Evening star., 1941-07-18

until we get to the top of the slope,
and Heinie seems to be busy some
where else, anyway"
He was not quite right about that.
The din back in the area from
which we had come went on with
out letup but that did not stop one
Heinie, who must have been an in
dividualiSt, from tossing stick of
bombs into the battery area just
as we arrived at the gate. We dived
out of the cab and flattened our
selves, lay still until we were about
to freeze solid and then more or
less craWled to the emplacements
where much the same performance
went on all night.
The press officer had been at least
half right. The Nazis were inter
ested in this battery and every five
or 10 minutes they dropped some
new token to demonstrate it. The
bombing wasn't too good, but good
enough to satisfy the severest local
critic. Five or six times fragments
clattered against the steel shields
about the guns, and more often than
that sod and gravel were StreWn
across the entire position.
UncamOuflaged Battery.
We've been knocking HIM down
now and again" said the major.
That's why he's sore"
1t was a weird scene even to a
couple of visitors who thought
they'd had some experience with
artillery. In the moonlight that
developed all too brilliantly you
big guns pointing straight up and
waving back and forth like beckon-
ing fingers.
You marVeled at their co-ordina-
ton until you realized that all four
Of them were automatically follow
ing the movement of a knob in the
hands of a lad in the control dug
out. Now and then they fired, and
you could see the whole of a wooded
hillside all orange and bright in the
flash. You knew then that this
battery stood out there on a bald
knob, uncamouflaged, where any
Nazi pilot who dared to come near
enough might take a look at it.
But. of course, they don't come"
said the major. You don't get any
percentage out of concealment in
job like ours. If an ack-ack bat
terry isn't good enough to protect
itself, then it's not worth its pow
der. And We think we're pretty
good-or maybe I told you that"
Despite the generous ration OF
chunks dropped on our hills as the
evening progressed, it was obvious
that we occupied only minor spot
in the concern of the Nazis. BY l
O'Clock, a terrific fire had sprung
up in northeast London and seemed
to be spreading. The visiting bomb
ers were feeding it with Molotov Il
wonder what they call them now
bread baskets and other flaming
provender, and presently the whole
sky in that direction was aglow to
a height of two or three thousand
feet.
Tea and Talk.
Our battery fired and swung and
fired and swung. Central control
reported that observers thought We
had cracked a bomber. Nobody got
elated over that. What somebody
thinks you've done doesn't count.
The night was getting bitterly cold.
A corporal came around with some
tin cups and a bucketful of tea and
that helped a bit The major be-
gan to talk about his service in
India. He hadn't liked it much. In
his territory there were too many
diseases and poisonous snakes to
look out for-too many ways for a
man to get killed when he wasn't
looking.
Maybe the conversation wasn't
precisely at that point when I looked
up into the red sky, but it was
very near it. Anyway, I looked up
and saw the big parachute and
pointed it out to him.
Look at the Heinie," I said Hes
coming too fast. He'll break his
neck" The major looked and set
down his cup.
That's no man" he said. That's
a land mine and it's got no drift
at all. Well, good-by." He held
out his right hand. I shook it auto
matically wondering why.
How long?" I asked.
Thirty seconds after 1t hits" he
said