpleasant evening.  It was not. Richthofen was courteous and amusing.  He told me that he was a
Freiherr
and although this also meant Baron all the male members of his family were allowed the title.  His younger brother Lothar was also accorded the title. It told me much about this German.  He was more like Lord Burscough than me. He had noble blood. He was complementary about the Pup which he admired.

I found myself enjoying the conversation.  I asked him about his brightly coloured aeroplanes. He told me that it helped to identify his pilots in the air.  I was flattered that they had noticed my three Pups with the pictures of the horses. “You see you do it too,“ he had smiled, “in an understated English way.”

Like the Staffelführer he was fascinated by my rise in fortunes. “You are a gentleman.  Your behaviour with the dead crews’ effects proved that and yet you were born a servant, a groom?”

“I suppose I had good teachers.”

He pointed at my medals. “What is this one?”

“The Military Cross.”

“Is the V.C. higher than that?” I nodded, “And I see you have the highest French honour.  That is unusual. Tell me how you won that.”

I told him and he seemed happy with the story, despite the fact that I had shot down Germans. I pointed to one on his own chest I had not seen on any of the other fliers, “And what is this one?”

He seemed proud of it.  “This is our highest honour. Pour le Mérite, the Blue Max.” He went on to tell me how he had won it. “You and I are the same and yet I come from a noble family and you are the son of a servant.  War is the great leveller is it not?  It is skill in the air which counts and not breeding.  I am glad that I have met you.”

He rose after he had smoked his cigar and drunk his brandy. He looked sadly at me as he shook my hand.  Josef translated for us, “I am sorry that you will go to camp.  You are a flier, a knight and you should die in the air and have glory.”

I was not certain that I would like that particular end but I nodded politely. “Farewell horseman!”

The Staffelführer insisted on having a final schnapps of the night.  He was a little drunk and, like Richthofen he was sad that I could not be returned to my squadron. I nearly told him that it would be easy; he could just fly me there but I had learned that they had a set of rules and they adhered closely to them.

As I lay in bed that night I knew that I might only have one chance the next day but I would need to take it.

The pilots all shook my hand before they took off for their sortie. I hoped they would all return for they had been such pleasant and affable chaps but I also hoped that they would not kill any British or Commonwealth soldiers. My life had suddenly become complicated. I had breakfast and Josef joined me.  He looked sad.

“You will be gone when I return from my test flight.”

“When do you take off?”

“In an hour or so.”

“Are you waiting for your gunner?”

He shook his head.  “He is with the Jasta, I am going up alone.” He smiled, “Come with me while I check the engine. You can watch me take off and see what a fine flier I am. Your car will be sometime this morning.”

“Do you mind if I get my coat then?”

“Of course.” He sent Franz off to get the coat. I realised then how trusting this young pilot was and I felt guilty about what I was about to do.

Franz came running back and held out the greatcoat for me to don. We walked across to the aeroplane.  There was no mechanic. Josef looked irritably at his watch.  “Where is the fool?”

“Perhaps I could start it for you?”

“If you wouldn’t mind?”

He climbed in and I spun the propeller.  After a couple of coughs and splutters it started. As Franz watched the propeller spin I put my hand into my boot, pulled out the Luger and slipped it into my greatcoat pocket. He climbed down while the engine throbbed unevenly. He was waiting for it to run regularly. He held out his hand, “This is goodbye I think.”

“Goodbye Josef and thank you for your kindness.”

I had the Luger in my left hand pocket and, as I held out my hand to Franz I pulled the Luger out. They were both facing me and looked shocked. “Tell Franz to drop the gun and lie on the floor.”

“You will not shoot us.  You are a gentleman.”

I shifted the gun to my right hand. “The German I took this from was a gentleman too until I killed him.  I told you Josef, I am a killer.  Now I can just shoot you both in the kneecap and cripple you for life but I don’t want to.  You have been kind.  Now stop me from shooting Franz and order him to lie down.”

I saw the indecision on his face and I lowered the gun to point at the soldier’s knee.  I saw him bunch his fists.  He was ten feet away and would be dead before he could strike me.  Josef’s shoulders slumped and he shouted something to Franz who lay down.

“Good, Now you.”

“I will shoot you down for this Englishman.”

“I would expect nothing less.  My aeroplane will have the white horse on the side of the cockpit; remember that.” He nodded.  “Now on the floor.”

