0:00:02 > 0:00:04'BBC Four Collections,
0:00:04 > 0:00:07'specially chosen programmes from the BBC Archive.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09'For this Collection, Max Hastings has selected
0:00:09 > 0:00:14'interviews with Great War veterans, filmed in the 1960s.
0:00:14 > 0:00:15'More programmes on this theme
0:00:15 > 0:00:19'and other BBC Four Collections are available on BBC iPlayer.'
0:00:47 > 0:00:51Well, you see, when I got to France I only had 20 hours' flying, about.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55And when I was posted down toa 2C squadron on the Somme,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58the CO took one look at the log book and said, "My God, it's murder,"
0:00:58 > 0:01:01you know, "sending you chaps out withnothing on the log book.
0:01:01 > 0:01:02"You'd better put in a bit of time."
0:01:04 > 0:01:06So they gave me an aircraft and I walloped off, you know,
0:01:06 > 0:01:09to have a look round and see what the form was.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13And...to have a look at the lines, to get used to the French maps,
0:01:13 > 0:01:15all the things that are different, you know,
0:01:15 > 0:01:17and the country was obviously a different country
0:01:17 > 0:01:19from thecountry of England that I'd beenflying over a bit.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23And so it was that I really first had a look at the lines.
0:01:24 > 0:01:25You know, one always heard, "behind the lines",
0:01:25 > 0:01:27"this side of the lines", "the lines, the lines, the lines."
0:01:28 > 0:01:30But I hadn't a clue as to what thething looked like.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35And so, one good, fine May afternoon, I got up to about 10,000 feet,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38well on this side, you know, to have a dekko.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41The, um...
0:01:41 > 0:01:45The thing was quite fascinating because you realised that,
0:01:45 > 0:01:47I mean, what had happened was the battle had become crystallised
0:01:47 > 0:01:49and had to stop somewhere and just,as it were, stopped
0:01:49 > 0:01:53in this particularpoint and somebody hadstarted to build a trench.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55And from that trench,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58people had begun to dig back communication trenches
0:01:58 > 0:02:02so they could get to it without being shot as they got into the trench.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06And this whole system had been builtup over months and months
0:02:06 > 0:02:09until really, from the air, it looked like, er...
0:02:09 > 0:02:13it really lookedlike...more like, you know, one ofthose...
0:02:13 > 0:02:16edges to a...to a lace doily.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18You know, it's got a sort of fairly hard edge
0:02:18 > 0:02:20and then there are all these littlefillets running back in.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22Well, you put two of those together side by side,
0:02:22 > 0:02:26not of course regularly, but moving with the contours of the ground.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28And that was really the effect.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32And of course the new digging in theearth showed up light,
0:02:32 > 0:02:34so that when you went over, after experience,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37and you knew what the digging in your particular section was like,
0:02:37 > 0:02:39if there was any new digging, you could always see it
0:02:39 > 0:02:41because theearth was fresh and rather yellow.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45And all this went weendlingaway right down from Thiepval,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48up in the north, right round the Somme, Fricourt salient,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51right round to the marshes of the Somme, where our section ended.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55And it was just really like twopieces of lace
0:02:55 > 0:02:57put together...in that way.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01And after I'd had a look at that,and you know, I'd put in a bitmore time
0:03:01 > 0:03:04and got my log book up to, I think, something like 30hours
0:03:04 > 0:03:09or something ridiculous likethat, the Flight Commander said,
0:03:09 > 0:03:11"Well, you'd better have a go this afternoon, we want some photographs
0:03:11 > 0:03:14"of the front line trenches, soyou can take Sergeant So-and-so."
0:03:14 > 0:03:16I can't remember what the dear chap'sname was.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18"And go and have a bang."
0:03:20 > 0:03:22So we got on board the 2C,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25and the 2C was totallyunsuited to the job, of course.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28You know, it had the observer in front and the pilot behind,
0:03:28 > 0:03:30whereas with any sense it shouldhave been
0:03:30 > 0:03:32the pilot in front and the observer behind,but it wasn't.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36So the observer sat in a sort of... He had four struts very close
0:03:36 > 0:03:39each side of him, and wires to brace him well in,
0:03:39 > 0:03:41and in front, none behind.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43And a little seat which he couldjust get into.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46And he could do nothing at all except keep a lookout,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48you see, and when it got at all hot -
0:03:48 > 0:03:52and we're liable to be attacked from the tail,not from anywhere else -
0:03:52 > 0:03:55he simply had to get up in his seat and kneel on the seat, you see,
0:03:55 > 0:03:57which was a jolly cold, draughtybusiness
0:03:57 > 0:03:59at 8,000ft, you know, even in the summer.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05So we set out on that afternoon, and the pilot was me,
0:04:05 > 0:04:07had to look after the camera as well,you see,
0:04:07 > 0:04:09because the camera wasthe only...
0:04:09 > 0:04:12The pilot's seat, at least you could look straight down.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14But the camera was, you know,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17one of those real antiques made by them ancient Greeks.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21It wasabsolute mahogany, good, squaremahogany box
0:04:21 > 0:04:25with a nice leather concertina pull-out -
0:04:25 > 0:04:27I don't knowwhat the technicians would call it -
0:04:27 > 0:04:31with a good, biglens on the bottom, and a nice polished mahogany...
0:04:31 > 0:04:32surround to the box,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34and a littlehandle that you pushed and pulledlike this
0:04:34 > 0:04:35to change the plates.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38They were real good oldglass plates.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41And in addition to that, a bit of wire or a bit of string,
0:04:41 > 0:04:43I can't remember, with a ring, a little sort of curtain ring on it,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46which of course was skittering about in the wind,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49to pull everytime you wanted to take a picture.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52That was the technique of the thing.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54The whole thing was strapped on the outside of the aeroplane
0:04:54 > 0:04:56and it had a sort of ballsight at the back,
0:04:56 > 0:04:57ball and ringsight at the back,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00soto take thephoto you had to lean over the side of the cockpit
0:05:00 > 0:05:02and look down through this ball sight,
0:05:02 > 0:05:03which was justbehind thecamera,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06fly the aeroplanewith the left hand, move thecamera handle,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08changing theplateswith the right, and every timeyou changed plates
0:05:08 > 0:05:11you then pulled the string and waited until you'd flown along a bit more
0:05:11 > 0:05:15andthought...you know, had to judge theoverlapand did it again,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18on a boxfull of... I think it was 24 plates.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21And so we were going fine.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23We had to do these second-line trenches,
0:05:23 > 0:05:27just over about a few hundred yards behind the German front line,
0:05:27 > 0:05:29right around from Montauban toPozieres,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33right around the Fricourtsalient and up the other side.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35And it was a beautiful afternoon, you know,
0:05:35 > 0:05:37not a cloud in the sky, and thewhole thing looked absolutely peaceful.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39One didn't imagine there could be a war.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42There didn't seem to be anybody firing,the whole thing was asleep.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45It was really remarkable.This was the middle of the war,afterall,
0:05:45 > 0:05:46three or four weeks before the...
