Hunt For The Blower Bentley by Kevin Gosselin

Author:Kevin Gosselin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: bentley motor cars, bentley cars, world war two fiction, fast cars, bentley
ISBN: 9781780920207
Publisher: Andrews UK limited 2011
Published: 2011-09-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty Six

Newcastle Upon Tyne, April 5, 1941

What was it the Americans said, ‘Like shooting fish in a barrel’, Stephan puzzled over his morning tea and paper at the Newcastle ARP regional office. Two days ago he had looked at North Shields as a representative of the ARP. Today, he read about it as an enemy of that same organization. But he no longer felt like a lone assassin. He had his birds. And his Blower.

Stephan and his flock had arrived at a rhythm of operation that was ruthless, efficient and most importantly calm. It was a rhythm, a song of destruction that had at its first chords the soft fluttering of wings. Several nights ago, the last night of March, Stephan had spent a few therapeutic hours at his pigeons’ stone house. The Bentley’s top was down, the air crisp; Stephan had stuffed his hands deep into the pockets of his ARP uniform and waited for the sound of his message carriers.

As always, the birds did not disappoint. Stephan had slowly exited the Blower, not wanting to spook the birds, and walked into their stone home. It never failed to bring a smile to his face, and didn’t this last time, when he was able to hold one of the softly cooing birds and unhook the message from its foot. Tucking the proud carrier - they always were unblinkingly proud when they arrived at Penshurst - under his arm, Stephan read the message and tried to take it all in.

The Luftwaffe wanted to make another large raid on North Shields. Stephan had helped coordinate the six-hour attack on April 9 th and 10 th, when 70 bombers dropped over 5,000 fire bombs on the city. The raiders also tossed down over 250 high-explosive bombs. But the main target to cripple remained elusive as the King George V shipyard still progressed on their projects. And the citizens still paraded around the town with smiles and energy, revolt and intent.

North Shields and the surrounding areas were known by the British to be tempting targets. That is why Stephan was needed to help the bombers navigate the near-decathlon of obstacles laid in the way of successful bombings. There were the barrage balloons flown at 3,000 feet to deter the lowest level, and most effective, bombing runs. Stephan could always hear the balloons before he saw them. Their tethers shrieking and singing under the strain of wind and loft. The beaches at Tynemouth, Cullercoats and Whitley Bay scared away landings and bathers equally with barbed wire and mines, with a good ration of light anti-aircraft guns sprouting from the tops aimed by skilled operators aided by immense spotlights. This cold breezy part of England seemed colder and harder than ever before. Stephan needed to soften it.

The final bit of defense these North East targets employed were the screen generators, huge, noisy machines that were only started and stoked on moonlit nights. Spewing a cloying and odiferous smoke that stuck to your clothes and

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