Squadron No. 808
By Alpha-Adventurer 12
“Right. This squadron has received orders to intercept German bombers at south-east Britain, heading our way”, Keith, the squadron leader, shouted. “Oh hell. Here we go again.”, sighed Robert. “Well, you’re going to have to live with it! Get to your aircraft!” “Come on, Joe. We’ve got a job to do.” Robert beckoned to Joe, indicating he should follow Robert to their aircraft. It wasn’t that Joe didn’t know how, Robert just wanted to have a private chat with him just before take-off. One of the other reasons Robert wanted him along quickly was that Robert was a Flight Lieutenant, and it was his job to check that all the other squadron members were ready for take-off, and then report to the squadron leader. “Everybody, check in!”, yelled Robert. “Intercept 3 here” “Intercept 4 here”...... “Fuel, guns, radio” “Fuel, guns, radio” “Tower 1 to Intercept Squadron, you are cleared for take-off.” “I copy, Tower 1” “Right, once we’re in the air and we sight the enemy, it’s every man for himself.”, Keith announces. The planes take off one by one, their engines roaring. The propellers are deafening, Keith thought. “Turn on to vector 167, and head for London.” Five minutes passed, and Intercept 1, Keith saw a German bomber on the horizon, approaching London with a full load. “Tally Ho!” The squadron immediately formed an arrow formation, Keith taking point. Intercept Squadron went into combat with the bombers. They dived, rolled, fired, dived, turned away, fired again and they kept doing random moves, so the gunners on the bombers always had their hands busy. 30 seconds into the battle, Keith suddenly cried, “What the heck! My guns jammed, but they were all right when we were on the ground!” As Keith was worrying over his guns, he didn’t notice the bomber on his immediate left. “Fire!”. Keith was shot down and torn to pieces by the machine gun, and the squadron never was able to recover his body. Intercept 2 on Keith’s left saw what happened, and informed the rest of the squadron, “Keith was shot down by a bomber on his left. I suggest we get this over with and get back to base to hold a funeral.” “All right.” The rest of the squadron agreed with him. Soon, they got back, and an investigation began right after the funeral. A team was sent out to recover the airplane, and from that they found out that one of the bullets was tampered with to make the gun jam. They also searched the squadron’s cabins, and Robert found the loose floorboard that Tom hid the welding tools in, “Hey! Aren’t those welding tools?” Tom nervously started fidgeting, “Um, yes.” Robert thought, “Hmm. I wonder if the welding tools were used to sabotage the gun.” By the time they finished the search, it was time to get some sleep. At around one o’clock in the morning, Harold saw Tom lurking behind Robert’s aircraft. He quickly went back to his room, sleepily pulled out a notebook, and jotted the fact down. ***
Next morning, Harold quietly pulled aside Robert at breakfast to tell him this news. Robert checked his Fairey Fulmar, and found that instead of a full tank, it was only a quarter full (after each mission, airmen service the aircraft so it’s ready for the next mission). Robert thought to himself, “Tom could have stolen the fuel to make a bomb that could blow up the airbase. I think I have enough evidence to convict him of treason now. I need to conduct a more careful search of his room.” Robert walked toward Tom’s room. He says to Tom, “Right. I need to search your room again. I’ve done the others already, and you’re the only one left (Robert had to lie at this point).” Tom let him search his room, and Robert found a burnt piece of paper, but he didn’t say anything to Tom. He just finished the search and left Tom’s room. Back in his room, Robert began analysing the burnt piece of paper. This is what he found:
(A diagram of a bomb)
It was very shocking to Robert. He immediately went to the Air Marshal of the Air Group. Tom was convicted of treason immediately, and was sent home with a disgrace after 5 years in prison. Originally, Tom’s sentence was to be execution, but as Tom was only a Flight Sergeant Robert managed to convince the Air Marshal not to kill him. After the war, Robert received the Victoria Cross for his actions on that particular mission. Since the release from prison, Tom had been working for Mr.Sir as a private pilot. He regretted what he had done, but there was no going back now.