0:05:46 > 0:05:48No, twomonthsbefore the Somme battle opened.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52So we got down in position and, you know,
0:05:52 > 0:05:54got the thing more or lesschewed up
0:05:54 > 0:05:57over the job and startedto fly along,
0:05:57 > 0:05:58and everythingwent according to plan
0:05:58 > 0:06:00and theSergeant was twizzled round in hisseat
0:06:00 > 0:06:03looking excitedly over the tail to see if there was anything about.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06And he had a Lewis gun, of course, on a...what we used to call
0:06:06 > 0:06:07a spigot mounting.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09He had a spigot...one spigot this sideand one spigot that side,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12and he could take the gun off and put it in the spigot that side
0:06:12 > 0:06:13or put it in the spigot thatside
0:06:13 > 0:06:15according as towhether he wanted tofireright or left.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18And he just had it there and it was hanging there,
0:06:18 > 0:06:21with 50 rounds on it, until such time as anybody attacked us.
0:06:22 > 0:06:27And so we went on for, oh, I suppose the best part of 20 minutes,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29half an hour, taking these photos,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32and just about getting to theend when I...
0:06:33 > 0:06:36..saw two or threethings just at theend of thatpatrol
0:06:36 > 0:06:38which were amusing.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40The first thing I saw was a curioussort of...
0:06:40 > 0:06:42You know how it is, out of the corner of your eye
0:06:42 > 0:06:45when you're not reallylooking at something and see it...
0:06:45 > 0:06:48something moving, like a...a lump.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50I really didn'tknow what the devil it was.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53You know, it was a mystifying sort of effect.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55And then I looked again and focused,
0:06:55 > 0:06:57and about 100 yards ahead there wasa...
0:06:57 > 0:07:00what was in fact the businesspart
0:07:01 > 0:07:02of a nine-inch howitzer shell
0:07:02 > 0:07:04right at the top of its trajectory,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07which was just about 8,000 feet, just about where we were, you see.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10It had come up like a lobbed tennisball, you know,
0:07:10 > 0:07:11right up and down again.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13And right at the top... It was goingquite slowly, and, you know,
0:07:13 > 0:07:16itwas a pretty hefty bit of metal, andit was doing this.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18It was turningin this sort of way, you know,
0:07:18 > 0:07:19before it gathered speed again,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22just on the top of the trajectory, and then it would go down.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24And this was such an extraordinary thing to see,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27because no-one imagined somehow you'd ever see a shell, you know.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31However, there it was, and I wasable, after having spotted it,
0:07:31 > 0:07:33and there were twothree... The battery was evidently firing
0:07:33 > 0:07:35and we saw two or three shells, andthey...
0:07:35 > 0:07:36And you could even actually, when you once caught them
0:07:37 > 0:07:38you couldfollow them right down to burst.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40But unless you caught them you couldn't, you know.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43So that was the first thing, but that was all right.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46And then a little way off to the port side,
0:07:46 > 0:07:48about a minute, a minute or two more -
0:07:48 > 0:07:50we were in between photographs. I was doing this, and looking,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53and looking around and making sure everything was all right, you know -
0:07:53 > 0:07:58there was a couple of puffs, with like, sort of dark mushrooms.
0:07:58 > 0:07:59Archie, as we used to call it.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03I can't think why it was called Archie.Ack-ack, anti-aircraft.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06And this was...quite a usual thing,
0:08:07 > 0:08:09and at any distance of more thanabout 100 yards
0:08:09 > 0:08:11it looked quite unreal,because although it was a burstingshell
0:08:11 > 0:08:13you didn't hear anything over the noise of the engine.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16So these sort of thingsappeared like little puffballs in the sky,
0:08:16 > 0:08:18for no particularreason as far as I could see.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Then you sort of twigged that they were after you.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25And...when they got a bit nearer, when they got...
0:08:25 > 0:08:28When you could smell them, we used to say, you know, it's a bit tricky.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30But they didn't do us much harm that afternoon,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33and so having got the photographs, we just turned off and came home.
0:08:33 > 0:08:34WOMAN: Cut.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41By the time the Sommebattle was about to build up,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44I'd been posted down into the middle of the Somme area,
0:08:44 > 0:08:45to No. 3 Squadron,
0:08:45 > 0:08:48which was a squadron that flew an aeroplane called a Morane,
0:08:48 > 0:08:51a Morane-Saulnier, a French aeroplane.
0:08:51 > 0:08:52Looked like a cigar...
0:08:52 > 0:08:53as you can see.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58And this had at least the pilot flying in front
0:08:58 > 0:08:59and the observer behind.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01And it had the great advantage thateverything was under...
0:09:01 > 0:09:03everything underneath was clear.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05There was a plane above your head,
0:09:05 > 0:09:07which was the reason it was called a "parasol",
0:09:07 > 0:09:09and you hada marvellous view down below.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13So it was ideal for dealing withcontact with the infantry,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16which was our main job - reconnaissance and contact patrol.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21And on that aeroplane I flew the whole of the Somme offensive.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23During the build-up period, of course,
0:09:24 > 0:09:27we were doing the old job, which was so terribly important,
0:09:27 > 0:09:30particularly before a bigoffensive of this kind,
0:09:30 > 0:09:31and that was the photography of the lines,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33to see what new digging had been done,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36how the effect of thebombardment was going and so on.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Meanwhile, of course, the batterieswere being piled in,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42and night after night, as soon as itfell dark the roads were roaring
0:09:42 > 0:09:44with the traffic going up and the guns going into position,
0:09:45 > 0:09:47and this enormous feelingof the build-up of a big offensive,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50you know.We were 15 miles behind thelines,and this...
0:09:50 > 0:09:52The day was peaceful,deserted.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54There wasn't a thing onthe road, nothing about to happen.
