Andrew Wareham

THE BALLOONATICS

A Tale of the Great War

Chapter One

“Lieutenant Naseby you are a complete and utter fool! A hopeless, helpless tit, in fact! You were reported to be highly competent as a seaman and as a divisional officer, which is why you were appointed to a crack ship, why I accepted you. Your three months on board in our hurried wartime commissioning have shown you to be the most useful of officers. And after so promising a start, you show incompetent the moment we leave the wharf by proceeding to run down the Admiral’s barge! When manoeuvring in harbour, Naseby, one is expected to observe and give way to small craft, not to collide with them!”

Commander Savage, captain of HMS Calliope, the newest of light cruisers, seemed in no mood to listen to reason. Peter Naseby tried to offer a defence, suspecting he was wasting his time. The Old Man had not shown himself the most rational of figures in his three months in command, was far more inclined to shout abuse and blame than to consider the cause of any problem that arose. He was, considered from a rational, dispassionate viewpoint, an underbred lout, an oik, an officer who should have been locked away in a back office in the Admiralty where no gentleman would have to cross his path. Peter wondered just what his parentage was – there were a few strange sorts in the Navy these days. He was inclined to blame it on King Edward Albert, Dirty Bertie, who had encouraged the louche and the outré in Society. Edward was dead but his influence still lingered, resulting in a few very peculiar senior officers, appointed and rapidly promoted and a definite embarrassment to Society.

Not to worry, he must say something – truthful and simply expressed.

“Yes, sir. The admiral’s barge rounded Persephone’s stern, sir, at full speed. It was in sight for less than a minute. In that time, sir, I ordered full astern and threw the wheel hard astarboard. I also ordered a boat to be dropped, sir. The admiral was in the water for less than two minutes, sir.”

Savage snarled his contempt for that defence.

“Irrelevant! The smartest, newest, most efficient cruiser in the Royal Navy does not run down admirals in Portsmouth harbour in sight of half of the Channel Fleet, Mr Naseby. Whatever the excuse may be, HMS Calliope does not distinguish herself when first sailing off to war by attempting to drown C-in-C Portsmouth, who is also, one might remember, the Second Sea Lord!”

“No, sir.”

“We now have to wait in harbour for at least two days pending an inquiry. That is convenient because it means that you can be replaced immediately. You are dismissed my ship, Lieutenant Naseby, I will have no more of you! Report to the Captain of the Port’s offices within the hour.”

And that was the end of a promising naval career.

Peter Naseby ran to the cabin he shared with the assistant Gunnery Officer – a very proper and not especially able gentleman of the old school, despite being in his mid-twenties – was unsurprised to discover he was not there.

‘Arsehole! Won’t find him in company with the afflicted!’

He pulled his single suitcase out from his closet – it was wartime, 1915, and he had only the minimum of uniforms with him.

“Leave that to me, sir.”

Oadby, the seaman servant who looked after the pair of them.

“Get into reporting uniform, sir. Going for your next posting. Wartime, they won’t throw you out of the Andrew, they need all the trained, experienced officers they can get.”

Peter stripped down to his winter long johns – it was April but the Channel was still cold and the North Sea and Scapa Flow would be even colder. Quickly into his best working dress, less than a month old, worn only twice, almost perfect. He glanced in a mirror as he did up his collar stud and tied a Windsor knot in his necktie, all of the smartest. His shirt was new and well starched where it showed. He looked the part of the professional naval officer with a substantial allowance from home.

Not unhandsome as well, he considered, assessing himself critically. Little more than medium height at five foot eight inches, well muscled, having always kept himself fit and played Rugby when possible. A strong chin, good teeth, straight nose and deep blue eyes – ‘piercing’, he had been told – and naturally wavy fair hair. The epitome of the young officer, a man to go far. He had, in fact, done within reason well in his career so far.

Dartmouth and then his cruises as a midshipman well pre-war. Sublieutenant in 1912, making full lieutenant in the previous June of ’14 at age twenty-two. Not the most outstanding of careers but putting him high in the top quarter of young officers. He had been an obvious candidate for a new cruiser, expecting early wartime promotion to result. Now, dismissed his ship by his captain – not by court martial at least – he would be lucky to avoid a predreadnought or monitor, both backwaters for the lesser objects of the profession. He would remain a lieutenant for another ten years if that was his fate.

He dug into his pocket, came up with five shillings.

“Thank you, Oadby. You have looked after me well.”

“Pleasure, sir.”

Oadby was twenty years in the service, joined as a hungry twelve year old boy, looking for a steady source of meals, tall for his age and able to swear to fourteen. He had seen many an officer, had forgotten most of them. He had liked young Mr Naseby, had wondered about attaching himself to him when he was promoted and became entitled to his own servant. He wandered off to the Buffer, the second on the lower deck under the coxswain and unofficially in charge of the hands’ welfare. As a twenty year man, Oadby was one of the most senior of hands and was one of those who smoked a pipe in the Buffer’s company during their breaks.

“Young Mr Naseby’s got the chop, Buffer.”

“Bad luck. He did everything possible. The Admiral was a bloody fool, ordering his cox’n to try to cut across the ship’s bows.”

“Just that, Buffer. Naseby’s a good bloke, for an officer. What’s he got coming his way, do you know?”

“He’ll be posted today. Might hear something later. Why? You looking to hook onto him?”

“Could do worse. Don’t fancy the bull and brass at Scapa. I’m getting older, as well. Twenty years in, thirty-two years of age. End of the war – whenever that comes – I’ll be the sort to be given the old heave-ho, dumped on shore and told to find a living, too old to be a jack. If I’m sailor servant to an officer, I can stay in till I drop dead.”

“Coming to all of us, that is, Oadby. Pension of tuppence a week and ta very much for your years of service now bugger off and look after yourself. What do the likes of you and me know about working in some bloody town on land?”

The Buffer shook his head gloomily – old age had always seemed a long way distant. It was suddenly close and looking unpleasant.

“Add to that, we’re off to Scapa, Oadby. All brass and bullshit and no action. I shall see what can be done for you. No promises.”

Oadby made his thanks. His rum ration that day would end up in the Buffer’s belly, that being only fair.

They watched as a rating carried Mr Naseby’s suitcase ashore to the Port Captain’s office, followed by the gentleman himself, straight backed and looking strictly to his front. None of his fellow officers farewelled him.

“Piss poor, that is, Buffer!”

“The Captain’s got a down on him. Any officer who shows friendly is defying his captain. You know that, Oadby. It’s how the Navy works. When you’re up, you’re well up; when you’re down, they queue up to kick you. Bastards!”

The bugle blew, signifying the end of the ten minutes standdown. They snapped to their feet and marched to their places of duty, the epitome of smartness. The Captain might be watching and they knew he was in a bad temper, more than usually so, that was.

Peter approached the Port Captain’s office with the feeling that he was off to his execution. The end of his ambitions lay beyond that grey-painted door.

He had been happy as a twelve year old to pass the entry examination into Dartmouth, had wanted to go to sea, to join the great ships of the Royal Navy. The family lived in London, had a summer house near Ryde on the Isle of Wight, within sight of the ships passing up and down Spithead. They had fascinated him since his earliest memories, tall and powerful with their massive guns and four huge funnels throwing out masses of black smoke. He had wanted nothing more from his life than the chance to serve on a battleship.

His father was something in the City, as a director and owner of some sort of bank, what exactly he had never found out. His elder brother had joined the Old Man a few years before, preferring banking to going up to Oxford. Peter knew they were rich, had pots of money. Even as a second son he had a considerable allowance, a thousand a year as soon as he had made lieutenant; that was his for life under some sort of trust and he had the promise of a substantial inheritance – the family could afford it. He was much in favour of his wealth, compared to most naval officers, though he had made a point of never flaunting his money – flashing the cash – it would only buy him the wrong sort of friends.

He had wanted to make a life as a successful naval officer. Now, through no fault of his own, that had been taken away from him.

He fished out a florin piece, dropped the two shillings in the rating’s hand.

“Leave the case in the office, Rogers. Don’t hang about, cut off back to the ship quick time.”

Rogers saluted and ran, knowing he must not be seen to be doing favours for the pariah.

Peter turned to the petty officer at the Desk.

“Lieutenant Naseby reporting, PO.”

