WE’RE GAINING ON ‘EM!
STORY STEVE TAYLOR ART MORAHIN
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N THE SUMMER OF 1944 BRITAIN FOUND ITSELF UNDER SUSTAINED ATTACK FROM NAZI GERMANY’S LATEST DEADLY WEAPON THE V1 FLYING BOMB. A MISSILE POWERED BY A PULSE-JET ENGINE, THEY BECAME POPULARLY KNOWN AS “DOODLEBUGS” OR “BUZZ BOMBS”.
COVER IAN KENNEDY
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R.A.F. FIGHTER SQUADRONS WERE HARD-PRESSED DEALING WITH THE V1S, EACH OF WHICH CARRIED AN 850KG WARHEAD OF HIGH EXPLOSIVE AND FLEW AT SPEEDS OF OVER 400 MILES PER HOUR.
GOTCHA!
SPITFIRE PILOTS LIKE FLIGHT LIEUTENANT TOM DEMPSEY AND HIS WINGMAN, PILOT OFFICER NEIL SCHOFIELD, WERE SCRAMBLED TIME AND TIME AGAIN TO INTERCEPT THE UNMANNED MISSILES BEFORE THEY REACHED THEIR TARGET LONDON. GOOD SHOOTING, BOSS.
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HAVING USED UP ALL HIS AMMO, TOM CHOSE TO TRY OUT A RISKY BUT PROVEN TACTIC TO DEAL WITH ANOTHER “DOODLEBUG”.
STEADY… STEADY.
AND DOWN SHE GOES.
DRAWING LEVEL, THE PILOT HAD CAREFULLY TIPPED OVER THE LAST REMAINING V1 WITH HIS WING, SENDING THE MISSILE TUMBLING EARTHWARDS, WHERE IT CRASHED HARMLESSLY ON TO FARMLAND.
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BACK AT THEIR AIRFIELD LATER THAT DAY, THE TWO PILOTS LOOKED ON IN AMAZEMENT AS A FLIGHT OF STRANGE NEW AIRCRAFT APPROACHED. LOOK AT THAT…THEY’VE GOT NO PROPELLERS!
THEY MUST BE THOSE NEW JETS WE’VE BEEN HEARING RUMOURS ABOUT. THE AIRCRAFT WERE GLOSTER METEORS, THE R.A.F.’S FIRST OPERATIONAL JET FIGHTER. JUST THEN, ONE OF THE METEORS SEPARATED FROM THE REST OF THE FLIGHT AND PERFORMED A LOW LEVEL PASS OVER THE AIRFIELD.
WATCH OUT!
WHOA!
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AFTER LANDING, THE METEOR PILOT INTRODUCED HIMSELF AND EXPLAINED THAT HIS SQUADRON WAS BEING MOVED TO THEIR BASE TO HELP IN THE BATTLE AGAINST THE V1S. TOM, ALTHOUGH UNIMPRESSED WITH THE EARLIER RECKLESSNESS, DECIDED TO GIVE THE NEWCOMER A CHANCE. THEY SHOOK HANDS. TOM DEMPSEY.
FLIGHT LIEUTENANT RUSTY CLARK. SO, WHAT D’YOU THINK OF MY KITE?
TOM, MEANWHILE, SNORTED DERISIVELY. HMPH! GIVE ME THE GOOD OLD SPIT ANY DAY. THE SPITFIRE’S DAY HAS PASSED. JETS ARE THE FUTURE.
WHAT A MACHINE! I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.
RILED, TOM HIT BACK. IT’S SERVED ME WELL. AND I RECKON THERE’S PLENTY OF LIFE LEFT IN THE OLD GIRL YET.
IF YOU SAY SO.
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IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE THE SQUADRON WAS SCRAMBLED ONCE AGAIN TO DEAL WITH ANOTHER WAVE OF DOODLEBUGS. NEIL SWIFTLY ACCOUNTED FOR ONE OF THE FLYING BOMBS.
NICE WORK, GREEN TWO.
WITH EIGHT V1 KILLS TO HIS CREDIT, TOM WAS CONFIDENT OF ADDING A NINTH AS HE STEADILY CLOSED TO WITHIN FIRING RANGE OF THE REMAINING DOODLEBUG. JUST A FEW MORE SECONDS…
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BUT JUST AS HE WAS ABOUT TO TOUCH THE FIRING BUTTON ON HIS CONTROL COLUMN A METEOR JET STREAKED PAST.
WHAT THE BLAZES…?
COMING THROUGH!
ITS PILOT WAS RUSTY CLARK. A SHORT BURST FROM THE METEOR’S FOUR 20MM HISPANO CANNONS LATER AND THE V1 WAS HISTORY.
MY FIRST KILL IN A JET…EVEN IF IT IS JUST A DOODLEBUG.
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ONLY TOM’S SHARP REFLEXES PREVENTED HIM BEING HIT BY THE SHOWER OF DEBRIS FROM THE DESTROYED V1.
THAT WAS CLOSE.
AS SOON AS THEY LANDED, A FURIOUS TOM STRODE OVER TO CONFRONT CLARK. CLARK, WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE PLAYING AT UP THERE?
COME AGAIN?