A Story of War

I don’t go flying yesterday. A bit of tip and run bombing from “Peggy” Audaxes, one of which is shot down by a Blenheim fighter. A Savoia and a Northrop spotted force landed in the desert, and are destroyed after a prodigious amount of bombs, S.A.A (JDW: anyone know what this is?) and Very lights have been used on them. Dan Cremin returning from the furthermost one meets a “Peggy” Audax going home, but as his front gun had jammed he does nothing. But the two planes on the ground are at 065 degrees so when this is plotted on the map it leads to Baquba. Yesterday afternoon they bomb it, Stonhill, Broadhurst, Haig and Frewin, and only three come back. I am convinced it’s Alan, but no, Stonhill was seen to force land near Baquba, so he must be a prisoner.

The C.O. wants to change our name to 4 Fighting Training School, which sounds OK. Night flying last night and they make me standby pilot, so I sleep out by our tent in a ditch on a camp bed. Today I do a recco of the Plateau and go down to 50 feet, and there’s nothing to be seen between the camp and Palm Grove – Majara Road. I look at the convoy and see all the corpses. There is a platoon of Levies above Dhibban and a section of our armoured cars above on the Plateau, manoevering and stalking Dan’s burnt out armoured cars at Canal Turn.