ELEVEN DAYS: A novel of the great war by Malcolm Havard

Author:Malcolm Havard [Havard, Malcolm]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-30T20:00:00+00:00

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Although it had improved, the weather was still poor, at best marginal for flying but the three aircraft had successfully taken off and had spent the first twenty minutes climbing for altitude before Hastings signalled for them to head for the lines.

As they did, Eddie noticed that Armstrong’s machine was trailing a light smoke trail, not so much from the exhausts but from the engine itself. He drew his own machine closer alongside and waved to attract the attention of the other crew. He saw Kerr look down and behind him, then lean over and talk to Armstrong who did the same. It was obvious to Eddie that there was some discussion going on in the RE8.

A rattle of a machine gun made Eddie jump and look around him. They were still on the British side of the lines, surely there wasn’t a Hun scout over this far? Quickly he realised that it was Hastings firing his Vickers to get their attention. He was on the far side of the pair, looking over at them. Eddie could see him shake his head and point forward, over the lines towards enemy territory. The message was clear; keep going, don’t turn back.

Eddie saw Armstrong nod and turn his head forward again. Kerr looked across at Eddie and gave a shrug, then look behind him at their smoke trail.

Eddie let his machine drift away from the other aircraft. Hastings was right, he was sure, the smoke trail was probably just the remnant of the oil leak. The mechanics had been working in a rush to get the machines ready and had probably not had time to clean up the mess properly. The smoke trail was almost certainly just the residue burning off against the hot engine. Still the smoke trail was alarming, it was like a finger pointing straight at Armstrong and Kerr. In their stead he would have been very tempted to turnaround.

At least the cloud cover, though intermittent, gave them a degree of cover. It would make taking photos harder but against a clear blue backdrop they would have stood out far more.

They crossed the lines with little trouble. It seemed that the British advance and the artillery barrage which was continuing before them was disrupting the Archie batteries. Eddie was glad of that at least.

As they approached their target, however, their problems increased. The cloud cover below them was more continuous with only a few gaps below which the ground could be made out. Hastings signalled for them to circle. Eddie realised that he was waiting, hoping that a gap would appear in the clouds driven by the stiff breeze. Looking down he tried to gauge whether this was likely. It did seem possible but how long it would take was anyone’s guess. He could not help but look back at the trail of smoke that was coming from Armstrong’s aircraft. He suddenly felt very exposed.

Hastings was signalling. He was pointing at Armstrong and Kerr then pointing down at the clouds beneath.

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