Aces Over Ypres by John Stack

Aces Over Ypres by John Stack

Author:John Stack [Stack, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Media
Published: 2020-12-19T16:00:00+00:00


Chapter 8

The British forces advanced steadily across open ground, their ranks thinning out in long threads, like contour lines on a map. Drifting white clouds of artillery smoke hovered over them, momentarily blocking whole groups from view. From three thousand feet the rattle of rifle and machine gun fire was muted but its effects could be clearly seen. Tiny figures fell in ones and twos, cut down by shrapnel and bullets. The cull seemed entirely random. Many fell as if they had merely tripped over uneven ground. None rose again and behind the advancing line the scattering of prone figures reached back hundreds of yards.

The four aircraft of B Flight flew onwards over the line south of Ypres. Their destination was the town of Menin and the German-held territory beyond. IV Corps were planning an offensive; that was all the crews had been told in the brief before take-off, and it was imperative that any concentrations of German forces east of Menin be reported.

Hawkes and Turner were in the lead Avro, their position marking the tip of a rough arrowhead with St Leger and Sexton on the right and Scott and McCrea in a Farman numbered 1205, and Odell and Cooper in another numbered 1202 on the left. They were flying at different altitudes, giving each other a minimum clearance of a hundred feet. Cloud cover was low while, not far to the north, rain was falling in massive wind-driven sheets.

They passed over the town of Menin and adjusted their course to follow the Lys River eastwards. Charlie was becoming adept at writing with his heavy woollen mittens on and he took sporadic notes on the activity he could see on the roads below. There were columns of troops and material, all moving westwards but no unusual concentrations and he switched his attention to searching the sky around them, taking comfort from the low cloud cover that eliminated any threat from that quarter. The Lewis machine gun was wedged down beside him. The problem with the gun oil had been reported and they had been assured that it would be addressed, but for now the gun was tightly wrapped in a heavy blanket against the cold. Charlie was taking no chances and on the other side of the cockpit he had stowed his .303 Enfield rifle with a half-dozen magazines.

Charlie was distracted by movement to his left. A Farman had climbed to the same altitude a hundred yards away. It was 1205, Scott and McCrea’s machine, and Charlie waved over. For a moment his gesture was not returned but then McCrea raised his hand in salute. He then pointed to the ground in a stabbing motion and Charlie quailed as he imagined the sergeant cursing him to keep his mind on the job.

Ten minutes later they reached the outskirts of Courtrai and, following a lead from Hawkes, the four aircraft started to descend to fifteen hundred feet. Charlie took up the Lewis gun and laid it across his lap. The rain to the north was closing in and the air was heavy with moisture.



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