1915 Fokker Scourge by Griff Hosker

Author:Griff Hosker
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Historical, Historical Fiction, Military, Genre Fiction, War, Literature & Fiction
Publisher: Sword Books Ltd
Published: 2014-07-05T23:00:00+00:00

Dear Captain Harsker,

Thank you for your kind letter. I was touched to receive it. I know how busy you must be.

The leg is healing well and I will be fit for active duty again in January. As regards training as a pilot; I am not certain if I would like that but I appreciate your thoughts and your concern. I will wait until I return to active service and then decide.

Yours faithfully,

Chas. Sharp,

Flight Sergeant

It was typical of Charlie that he should be so thankful. I knew he had not had a loving family as I had. The things I took for granted he had never had. I would persuade him to train when he returned. Lumpy Hutton had worked out well. He was not Charlie Sharp but I knew that, eventually, we would be given single seater fighters like the Germans used and then I would need neither a gunner nor an observer. I would have to fly alone then anyway. As the Fokker had shown aeroplane design was improving rapidly.

It was December when we received our first alert. The sector close to us, towards the south, was occupied by the French. Their aeroplanes had been badly handled by the Fokkers and the Hun had gained air superiority.

“Tomorrow, gentlemen, we are on standby. The French sector is forty miles away. We can be there in half an hour. If the French and the British squadrons there strike trouble then we will go to their aid.”

Ted raised his hand, “Colonel, if we are going to help them wouldn’t it be better if we set off to help them before they got in trouble?”

“I can see where you would think that, Lieutenant Thomas, however we know how cunning the Germans are. They may have been mauling the squadrons down there to draw us away and then they could hit our airfield or our lines.”

“Ted is right, sir, we may get down there when it is too late to do anything save pick up the pieces.”

“Nevertheless, those are the orders and we will follow them.”

As we went to the officers’ mess Gordy shook his head. “It’s always the same; some genius at Headquarters who doesn’t know his arse from his elbow comes up with a plan which will only result in our lads getting hurt.”

“We’ll have to make sure we don’t. If we fly higher we can gain ten miles an hour and be there five or ten minutes quicker and we would have height advantage. Remember we all have the extra Lewis now. As the only one who has used it I can tell you it makes all the difference. It is like flying a Fokker, what you see is what you hit. You aim the aeroplane and not the gun.”

“I hope you are right or some poor sods will not see the New Year.”

The telephone line to the front was working and, as we waited by the aeroplanes, we saw Captain Marshall come from the tent and fire the Very pistol. We set off south in two lines of six.

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