The man behind the desk had been there for years, knew what he could get away with, took the chance to humiliate an officer.

“Yes, sir. What ship, sir?”

“Recently HMS Calliope, PO. Dismissed with effect from this morning.”

“Oh, yes, sir. That officer. Very good. If you will just wait there, sir, I will inform the Captain of your presence.”

The PO made no attempt to offer a chair, left him standing in front of the desk.

Peter knew the game – it still hurt.

He waited less than a minute.

“Go in, sir. Captain Holder will see you immediately, sir.”

The Port Captain was old, would have retired had it not been for the war, might possibly have been called back from pension and fireside. He stood and exchanged salutes.

“Sit down, Naseby. First thing, young man, I was looking out of my window this morning, wondering where the Admiral was as he was late for a meeting with me. I saw what happened. I saw the action you took. In my opinion, and I would stand witness at a court martial, your actions were correct and rapidly taken. You were in no way culpable. I will tell your captain that when he tries to send you to a court, which I do not doubt he will, lout that he is! I cannot save your posting – and you would not want to stay if I could, with your captain breathing down your neck and picking fault with everything you did. So, that said, accepting you are blameless, you still have been dismissed your ship, unless…”

It sounded as if there was a way out, some method of saving his career.

“Yes, sir?”

“Unless you put your name down for a hazardous posting for which volunteers have been requested. In that case, you are merely leaving your ship far earlier than would normally be expected.”

“I volunteer, sir.”

“Excellent! I was sure you would. You have three choices, in fact, Mr Naseby – lucky you!”

The old man had an infectious grin. Peter chuckled.

“Lay them out for me, sir, with your advice as well, if you would be so good.”

“Right! There are actually four – but one is so crazy no sane man would take it. Intelligence, of course, wanting small-boat men to sail dinghies to the Belgian coast for them, putting their people ashore and picking others up. This is the fourth time they have put out a call since Christmas!”

That suggested they had lost three boats and their officers.

“No thank’ee, sir.”

“Nor me! Let’s look at the others. The Naval Brigade in Belgium wants officers for the frontline companies. One hundred and eighty days, initially, with a strong probability of promotion for survivors, that promotion being conditional on remaining for another year.”

“Soldiering. In the Trenches. What are the others, sir?”

“Submarines. New boats coming out of the yards and extra hands needed. Not my idea of fun.”

“Nor mine, sir. Screwing down a hatch and deliberately going under the water – bloody hell, sir!”

“Agreed. The last is the very opposite, the Royal Naval Air Service lighter-than-air division needs balloonatics – officers and men to crew the things they operate. There are dozens – literally – of small blimps coming into service this year. A lieutenant in command, sometimes a sub, and one, two or three midshipmen or ratings depending on which sort you end up with; details are unclear as they are still inventing the bloody things! Coastal patrol, submarine bashing. A Lewis Gun and some bombs and a wireless to call up a destroyer for help. Long hours of patrol in a tiny open cockpit underneath a bloody great gasbag. On your own, most of the time, watching over convoys, pottering along at fifty miles an hour, your own master. If I was thirty years younger, I’d be into that myself.”

“It sounds good, sir. I might well like that.”

“The RNAS is set to expand over the years. A young officer with good wartime experience…”

“Could go places, sir. If you would be so good, sir, I would like you to forward my name to the RNAS. What is their selection process, sir?”

Captain Holder laughed.

“You have just been through it. They are having hell’s own job attracting regular navy officers to their ranks in the balloons. They can get pilots for their heavier-than-air craft, easily. The balloons are simply not liked, for some reason. If you are sure you want to go this route, you can be there today. If you want to change your mind, you can take your pick of three predreadnoughts in harbour at the moment and trying to fill their wardrooms with at least some experienced officers.”

“A fate worse than death, sir! No thanks. I shall become a balloonatic.”

“As I say, I think you are wise, Naseby. This is an opportunity. Your record of service will show that you volunteered to the RNAS. Nothing else. There will be the odd question from clerks in the Admiralty because of your short time aboard Calliope. I shall tell them, verbally, nothing in writing, that you could not stand your bad-tempered and ill-mannered captain – you are a gentleman and he is not, which happens to be correct and will serve as all the explanation they need. It will also do you some good – and him some bad – with Their Lordships, who will inevitably hear the gossip my comments will create.”

“You are very good, sir. Thank you.”

“Not at all, Naseby. I am past a career now – I have had my time in. I had an armoured cruiser before I slung my hook, so I have scaled the heights. Now I can act for the good of the service – and I think saving your career might be just that. You showed quick and correct thinking this morning. Now then.”

He sorted through the papers on his desk, came up with a single folded sheet.

“A rail warrant to Shoreham, which is, I understand, a temporary base, and I shall call for a rating to carry your suitcase to the Docks station. You can be at your new posting in two or three hours, if the Southern Railway will permit – it’s only a few miles along the coast, Brighton way.”

Shoreham by the Sea, a small and sedate holiday resort, not as stuffy as Worthing and far less vulgar than Brighton. It was the haunt of the widows of the middle class, bank managers and upwards, had tearooms and very few pubs. There were healthy walks along the seafront and inland on the hills of the Weald. As a location for a naval base, it had little to recommend it.

To be practical, however, London was barely an hour away by express train, so the bright lights of Shoreham were not so vital to the young man’s existence. Brighton itself had a music hall and any number of hotels and pubs and restaurants and was renowned for its night life and for the proliferation of high-class, expensive ladies of the town during the high season. Plenty for a young officer to do there on his days off.

Peter walked across to the Docks station, discovered he must change trains at Fratton, three or four miles away on the outskirts of Portsmouth, close to the football ground, to pick up a slow train on the coast line to Brighton, getting off just a few miles short of the larger resort.

It was a nuisance because he would have to carry his own bags, not the normal habit for an officer. A lieutenant was not entitled to his own sailor servant and must convey himself around the country when the occasion arose.

Not a disaster, however.

He hopped aboard the first train out, off again at Fratton almost before he had time to sit down, then the wait for the slow and infrequent services of the line along the coast. There would be no restaurant car on the little trains. He bought a cup of tea at the station buffet, waiting for the train from Southampton to Brighton to pull in. It would be a slow and tedious run, time to think about the service he had so casually dived into.

He must write a letter home – completely open about the cause of his transfer, admitting that he had made the move as the only way of saving his career. The big men in the City heard everything. His father would certainly be in a position to talk to somebody in the know in the Admiralty and would soon hear both Captain Holder’s words and Savage’s. The letter must be frank in stating that Calliope ran down the admiral’s barge while he had the watch, the ship shifting its berth to the Gun Wharf to ammunition before going out to active service. He could also make it apparently clear that the captain had seized upon the incident to remove an officer who was socially his superior, far better bred and possessed of the bearing of a gentleman.

The captain had tried to break him and would have succeeded had it not been for Holder; now Peter would do his best to break the captain. He thought he had a fair chance of succeeding. The Navy loved rumours and scandal and would make the most of this one.

Balloons! He did not recall ever seeing one in flight. Pictures in newspapers, certainly; scare stories about Zeppelins, frequently. But Captain Holder had specified blimps, not the great dirigibles made famous in Germany. Smaller and without the rigid keel of the big ships and with a tiny crew. His own command, however.

Long, slow patrols – only eight or ten, perhaps twelve hours at a time. Nothing in terms of naval patrols which could last for many months. He could expect to sleep in his own bed every night, almost a nine-to-five existence.

He wondered about the wardroom. Probably a preponderance of lieutenants, and subs, perhaps midshipmen permitted entry. Few of senior officers; they would not be needed. It could be a freer existence than a ship could offer. It might be a good idea to send a message home, requesting his trunk with his dress and formal uniforms. He might find himself obliged to wear them again. There would mess evenings and dinners, almost of a certainty.

There was a stir on the platform as the train finally arrived, coming from Southampton, a small engine pulling just four passenger coaches. The front half of the first carriage was first class, almost all of the compartments taken. He seated himself in one of the empty, facing the engine as he preferred, and made ready for ninety minutes of tedium. It was no great distance but the train stopped at every station along the coast between Portsmouth and Brighton.

The carriage door opened and a porter ushered a young lady inside at Chichester. Presumably there were no empty compartments and the porter felt that a naval officer was safe company for an unaccompanied female.