As he did so I leapt into the cockpit. I could see soldiers running from the main building. I fired four random shots towards them and they leapt to the ground. I did not bother with the helmet and goggles which were lying on the floor I headed down the airfield as fast as the old bus would manage. As I lifted off I heard the crack of rifles. They missed. I knew that the Aviatik was a slow aeroplane.  I would be lucky to make sixty miles an hour. That meant it would be almost an hour before I reached the airfield. I had to run the gauntlet of German and British fighters and German and British guns.  I had no doubt that the airfield would be letting all and sundry know that they had lost an aeroplane and a prisoner.

I began to climb.  As I recalled, from conversations with Franz, the ceiling was about ten thousand feet.  I would need all of that. I was just grateful that it was a stable machine. I still did not like the radiator sticking up in front of me although my vision was not as impaired as it had been in the gunner’s seat.

I managed to reach the German trenches before I hit trouble.  The trouble came in the form of a couple of BE 2s. They were brave souls for they were classic Fokker fodder.  They saw me and realised they had an easy kill. I did the only thing I could, I flew directly at them. Their gun was rear facing and in the front cockpit. They would try to go on either side of me and rake me with both guns at the same time.  As I approached them I lifted the nose slightly to make them think I was climbing. They would be wondering why I was not heading east.  They were just fifteen miles an hour faster than me and I needed to open a gap between us.

When we were just fifty yards apart and closing rapidly I pushed the stick forward and went into a steep dive.  I had no mirror to see what they were doing but I had an idea. I would make it impossible for them to fire at me. Their guns could not depress and they were forced to bank.  The very act of banking would put one behind the other.  They were a big aeroplane with a wide turning circle and I had an idea that I could gain more than half a mile on them by my manoeuvre.  Of course I would then have to brave the British trenches in a slow moving German aeroplane but I had to cross one bridge at a time. The dive had given me extra speed and I zoomed over the British lines at a thousand feet. I saw holes from the small arms fire appear in my wings. So long as the engine ran I would still be able to fly. Out of the corner of my eye I saw, not the BE 2 but a pair of Bristols.  They were well to the north but at their speed they would be over me like fleas on a dog.

Having passed the trenches I dropped the nose to hedgehop. I was less than ten minutes from my home field.  I estimated that the Bristols would be on me in eight! I saw the burnt out farmhouse which marked the outer marker for the airfield. I looked down into the cockpit but there was no Very pistol.  That might have saved me. The Bristols were out of sight and I assumed they were lining up behind their leader to take turns at shooting a sitting duck. I recognised the heavy sound of the Vickers and then felt the judder as the bullets hit my tail and fuselage. I literally clipped the hedges as I lowered the nose. As the bullets thundered in to me I saw the windsock in the field fluttering away. I thought I was going to make it when a long burst from a Vickers tore through my right upper wing and it crumpled. My German saviour dipped and the lower wing caught the ground. As it dug in the whole aeroplane began to slew and spin around.  The seat belt broke and I was thrown from the aeroplane. Everything went black as I hit the ground.

“Hands Hoch Fritz. Come on!”

I recognised the voice.  I tasted the grass and soil.  I was face down.  I raised my head slightly. “Flight Sergeant Richardson, that is no way to talk to your commanding officer!” Suddenly hands turned me over and I looked up into the barrels of four Lee Enfields. I pushed them away. “Not strictly necessary eh, Percy?”

He helped me to my feet. “Sorry sir, we saw the Hun and we thought…. sorry sir.”

I tried to move my arm and my chest hurt as though I had had a ton weight on it.  I winced.

“Get a stretcher for Captain Harsker! Here sir.  You lie down.  You are hurt.”

“I am fine.”

He put his hand to my head and it came away bloody. I tried to say something but my legs would not support me and everything went black again.

I heard the voices and the conversation in my dark and comfortable world. “How is he Doc?”

“Archie, he has just been brought in but at the moment I would say he has a slight concussion.” He pushed into my ribs and I gave a yelp.  “And I guess broken ribs too.” I opened my eyes and saw Archie, the Doc and Randolph staring down at me. “And he is awake! Welcome back to the war, Bill.”

I could see the relief on their faces. “Archie, aren’t you supposed to be recuperating in Blighty?”

I saw he had a bandage on.”Aye, laddie, I was but when Randolph here rang your young lady, what a peach she is by the way, to tell her you were behind enemy lines then I discharged myself and hitched a lift over here.”

“You had us worried but how on earth did you manage to steal an aeroplane?”

Doc Brennan held up his hand.  “He’s awake. You can tell everyone that he will live and I will sort him out. Questions later!”

As they left Randolph chuckled.  “I will have to ask Cecil Alldardyce if he still wants to claim the Aviatik bearing in mind it was the squadron’s leading ace who was flying it.”

