Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1941-07-04
CHAPTER 9

difficult and dangerous flight ahead
Motors were being warmed up and
the planes taken out on the field one
by one as the mechanics declared
them to be in perfect order. The day
promised to be cloudy which was ideal
for the attacking party. They could
dodge through the clouds, hidden
from the enemy, dive to bomb, and
hurry back to the shelter of the
clouds again. This was a break for
the pursuit planes.
The C. o. called David into his Of
flee for final instructions. A map
showing northwestern France in
great detail was spread out on the
chart table. Also one of southern
England. The Commander pointed
to a speck on the latter. Here" he
said, "is where you pick up the bomb
ers. They will leave the field at
5:15 sharp, and you must be above
waiting. Give yourself eight min
utes from here and do not waste Pc
troll climbing. After that follow them.
They may go as far as Lorient, am
not sure. I do know they are going
to bomb Brest. Lookw
He drew the point of a pencil a.
long the line they would probably fol-
low. Straight out to the end of the
Finstere, and then southeast from
Brest to Lorient. David could not
help thinking how odd it was that
thirteen months after he had vacation
ed in that part of the world, he was
going over with airplanes to destroy
it. What, he wondered, could his
many friends among the Breton fish
ermen and peasants be doing with
the Germans in their beloved home
land?
The squadron, led by Hutch, was
in the air and heading south at 5.O7
sharp. They passed over London,
still smouldering from the night raids
and two or three fires in widely scat
tered areas could be seen.
1t was a simple matter to locate the
field that the C. o. had indicated on
his map as the place of rendezvous,
and as The Hornets came within
sight of it David could see the last
Of the bombers taking off. The rest
were already in the air and circling
for altitude. They were the latest
types of Blenheims, thirty-six in all.
He was glad of this. It would be
more difficult to protect slower bomb
ers. But with the fast Blenheims,
plus the weather which continued
cloudy and favorable, plus a little
luck, he might be able to get his
squadron back intact.
However, to bring The Hornets
home safely wasn't enough. Hutch
was responsible for the thirty-six
heavier planes as well. This was a
big order. His experience had been
entirely with fighting off the invad-
ing Nazis. Attack was his speciality,
not protection. Well, he couldn't do
better than his best and, after all,
one kind of fighting was probably
about the same as the other. When
you saw the enemy you fought them
and shot down as many as you could
without buying it yourself.
"Hello," voice came to him over
the radio-telephone. Calling Squad
ron Leader Hutchinson"
Listening" he answered.
Captain Bliss, in charge of the
bombers, speaking"
"At your service, Captain"
"You know our objectives?"
eyes, Sir"
"Good. Now listen carefully. We
will climb to between twenty and
twenty-five thousand feet, glide as
silently as possible over the Channel
and that part of France which we
must pass, cut our motors and dive
on the first objective, dropping half
our bombs. From there we will go
full speed, without losing time to
climb, to the second objective and
drop the rest. Then home through
the clouds. Understand"
Eyes, Captain"
"Fine. / won't tell you yhat your
job is. ! know your reputation too
well for that. Now, che'rio!"
Up they climbed, and up and up,
until they passed through the clouds
and came out into the clear. The
Spitfires kept well above the bomb
ers, and Hutch's altimetre showed
twenty-three thousand feet when Cap
tain Bliss gave the order to level out.
It had been a grand sensation for
the American to feel "the old tin
can" answer every movement as he
brought it up through the clouds.
The air fever was in his blood again
and with greatest difficulty he con-
+ro1led an overwhelming desire to