They sat in silence for ten minutes before the young lady, a girl in fact, ventured to speak.

“Beg your pardon for disturbing you, sir. Does this train stop at Shoreham?”

“It does, miss. I am getting off there myself. Have you baggage in the guard’s van?”

“My trunk and suitcase. I watched the porter place it aboard before entering the carriage. Miss Shovell said I should.”

Peter enquired who the lady might be, was informed, as he had suspected, that she was a schoolmistress. The young lady was a schoolgirl, it seemed. She was not wearing a uniform.

“I have been called home from school to live with my grandparents in Shoreham, sir. They are quite old and my father has been sent away to America, to the embassy as Second Secretary. He will stay there for three years, I expect. That is how long we stayed in St Petersburg. He did not think I should cross the ocean to join him, because of the submarines. My Mama died many years ago, there are just the two of us.”

“I see.”

“I had wanted to leave school last year, for not liking it very much. Papa had no more than an apartment in London for a few months and could hardly accommodate me there. He had expected to go to Washington last year. The War meant he had to remain in London for some while longer, and he had rented out our house, so he had to take a temporary place, which was a nuisance.”

Peter agreed that it must be.

“I am posted to the RNAS field at Shoreham, to fly balloons. Blimps in fact.”

She was sure he must be excited at the prospect. She would much like to rise high in the sky under a balloon.

Peter supposed he might as well – he had not yet considered the flying aspect.

“I expect I shall see you flying over the town, sir.”

“Perhaps. We will patrol out to sea, against the submarines. I do not know Shoreham or where the airfield is located.”

Neither did she. Perhaps they might see each other in town on occasion – it was only a small place, she believed.

“We may well. I am Lieutenant Peter Naseby, by the way.”

“Miss Josephine Hawes-Parker, sir.”

An attractive youngster, he thought, barely out, though her hair was up and her skirts down to her ankles, so she was of marriageable age. Not a lot out of the ordinary – she had a figure and bright blue eyes that flashed intelligence. A pleasant little girl – it would be no hardship to talk to her if they met in the town of an afternoon, which might well happen, the place being so small.

As a lieutenant, Peter was effectively forbidden to marry. He could do so, if he was very unwise, and Their Lordships would instantly post him to the China Station, unaccompanied, for three years. Lieutenant Commanders could marry, and some did, but it was generally the case that matrimony must wait until attainment of the rank of Commander. Naval wages were such that only an officer with a private income could wed before the rank of Rear Admiral, at least.

Dalliance with respectable young females was therefore unwise for a lieutenant – nothing could come of it, for a seduction would result in a rapid court martial for conduct unbecoming upon its disclosure. The Navy upheld certain standards, sneering at the Army, which did not. Army officers were commonly known in Society as womanisers; Naval officers normally were not, perhaps with the exception of Beatty, who adhered to few of the norms.

Peter reflected that Sir John French, in command of the British Expeditionary Force in France, was renowned for his indiscretions with the female sex; it would not have done in the Navy. Imagine what Jacky Fisher would have had to say!

“Have you sailed far overseas, Lieutenant Naseby?”

“Only to the Mediterranean, Miss Hawes-Parker. Most of my service has been in home waters. I have not seen St Petersburg, certainly.”

“That is a strange city, sir. Rich – full of shops almost to match Oxford Street and with aristocrats displaying their furs and jewels in a fashion we would find somewhat vulgar. Yet there are thousands dying of famine in those same streets, ignored by their rulers. We were told of bread riots every week of the winters.”

“Yet they have joined their armies by the million and have served their Tsar.”

She snorted, unimpressed by what seemed to her to be a naïve comment, sounded far older than her sixteen or seventeen years.

“They have no choice in that, sir! Conscripted under the lash of the Cossacks, driven to the ranks where they are treated with brutal contempt. Hungry and beaten and forced to advance against the machine guns, hoping to overwhelm them simply by number. We heard last year from friends remaining at the embassy that very often they had no rifles, that the front two or three lines would be armed and those in the rear would pick up the guns dropped by the fallen. Even then, they might not have been taught how to load or take an aim.”

“Small wonder that they were defeated and driven out of Prussia and well to the east after their initial invasion in ’14.”

“No wonder at all, sir. I met their General Samsonov when he came to drink tea of an afternoon, informally. Not a clever man! Indeed, not even ordinarily sensible, I would have said. Born to the higher ranks of their aristocracy and hence promoted to his ‘proper’ level. I know nothing of generalship – I suspect he understood no more than me. I am told he shot himself in despair after his defeat. He might have been better advised to do so beforehand so that another general could have avoided that disaster.”

Peter thought that was somewhat harsh, even if amusing.

“We can expect little of our Russian allies, then.”

“Nothing at all, my father said. He thinks they will fall into revolution, the events of 1905 repeated more effectively. The war will result in a worse defeat than the Japanese dealt them and the country will collapse this time.”

It was a strange conversation to hold with a young girl – females of that age were supposed to know nothing other than the arts of attracting a husband. Miss Hawes-Parker was evidently of a unique sort.

The train stopped at a tiny station.

“Sompting. Next is Portslade, the station for Shoreham, I believe, Miss Hawes-Parker.”

“I shall have to catch the eye of a porter to retrieve my baggage. I do hope there will be one free.”

“Not to worry. I can see to that.”

Five minutes and they stopped, Peter handing the young lady down. He spotted the station master, far too dignified a personage to carry a case, signalled to him.

“Miss Hawes-Parker has a trunk and suitcase in the guard’s van. Please see to it.”

The sole porter, aged and overweight, was sent scurrying to the task, hauled both onto his trolley and added Peter’s single suitcase to the load, took them outside. There was just one horse-drawn cab available.

Miss Hawes-Parker was placed inside the vehicle, gave the address in Shoreham and then wondered that Peter was not to join her.

“No, Miss Hawes-Parker. Not at all the thing for a naval officer to be seen escorting a young miss to her home. The neighbourhood would be up in arms!”

She feared he might be right, from the little she knew of English behaviour.

“I shall use the telephone and call for transport from my people.”

The cab drew away and he exchanged grins with the stationmaster.

“Can’t be sharing cabs with young ladies, sir. Not at all right and proper. We have a telephone at the station, sir, installed by the Navy, to call them to collect their people. Just one moment while I engage the machine, sir. Lieutenant…”

“Naseby. Posted with effect this day.”

The stationmaster trotted inside and attacked the new device with all of his authority, roaring into the mouthpiece while gripping the hearing bell tight to his ear.

“They will be here within thirty minutes, sir, possibly with one of those motorised carriages that seem to be the new thing. They call it a ‘tender’, sir, which may be naval habit.”

“The RNAS is all about novelty, Stationmaster. After all, what can be more new than flying, in the air?”

That was very true, the exponent of steam admitted.

“We see their balloons, and hear them, every day when the wind is not too high, Lieutenant. Most strange to see their huge gasbags with a little box underneath containing men and a gun and an engine. One can see a huge bomb attached as well, to destroy those wicked submarines. You are to fly one yourself, are you, sir?”

“I hope so. Provided I am suitable and can learn the skills. The submarines are a menace and we must all do our best to destroy them.”

“That is so, sir. Will you join me in a cup of tea, sir, at the little café just a few yards down the road? No train due for another hour and I habitually take my break just now of a morning.”

That was, of course, a welcome invitation. The stationmaster was an important local figure and must be treated with respect. He could be useful as well. Sailors off on leave would commonly use his station, and those returning, sometimes drunk and needing assistance. An unfriendly stationmaster might see the drunks handed over to the local constable; one on the right side would simply telephone the field.

Tea and a slice of cake apiece, Peter insisting on paying – the stationmaster had been most kind and helpful to the young miss who had shared his compartment.

“Should not have been sent off on her own, sir. I expect her school thought it was only a few stations down the line and that she could look after herself as she was not returning and therefore grown up. Not right, in my opinion, sir.”

The Stationmaster agreed. The young miss should have been accompanied. It was only proper. His own daughters would not be riding the railways alone, that he assured the Lieutenant.

A rattling and clattering motor brought their conversation to an end.

There was a motor vehicle, painted naval grey, and a rating in bell-bottoms in the driving seat.

“My transport, sir. Thank you for your assistance, sir. I expect we shall see each other frequently over the next months.”

