The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1941-10-23
A YANK In
THE R. A. F.

By HARLAN THOMAS

ire iah vas clear: the Raj.
must drop All It's other dispositions.
throw in every plane snd-for a
short. desperate time. II hast
seize control Of TIE ar over Dun
leraue. and the ROYAL Navy, whose
by ships row could not help. must
in a few hours conlure up 8 vast
feet of trawlers fishing smaeks.
yachts. excursion boats - every
thing and anything that would
noat-snd risk everything 10 save
the army and 50 perhaps save
England.
A black pail Of smoke hung
over the entire coastline From
east. south and west rolled the
German eannonade. Squadrons Of
bombers charged INTO the melee
from every direction. The fields
and meadows inland from bunker
que lay Uttered with burning auto
mobile parks. smashed supply de-
pots. guns heavy and small French
and British destroyers had steered
into the tidal basin of the smok-
ing harbor: bombers caught them
there. and now they lay as half
submerged. smoldering, twisted
heaps of steel. The streets of the
town itself were a bloody sham
bles. with English and French dead
and mangled civilians lying scat
tered among the rubble Of houses
and churches Through the wreck
age threaded the battalions and
brigades OF the B.E.F., heading for
the beach. where the men stood
quietly. in long. endless queues,
awaiting their turn.
/ Above their heads the sky was
alive with planes. locked IN
death struggle. Smashed fuselages
and spent bullets hurtled down
F into the midst Of the men. Ger
man fighter planes broke through
and maehine-gunned them; they
fell flat on their faces. and fired
at the swastikas with rifles. At
one edge Of town. men had found
+ piano that had been blown out
of shattered villa; they rolled
1t out on the beach. found a ser
geant TO play il. and sang songs
+ throughout the night.
J The Channel itself was haze
of smoke From the beach, as the
feeble sun rose. the water seemed
to be filled with splinters; but soon
these drew nearer and revealed
themselves to be pleasure launches
and open boats. which their
yachtsman owners had steered
across the sea by night. There
were boats from Eastbourne. Hast
ings. Rye and Deal. which in other
seasons had raced in regattss or
pufGcred about the fishing
grounds; elderly men and young
boys steered them in under the
falling steel, and the long khaki
queues threaded out waist-deep in
the surf to climb aboard The
strong carried the wounded on
their shoulders; they trooped out
. till the water splashed about their
arm-pits; they tried TO joke.
Amid the shellbursts. the air
overhead bristled with a thousand
silent messages carried on the air
waves between the men in battle
and their chiefs at home. A Squad
ron Leader. high over the ruins.
was talking into his microphone /:
Hello! r'alcon Leader calling
Falcon Leader calling -
And in the operations room Of
the base-fighter post over in Eng
= land the officer picked up the
voice: 90. Falcon Leader calling
. Over Returning
, Operations completed Zed )
zed 4 Zed : 3" The
: commanding Group Captain listen
cd closely. His operator took down
the message At the table at ms
side. the Intelligence Officer was
working with two telephones and
half dozen smeared maps. Non.
CONS were busy DECIDING messages
j. and tapping out others. Bells
/: tangled
Hello. Falcon Leader the op-
d orator called back. Message ac-
knowledged. Re-arm and re-fuel at
/. Emergency Landing Ground So.
Further orders follow"
J.. Another operator was reporting:
: 81 squadron returning. sir. three
!. aircraft missing 81 Squadron-six
=. aircraft missing 81 Squadron
four aircraft missing. 20 Squad
: ron
The commanding officer answer
!, ed in brief. steady voice: Order
requirements from the reserve
pool"
: The Intelligence Officer mad
stepped TO the window. The sound
: Of Spitfires coming in could be
heard. That's 80 Squadron land
), ing down
: MS commander glanced out.
Five slow rolls" ne commented.
watching Good bag"
= Ito Be ContinUsd)
You help yourself when you buy
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