0:09:54 > 0:09:55As soon as dusk came, it started
0:09:55 > 0:09:57and it went right through the night, you know.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00We were... Our billetswere right on the road, and the noise of this...
0:10:00 > 0:10:03Really onehad a tremendous feeling of war
0:10:03 > 0:10:05and what it meant in those moments.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08Wheneverything was in position
0:10:08 > 0:10:10and they began to build up towardsthe main bombardment,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12which lasted, I think, for about a week
0:10:12 > 0:10:15before the actualoffensive took place,
0:10:15 > 0:10:17we used to go out and photograph.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19And these jobs were among the mostterrifying
0:10:19 > 0:10:21that I ever did in the whole war.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Because by that time, we were flying very much lower.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26We were flying down toa thousand feet.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28And when you had to go right overthe lines, you see,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31you weremidway between our guns firing
0:10:31 > 0:10:34and where the shells were falling.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37And during that period, the intensity of the bombardment
0:10:37 > 0:10:41wassuch that it wasreally like a...
0:10:42 > 0:10:45..a sort of great, broadswathe
0:10:45 > 0:10:48of dirty-looking cotton wool, you know,
0:10:48 > 0:10:49laid over the ground.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52And so close were the shell bursts and so continuous
0:10:52 > 0:10:54that it wasn'tjust a puff here and a puff there,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56it was a continuous band, you know.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59And when you looked the other side, particularly in the evening,
0:10:59 > 0:11:01when the light was falling dusk, you know -
0:11:01 > 0:11:03I did many evening patrols -
0:11:03 > 0:11:05the whole of the sky,
0:11:05 > 0:11:08the whole of the ground beneath thedarkening evening
0:11:08 > 0:11:10was justlike a veil of sequins
0:11:10 > 0:11:12whichwereflashing and flashing and flashing.
0:11:13 > 0:11:14And each one was a gun, you know,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17and one knew that these things werecoming over all the time.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22And...they had orders, we were told, you know, the artillery,
0:11:22 > 0:11:24not to fire when an aeroplane was in their sights.
0:11:26 > 0:11:27They cut it pretty fine, you know,
0:11:27 > 0:11:31because really one used to fly along the front on those patrols,
0:11:31 > 0:11:33andthat lasted for two or three days,
0:11:33 > 0:11:35and the aeroplane was flung up, youknow, with a shell
0:11:35 > 0:11:37which had justgone underneath and missed you bytwo or three feet,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40yousee, or flungdown when it had gone over the top.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42And this was... This was continuous,
0:11:42 > 0:11:44so the machine was continually bucketedand jumping
0:11:44 > 0:11:47as if it was in a gale, but in fact it was shells.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49You didn't see those - they were going much too fast.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51But this was really terrifying.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53And I remember particularly on, Ithink,
0:11:53 > 0:11:55two days before the attack opened
0:11:55 > 0:11:56and we had to get somephotographs
0:11:56 > 0:11:58because they wereterribly badly needed,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01we were downto about a thousand feet in murkyweather
0:12:01 > 0:12:04with a cloudbankoverhead,and this grey swathe on one side
0:12:04 > 0:12:06andthese flashings, continual flashing...
0:12:06 > 0:12:08One had the sort of feeling, youknow, it's...
0:12:08 > 0:12:11"They're firing at us. It's us they want to get," you know.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14And this was extraordinarily ridiculous, of course,
0:12:14 > 0:12:15but quite terrifying at the time.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19And then at last having finished the photos and moved over
0:12:19 > 0:12:22and turned over the barrage and got out of the buffeting
0:12:22 > 0:12:25and thought, "Well, heavens alive, I've come through that."
0:12:25 > 0:12:28Because so many of the boys, and my best observer
0:12:28 > 0:12:31and many of my friends, were just hit by this barrage, you know
0:12:31 > 0:12:32and destroyed... HE CLICKS FINGERS
0:12:32 > 0:12:34..by a directhit from a passing shell.
0:12:37 > 0:12:38WOMAN: Cut.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45- Sound running. - 141, take 1.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48141, take 2. Sync to second clapper.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53- Take 4. - 141, take 4.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55Sync to third clapper.
0:13:01 > 0:13:06As the days wore by and we gotnearer and nearer
0:13:06 > 0:13:09to the zerohour of the Somme offensive,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12the bombardment increased.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14It was a sort of crescendo.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17And our patrols got closerand closer.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20We kept really a steady patrol all dayto see what was happening.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22On the morning of July 1st,
0:13:22 > 0:13:24when the zero hour was to come,
0:13:24 > 0:13:27I was on the first patrol on the northernpart of the salient
0:13:27 > 0:13:30from Pozieresdown to Fricourt.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33And at Pozieres, they'd been - I'd taken the engineer up weeks before -
0:13:33 > 0:13:36they'd been...put down two enormous mines right in the salient
0:13:37 > 0:13:39onthe front line, hoping to clear thewhole of the front line
0:13:39 > 0:13:41with this enormous burst.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43And so this, of course, was whatwe were looking for.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45And really it was a fantastic sight
0:13:45 > 0:13:47because when the hurricane bombardment started
0:13:47 > 0:13:49every gunwe had, and there were thousands of them,
0:13:49 > 0:13:53had all been let loose at once, you know, and the thing was a wild..
0:13:53 > 0:13:55I mean, you could hear the roar of the guns
0:13:55 > 0:13:58above the noise of theaircraft like... almost like wind on a...
0:13:58 > 0:14:00like rain on a pane, you know.
0:14:00 > 0:14:06Extraordinary, this roar of thousands of guns at the same time.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09And then came the blast, you know, eight o'clock,
0:14:09 > 0:14:13and we were looking, of course, at the Boisselle salient.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15And then suddenly the wholeearth heaved
0:14:15 > 0:14:19and upfrom the ground came whatreallylooked more like
0:14:19 > 0:14:21two enormouscypress trees,
0:14:21 > 0:14:26the silhouettes of great, dark, cone-shaped...
0:14:26 > 0:14:29lifts of earth up to three, four,5,000 feet.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32And we watched this and then a moment later, of course,,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35we struck the repercussionwave of the blast and it flung us
0:14:35 > 0:14:38right away backwards over on one side away from the blast.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41And then a second later came upthe second one.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43And then after that we thought, "Well, now we know,
0:14:43 > 0:14:47"that's the beginning, the infantry should have moved forward on that."
