Читать книгу Reluctant Hero - John Hickman - Страница 16

Training courses were theory and practical mixed. Simulation included working in pitch- black conditions. Olly couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. ‘Aye, it’s the sort of inkiness smothers life itself.’

Richard frowned. ‘Darkness might be our best friend if we’re trying to evade Jerry.’

Bill was thoughtful and surprised. Once his eyes became accustomed he could see quite well.

They’d listen to a radio expert, then study celestial navigation or try to understand how flaps work to reduce speed. Various problems came up including emergency situations. Some classes were intended to monitor what each individual does in time of varying degrees of stress and crisis.

‘Naught need to monitor me,’ laughed Olly. ‘I get scared shitless in any crisis, by gum.’

Captain Hawkins, an expert on bombsights, communications and radar was introduced to the class. ‘Today I will talk about radios for wireless operators.’

He spoke knowledgeably about advanced communications systems but apologised to the group as he felt the need to generalise. ‘None of you as pilots elect are aware of what machines you might fly after qualifying. Knowing what squadrons you will be assigned to would make life simpler but I suspect no one has that information.’

Captain Hawkins shrugged, as if with some discomfort. ‘Even if they did, they would be unlikely to tell us so I need to give you a comprehensive overview. You shall have to study everything I’m afraid, in the hope you remember later what you need to know.’

Another cadet, Duncan, looked uneasy, almost shifty.

‘He looks like a parolee,’ scoffed Richard.

Duncan too was born into a life of privilege with multiple chimneys, but he lacked the common touch of Richard. Another reason Bill had grown to dislike him was he kept taking the piss out of Bill’s surname, Honey. Bill tired of being referred to as ‘honey sweeter than sugar,’ and ‘you’re not as sweet as your name, plus ‘come here sweet, Honey thing.’

He had copped ridicule at school but hoped, in the company of mature men, it would cease.

Duncan had a question. ‘Please, Sir, will we get much practical instruction? I never seem to learn as much from a book.’

‘You should try opening one,’ sneered Bill, who was in no mood to be charitable.

The class laughed. Captain Hawkins thought the comment appropriate and smiled.

‘As much as possible, Cadet, yes. I’ll start with our Canadian aircraft and those built for service in the Far East. They have radios made in America. We can show you one of those tomorrow. They’re special inthey provide radio direction-finding, as well as having voice and Morse capabilities.’

‘What about the Oboe system, Sir?’ asked Richard.

‘Very good, Cadet, you’ve been doing your homework. Truly, I am impressed.’

Richard beamed with pride.

‘The Oboe is an accurate navigation system but has limitations. It can only handle one aircraft at a time and is fitted to faster and more manoeuvrable, aircraft. Pathfinders and Mosquitoes. It’s unlikely any of you will fly the Avro Manchester twin-engine bomber. It’s been around for about two years but has had nothing but problems.’

‘Why, Sir?’ asked Duncan.

‘Powered by two Rolls Royce Vulture engines, it has proven to be completely underpowered and extremely unreliable. Not to mention its airframe defects.’

‘Word is anyone who flies them is a sitting duck, Sir,’ added Richard.

Captain Hawkins stared at the floor. ‘Quite so, Cadet, they share a similar reputation to the outclassed Blenheim.’

There was a palpable unease in the room. Many shuffled, some groaned.

‘But not to worry, chaps. On the credit side, it paved the way for the Avro Lancaster, which in effect is a redesigned Manchester. We now have brand new four engine bombers to include the Stirling and the Halifax. The new Avro Lancaster has longer wingspan, takes two extra engines with far greater bomb capacity. If any of you end up flying Lancs, as I suspect some of you shall, you won’t have the Oboe.’

‘Why is it called the Oboe, Sir,’ asked Duncan.

‘Anyone, Class,’ responded Captain Hawkins.

‘Because it sounds like the musical instrument, the Oboe,’ offered Richard.

Captain Hawkins beamed. ‘Quite so,’ he moved casually about the room as he talked but his eyes darted everywhere. He missed nothing.

‘The GEE is a radio receiver by which a navigator is able to plot his course on a grid. GEE stands simply for grid. It functions by synchronised pulses transmitted from England.’

He continued, intermittently turning to face his class, between scrawling notes on an enormous blackboard.

‘Please, Sir, should we be writing any of this down?’ asked Duncan.

Captain Hawkins turned and stared rigidly at Duncan. His classmates giggled nervously.

‘Aye, Duncan, might be summat worth considering,’ Olly said quietly.

‘The GEE has a range of 400 to 450 miles, which is limited by curvature of the earth. You calculate your position based on time delay between pulses but it is not a pinpoint system.’

For two hours the cadets painstakingly familiarised themselves with intricacies of the GEE and the manner in which pulses functioned. Duncan tried to concentrate but found the effort beyond his attention span. Bill became engrossed and asked salient questions.

Captain Hawkins looked at his watch. ‘Okay, enough of the GEE. I want to tell you about the GEE H. It’s similar to the Oboe.’

Duncan looked bewildered.

‘Don’t become confused. It’s easily done. With transponders on the ground the GEE H allows more aircraft to use the system simultaneously. Any aircraft fitted with this are usually marked with two horizontal yellow stripes on their tail fins. H2S is a ground-looking navigation come radar system but we fear it might be homed in on by German night fighters. It has to be used with discretion.’

‘What does that mean, Sir?’ asked Duncan.

‘Don’t turn it on, old boy,’ offered Richard.

‘Yes, quite right, Cadet, might be expedient.’

Some cadets laughed.

‘But we will have something new soon, the Airborne Cigar. Has anyone heard of it?’

Bill was not alone when he shook his head.

‘Nick-named the ABC it will have three aerials.’

Another bloody calamity, thought Bill.

‘In a Lancaster two will stick out at the top of the fuselage and one will be under the bomb-aimer’s position. The ABC will be unique as it will be used to jam radio to German night fighters but it’s in the prototype stage, I’m afraid.’

Captain Hawkins began to gather up his papers. ‘You will be tested on general information but next week will be more hectic when we cover the H2S, the Fishpond, and the Boozer.’

Everyone started to laugh nervously, a fact appreciated by Captain Hawkins who was grateful for some light relief. ‘Boozer is a radar detector but it might be more disconcerting than useful. Its system of lights mounted on the instrumentation panel are supposed to glow bright when tracked by Wurzburg ground radar or Lichtenstein airborne radar, but we fear they are often triggered by false alerts.’

‘Another one to keep turned off, Sir?’ suggested Richard.

‘Yes, quite so, Cadet, those among you who have been Eagle Scouts might have minds like a compass but for the rest of us, it’s hard work I’m afraid.’

Bill felt confident, as he’d been a Boy Scout. He felt he no longer needed to ponder his fate with these exams.

He twiddled with his pencil as he studied his notes. He could do this, he was sure he could. More than ever he had no intention of being scrubbed as a pilot.

Richard quoted Virgil, yield not to calamity but face her boldly.