"Green Balls" : The Adventures of a Night-BomberBewsher, Paul
History
"Green Balls" : The Adventures of a Night-Bomber
Bewsher, Paul
World War, 1914-1918 -- Aerial operations
I hurry into the back and look through the trap-door again. I can
hardly see, owing to my running eyes; but I wipe them dry, and look
intently ahead in a horribly uncomfortable position, my head and
shoulders hanging out of the bottom of the machine. Right ahead of us is
the pale shape of the aerodrome. The pilot is flying magnificently. We
are moving steadily forwards. As we draw nearer, I wriggle back into the
machine and look down the bomb-sight. The thin direction-bar lies right
across the aerodrome. I joyously press the middle button, so that the
white light laughs out: "Good! Good! Good!" into the pilot's face. We
begin to drift slightly to the right. I do not touch the key-board, but
stand up and push my body forwards beside the pilot and shout
furiously--
"Turn her very slightly to the left, Jimmy! We're doing fine! We'll get
her this time! I'll press central when we're on it."
In a flash I am underneath the seat and looking at the bomb-sight. It
swings slowly, slowly to the left. Just before it arrives over the
aerodrome I press the white light button deliberately. The movement
stops, and the bomb-sight begins to creep steadily forwards over the
hangars and surface of the aerodrome. With my anxieties past I have a
wonderful feeling of relaxation and happy excitement. Just before the
two luminous range-bars actually touch the edge of the line of hangars,
I grasp the bomb-handle and begin to press it forward slowly. I hear the
sharp clatter of opening and closing of the bomb-doors behind me, and I
see two plump bombs go tumbling downwards below the machine. Again, and
a third and a fourth time, I press forward the bomb-handle, and can feel
the little drags on it as I release bomb after bomb. I look behind, and
see that they are all gone. I shine my torch through the racks to make
sure, and I see the gunlayer busy with his torch also. I look below
through the door, and see four or five bomb-flashes leap out across the
aerodrome, while behind them lies apparently the smoke of others near
the hangars. I slam the door to with a feeling of thankfulness, and get
back to my seat.
"All gone, Jimmy! No 'hang-ups.' You did jolly well; they went right
across the aerodrome. Let's push north-west back to the coast. I'm
absolutely frozen."
I have a hurried look at my pressure-dials, to see that they are all
right; and when I have adjusted them, I uncork my Thermos flask, have a
comforting drink of hot tea, and eat some chocolate. I beat my gloved
hands together and try to restore the circulation, and stamp my feet on
the floor. Feeling tired and cold, I sit on my seat with my head on my
breast, feeling languid and limp after the subconscious strain.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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