It was the Stationmaster’s pleasure to assist the Royal Navy, he was assured. Peter believed the pompous little man, too; he would do his best to aid the war effort.

“Lieutenant Naseby, sailor. Joining HMS Shoreham.”

“Aye aye, sir. I’ll just get your case aboard, sir. If you will sit up at the rear, sir. Not very comfortable, but not a long journey.”

The vehicle was a Crossley Tender, open to the elements with a pair of wooden benches set longitudinally in the rear, over the solid rubber tyres. There was a spare seat next to the driver, forward facing and with some upholstery.

“Unless it’s against standing orders, I’ll sit in the front… What’s your name?”

“Jackson, sir. Ordinary.”

“Right, Jackson. Those wooden benches look hard, to me.”

“Yes, sir. Regulations are passengers to the rear, sir, but the Commander ain’t too worried about them.”

“Right. Front will do for me.”

They pottered off on unmade roads, gravelled by the station, graded dirt outside, through hedged fields, mostly pastureland carrying small herds of milk cattle.

“Wet down here in winter, sir. Thick mud. Couldn’t barely get through in January, sir.”

Through Shoreham itself, which took very few minutes, a small town with little to distinguish it, and uphill to the RNAS field, past the board announcing HMS Shoreham, all naval bases being ships, and then round to the tall hangars and far smaller mess buildings.

Peter saw his first airship, being walked out of a hangar, at least fifty men pulling on ropes to hold it down and ease it out into the open air. It was huge. He watched for a minute or two before turning to the buildings.

“Doorway on the left, sir. Commander, acting as first lieutenant.”

He squared his cap and marched inside, spotted a lieutenant commander, rising from a desk.

“Naseby, sir. Reporting to join.”

“Ah yes. Busy day for you, Naseby! Drowning Sea Lords first thing in the morning to joining the RNAS in the afternoon!”

“We fished him out, sir, with his boat crew. None lost. More damage done to his dignity than anything else, sir.”

“Captain Holder reports that the collision was entirely the admiral’s fault?”

“He was running late for a meeting, sir. Ducked under Persephone’s stern and tried to cut across Calliope’s bows. Had him in sight for a bare thirty seconds. Managed to just hit him a glancing blow, overturned him rather than drove him under. Had a boat in the water and him out inside two minutes.”

“So Holder said. Telephoned me to give me the gen. Your captain was unsympathetic?”

“Worried he might lose his ship, sir, I suspect. Not ideal, when you consider it, your ship’s first battle honour being C-in-C Portsmouth.”

The lieutenant commander laughed. It seemed that Peter had passed some sort of test. He suspected that if he had complained it was unfair he might have been turned away, sent off as unsuitable.

“I’m Finlay, Naseby. Welcome aboard. Let’s get you organised. Captain’s busy outside, he likes to oversee bringing the ships in and out of the sheds personally. Get a wind that catches them sideways on the ground and they can crash into the doors and rip their skins. Only small hangars here, not wholly suitable, a chance of collision and at worst, lose gas and catch fire, which would be unpleasant for all. Now then, various forms to get you on the roster and paid and deductions for mess fees. Generally pretty informal in the wardroom, Naseby. Don’t go in for Dinners and such. Most of the youngsters can’t afford it. We don’t get many of the traditional career officers here – they don’t like the balloons. Wartime mids and subs, mostly, with no incomes of their own. All of us in the same facility, not having one separate for the mids and wanting all of the flying people in together anyway.”

“Many of us, sir?”

“You make fourteen, at the moment. Naseby. More balloons coming out of the factory and we will need more men for them. Might not be able to stick with volunteers, the way things are going. Might be that the best thing will be to call for ratings to put their names forward. Offer them a commission in exchange. Should be able to fill the gaps that way.”

Peter thought for a few seconds, decided it would work. There might be problems in the wardroom, but they could be ironed out.

“Yes, sir. Young men, say with at least one long cruise at sea behind them, or with experience in the Channel, on the destroyers and small craft, if they were to be wartime enlistments. Men who have shown their worth in some way. I know several ratings from my last two ships who would make more than adequate officers.”

“Good. So do I. Captain Fitzjames is not quite so sure. I am sure he can be persuaded by his senior men, of whom you are one, of course. Our officers are youngsters, all, and only one lieutenant is senior to you. He’s out at the moment. You will meet him this afternoon when he comes in.”

“I’ll get settled in then, sir.”

“Don’t get too comfortable. The hangars at Polegate, just down the coast, are almost finished and we might be taking the station over within days. Most likely we will pull out of Shoreham and give it over to the RFC or the heavier-than-air RNAS as a training station. More suitable for them.”

Chapter Two

Captain Fitzjames was tall, two or three inches over six feet, massively bearded in the Victorian tradition and skeletally thin. Peter doubted he would turn the scales at one hundred pounds, wondered if he might be consumptive. He looked ill, grey and exhausted. He was definitely at least slightly mad. He believed in airships, knew them to be the ultimate answer to winning the war at sea and probably on land as well.

“Small ships to protect the Channel and East Coast, Naseby. Blimps, that is. Full scale dirigibles to monitor Atlantic shipping. Thing is, Naseby, the submarine is incorrectly named. It can’t live beneath the water for more than a few hours at a time and must spend the bulk of its existence on the surface. It’s a submersible, not a submarine – a surface ship that can descend beneath the waves for a limited time. It has no protection against aerial attack. A dirigible convoying a score of ships will see every submarine on the surface for a twenty mile range, more perhaps. The balloon can drive the subs under the water with the threat of its depth bombs. Once submerged, few subs can make as much as four knots. The convoys or individual ships can outrun them.”

It seemed logical.

“Forty dirigibles operating between Londonderry and Halifax in Canada would end the submarine menace, except in winter when the gales grow too strong. They could cut losses almost to nothing. But – it is a new concept and Their Lordships will not take it on board in full. They have agreed to use the coastal blimps and we can be thankful – and amazed – at that.”

The Captain shook his head, deploring the short-sighted, head in the sand nature of the Admiralty and of all who dwelt within it.

“Think what could be achieved on the Western front by balloons sitting in the sky at ten thousand feet, well beyond the range of most guns, using telescope and wireless to communicate with our gunners.”

“Might there not be a problem with aeroplanes, sir? I have heard – we all have recently – of aeroplanes, Fokkers, carrying machine guns to shoot at each other. Load those guns with tracer rounds, sir, and I do not believe that hydrogen gas filled balloons would live long.”

Captain Fitzjames was dismissive.

“The dirigible is a stable platform and could be equipped with its own guns to hold them off, Naseby. Not a problem.”

“Possibly so, sir. For the while, I believe we have our smaller blimps here at Shoreham, though the ones I have seen are by no means tiny!”

“They are not, Naseby. One hundred and forty-three feet, nose to tail, when inflated, and forty-three feet at maximum height. Further details can wait till tomorrow when you start to become acquainted with the ships you will fly. The Sea Scouts are of some seventy thousand cubic feet of gas to provide lift. Underneath the balloon itself, the fuselage of an aeroplane, suspended by wires. No wings, of course. An engine, either tractor or pusher depending on the plane used, and cockpits for two or more crew. Where it is practical, depending on the size of the fuselage we have been given, we have cut away the fuselage to provide a third cockpit, but that does mean no bomb, because of weight considerations. Thus, we have the pilot, radio man and engineer and in some the second hand who is gunner and lookout and whatever is necessary. We have larger balloons planned to take a four man crew including a second gunner. There will be a choice of bombs to be suspended below the envelope.”

It seemed within reason simple.

“I presume we patrol at a given height depending on weather and cloud cover, sir. On spotting a submarine we send a message by wireless giving position and inform the convoy we are escorting and then go into the attack.”

Fitzjames was deeply pleased by Peter’s intuitive perception. He smiled, showing great horse teeth, his head looking even more like a fleshless skull.

“Exactly! Message first. We hope to arrange the wireless systems so that the escort to the convoy may listen in to all you say. That is difficult at the moment. Our current procedure is that you wireless to Shoreham and we telephone Dover, where the convoy escorts are based, and they send the message to their own people. A little slow.”

“Could we use flares, sir? Green for starboard, red for port, perhaps. That would at least alert the convoy.”

Fitzjames was immediately convinced that Peter was brilliant, a godsend, a blessing come to his people.