0:14:47 > 0:14:51We had all our contact patroltechnique perfected
0:14:51 > 0:14:54and we went right down to 3,000 feet to see what was happening.
0:14:55 > 0:15:00Actually, the mines didn't go up quite in the right place.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02They weren't quite far enough over,
0:15:02 > 0:15:04so that, in fact, this was a setback right from the very firstmoment
0:15:04 > 0:15:07inthat particularpart of the offensive.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11And then of course we had this very well worked-out technique,
0:15:11 > 0:15:13which was, very broadly speaking,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15that we had a klaxon horn, believeit or not,
0:15:15 > 0:15:17on the undercarriage of the Morane, a great big 12-volt klaxon,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20and I had a button and I used topress out a letter
0:15:20 > 0:15:22and thatletter was to tell the infantry
0:15:22 > 0:15:23we wanted to know where they were.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26And when they heard us hawking at them from above,
0:15:26 > 0:15:28they had little red Bengal flares,
0:15:28 > 0:15:30just like the things one lights on 5th November, you know.
0:15:30 > 0:15:31They carried them in their pockets.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34And the idea was,as soon as they heard us make our noises above,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37they would puta match to their flares, andall along the line,
0:15:37 > 0:15:39wherever therewas a chap, there would be a flare.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42And we would note these flares down on the maps, and Bob's your uncle.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44I mean, that was where the infantry were at that moment. It was fine.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47But, of course, it was one thing to practise it,
0:15:47 > 0:15:50but quite another thing to really do it when they were under fire,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53and particularly when things began to go a bit badly.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55Then, of course, they jolly well wouldn't light anything,
0:15:55 > 0:15:56and small blame to them,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59because itdrew the fire of theenemy onto them at once, you see.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01So we went down on that particular morning looking for flares
0:16:01 > 0:16:03all around Boisselle and all down to Fricourt,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06and we didn't get... I think only about two flares on the whole front.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09And, of course, we were bitterly disappointed because this, we hoped,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11was our part to help the infantry and we weren't able to do it.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16And, in fact, that did never work, right until two months later
0:16:16 > 0:16:18when the attack had gone further forward.
0:16:28 > 0:16:29One afternoon, the CO sent for me
0:16:29 > 0:16:32and said he wanted me to go off on a special job,
0:16:32 > 0:16:34and he gave me a designation on the map,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37and another aircraftand I and my observer went off
0:16:37 > 0:16:40to see what this unknown thing was.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44And we found that it wasa curiousgroup
0:16:44 > 0:16:48of heavy-looking ironvehicles
0:16:48 > 0:16:52whichwere lumbering overthe ground at about 2mph
0:16:52 > 0:16:54with a whole lot of chaps standing around, you know,
0:16:54 > 0:16:57and petrol tanks, and obviously a kerfuffle going on.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00And they were, of course, tanks.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03And so we... From that moment on, we started to do attacks with them,
0:17:03 > 0:17:06mock attacks, in order to do the same thing as we'd done before
0:17:06 > 0:17:08and note where they were, get them to light their flares
0:17:08 > 0:17:11so we could take backrecords to the brigade headquarters.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17And this we did, until the actualday when they were to be used.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19Then, this was about mid-September,
0:17:19 > 0:17:21if I remember it,
0:17:21 > 0:17:25and quite a nice afternoon, with nopreliminary bombardment at all.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28We thought, or, rather, the high commandthought
0:17:28 > 0:17:31that itwould be a good idea not to give anywarning of this,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34which wasthe first time such vehicles hadever been used
0:17:34 > 0:17:35in warfare.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38And so there was a half-hour hurricane bombardment,
0:17:38 > 0:17:39and then the tanks were put over.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42Well, from the air at about 5,000 or6,000 feet behind the lines,
0:17:42 > 0:17:44watching this whole scene,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47there was againthis extraordinary, solid carpetof wool, you know,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50butjust as ifsomebody had taken his finger in thesnow
0:17:50 > 0:17:54and pulled it through the snow and left a sort of ribbon, you see.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57And there were four or five of these ribbons, as I remember it,
0:17:57 > 0:18:01betweenFricourt and Boisselle and runningback there towards High Wood.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05And through these lanes, you see, at zero hour,
0:18:05 > 0:18:08we saw the tanks beginningto lumber.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11They'd been cleared for the tanks to come up in file.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13And they came up... I think they were three or four in file,
0:18:13 > 0:18:15one behind the other,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17and, of course, utterly unexpected.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20The first lot went sailing over the trenches and we thought,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23"Well,this is fine," because thewholething was, you know,
0:18:23 > 0:18:25the year'sgetting a bit late. If we don't getthrough now we never shall.
0:18:25 > 0:18:26This the great opportunity.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28And hope was high and we thought,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30"If they can get through the third-linedefences
0:18:30 > 0:18:32"we can put thecavalry through
0:18:32 > 0:18:34"andthe whole warwill become mobile again," you know.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37And so we watched prettycarefully to see how things went,
0:18:37 > 0:18:39and by this time, as you canimagine, also
0:18:39 > 0:18:42all this area had been shelled for thebest partof three months,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45you see, and itwas contiguous shellholes, like theYpres salient,
0:18:45 > 0:18:46for miles and miles.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49There was noconfiguration from the ground.
0:18:49 > 0:18:54From above it looked like a pockmark...apockmarked skin, really.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56All the trees had been shot. There was no greenery.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59There was nothing, you know, except among this wool,
0:18:59 > 0:19:01this grey wool, these lumbering chaps,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04and one of two of them with red petrol tanks on their back.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07And one even with a little mascot, a little fox terrier, you know,
0:19:07 > 0:19:08running behind the tank.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11And then one would stop, and we'd no idea why -
0:19:11 > 0:19:13obviously been shot or somebody hadthrown a bomb at it
0:19:13 > 0:19:15or a grenade at itor something,
0:19:15 > 0:19:17or it had had a breakdown, but it had stopped.
0:19:17 > 0:19:18And at the end of two hours
0:19:18 > 0:19:20they'dmoved about, I suppose, a mile or two.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22And we thought everything was going well, and we came back
0:19:22 > 0:19:24because our petrol was finished - wehad about two hours' petrol.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26We came back to the aerodrome, went out again in the afternoon.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29In the afternoon we found they'dmade about another three,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31no, possiblyanothertwo miles.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33And the little fox terrier was still there,
0:19:33 > 0:19:35the one that we'd noticed in the morning,so we knew he was all right.
