Evening star., 1940-12-28


FoTd Ill the way down the mountain
Finally the Greek soldiers started
carrying their burden through the
first narrows half-a-mile away.
Hickey got back first.
He is in pretty bad shape he
said.
Who is it?" asked.
Cooper" he said.
Sammy Cooper. I remembered
the dinner We had had with him
far beyond the lines nearly month
ago. I remembered Sammy because
he was the gayest of all the squad
ron; because of what he said one
night about being lonesome for
only one girl in the world, a girl in
England; because of the ring to his
voice and the fighting cut to his
jaw. You could spend one evening
with a man like Sammy and
remember him for the rest of your
life.
We had nothing to do but wait
by the river and they came over
slow as the hinges of time-in-
distinct shapes in the blacking night
with the ambulance waiting be-
hind us on the road.
Hello Sammy. Everything's all
right. We're going to have you in
soon"
At first we could scarcely hear his
voice; it was very thick, partly
from cognac, partly from other
things. When we got him in the
ambulance he said he was terribly
cold He had come down up neal
the snoWline and it was six hours
now since he fell. Together with
the squadron leader we tucked
four or five blankets around him
Then we started.
There was little overhead light
in the lorry. I sat on Sammy's left
and first Hickey tthe Co as a
pilot would say sat on his right
and then Steve sat there when the
Co and had to go up and battle tt
keep the ambulance moving. In the
dim light Sammy's face was covered
with CRIME. or something.
"Cigarette-cigarette,' he begged
/ lit one for him and he held his
mouth open for it. Then his lips
clamped down on it and he sucked
long and deeply, three times in
rapid succession. 1t seemed to ease
him a little for the moment. But
his lips looked swollen: they were
dry to the verge of cracking ano
his teeth gritted at every jolt in the
road.
The squadron leader held a Greek
soldiers canteen to his lips while
l lifted up Sammy's head. He drank
as I have never seen anyone drink
before. Then his head fell back
Imply and pain came back in a
little while.
Now Steve was on the other side
and we each held one of Sammy S
hands trying to get them warmer
When the ambulance hit the holes
in the road his clasp frightened like a
vice on my fingers and on Steve's.
Then the groans broke through his
unwilling teeth and his head went
back and back as if he were trying
to push the pain away. Sometimes
it seemed more than any man could
bear. Sometimes I sat and looked
at the long, damp locks of wavy
hair, the fine forehead and the
gray face( and I thought about
what freedom costs, how little most
people know about what it costs
and sometimes I thought about GER
tain people-Blum, Chamberlain
Laval, Hoare and many others. I
thought about all those statesmen
who thought you could compromise
about freedom.
Sometimes the road was fairly
good. Then Sammy talked little.
Did the others-get through all
right? Did we get any of them?
I got-that bloke's undercarriage,
I'm sure I did"
Sure thing. You got his under
carriage, all right" said the GO"
But I couldn't do-any more.
My cockpit was on fire. Sorry I
couldn't save the plane. The fire
blinded me. l got 1t IN the leg
than I couldn't see anything
Oh!
And then long groan again and
Sammy asking If it is much farther
now, and we lying and saying it's just
around the bend, and Steve and !
beginning to understand what we'll
springs of hatred and revenge are
like-and all the time telling Sammy
we'd be in the emergency hospital
in just a couple Of minutes.
When we got there the Greek
surgeon worked fast and several
Greek officials clustered around to
do everything they could. The sur
geon shipped away the emergency
bandage between the knee and the
| thigh and Sammy, after eight hours
of hell, still flashed the same incor-