“Good idea! Marvellous! That’s the benefit of new blood, Naseby. You can think through the things we are doing and give a sensible opinion. Still, enough for today! Breakfast for seven and you start learning to pilot one of the balloons immediately after. An hour in the classroom, then it’s off to the cockpit. Learning by doing! We’ll have a chair fixed on the fuselage so your instructor can lean over your shoulder for the first while. Bit exposed but it works!”

Peter wondered just what sort of madhouse he had wandered into. Chairs on top of the fuselage? He could not complain – they had asked for volunteers and everybody knew that a volunteer was a man who had misunderstood the question. He had got what he had asked for, in the elegant expression of the day.

Not to worry. He had fallen into it, both feet first, and now he was stuck and must make the best of it. The very best. If he was in a madhouse then he would be king of the loonies.

He found that he had a single room, being a senior man in the wardroom, only three officers on the base superior to him. That was comfortable, at least. He unpacked his suitcase and hung his second-best uniform up in the wardrobe, shirts on the hangers next to it, ties on their rails. His best shoes were neatly aligned at the bottom, empty suitcase outside on top, as was correct. Handkerchiefs and underclothes to the small chest of drawers, regulation stockings and socks in the bottom drawer, that being where they lived. Washbag with soap and facecloth and shaving gear neatly placed on the right, next to the mirror.

He had been taught at Dartmouth how to pack and unpack a suitcase, Navy fashion, would never, could never vary from that ingrained routine.

Ten minutes taken up making himself ready. He changed out of reporting uniform into his older, working gear, identical but worn for three months. It was always wise to retain a ‘best’ uniform. He hung that last of all, neatly and tidily, shirt discarded into the laundry basket together with the used underclothes and socks. Dartmouth had been insistent on rigorous personal hygiene; all the cadets had seen and winced at what happened to the very few of their contemporaries who were so unwise as to smell and were corrected with scrubbing brushes and carbolic soap.

Time for afternoon tea.

He marched across to the wardroom, a large hut under corrugated iron, recently built from timber, not even a proper brick building. He stepped inside, was greeted by a petty officer, presumably in charge of running the wardroom.

“Afternoon, PO.”

“Sir! Askew, sir.”

“Lieutenant Naseby, posted today.”

“Yes, sir. You are on my list, sir. Due to go to Polegate when it opens, next week, probably, sir. Likely to be moving us all out to different bases, sir.”

“So I heard. I know nothing of the details, of course.”

“No, sir. Commander is in the wardroom, sir.”

It was a courtesy to inform a senior officer of who was in already.

“Thank you, Askew.”

Using the name to show that he remembered it on first hearing.

He pushed through the double doors leading into the wardroom proper, stopped just inside to get his bearings.

A big room, at least fifty feet long and thirty wide, a pair of formal dining tables to the rear, lounging chairs and drinks tables to the front and a large bar in the corner, big enough to take two barmen easily. The bar was closed, wise at three in the afternoon on a working day.

He put his cap up on the rack inside the door, making himself informal – no salutes demanded of the juniors in the room. Finlay, the Commander, waved to him, called him across.

“Naseby! This is John Fraser who will be teaching you to fly over the next few days.”

Fraser was a little older than Peter, in his mid-twenties, a normal, everyday sort of fellow except that his face was weather-beaten, tanned by sun and wind like the pictures of the old sailing ships’ crewmen.

“Open cockpit and a fifty mile an hour gale, old chap. We all get a little wind beaten, unless we grow beards.”

“I don’t think I could emulate the Captain, Fraser! I’ll keep my razors out.”

“Me too! Tea and biscuits at this time of day. Nothing stronger. What do you know of flying, Naseby?”

“Nothing at all. Before this morning, I had hardly heard of it!”

“Good. Flying a balloon is nothing like piloting a plane. You have nothing to unlearn!”

“One advantage, anyway. Are we permitted to talk shop in the wardroom here?”

“Oh, yes! Nothing but, in fact. All of us here are flying mad, apart from the mids – they’re just mad. All in the one room for lack of anywhere else to accommodate the mids. The subs are all volunteers. The mids are posted in. Most of them find they like the life.”

Peter thought that was a little hard on the midshipmen. On reflection, they were never permitted a choice in anything they did. Midshipmen obeyed orders, end of story.

“Not wishing to be tactless, Fraser, the mids we get – are they the cream of the cream, the pick of the bunch, as you might say?”

Fraser and the Commander laughed in unison.

“Not bloody likely, Naseby! We get the oiks, the no-hopers with two left feet and too much brain for their own good. Mids should never think for themselves in the wet navy; they are expected to have nothing to think with!”

Peter knew that was true from his own experience. He had learned to keep his mouth shut in his first term at Dartmouth, to hide the fact that he always knew the answers in the classrooms. ‘Clever’ was commonly an insult when applied to a midshipman or cadet.

“I suspect that might make them the right sort for us, sir?”

The Commander nodded and grinned.

“Bring them on, Naseby! Give us the mavericks, the overly-intelligent, the ones who ask why, the misfits – nine times out of ten they are perfect for us. They think and they fly and they quickly learn to fit in with our ways. By the time they make sub, which is normally quickly, they are fit to command their own balloons. We had a visiting admiral here for two days last month, trying to make sense of what we do and how we do it. He left saying they had given the bloody monkeys the keys to the banana plantation. It was a madhouse and we should all either be court-martialled today or promoted tomorrow. He agreed that we should be given more men and money.”

Peter laughed – it seemed to be the correct reaction there.

“I almost drowned C-in-C Portsmouth this morning, which is how I come to be here. I suppose I fit in.”

Fraser gave an admiring whistle.

“Well done, Naseby! Nothing like that for making a name for yourself. I was far less venturesome. On a destroyer out of Dover and I have always had the habit of whistling when I’m busy. Captain said if he heard ‘Whistling Rufus’ one more time he’d go bloody mad and it was either his sanity or my posting…”

One could have sympathy for the captain, Peter suspected. He had heard the tune played by a blackface banjo band on Southsea front, the pleasure beach abutting Portsmouth, a dozen banjos plunking and their players whistling along. The day trippers had applauded and thrown their coppers into the hat at the front.

“Not to worry, old chap. It seems as if we have ended up in the right place for both of us. Tell me, what’s the trick to piloting a blimp?”

Not the mere technical details, the habit of thought that would make all the difference. The helmsman of a battleship had to perform a radically different job to his counterpart on a destroyer, though both stood at a wheel and turned it as needed – the particular job demanded its own frame of mind.

“Simple enough, Naseby – all the time you have to be thinking of what you want to be doing in two minutes time. If you start a diving turn to port now, where and when are you going to come out of it, and where will you be heading? Once you start a blimp moving in a given direction, she wants to continue that way and has to be persuaded carefully to change her mind. You have three hundred and fifty pounds of water ballast to release in emergency – once! When it’s gone, it’s gone. Avoid emergencies when at all possible – that’s the rule.”

“Attacking a submarine?”

“Throw the rulebook out of the window, old chap!”

The three laughed in unison – there was a time and a place for rules, and that was not in action, which Peter had yet to see, having been big ships so far this war.

A waiter brought their tea and biscuits, freshly baked locally. Fraser tucked in heartily, almost schoolboyishly.

“First rate little bakers shop in town, Naseby. Has a few tables as well. A favourite spot for local misses, I have discovered.”

“I met one such on the train coming across this morning Just sent home from school to be a companion to her grandparents. Hawes-Parker, the name. Mother dead, father in the Diplomatic and did not want her crossing the pond to Washington just at the moment.”

“Know them. Big house just half a mile down the road from here. On the outskirts, naturally. See them pottering in the garden. Give us a wave whenever we fly over. Not like some of the old tabbies who cringe away at the sight of us overhead. It seems we disturb the chickens and put the cows off their milk, Naseby.”

Peter shook his head gravely – that was very bad, he did not doubt.

“Not an agricultural sort, myself, Fraser. Wouldn’t know about such things. My people stick strictly to the City – won’t find them with mud on their boots.”

The Commander showed interested.

“Banking?”

“Very much so, sir. I think my father once said it was ‘merchant banking’, but I never picked up the hows and whys of it. Always wanted the sea. Now I’ve got the air, it would seem.”