0:19:35 > 0:19:36And there were three orfour or them,
0:19:36 > 0:19:39or a group of them, grouped around High Wood.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42And then that was really the end of it.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45They didn't in fact ever getthrough, as everybody knows,
0:19:45 > 0:19:46and...that's it.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00In 1917 we may have had superiority of numbers in total of aircraft,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04but we were in a minority as far as fighting scouts were concerned.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08And certainly 56 Squadron, the first SE5 squadron, was the only squadron
0:20:08 > 0:20:12for some months, I think I'mright in saying, or weeks anyway,
0:20:12 > 0:20:16on the front which had what might be called an up-to-date machine.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19The SE5 was a fine machine.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22It was a machine that prettywell couldn't be broken up
0:20:22 > 0:20:24through hard handling in the air.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26It had a good engine, it was reliable,it was manoeuvrable,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29it had no vices, it was a fine aeroplane.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31But still it wasn't as good as the enemy
0:20:31 > 0:20:34whom we were sent up to deal with.
0:20:34 > 0:20:39And this was chiefly noticeable, not in manoeuvrability, but in height.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42If we were up at 16,000 feet, we would find the Albatrosses
0:20:42 > 0:20:44and the Fokkers at 17,000and 18,000 feet.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47And this is crucial in anyaerial combat,
0:20:47 > 0:20:50because the man with the height dives on you, zooms up again -
0:20:50 > 0:20:53he's got his height, he's driven you down perhaps a thousand feet.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56You come up again, but you'realways below him, you see.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00And this is a very trickysituation to be in, really,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03because you're always, as it were, at a disadvantage.
0:21:03 > 0:21:08Not that our own morale, I must say, was in any way hurt by this.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Morale was terrific rightthrough the summer.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13There was no question of beingbrowbeaten, as it were,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16by the enemy. We didn't worry. We could engage,we could fight.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18When we got himdown on our ownlevel,we could engage
0:21:18 > 0:21:21and we were just as manoeuvrable and even more manoeuvrable than he was.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23But we had this disadvantage always
0:21:23 > 0:21:26that our performance reallywasn't quite so good
0:21:26 > 0:21:28as the peoplewe were up against.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31And we were also numerically outnumbered most of the time.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35It was nothing for us to meet 30 or 40 enemy aircraft
0:21:35 > 0:21:38in oneformation, and we were never more than 12.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40Our squadron was a 12-aircraft squadron,
0:21:40 > 0:21:42so we couldn't exceed that number.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44So we had to fight in thoseconditions
0:21:44 > 0:21:47and, of course, the hazards are obvious -
0:21:47 > 0:21:50the hazards of war, the hazards of being shot down.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54But over and above that, the hazardsof not being able
0:21:54 > 0:21:57to getout of the aeroplane, notbeing ableto jump,
0:21:57 > 0:21:58having nowhere to go to.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01I mean, you had to just sit tight and take what came.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04We used to take off on these bigsquadron offensive patrols,
0:22:04 > 0:22:06usually in the afternoon,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09kitted up, of course, in our longsheepskin thigh boots
0:22:09 > 0:22:13and leather coats and little sort of motorcycle helmets and goggles.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16And by the time you got all that in the cockpit, there wasn't much room.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18We were wedged into our cockpits.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21Ran our engines up for twoor three minutes -
0:22:21 > 0:22:22water-cooled engines, time to get them warm -
0:22:22 > 0:22:24and then took off severally,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27and at about 500 feet would begin toget in formation
0:22:27 > 0:22:30and head slowlyout towards the lines.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33We were about 20 miles orso behind the lines
0:22:33 > 0:22:36so we had time to climbup on our way over.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38Our business was offensive.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42That is to say, we used to climb up to get height this side of thelines,
0:22:42 > 0:22:46and then when we'd got ourheight, go over and look for trouble.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50And we usually got upto about 15,000 or16,000 feet
0:22:50 > 0:22:54before weactuallycrossedthe lines into enemy territory.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58This was a good height, and, of course, very cold.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03And our eyes were, of course, continually focusing, looking,
0:23:03 > 0:23:05craning our heads round, movingall the time,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08looking for thoseblack specks, whichwould mean enemyaircraft
0:23:08 > 0:23:10at a great distance away.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13And we'd be perhaps between clouds, you know,
0:23:13 > 0:23:15and not be ableto see the ground, or only parts of the ground,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18which would sort of slide into view like a magic lantern screen
0:23:18 > 0:23:20ofsomething far, far beneath.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24Clinging together about 20 or 30 yards between each machine,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27swaying, looking at our neighbours, keeping our throttles,
0:23:27 > 0:23:31setting ourselves just right so that we were all in position, as it were.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36And then sooner or later we would find the enemy, or spot the enemy.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39If it was lucky, it wouldbe below us.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43But in those days we were always...
0:23:43 > 0:23:44under the enemy.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47That is to say, our machines, good asthey were in the spring of '17,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50were not really still up to theHuns, who usually had
0:23:50 > 0:23:521,000-to-2,000-feetceiling clear above us.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57So even at 16,000 feet, we were still liable to be jumped from on top.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59But that, of course, didn'thave to worry us.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01And we were usually outnumbered, too, two or three to one.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04We were very rarelyfighting on equal terms.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07In those sort of engagements,
0:24:08 > 0:24:13when we spotted the enemy formations below us, we used to engage,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16irrespective if there was anybody above or not and just chance it.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20And usually the top flight of enemy aircraft who were above us
0:24:20 > 0:24:23would come down and jump us as we went down.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26You know, it's not really possible to describe
0:24:26 > 0:24:27the action of a fight like that,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30because, having no communication with each other,
0:24:30 > 0:24:35we simply had to go inand take our man and chance our arm
0:24:35 > 0:24:38and keep our eyes in the backof our heads to see
0:24:38 > 0:24:41if anybody was trying to get us as we went down.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43But there was always the point whereyou had to go down anyway,
0:24:43 > 0:24:45whether there was anybody on your tail or not.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48And so the fight began at thesealtitudes
0:24:48 > 0:24:51and engagedand disengaged with bursts of perhaps 30 or 40 rounds,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55tracer ammunition, you understand. Three-in-one tracer.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57So there was always someidea of where you were fighting,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00because your sights really were nogood in these quick dogfights.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04There wasn't time to focus anything, it was just really snap shooting.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07And so the whole squadron wouldenter the fight like that,
0:25:07 > 0:25:08in good formation,
0:25:08 > 0:25:10but within half a minute the wholeformation had gone to hell.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12There was nothing left except just chaps wheeling and zooming
0:25:12 > 0:25:15and diving on each other'stails perhaps,
0:25:15 > 0:25:17or four in a row even, you know.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19A German going down, one of our chaps on his tail,
0:25:19 > 0:25:21another German on his tail, another Hun behind that.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24I mean, extraordinary glimpses one got,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27of people approaching head-on, firing at each other asthey came
0:25:27 > 0:25:30andthen just at the lastmoment turning and slipping away -
0:25:30 > 0:25:32the fight lastingperhaps for altogether ten minutes
0:25:32 > 0:25:35orquarter of an hour would come down from 15,000 feet,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38right down toalmost to ground level -
0:25:38 > 0:25:40by that time probably ammunition exhausted,
0:25:40 > 0:25:42guns jammed or something like that,
0:25:42 > 0:25:45and then there'd be nothing left but to come back home again,
0:25:45 > 0:25:47because you only had two hours'petrol anyway,
0:25:47 > 0:25:49so you couldn't stayup for very longand by that time,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51you'dhave exhausted a goodhour of your petrol
0:25:51 > 0:25:52in gettingup there.
