A night to remember -part 3
THE Mess is very quiet, everybody subdued and deep in their own thoughts, most of the armchairs are occupied with lounging figures pretending to read well-thumbed copies of Flight and Picture Post or yesterday's papers, but finding great difficulties in concentration. Two or three chaps are at the small tables around the edge of the room, writing letters, sometimes gazing into space seeking inspiration. What can you write about other than what fills your mind, tonight’s operation and the chances of survival, but that must not be mentioned..
There's a copy of Tee-Em and an empty armchair which I soon make use of and get lost in the antics of Pilot Officer Prune, the feather-brained pilot who puts up every flying 'black' in the book.
Then suddenly I'm drawn back to the real world by my navigator sinking into the next armchair with his friendly Canadian greeting 'Hi'. "Hello Alex, have you been sleeping"? Aw no" he tells me, he's just taken a walk down to the farm to see if there were any jobs to do, but Mr. Martin was out in the fields, probably driving the tractor that I heard earlier, but I guess it filled in a bit of the time for him in these long empty anxious hours before an operation.
The minutes drag by until it's time for the six o'clock news on the BBC Home Service. The radio is switched on and the precise well rounded voice of the announcer tells us of the successes of the armies as they push their way into France, and that last night a strong force of Lancasters and Halifaxes attacked targets in the Ruhr, doing extensive damage to oil refineries and marshalling yards. I wonder where we shall be going in just a few hours’ time?
Soon it's time for the eggs and bacon. The faces begin to look less worried for everybody knows that it's the other chaps that don't come back, not you. Anyway the food is comforting and the atmosphere is full of high spirits, even though a little false.
"B flight bus is outside!" shouts somebody from the dining room door. A hundred or more chair legs scrape the floor and a crowd make for the door to grab their hats in the scrum in the hall. It's amazing how most people manage to get their own hats when they all look alike. Outside the sergeants are streaming out of their Mess across the road and gathering together in groups with their officer crew members and a lively chatter of speculation develops as they board the buses to take them down to briefing. Not long now to find out what the target is!