The Commander said no more. He had obviously placed Peter as from a heavily moneyed background, was content to know nothing else. Fraser showed no signs of comprehension.

“Good family, the Hawes-Parkers. Know my parents – they are in the Service as well. My father is in Italy at the moment, trying to make sure they join the right side.”

Peter did not habitually read the newspapers, was not aware of the negotiations going on to bring Italy to break her flimsy treaty with Austria and Germany. As yet, Italy had not gone to war. It was becoming likely that she would join with England and France, provided sufficient promises were made.

They finished their tea and strolled out to inspect the facilities on the field.

The hangars were obvious enough – big boxes to store the blimps in and work on the fuselage underneath, particularly on the engine.

“The radioman/gunner is also a part-trained mechanic who can perform basic repairs in the air. He has a toolbox and a supply of parts – all of the simple stuff. Over time, you will learn a bit about the engines too. Useful to be able to lend a hand where necessary.”

Peter nodded, enthusiastically, he hoped.

“Fuel dump over to the left. Bomb dump well to the right. Makes sense to keep the two apart! Gunner’s workshop over here – always drop the Lewises off after a patrol – he will clean them of salt and whatever muck has come their way. He will also issue a pistol, always to be worn on patrol, and a cavalry carbine for the front seat. Never had to use either yet. Can’t see that a revolver could ever be of use, but that’s the orders.”

They carried on, round behind the hangars to a larger, solid building, brick-built and standing square. Next to it was a row of large cylinders, connected by pipes to each other and to the building. They were laid flat on the ground, some twelve feet long and about four in diameter.

Fraser gave the technical details, as he knew them.

“Gas-generation plant. Produces our hydrogen. Got our own chemist to oversee the process. Limestone and hydrochloric acid, I believe. Mix ‘em up and stir well and the gas bubbles off and is collected in the cylinders. The cylinders themselves can be disconnected from the supply pipes and then put onto a trolley and wheeled round to the front to inflate a gas bag. Got to do that with every new balloon coming in. Try to keep them inflated permanently after that. Costs a lot and is bloody awkward. Add to that, hydrogen burns easily – dangerous stuff to play with. You can rip off the patch, in need, let all of the hydrogen out of the top of the balloon, deflate it if you are crashing and need to come down in a hurry before you hit woodland or housing. It’s never a popular decision.”

The rest of the field could be ignored – galleys and mess-halls and ratings’ quarters where officers were not wanted except on official inspections.

“Are we quarters officers as well as pilots, Fraser?”

“No. The mids take those duties. Good experience for them. Pilots have a minimal workload other than flying. Fitzjames thinks we must give our all in the air and that demands as much relaxation as possible when we are on the ground.”

“Sounds good to me, old fellow. What’s the roster?”

“Nothing formalised yet. The new SS ships are still being delivered and we are not up to full strength yet. Next week should be different. We open Polegate and bring in five or six SS types and pilots and crew. Not fully built yet. Wardroom is to be some sort of country house, a cottage it's called but not the normal agricultural sort of thing. Provided you are flying by then, you will be senior at Polegate and I will be at Capel, just down the coast in Kent. Generally takes just three or four hours to learn the trick of flying a blimp – simple stuff and you will get plenty of practice out on patrol. When I say ‘senior’, by the way, that means of the operational people. There should be a station commander and Number One on the ground. You will be in charge of the air.”

It seemed a very rapid step from novice trainee to command in less than a week.

“Oh, flying’s simple, Naseby. You can handle a small boat, can you not?”

Much of a cadet’s training revolved around small boats, under sail, oars and steam power. Midshipmen at sea were always responsible for a boat, starting with a small cutter and progressing to a steam picket-boat.

“If you can sail a dinghy, you can fly a blimp.”

“Well and good. I enjoyed racing dinghies at Dartmouth.”

“There you are then! No difficulties at all!”

Dinner was taken around just one of the big tables – five sublieutenants and eight midshipmen making up the numbers to about the same as an armoured cruiser would carry, although the mix of ranks was different.

“No engineroom people here, Fraser?”

“They have their own facilities, old chap. Fitzjames is old-fashioned that way, does not approve of the greasy-handed mixing with the gentlemen.”

Peter disapproved. They were all essential to the working of the field. He had heard of the same mentality in the Victorian Navy, hardly expected to see it in modern times.

“When all of the satellite fields are opened, the Captain will be stepping up to more of a supervisory role. Somewhat more distant. As it stands, for the remaining few days, it will be as he wishes. Personally, I don’t think he has long for this world, you know, Naseby. Not a healthy-looking chap, our man.”

Peter observed the Captain during the meal, saw him to eat almost nothing, drinking his soup but taking barely a mouthful from the other courses.

‘Bad luck, old fellow. Your tale is very nearly told.’

He said nothing aloud.

The port circulated and the formal toasts were made. The Captain sipped at a single glass.

The evening ended in the wardroom, none of those present choosing to go off the base – ashore – for their amusement.

“If you are off duty at the weekend it’s normal enough to go up to London or across to Brighton, Naseby. During the week we tend to drink little and sleep early. Our days are busy!”

Peter rose at six thirty, ordered out of bed by the servant he shared with Fraser.

“Fine and sunny morning, sir. Everything a pilot could ask for. Breakfast serving from fifteen minutes, sir.”

A hurried wash and shave and into his oldest working uniform, his shirt ironed but not starched at all, the collar almost soft from long usage. He shook his head – he would have been ordered off the bridge of HMS Calliope as a disgrace to the ship. Thinking on it, that was effectively what had happened to him, so he had nothing to worry about these days.

“Eggs and bacon, sir. Porridge first. Tea or coffee, sir?”

The wardroom steward was briskly efficient. Fraser grinned in sympathy, spooning in his porridge, well sprinkled with brown sugar.

“Eat up, Naseby. Can be a long time between meals on patrol. Always fuel up with a heavy breakfast. Stuff down all the toast you can manage afterwards with plenty of marmalade or jam. You need the sugar.”

Peter nodded – he could not be cheerful at the breakfast table.

Fraser finished first and stood from the table.

“See you in the classroom – the hut attached to the right hand hangar – in a quarter of an hour, old chap. Latrine call first – can always take a pee over the side of the cockpit, not so easy to manage anything else up in the air!”

Crude advice, but highly sensible, Peter realised. No heads in a blimp, in the nature of things.

The classroom was bare except for the cut-down fuselage of a BE2. The wings had been trimmed away and the tailplane removed. All that was left was a two-seater cockpit, arranged fore and aft, and an engine at the front with a huge, nine feet tall, propellor.

“There you have it, Naseby – your future domain. There are ten main cables and two anti-rolling straps, all ending at ETA patches to attach them to the balloon. You will observe that the fuselage swings under the envelope; in a high wind, that can be severe. Don’t, by the way, ask me what ETA stands for – I haven’t found anybody to tell me!”

Peter nodded, trying to take in the simple structure.

“Pilot to the rear, by the looks of it?”

“Gunner and radio op to the front – you can see the Lewis Gun mount. As soon as you are four hundred feet or so up and starting to level off, the operator will wind out the radio aerial – that reel to the side there. Can’t receive or transmit without the aerial. Just a long wire dangling behind you – don’t forget to wind it in again when coming down. You don’t want the wire tangling in the branches of a tree. It’s supposed to have happened once – much nastiness and broken necks for all involved!”

The point was taken.

“Right, from the front. Propellor, twin bladed wooden, nine feet diameter. To be changed on the newer, bigger ships on the drawing board. What to? As yet unknown. Engine – varies. Always in-line, never a rotary; could be a radial, but they are rare. Eighty hp Beardmore, this engine – one of the less common. None of them more than a hundred hp. That also to be changed if and when engines become available. There are too few for the needs of the RFC at the moment, let alone us!”

“Sounds rather small, Fraser. Just eighty hp.”

“Does all we need, in fact, Naseby. Most of the time we are pottering along at low revs, watching over ships that can hardly make eight knots – we have no use for speed. Couldn’t push a great round gasbag through the air at any rate of knots, whatever we tried. A big engine would just rip the nacelle free of the gasbag, I expect.”

“Nacelle?”