0:25:52 > 0:25:53So that was how it went.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00The real preoccupation that a pilot had on going into combat
0:26:00 > 0:26:03waswhether his guns would continue to fire or not.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05The SE5 had two guns.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08It had a Lewis gun on the top plane, with 100 rounds of ammunition in it,
0:26:08 > 0:26:09on drums.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11And we carried sparedrums in the cockpit.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14It had a Vickers gun, which fired throughthe propeller
0:26:14 > 0:26:16bythe Constantinescogear, which was an oil-drivengear
0:26:16 > 0:26:18which stopped itfiringthe blades of the propeller off.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Those guns could jam, and very often did jam.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25And when they jammed in the middleof a fight,
0:26:25 > 0:26:29a pilotwas in a very precarious position,as you can understand.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Um...the unjamming of a gun
0:26:32 > 0:26:37whenyou'reflying at 100mph plus, with icy hands at 15,000 feet,
0:26:37 > 0:26:38was a very difficult thing,
0:26:38 > 0:26:41because you had to put your hand out round the windscreen,
0:26:41 > 0:26:44round into thewind and get hold of ahandle on the gun
0:26:44 > 0:26:46and try and jerk it over in order to clear the belt,
0:26:46 > 0:26:47whichwas a collapsible belt
0:26:47 > 0:26:50whichgot...usedto get jammed in the breech.
0:26:50 > 0:26:51That was one sort of jam.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53Of if you'd had a good go at a Hun
0:26:53 > 0:26:56and possibly gotrid of all your Lewis gun ammunition,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58you'd have to change drums.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Now, changing drums on the SE5 wasa terrific job,
0:27:01 > 0:27:03because the gun was up on the topplane,
0:27:03 > 0:27:05clear of the top of thepropeller,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08and there was a sort ofbrass quadrant down which it slid.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10When you caught hold of the back of it to release the catch,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14the gun came down into your hand and then was then vertically...
0:27:14 > 0:27:16firing vertically upwards, or pointing vertically upwards.
0:27:16 > 0:27:17The drum was quite a heavy thing,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20and when the wind was blowing past it at 100mph,
0:27:20 > 0:27:22as soon as you unclipped it, it flewback, you see,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25and you had an awfuljob to get it down into the cockpit.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Then you had to get the full drum up, again out into the wind,
0:27:28 > 0:27:32and push it onto the gun, and then you had to push the whole gun up
0:27:32 > 0:27:34onto the top plane and lock it in position.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37So you can see this was quitea thing to do with your right hand,
0:27:37 > 0:27:38flying with your left hand,
0:27:38 > 0:27:40Huns about, chaps coming down on you in the middle of it.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43It wasn't a situation tobe caught in.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45I was caught in such a situation more than once.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47And it was really frightening,
0:27:47 > 0:27:49because as soon as that drum was down,
0:27:49 > 0:27:53the resistance of the windformed all sorts of eddy currents round you,
0:27:53 > 0:27:56so you felt you had no windscreen. The thing was buffeting you about.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58You were in a great hurry toget your new drum on
0:27:58 > 0:28:00and get it up into position.
0:28:00 > 0:28:01The quadrant was liable to jam,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04even though we'd greased them and greased themto get them to work.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06This was a terrible position tobe in,
0:28:06 > 0:28:09and more than one pilot was caught with his drum down
0:28:09 > 0:28:12and unablereally to do anything about it.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14It destroyed the performance of the machine, it upset the pilot.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17He couldn't use it. And that was no fun at all.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25Of course, the dogfight wasn't the only way of bringing down Huns.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27And, in fact, probably the greataces of the war
0:28:27 > 0:28:30brought down moreHuns in other means thanthey did in actual dogfights,
0:28:30 > 0:28:34which was, after all, a dangerousoperation, so to speak.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37The favourite method was to stalka reconnaissance.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40Usually this wasa reconnaissance German aeroplane
0:28:40 > 0:28:41that you wanted to bring down.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44And the way would be to stalk him.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47And this, of course, meantaccurate shooting,
0:28:47 > 0:28:49usually at extreme range. About 200 yards would be
0:28:49 > 0:28:52the sort of range on which some of the ace pilots -
0:28:52 > 0:28:55like Guynemerparticularly, who usedto do a lot ofstalking -
0:28:55 > 0:28:56would bring down his Hun.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58And that meant hours at the butts
0:28:58 > 0:29:01with your machine crewedup in flying position,
0:29:01 > 0:29:06getting your sightssynchronised on your gunbursts at 200 yards,
0:29:06 > 0:29:08to saveshifting your gun mountings about
0:29:08 > 0:29:10until they synchronised with thetelescopic sight
0:29:10 > 0:29:13which came throughthe middle of the little windscreen.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16In addition to that, of course, there was the loading of the guns.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19The Vickers gun had a sort of disintegrating belt,
0:29:19 > 0:29:21which wasmade of little aluminium links,
0:29:21 > 0:29:24and the bullets themselves were the pins between the links
0:29:24 > 0:29:26that heldthe whole thing together.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28In '56, we weren't allowed to havethe armourers
0:29:28 > 0:29:31do any of the ammunition, preparation of ammunition belts for fighting.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33We all did it ourselves. We loaded it.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36We spent perhaps two or three hours every morning
0:29:36 > 0:29:39loadingand making the belts that we shoulduse on the afternoon patrol.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42So that we avoided, as faras possible,
0:29:42 > 0:29:44by taking care withthe way the belts were put together,
0:29:44 > 0:29:46because that was where thedifficulty was -
0:29:46 > 0:29:50how to get them so that theywouldn't jam in the breech.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54So then, having got the guns as good as you could and your sightingright,
0:29:54 > 0:29:57you would then go out and wander up and down the lines
0:29:57 > 0:29:59looking for a likely chap who was too preoccupied
0:29:59 > 0:30:01doing artilleryobservation or photography
0:30:01 > 0:30:03tonotice there was anybody else about.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06And you'd be very cunning. You'd perhaps go a mile or two away
0:30:06 > 0:30:08and stalk him slowly,
