The weapons were carefully inspected by the armorers, each round for the cannon was wiped down. Each of the thirty rounds were inserted into the magazine.
The ammunition for the .50 Cal Browning machine gun too received careful attention all three hundred rounds checked to make sure every fifth one was a tracer round. This way the pilot could better aim to hit the target.
Once the armorers had finished their tasks and secured the safety locks on the weapons it was pushed outside of its shed like barn. Several of the technicians lent a hand to push the little aircraft backwards, while one holding a long handled bar which was attached to the front wheel steered it into a spot designated for refueling the little craft.
Inside the test center office the senior engineer called to inquire about the aircraft that was to be provided as a target tug. He was able to confirm that a Blenheim bomber would arrive on schedule as the weather at their station was expected to clear enough to resume flying. Hanging the phone back onto its receiver the Senior Engineer stated. “Don’t count on Training Command, their weatherman says clearing which means probably not.”
“Well then I guess we’ll have to go look for some live targets then.” Test Pilot Peter Pickering said. “If we are to keep on schedule, we need to fly this test and then relocate to the new location. Let’s combine the two by taking a full load of fuel for the trip, which should give me some time over the new field to take a few shots at Gerrie should he make himself available.”
“That isn’t advisable!” Said the Test Director. “We need to coordinate with both the RAF and Home Defense so you don’t get shot down by our own planes and antiaircraft guns. Besides we’re not one hundred percent sure which field we are to use an RAF one or something less obvious. My guess is we’re going to be told to move to one of the two fields we toured yesterday near Sturry.
The phone rang. The Test Director being closest to it answered. “Hello.” He said. “What! Reconnasisce aircraft, where!”
With that Pop was out of his chair in a flash running for the door to warn the crews outside. As he ran towards the little aircraft he screamed orders to the technicians working around it and nearby. “Cover the canopy with at tarp! Start spreading straw on and around it! Unhook those refueling hoses! Move that tractor over in front of the aircraft! Park that jeep inside the barn! He yelled, his arms waving and fingers pointing.
When he reached the aircraft he quickly grabbed a bale of straw which were stacked near by. Ripping the straw from the bale he began spreading it on the ground around the aft of the aircraft. No one asked a question they just did what needed doing. No sooner had one of the two refueling lorries been backed into a nearby shed the distinct sound of a German bomber was heard. Everyone looked towards the sky hoping to catch a glimpse of it but it was hidden by the clouds that covered most of the sky.
“Everyone but you three inside.” Commanded the Test Director who had wandered outside. Everyone ran for the cover of a nearby building. “Fighter Command reported that Dornier heading our direction. Their best guess is it is circling around to take advantage of the cloud cover before making its run over London. It might be back as another section north of us has been scrambled to hunt it down.”
Pop Pickering and the Test Director walked back towards the farm house that served as their test headquarters. The others had retreated to the main barn which served as their workshop. The three continued to pretend to be refueling the tractor.
As the Test Director thought, the Do17 bomber returned about twenty minutes later. This time it was flying just below the clouds at a quick clip. The three who were standing near the lorrie and tractor looked up to see the bomber fly past, its crewmen obviously looking out their windows at the Englander farmers working below.
“Oh I hope he got my good side if he was taking pictures.” Joked the lorrie driver.
“Good side, I haven’t seen one on you yet!” Replied his coworker standing beside him. The three laughed and went about their work. The rest of the ground crew came out of the buildings once they heard the bombers engines fade away.
An hour later a call came in advising that the Do17 had been shot down by a Spitfire from a nearby base. It crashed landed mostly intact. Most of the crew was dead but the pilot had survived. Immediately the Test Director and Pop left in a car to go visit the crash site.
The drive took nearly two and a half hours. The directions they were given were not the best and they had to stop twice to ask for directions. Upon arriving at the field where the bomber lay in a heap, the Corporal in charge of security at first told them they could go no closer. Then Pop exited the car an upon seeing that he was an RAF officer he allowed them to pass. They drove as close to the wreck as they could get. There they found Army personnel removing the dead aircrewman and their gear from inside the bomber.
“I’ll have those!” The Test Director shouted as two cameras were being passed out from inside the aircraft. An Army officer spun around to see who had spoken. At first he was going to chastise a civilian for being at his site but when he saw Pop standing next to him in his RAF uniform he simply asked. “Under what authority?”
The Test Director approached the young officer and display his credentials. The young officer upon inspecting them snapped to attention and saluted the man in civilian attire. His eyes going back and forth between the civilian before him and the RAF Officer.
“Thank you Lieutenant.” Said the Test Director who was in rank equal to that of a Major General. “Please be sure that every camera is recovered and any film canisters as well.”
Yes Sir! Replied the Lieutenant. With that he returned his attention to supervising the recovery of the enemy aircrew and the contents of the aircraft. In about an hour the bodies were loaded into an ambulance and the cameras and film canisters were inside the boot of the Test Directors car. Both Pop and the Director thanked the Army personal for their efforts and climbed back into the car for the ride back to the farm house.
Upon their return they found that the aircraft had been towed back inside the barn, still ready for its flight but now under the safety of a barn roof and behind its doors. Inside the farm house two gentleman dressed in flight gear were waiting for their return. They had been assigned to escort Pop while he flew the little mystery ship to its new home. They had landed their Mosquito on the roadway which served as the runway for the rocket planes testing. The Mosquito was parked under a tree at the farm house end of the field to help obscure its presence.
The Test Director issued directions that the cameras be removed from his car and the film be taken to the nearest facility for processing. He’d be sure written orders were ready before they left. Then he sat at his desk which was in the larger of the two bedrooms of the old farm house. Pop meanwhile introduced himself to the two Mosquito crewman.
It was late afternoon before the Test Director came out of his office. He had spent much of the time on the phone talking with higher authority to arrange for the transfer of the rocket plane to its new location. He also learned that the Do17′s crew had taken pictures of the farm both times it passed it. On the first pass, though those on the ground could not see it, the cameras on the bomber did have a good image of the farm. The little rocket ship had just been covered when the shot was snapped and it was very difficult to tell that it was in fact parked next to the refueling lorrie and tractor. On the second pass however, something out of the ordinary was definitely present. Had these images reached German Intelligence, it would have probably led to increase scrutiny of the area by both Germany air and spy assets.
Fortunately, the bomber failed to return and the cameras and film were recovered. The crew including now the pilot who survived the crash now too had died from the sting of a Spitfires guns. The Test Director gave instructions that the aircraft be readied to leave an hour before sunset and the support equipment be readied and loaded for the journey to the new airfield.
On final approach to the new airstrip near Sturry.
The sun was hanging just above the western horizon when the Mosquito took off and made a climbing circle around the airstrip. It would climb to twenty thousand feet and head east towards Sturry. Pop Pickering would launch and give chase to the Mosquito and join up with it to fly along beside it to the new airstrip. Pop waited until the Mosquito was out of sight then he took off, climbing to chase after the Mosquito. It didn’t take long and he was in a loose formation with the speedy Mosquito.
Although the flight was relatively short, the fuel in the rocket plane was nearly exhausted having just enough for the final approach to the tiny airstrip in the middle of a swampy woodland. The landing was without incident, once down the Mosquito returned to where it started to pickup the Test Director to ferry him to an RAF airbase nearby the Sturry site.