“That or gondola – term for the control cabin, whatever form it takes. Normally use gondola for the big cabins slung below dirigibles with their millions of cubic feet of lifting power. We are weight conscious, in the nature of things, old chap. Not down to the last pound – you can bring a packet of sandwiches along with you! Nothing a great deal heavier, though. Wouldn’t want to set a heavy Vickers in place of the Lewis, for example. Right, now. Controls. Sit in the rear cockpit, old chap, and look behind you. You have big fins on the rear of the bag, three of them. One vertically downward as a basic rudder. Two set horizontally on either side for upwards and downwards movement. That, fundamentally, is it. Throttle control and a yoke for the three fins. Give it a push – it’s set up for the same sort of pressure as the real thing.”

Peter did as he was told, hauled the yoke left and right, forwards and back.

“Rule is, always gentle and smooth, Naseby. Never jerk, never heave hard to full aport or astarboard or for a fast zoom or dive. Everything controlled and slow – unless you are in action and have to get on top of a sub quickly to drop a bomb down its throat. Been in that position once, myself. Missed by ten feet – and that is too far with the bombs we carry. Frightened Herman the German, I don’t doubt – but I didn’t sink the bastard!”

“Noted, Fraser. On top and very precise if we are to do any good at all.”

“Not quite, Naseby. Forcing him to submerge and stay down all day in case we were waiting overhead meant he sank nothing that day and his position was known to the sloops and destroyers from Dover. He can only make four knots underwater – can’t get very far. Driving them down protects the merchant ships, and that’s what we are there for.”

“Well said, Fraser!”

Captain Fitzjames’ grating voice came from behind them. How long he had been there, neither man knew. The conversation had been properly professional, so it hardly mattered that he had been listening.

“So then, simple enough as far as it goes. You must also make use of the ballonets, which takes some getting used to.”

Last thing was the dashboard which showed a clock, a simple speedometer and an altimeter which was little more than a mercury filled tube which responded to air pressure.

“Remember that the speedometer makes no allowance for wind. It does not give speed over the ground, or sea.”

They went into the hangar, stood beneath the SS blimp held there for work on its engine.

“Observe – the crab pot!”

A long tube, seemingly wickerwork, stretching from the insides of the blimp to the side of the cockpit, about a foot in diameter with a flared trumpet base.

“You can turn the crab pot – the head – directly into the wind flow, or sideways to it, or wholly away if you must. The tube – canvas lined, by the way – leads to a pair of ballonets, each of six thousand five hundred cubic feet capacity, full of air, obviously, and more or less under pressure depending on the angling of the crab pot. Not for lift – you use them to change the shape and attitude of the blimp, basically angling the nose up or down. Makes it easier to hold a given height or to climb or dive if you set them correctly – and that is a matter of by guess and by God – you have to get the feel of them for yourself. Different for each blimp – though they are identical, of course! For the first month, at least, you will be continually fiddling with the crab pot until suddenly you discover how it works and then it’s obvious – simple, can’t imagine what the problem was! That’s how it was for me, anyway.”

“That’s our one piece of artistry, would you say, Fraser?”

“Well… I wouldn’t, meself, but every man to his own, Naseby!”

They chuckled and strolled out to the blimp that had been walked out of the other hangar. As Captain Fitzjames had said, there was a wooden dining chair strapped to the nacelle, immediately behind the pilot’s cockpit.

“Your Number Two, Naseby. Leading Seaman Horrocks. He will be your crew, permanently.”

“Good to meet you, Horrocks. I’ll try not to kill you too often!”

“Just avoid it once, that will do me, sir.”

The free and easy atmosphere evidently applied to the ratings as well.

Boarding the nacelle was done by way of steps, Horrocks first, then Fraser climbing over the back of the cockpit followed by Peter.

“Different fuselage, this one, Fraser?”

“Yes. One of the pre-war things that the RFC threw away last year. Don’t know what, exactly, they are all similar.”

The sides of the cockpit were low, barely hip-height when Peter sat down, and he was not the tallest of men. Almost the whole of his abdomen was exposed to the air.

“Won’t be actually flying today, old chap. Tomorrow, we’ll have you equipped with the proper gear. Get the feel of the cockpit today.”

An hour and Peter felt more or less at home in the machine. He supposed it was not unlike the canoe he had occasionally paddled at Dartmouth – exposed above the waist and demanding balance.

They stepped down from the nacelle and wandered off to wardroom and mess respectively.

“Be easier with a mid as crew, Naseby – the pair of you able to talk after flying and eat together as well. I mentioned that Captain Fitzjames is being pressured to look at a lower-deck commission for some of the ratings who fly.”

That might be a good idea, Peter thought, having considered the possibility overnight. There was no absolute reason why a competent and bright seaman should not rise in the world, particularly in the specialist branches. It would not be easy aboard ship, could be done in the blimps where there was no need to do the social pretty.

“Horrocks seems brighter than average, Fraser. Quietly confident, I would describe him as. Did he volunteer to come across to the blimps?”

“He was aboard a battleship at Scapa Flow. Bored rigid with nothing happening – all brass and blanco and bugles – you know what it must be like there. The call came for volunteers to the RNAS and he led the stampede to the Buffer’s office to get his name in, so he said.”

“Right. Give me a while to get to know him. If he is as good as he looks at first sight, I’ll support his application for a commission.”

“Good man! Fitzjames will be pleased to have more backing.”

“As long as he is still around, that is, Fraser. The poor old fellow looks shockingly ill. No appetite for his dinner, last night.”

“He’s always been on the skinny side, though, mind you, I will accept that he’s leaner than he was. I suppose it shows when you are new in. The man’s condition must be more obvious to a newcomer… Pity if he goes. A good man for the balloons.”

Evidently not a man who had established any personal relationship with his officers. Fraser seemed not at all concerned that he was probably dying.

Not to worry. The RNAS had other captains, all more or less competent in the ordinary way of things. They would find another body.

The morning dawned still, almost windless, ideal for flying, especially for a new man.

The three went out to Peter’s Sea Scout and climbed aboard, Fraser balancing himself on his chair with apparent aplomb.

“Have you not a belt at least, Fraser?”

“Belt? No, never needed one yet. I’ll sit tight, never you fear. Right, fins to central, now check that each is responding to the yoke. Watch them as you apply left and right and upward and downward movement. Always check for yourself. Your mechanic did so ten minutes ago. He ain’t flying the machine. You are.”

Peter went through his checks, confirmed that nothing had dropped off or seized up.

“Now. Crab pot. Where do you position it?”

Peter knew the answer and leaned across and turned the bell mouth three-quarters to the front.

“Place it to fill the ballonets, but not too quickly, then maintain high pressure.”

“Well done. Up to you now.”

Peter pumped petrol to the carburettors with a first turn of the propellor, magneto off, turned the switches to contact and called to the mechanic stood at the propellor. One mighty heave and the engine caught, Peter slowly increasing the revolutions and ‘leaning’ the air mix so that the engine was no longer firing on pure petrol. He avoided a stall, which not every experienced pilot achieved every time.

He set the horizontal fins to give him maximum operating tilt to assist the balloon to lift.

“Handlers off!”

He roared the command, best Atlantic voice to be heard above a gale. The blimp took off, angling upwards, Peter holding the rudder steady, and was over the little town inside a minute, some four hundred feet up and climbing in an unvarying line.

It was almost like sailing a small dinghy, Peter thought, and he had always been good at that. There were people waving below him. He did not feel he could risk taking a hand off the yoke to respond.

Five hundred feet.

He leaned forward and yelled to Horrocks.

“Aerial out.”

The wire was unwound and Horrocks tapped out a brief message, making contact with the ground. Fraser called approval and gave a first command.

“Level off at one thousand feet, Naseby.”

Not quite so easy as it sounded. He was at one thousand and fifty on the simple altimeter before he had her in level flight.

“Close enough for a first try. Hold her until we are a mile out to sea, then turn to port to parallel the coast towards Dover.”

The first turn made and height maintained, within reason close, then a series of other turns, starboard and port in succession, followed by a climb to two thousand feet and a run up-Channel, just to see the sights. Finally, they turned and made a gentle descent towards Shoreham.

“Right, remember the procedure. Drop the trailing rope at one hundred feet as you cross the perimeter. The ground party will grab hold then and pull you in. Cut the engine as soon as they have you.”

“Got it.”

They were coming to five hundred feet.

“Horrocks! Aerial!”

“Well remembered, old chap!”