0:30:08 > 0:30:10coming up just under his tail wherehe couldn't see, you see.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13There's a certain angle below thetail plane
0:30:13 > 0:30:15at which you couldstalk a man and he wouldn't knowyou were there at all.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18And then having got up close to that position,
0:30:18 > 0:30:21or just within range, then, if your guns were well synchronised
0:30:21 > 0:30:22and you held the machine steady,
0:30:22 > 0:30:24youwere...youwere on for a certain kill.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26But, of course, it was quitepossible
0:30:26 > 0:30:28to get verypreoccupied in the stalking,
0:30:29 > 0:30:31and that was how Guynemer, at least, was shot down,
0:30:31 > 0:30:34because he wasso preoccupied in stalking his Hun
0:30:34 > 0:30:35that he was jumped from above,
0:30:35 > 0:30:37andbefore he knew it, it was all over, you see.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40That was the otherand moresuccessful wayreally
0:30:40 > 0:30:41of destroying enemy aircraft.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47When we were on the ground, of course, all the strain was gone.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49And, you must remember, the strainwas only there
0:30:49 > 0:30:52for twoand a half hours, perhaps twice a day.
0:30:52 > 0:30:53The rest of the time was your own.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59The messes and the huts werestationed round where...
0:30:59 > 0:31:02The messes and the huts were round the edge of the aerodrome.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06And life on the whole wasfairly quiet there,
0:31:06 > 0:31:09unless the squadron happened to have a band or anything like that
0:31:09 > 0:31:10which used to play in the evenings.
0:31:10 > 0:31:12We used to have something of that kind sometimes.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14Some squadrons had, some squadrons hadn't.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17But generally speaking, once youwere out of the air,
0:31:17 > 0:31:19it was quiet.
0:31:19 > 0:31:20But it was safe.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22You see, you were 15 or 20 miles behind the lines,
0:31:22 > 0:31:24you had a comfortable bed, you had sheets,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27you had even electric light orsomething like that.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30You didn't have this terriblestrain that could occur
0:31:30 > 0:31:32if you never could get out of gunfire,
0:31:32 > 0:31:34never could getout of the possibility of being hit,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36even when you were asleep.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39So that we lived, as it were, always in the stretch or the sag of nerves.
0:31:39 > 0:31:44We were either in deadly danger orwe were in no danger at all.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47And this conflict between something
0:31:47 > 0:31:51which was really more or less just like being at home,
0:31:51 > 0:31:54and being really in quite a tightposition,
0:31:54 > 0:31:57had a great effect on usall.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59It produced a certain strain, probably because of the change.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04We used to occupy our time on the ground in several ways.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07During the daytime there were other patrols up besides our own,
0:32:07 > 0:32:09and very often our best friends were on these patrols.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11So naturally we wereup on the airfield
0:32:11 > 0:32:13waiting for them to come down to see how they'd fared.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17Waiting for them to come back, indeed. Sometimes they didn't.
0:32:17 > 0:32:18Then when they came down,
0:32:18 > 0:32:20there wasalways the gossip of howthey'd done -
0:32:20 > 0:32:23had they met anybody,had they had a kill, and all that sort of thing,
0:32:23 > 0:32:24and the damage to their machines.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26Perhaps they'd been a dogfight and got shot up
0:32:26 > 0:32:28and they mighthave holes through their rudder,
0:32:28 > 0:32:29holes through their engines.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33We wanted to see what had gone on, in fact.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35Then the pilot had to go, of course, into the orderly room
0:32:35 > 0:32:39and makeout his combat report and thenhe was free to do as he liked.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42And the messes, you see, were right out in the country.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46We were living usually on the outskirts of quiet villages.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49So when we wanted to whoop it up we usually went into town.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52The messes themselves were sometimesthe huts we lived in
0:32:52 > 0:32:54and sometimes, on the edge of a village -
0:32:54 > 0:32:57they might be actually farmhouses in the village.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00Old rooms, you know, simple rooms, whitewashed rooms
0:33:00 > 0:33:02with terrible old furniture.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06And the food, good but rough, fairly rudimentary.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08And things like, you know,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11lamps hanging on strings from the ceiling,
0:33:11 > 0:33:14which were thickwith dead flies
0:33:14 > 0:33:15and a general...
0:33:16 > 0:33:19..rudimentary, primitive sort of life.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22Sometimes, as in one case thatI remember very well,
0:33:22 > 0:33:26an old piano, an old uprightpiano in the mess with keys so yellow
0:33:26 > 0:33:30they looked as if the keyboard had been smoking for about 50 years.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32And we had one chap whoplayed the piano,
0:33:32 > 0:33:35and he'd sit down in the eveningsand there were two or three notesmissing
0:33:35 > 0:33:38and it was out of tune and it was...it was a terrible piano.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40But it didn't matter, you know.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43He'd play the tunesof the time, the revues on in town,
0:33:43 > 0:33:44the things we knew by heart
0:33:45 > 0:33:47and used to sing in chorus and the...
0:33:47 > 0:33:50Occasionally a bitof Chopin or something like that
0:33:50 > 0:33:53on the nights when we felt that thatsort of thing was appropriate.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56All very easy and go-as-you-please.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59And then usually after that,turning in fairly early and going tobed,
0:33:59 > 0:34:02because one might be up on the dawn patrol the day after, you see,
0:34:02 > 0:34:05perhaps up at four o'clock or more in the morning, ready to get out
0:34:05 > 0:34:07and wanting to get somesleep in before that happened.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10It was a quiet lifereally on the airfields themselves.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12It was only in the town that thebinges occurred,
0:34:12 > 0:34:16when the squadronhad had perhaps aparticularly badtime,
0:34:16 > 0:34:17or a particularly good time.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21Either was an excuse to go in and whoop it up a bit.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23And when that was over, back to the country,
0:34:23 > 0:34:27back to the quiet of the mess again, and doing the job.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31Because people were killed toofrequently...
