A Story of War

I have just taken off on a recco. with Tiny and look back to see smoke over the camp, and three Heinkels high in the air. One is lagging behind, with a Gladiator on its tail. The Gladiator is then shot down and we see the pilot bail out. The parachute fails to open properly and we go low over his body and the plane, which had exploded in mid air. We return and report it and see one Heinkel with smoke coming out of one engine. It isn’t seen anymore. Most of the bombs fall on the supply depot. Then off I go on recco. and see some dust on the desert track north of Ramadi.

Three lorries full of sacks which I machine gun and Tiny rear guns. I try some bombing and only get within 15 yards – what the RAF call “in the target area”, and blow up one of the drivers who is lying nearby. I return and report and Gordon Arthur goes and bombs them and sets them on fire, going so low bits of 20lber hit his plane. He is the man who blew an Iraqi troop’s topee off with his slipstream in the Battle of the Plateau. Then six MEs get Reggie Wall, but the story is a bit confused and he is in hospital, not dead thank God. I didn’t shoot at those drivers, Iraqi troops in uniform, but Tiny did. I don’t like ring and head, would much rather an Aldis sight.

I am drinking too much, lime juice and water etc, and have had no exercise, bar two half hour walks, since this war began.