I closed my eyes as the doctor and his orderlies saw to me. I had escaped so why did I feel so bad? I should feel elated that I had cheated both death and the Germans but it was the thought of poor Josef and Franz getting into trouble on my account. I felt like I had been, in some way, dishonourable. I had never given my word not to escape and it was their fault for not searching me closely. Even so it did not sit well with me.

“There, all done.“ I opened my eyes and sat up.  The orderly began to dress me. “No flying for a few days.” He chuckled, “Not that you can.  Your flight does not have an aeroplane between you.  Your young lieutenants are climbing the walls waiting for those Camels of yours. They were so bored they took the car and went into Amiens to buy more tobacco and brandy.  They will be sorry to have missed you.” I stood up and winced. “I can give you some pain killers for the ribs.  I am afraid they will just set in their own time.”

I nodded, “I know, I was in the cavalry.  This happened every time you fell off.  You learned not to fall off. I won’t bother with the pain killers.  I still have some brandy left.”

I left the sick bay and headed towards the office.  Bates ran across to me, his face filled with joy. “I heard you had returned sir. Shall I run you a bath?  You will want one I dare say.”

“Not today.  I have bandages on my ribs.  Perhaps tomorrow?”

“Righto sir.” He looked disapprovingly at my soiled tunic.  There was a mixture of blood, dirt and oil on it. “And the tunic?”

“I’ll call in at the office and then you can make me respectable again.” That seemed to satisfy him and he went off to my quarters.  I had no doubt there was not a speck of dust anywhere but I knew that he would make sure.

Archie and Randolph were in the office.  “I’ll shift my stuff out of your office Archie.”

“No rush. I don’t think I will be doing any flying for a long time.  I have the use of my arm but it is far from perfect.  Doc Brennan reckons six months or so.” He shrugged, “I can’t sit on my arse for that length of time while you blokes are doing my work. I will become a desk bound commanding officer for a while. By the way General Trenchard is sending a car for you tomorrow.  He wants you debriefed by Intelligence.” The displeasure must have shown on my face. “I am afraid it goes with the territory besides the Camels aren’t here yet.  Perhaps you could mention them to the General?”

I looked around, “Where are the rest of the squadron?”

“There was just Alldardyce and Ellis around when you returned.  Both had engine trouble.  Ted and Gordy are on patrol.”

“Well the Germans are sending up spotters and bombers.  The Jasta who captured me had a mixture of bombers and spotters and the Flying Circus was not far away.”

“How do you know?”

“I met the Red Baron.”

They both stopped their work and started at me.  The orderly sergeant did too.  The newspapers had been full of the man who shot down Lanoe Hawker. “Really?”

I nodded and began to fill my pipe. “Yes and it might surprise you but you would like him if you met him. He is just like us.”

“But the showy colours on his buses?”

“It helps with identification and he reckons it creates good esprit de corps.  I think there is something in it. He said he had seen the horses painted on our buses and knew that I was a kindred spirit.”

“Sounds like you got quite chummy.”

“I had dinner with him.  I think they relaxed around me and that helped me to escape.”

“Sarn’t, go and get a pot of tea while Bill tells us all.”

I spent the next thirty minutes telling them all that had happened. They were so engrossed that they failed to hear the Bristols returning.

Gordy and Ted entered the office and their mouths fell open. Gordy suddenly began to laugh, “That Aviatik in the field- is that yours?”

“Yes, Lieutenant Alldardyce is getting better at shooting down Germans.”

“Tell us all!”

Archie shook his head, “There will be time enough for that. Your reports please.”

Ted shook his head, “We jumped a squadron of bombers.  We shot a couple down and then the Red Baron and his lads arrived. We lost Short and Gilfoyle.”

“Did you shoot any of theirs down?”

“Just one.” Something in my voice must have told Ted that I was interested.  “Why?”

“I had dinner with the Red Baron last night and if the squadron had green rudders then I was their guest for the last two days.”

Ted shook his head and laughed, “Yours will be a short life my son but by hell it will be interesting!”

As I left the office Archie reached into his pocket, “By the way, this is for you.  Your young lady scribbled it as I left.” He handed me the note.

“Thank you sir.”

I resisted the temptation to read it in front of the others in case I could not contain myself. Once outside I opened it eagerly.

Bill,

I don’t know if you will ever read this.  Your Major has told me that you were shot down behind the enemy lines. You are alive and, although you will be a prisoner you are alive!

I want you to know that I will wait for you, no matter how long this war lasts.  I promise you that. You are the only man in my life and the only one I want.