THE RESCUE FLIGHT

by Captain W. E. Johns

XIX. THROUGH THICK AND THIN (Pages 235 – 250)

“It was unreasonable, reflected Thirty, to expect the luck to be all on one side. On the whole things had gone as well as he could have hoped”. The Albatros staffel was soon on their tail. “That he and Forty would be killed he felt certain. It was too much to hope that one British machine, a rather slow, unwieldy two-seater at that, could fight a number of fast enemy fighters and survive”. Thirty flies low, hedge hopping and as they pass over German troops, Forty fires at them. As the Albatroses close in, Thirty swings his aircraft from side to side with the intention of spoiling their aim. As the gunner is in the front of the aircraft, they are both protected to a considerable extent by the engine behind them, but if the machine is put out of action they will have no option but to land and “submit tamely to a fate he preferred not to contemplate”. As their aircraft is attacked yet again, Thirty sees a landmark that means they are only half-way home. One Albatros nearly rams them as Forty manages to shoot it down; it explodes as it hits the ground. “Thirty’s eyes came to rest on Forty’s face. It fascinated him. It was white. His eyes blazed. His lips could hardly be seen, so close were they pressed together. They were just a straight line. “So this is war,” he thought. Could it be possible that the man in front of him was the careless laughing boy he knew at school?” More bullets hit their machine and Thirty realises that it is being shot to bits about him. Behind him the air is full of machines. “It seemed that several more had joined his original pursuers”. Thirty suddenly swings round and flies straight through the enemy planes. Forty strikes Thirty a blow on the chest. “What do you think you are doing, you lunatic? Get home – home – HOME”. “An Albatros swept across his nose, black smoke pouring back from its engine. and Thirty sees a Camel. (An Albatros swept across his nose, black smoke pouring from his engine - is the frontispiece illustration taken from a line on page 242). Then a Camel flashes across his field of vision. He and Forty were no longer alone. A battle rages in the air and Thirty sees Rip’s machine near to him. Not until they were nearly to the Lines did he become aware of Biggles’s Camel, recognisable by its pennants. Once across the Lines and safe, Thirty can hardly believe it. “All the strength in his body seemed to run down his legs and then disappear, leaving them weak and trembling. He could have cried easily. He wanted to go to sleep at once. If only he could sleep!” Back at their aerodrome, Thirty makes “the worst landing he had ever made in his life”. Biggles congratulates Thirty on his success. “I should say that is the best bit of individual work that has been done since this perishing war started, and I’ve seen some pretty stout efforts, too”. Biggles asks what Thirty is going to do about Forsyth. Biggles has left him in the Flight Office with Flight-Sergeant Smyth. Thirty intends to let Forsyth go but Biggles points out that the yellow handkerchief signal is no longer safe. At the office, “on the floor, just raising himself on his elbow and looking dazed, was Flight-Sergeant Smyth. There was an ugly swelling between his eyes”. The German is not there. “He’s gone,” snapped Biggles. “The skunk has broken his parole”. “No!” cried Algy. “Technically he was within his rights. He gave you his parole – you personally – not Smyth”. “Technicalities my foot!” snarled Biggles. “Morally he should have waited”. They hear a Beardmore engine and a plane take off. Biggles tells Thirty that they can’t go after him and shoot him down as “You said you would let him go”. In the distance they see three Albatroses plunge down on the fleeing plane. They don’t see the end. The machines disappear into the summer haze, although they hear machine-gun fire and the drone of an engine die away. “They’ve got him,” muttered Thirty in a dull voice. “Not necessarily,” returned Biggles, quietly. “If he was quick he might have got down”. “If I thought he was killed - ” “Why worry? What he did he did himself. You’ve nothing to blame yourself for”. “This is war. We are all in it. His turn to-day; ours, maybe, to-morrow. In war there is neither forgiveness nor compassion”. Major Raymond arrives and he asks them to come over to the Squadron Office as he wants a word with them.