Learning Anew by Andrew Wareham

Author:Andrew Wareham [Wareham, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2023-06-26T00:00:00+00:00

“Jesse, bring your lads across and we can have a wash up. Talk the raid over while it’s still fresh.”

Jesse wanted his turn. Firing the rockets looked like a good game.

“They hit, Thomas! Don’t expect to hit things, not using bombs.”

“It could be a good habit to get into, I agree, Jesse. What’s the drawback that you could see? Nothing for nothing – they can’t be perfect, the solution to all our problems. That don’t exist.”

“Agreed, Thomas. Everything has a price. The likely problem will be flying dead straight for a few seconds before launch. No wavering in height or lateral position – a straight line in three dimensions. Bad habit, straight lines.”

“More so when low. I reckon we should be firing at two thousand feet, no more than three thou’ from the target and probably at about two hundred knots. There’s a name for that.”

“Yeah. Sitting duck. Holding that for ten seconds will be shit a brick material, Thomas.”

“Just that, Jesse. We can take evasive action coming to position, but the actual firing must be from a stable, predictable base. Half a dozen of fifty calibres, or two pounders, or twin Oerlikons, in front of those warehouses this morning and it would have been ‘goodbye Thomas’. If there’s one rule, it’s ‘don’t fly straight, low and slow’.”

Jesse’s three pilots nodded, very quietly. One observer spoke up, a sergeant who had never learned the genteel rules.

“Two Flights to each raid, sir. Or two sections if it’s small. One comes in, flak suppressant, strafing hard, maybe dropping a couple of bombs while they’re at it. The other carries rockets and fires on their heels. It halves the number of raids we can do, but means we might come home again.”

“Sounds good to me. Jesse?”

“We’ll give it a try. Tomorrow, sir? Have we got rockets?”

“Yes. They will be coming up in quantities, with, I am told, new variations as they are invented. I hope to have official targets from today. If not, find your own tomorrow. I will send the other two squadrons out with bombs tomorrow. After that, I hope we shall be all rockets. Use your whole squadron tomorrow, Flights in two sections initially. If that don’t work, vary it on your second sortie. Give it a real thrashing. Find out what can be done.”

“A free hand, in fact, sir?”

“Just that. You saw my ideas this morning. Go out and work out something better. I like the flak suppressant idea. It might be better to run four planes simultaneously, coming in from the northern quadrants and heading off south, maybe. Make the ack-ack split its targets.”

“Better no ack-ack at all, sir. We’ll try Snowy’s idea first.”

Thomas took a longer glance at Snowy, saw he was at least a quarter Aboriginal, the nickname offering a pointer. He nodded to Jesse to remain behind a moment as the remainder left.

“Snowy seems a bright bloke. Have you got him up for a commission?”

“Not yet, Thomas. Uncertain how the Mess would take to him.”

“Bust any who object.

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