Evening star., 1941-12-21

didn't fall or even swerve, so In q last
desperate attempt to finish him off I
decided to crash into him. He'was right
on top of me now. closed my eyes and
waited that split second for the end.
But it wasn't the end When I opened
my eyes he was gone. Maybe I got
him. I never did learn. The next thing
I knew. the ground was coming up at
me awful fast. I remember thinking
that had missed the bullet in the back
of the neck. missed the cooking and now
was going to get in the third way-in a
crash.
But I guess my number wasn't up.
crashed all right, but instead of going
west" went east to few German hos
pitals for the rest of the war. MY OBJ
server got out with few scratches.
That's all there is, brother" I told
the Canadian, except I was scared
stiff"
Il don't blame you," he said sympa-
thetically.
Then he told me his story:
I'VE were in dog-fight about 80 feet
up over the Channel" he began. Il had
on my oxygen mask and Mae Vest"
What was she doing up there with
you?"
"A Mae West is a rubber vest life
preserver. If you fall in the water you
just pull key and it fills up with gas
and keeps you af1oat We call them
Mae Vests because they give you a gay
80 figure.
I was flying single-Seater Hurricane
fighter with machine guns in each wing
and the sweetest automatic cannon you
ever saw, and we were up against the
latest Messerschmitt single-seats. equally
well armed and just about as fast.
"One of them passed my sights for a
second and I was lucky enough to get
him. Then another loomed up and [
was Just going to give him a burst when
it happened
Able to Slide Cover
The whole front end of my ship
suddenly blew right up in my face! 1t
was the most uncanny feeling. My motor
and entire front part of the fuselsge
had disappeared into thin air. I thought
for a moment that I was dead and
didn't know it. I had been hit by one
Of those 23millimeter high-explosive
shells. I learned afterward Like you, I
hadn't looked over my shoulder and one
of the ferries had scored perfect hit.
The next thing I knew was falling
upside down and what was left of my
plane was on fire. Unless I got out of
my green house fast I would be roasted
like chicken in an oven. I gingerly
reached up an arm and to my great JOY
was able to slide back the cover.
IF it had jammed I wouldn't be here
telling you this. But it worked and
fell-or rather drifted-out because was
falling at about the same speed as the
plane. had to push the plane away
with my feet and gave myself hot foot
doing it.
But I got clear and started on my
long trip down. 1 didn't open my chute
right away for two reasOns-some am
bilious Nazi might give me burst for
luck or my own plane might fall on me.
And then began the strangest sensa-
ton of my life Falling wasn't unpleas-
ant AT all. 1t was more IKE uodlillR III
water. Breathing was slightly more diff
ficult than it is on the ground, but not
very much. I found myself breathing
like a swimmer does-by turning my
head to one side and gulping the air.
Failing is lot like swimming. You
can change your position, as you can
in water, by twisting around. When l
started to get my bearings I swung my
body around and watched the fight still
going on above me To one side and a
little above I could see my plane zig
Tagging crafty down in a trailer OF
smoke Nobody was following it down.
They must have thought I had been
killed in the explosion. Guess 1 should
have been.
Then I swung around again and saw
that I was falling into a heavy cloud
bank. So I decided to wait until I had
reached it before pulling my chute cord.
They wouldn't be able to see my chute
in the mist. But when I had reached
"