0:34:32 > 0:34:37..the spirit in the mess itself wasusually quiet, not gay.
0:34:37 > 0:34:39Not frightfully gay,
0:34:39 > 0:34:41just workmanlike, professional, in a sense.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45Usually, of course, what we used todo when we were allowed away -
0:34:45 > 0:34:47and we were allowed away two orthree nights a week -
0:34:47 > 0:34:50we used to take a tender and go off to the nearest town.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53And there we'd find some sort of estaminet or restaurant going,
0:34:53 > 0:34:55you know,and probably a girl ortwo around the place,
0:34:55 > 0:34:58and we'd begin to have a drink ortwo and start singing songs
0:34:58 > 0:35:01and enjoying ourselves and whoopingit up till, say, midnight,
0:35:01 > 0:35:04and then we'd get into the tender and come back to the airfield again.
0:35:04 > 0:35:08That was more or less the life, when one was not in the air.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13And one mustn't think of it entirely as being lived up,
0:35:13 > 0:35:16because, you see,people were being killed every day, your best friend.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18My best friend was there one evening
0:35:18 > 0:35:20and he wasn't therenextday at lunch.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22And this was going on all the time,
0:35:22 > 0:35:24And people, you know,
0:35:24 > 0:35:26reacted to that.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29You couldn't live thatsort of a life and be entirelyindifferent to...
0:35:29 > 0:35:33You may have beencold-blooded in the air,because you had to fight
0:35:33 > 0:35:36asif therewas nothing but you and your guns.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39You had nobody at your side, nobody who was cheering with you,
0:35:39 > 0:35:41nobody who would look after you if you were hit.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44You were alone, you know, and you fought alone and died alone.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48But those who died weren't there when we came back.
0:35:51 > 0:35:52WOMAN: Cut.
0:36:00 > 0:36:06All bombing attacks up to 1918 hadalways been in the daytime.
0:36:06 > 0:36:08There'd never been a realnight raid,
0:36:08 > 0:36:10except zeppelin raids, of course.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12So that although I was on the defence of London at this time,
0:36:12 > 0:36:14stationed just outside Ilford,
0:36:14 > 0:36:18it was always Camels defending London in the daytime.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21Nobody ever thought that there would be night raids.
0:36:21 > 0:36:22And I certainly had neverbeen up at night.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25I never had flown at night at all until that point.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28Then suddenly one evening, just after sunset,
0:36:28 > 0:36:29when everybody had gone offtotown
0:36:29 > 0:36:32except two or three chaps who happened to be hanging round,
0:36:32 > 0:36:33a warning came through.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35And you can imagine, pandemonium.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37No aeroplanes with luminousinstruments,
0:36:37 > 0:36:41no lights in thecockpits, none of the pilots hadflown at night,
0:36:41 > 0:36:43Germans overhead. So what do you do?
0:36:43 > 0:36:45I mean, somebody's got to go up and see about it, you see,
0:36:45 > 0:36:47if they can.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51So I had a torch, I remember, and I was terrified,
0:36:51 > 0:36:52because I'd not idea what itwas like to take off at night.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54I thought it would be absolutelyblack.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57You know, I thought that I... I didn't knowhow I should ever
0:36:57 > 0:36:58beable to controlthe aircraft at all.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01I shouldn't have a horizon, you see.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03So this was one of the moments in the war
0:37:03 > 0:37:05when I was really,really frightened, because I justdidn't know
0:37:05 > 0:37:06what was in front of me.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09And anyhow, with a torch, you couldn't really switch it on
0:37:09 > 0:37:11and fly the aeroplane and switch if off again and check your revs,
0:37:11 > 0:37:13check your oil pressure, checkyour attitude.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15You know, you couldn't do allthat and fly,
0:37:15 > 0:37:17so it wasreally like flying in the dark.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19However, there it was. We had to get into the air.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22The Huns were coming over London. Somebody must have a crack at them.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25So I and anothercouple of chaps took off.
0:37:25 > 0:37:26You know, paraffin flares.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30Misty night, bit of a moon,
0:37:30 > 0:37:32which, of course, I didn't realise made all the difference.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37And once the excitement and tension of taking off was over,
0:37:37 > 0:37:39one was up in this magical, magical landscape
0:37:40 > 0:37:41you know, with the Thamesestuary
0:37:41 > 0:37:44and the plumes of thetrains as they came into London,
0:37:44 > 0:37:46and the clouds, and a little bit of a moon.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50A marvellous romantic, Midsummer Night's Dream sort of atmosphere.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53I'm climbing up and upand up to 14 or 15,000,
0:37:53 > 0:37:54seeing nothing, of course.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57Looking, searching, probing thedarkness with one's eyes,
0:37:57 > 0:38:00which gotnight-adapted in about 25minutes orso,
0:38:00 > 0:38:02so that you could see a little.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05But in fact, of course, quite incapable of finding a Hun
0:38:05 > 0:38:06even 200 or 300yards away.
0:38:07 > 0:38:08He would have been quite invisible.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10The only thing you couldhope for
0:38:10 > 0:38:12would be to see the glow of the exhausts,
0:38:12 > 0:38:14and you had to bepretty close to see that.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16So that was the way the night raids began,
0:38:16 > 0:38:19and they began like that and went like that till the end of the war.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23The difficulty was always the last200 or 300 yards.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25You might know roughly where theraid was coming,
0:38:25 > 0:38:27you might know the direction, you might even know the height.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29But you couldn't, in fact, do anything
0:38:29 > 0:38:32unless you could close thatlast 300-yard gap.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36And so very few people ever managed to find Huns over London.
0:38:36 > 0:38:38One or two did. Flossie Brand, for instance,
0:38:38 > 0:38:41who was the first man to fly toSouth Africa, he found one.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45He went in so close that hesinged his eyebrows
0:38:45 > 0:38:46when the German caught fire.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49He must have beenwithin 20 or 30feet of that aircraft
0:38:49 > 0:38:51before he opened fire,you know, after he'd opened fire.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53Stuck on its tail.
0:38:54 > 0:38:55WOMAN: Cut.