The Spyglass File (The Forensic Genealogist Book 5) by Nathan Dylan Goodwin

Author:Nathan Dylan Goodwin [Goodwin, Nathan Dylan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-09-01T07:00:00+00:00

For the first time since she had left her old life behind at Bramley Cottage, time had dug its claws into the ground, refusing to budge like an obstinate dog. Since being told that Coventry was the destination of the X-Gerät beam, Elsie had paced the operations room, constantly checking the clock and peeling back the blackouts, waiting for time to finally release the evening and release her from her stewing torment. All afternoon, the operators’ pencils had remained resolutely on the desks beside them, as the women fruitlessly searched the airwaves for any hint of what might be about to happen.

It was just gone six o’clock when Elsie left the building for some fresh air. She pulled her greatcoat tight and leant against a small oak tree that stood in front of the old toy factory. It was, she thought, quite possibly the brightest night that she had ever seen. The moon had rebelled against the blackout, painting the building behind her with an eerie pale blue. As Elsie lit a cigarette, her eyes followed the illuminated chalky road into the village, where she could clearly make out the moon-kissed roofs that the Luftwaffe would also be able to see so very clearly. But still the skies were ominously empty.

It was the stillness that bothered her the most. She could cope with the frantic copying down and translations of R/T intelligence. She could cope with interpreting the communications and prioritising what should be sent off by dispatch riders to the analysts at the Air Ministry. She could cope with organising the other WAAF girls. But, what she couldn’t cope with was the quietness.

Elsie took the final drag on her cigarette and stared up into the skies. Nothing. Not even a night bird or an insect. Not even any bloody wind, for goodness’ sake. The Luftwaffe high command had certainly picked a perfect night for their attack: they were about to dominate the skies above England.

She shuddered, tossed down the stub, and re-entered the operations room.

‘Quick, over here,’ Betty called to her.

From Betty’s animated expression and pencil poised in her hand, Elsie guessed that she had heard something of significance on the R/T. ‘What is it?’

‘It’s KGr 100—they’ve just left their base in Vannes.’

Elsie nodded and blew out a puff of air. KGr 100—Kampfgruppe—were the most highly skilled, precision bombing unit in the Luftwaffe. In recent raids, the aircraft—specially modified Heinkel He 111s—had been used to drop incendiary bombs on the targets, giving following bombers a precise location to hit.

‘It looks like there are around fifteen of them,’ Betty added.

Elsie took the headset and listened. A few moments later she heard, ‘Wurden die Leitstrahlsender richtig ausgerichtet?’ She carefully scribed the question—Have the beams been adjusted correctly? The answer, from the Luftwaffe control was a simple confirmation that yes, the beams had been set.

She handed the headset back to Betty, picked up the log book and headed over to the Intelligence Office. The door was closed, with RKB, Aileen and Jean conversing over a large map of England.

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