The aerial in, Horrocks had just sufficient time to heave the long trailing rope over the side, having first double checked that it was tied on.

Captain Fitzjames roared through a megaphone and Peter cut the engine, let the ground party take over, turning the crab pot to allow air out of the ballonets.

They bounced onto the air bags under the fuselage, wheels having been done away with as unnecessary for balloons.

The sixty men of the ground party attached themselves where they could and held the balloon steady while the three disembarked. A mechanic jumped in and the blimp was walked into the hangar, safer there if the wind got up.

“Bloody hell, Fraser! That was knackering! Time for morning tea?”

“Late for lunch, man! You were five hours on that trip.”

“Christ! I thought it was two at most. You said we would only take a short run.”

“No need to bring you back, Naseby. You were having no problems at all. Best beginner I have ever seen.”

Captain Fitzjames appeared.

“Rather a long first outing, Fraser?”

“Naseby is a natural, sir. Took to it like a duck to water. No need for the chair tomorrow, sir. As far as I am concerned, he is a pilot.”

“Good. Coastal patrol tomorrow morning, Naseby. West bound. Four hours out, no more than ten miles offshore. Watching for everything. Carrying a single one hundred and twelve pounder. Fraser will show you the bomb release gear. This afternoon free. Go into town, stretch your legs, smile at the females, whatever you young men do these days. I want you to go to Polegate on Tuesday. That gives you four days to get your feet wet. There will be five other SS blimps coming in over the following days. Their pilots will have had no training. They will have no experience. Get them up to scratch inside a week. Current plans – which will certainly change – are that you will then have responsibility for the coast for twenty miles east and west and all the way across to France. I want to hear of no ships lost to submarines in daylight hours, Naseby!”

Chapter Three

Fraser was delighted with the afternoon off, was determined to make the best of it.

“Best bib and tucker, Naseby! Into town to make an impression on the younger females and to smile sweetly at the older. Rumour insists there are a number of grass widows, husbands posted to France and lonely in their conjugal beds. Wouldn’t know, myself, of course!”

Peter smiled and affirmed that no more would he. He had managed to get up to London fairly frequently while Calliope was fitting out at Portsmouth, was aware that Society had relaxed in wartime and that a good few of ladies had been happy to find a partner to warm their beds in their husbands’ absence. He had been grateful to more than one of their number in the previous months.

They walked out together, down the hill the half mile to the town, enjoying the May sunshine and relaxing in the Sussex countryside.

“May blossom at its best, Naseby. Nothing like the South Country in late spring! Primroses in the banks, hawthorn and blackthorn blooming white above them and cherry blossom a glorious pink. Makes me wish I could paint, you know!”

Peter had never had that desire. Thinking on it, he had never had many desires, other than to be a naval officer. He supposed he might be a somewhat shallow sort of chap – no hidden depths at all. No ambition – he had never wanted to be another Nelson, had suspected he would drift up through the ranks, more competent than most because that was the way he was made. He would eventually make flag rank, because that was the sort of thing one did in the Naseby family.

Perhaps he should think more about his life, aim to make something of it. Trouble was, he could imagine nothing that he wanted especially. He was happy to be a jolly good chap, competent at anything he turned his hand to and never letting down a friend or colleague. It was not much.

Strange that he should be sufficiently discontented to think about things – he never had been before.

They walked into the town, wandering idly down to the River Adur and the fishing harbour, nodding to the local folk as they passed and fetching up on the quay.

“Small drifters and crabbers here, Naseby. Nothing deepwater out of Shoreham. Make big catches during the herring run, pick up flatfish as well, though I don’t know how they catch them, being bottom feeders. Used to make money taking holidaymakers out with rod and line. Not no more, of course.”

“Nothing naval here?”

“No. Too small and shallow for anything more than a converted trawler and there’s no call for minesweeping on this stretch of coast. Attractive little place. Likely to stay that way, no war to mess it up!”

Peter supposed he was right. The war did make things untidy. He heard a motor buzzing, glanced up to see a blimp coming in to land.

“SS 14. Beecham’s got her – the sub with the loud laugh.”

Peter remembered being irritated by the man’s noise the previous evening.

“Is that a mid up front?”

“Yes, Midshipman Handy, being given a few familiarisation runs before he starts out to train as a pilot. Should do well. Fresh fish tonight, by the looks of it.”

Peter showed puzzled.

“Look at the bomb load. Eight sixteen pounders. One missing. Dropped on a favourite spot and then a basket on a rope to pick up the floaters.”

“Oh! Is that permitted, officially?”

“Dropping a single bomb on a suspicious shadow just below the surface, could have been a sub at periscope depth? Positively encouraged, dear boy. Never know what it might have been!”

“I see I have much to learn… Is that a young lady smiling at you, Fraser?”

Fraser looked across, following Peter’s eyes.

“So it is! Come and meet Miss Halliday – one of the local charmers. Good family as well. Don’t know who that is with her, the youngster.”

“I do.”

Peter smiled as he came up to the pair.

“Miss Hawes-Parker, I hope I find you well?”

“You do, Lieutenant Naseby. I believe my companion, Miss Halliday, knows Lieutenant Fraser but not you?”

Introductions were made and they strolled towards the bakers tearoom, naturally falling into two couples on the narrow pavements.

“Are you enjoying emancipation from your school, Miss Hawes-Parker?”

“Very much, Lieutenant! I have no wish to become a blue-stocking, studying at one of the university colleges that will accept women, and have even less desire to learn Domestic Economy, which, apparently, all modern women should be familiar with, the age of servants having passed, or very nearly so.”

“My mother complained when I saw her last month that the maids were all leaving for jobs in the factories, as they paid so much more. When she offered to raise their wages, they still left, wishing, she said, ‘to be free’. She cannot comprehend why they should do so.”

“It is rather unfortunate, I can appreciate, Lieutenant. My grandparents have some servants, in the nature of things, but they are mostly long in their employ, have grown old with them and could not consider going elsewhere. It might be difficult to find young girls to replace them when the time comes.”

Peter was unconvinced.

“Pay high and they will come. There will be fewer jobs for them after the war in any case.”

They sat down at the bakers and ordered tea and scones, the four together, attracting a few eyes for being young and handsome and well-off.

“Are you a pilot now, Lieutenant Naseby?”

Fraser answered.

“I should say he is, Miss Hawes-Parker! A natural, if ever there was. Naseby will be taking over at Polegate next week as senior of flying there.”

“Are you to leave Shoreham, then, Lieutenant Naseby?”

“Sent away, I fear. Only a few miles. The field there is more suitable. I believe the RNAS is to retain Shoreham, probably as a training field for aeroplanes. There is an ongoing need for pilots, I know.”

It was a pity – even at a distance of a few miles they would see less of the officers.

Peter thought that was as well; he should see less of Miss Hawes-Parker. She was a pretty girl and easy to talk to – he could become attracted to her, he was certain. He could not possibly marry before he was promoted, and that must be several years in the ordinary way of things. Wiser far to remain unattached. Better for her as well as him.

He laughed, inwardly – he had no reason at all to suppose that she was interested in him. Coming from a diplomatic background, she must be used to the company of all sorts of intelligent, able accomplished men. A minor naval lieutenant had very little to offer other than a handsome face.

He really supposed that he must make something of himself. That must be as a flier in the first instance. It was necessary to learn all he could about his new trade and then apply it. It would be helpful to pick up a submarine kill – that would instantly elevate him out of the ranks of the ordinary.

They sipped their tea and nibbled their scones and said rather a lot about very little and then found they had to go their separate ways, hoping they would meet again soon. It was all very bland and meaningless.

Walking back Fraser enthused over Miss Halliday’s blonde good looks; ‘a strong, handsome gel’, did not Naseby agree?

Peter did, without any great enthusiasm.

“Prefer them dark, myself. Young Miss Hawes-Parker is far more my sort, you know. Too young and so am I – no chance of getting married these ten years, before I make Commander. She’ll have a young family before I am in the way of getting spliced, Fraser.”

“Would have been, before the war, Naseby. Now, a strong possibility of making your half ring this year and the full within another two. The RNAS is expanding and those of us who are in at the beginning have every chance of going up in the world fast.”

They climbed the hill, both fit and not noticing the incline, wandered into the wardroom to discover a batch of half a dozen new officers just come in.

“All subs, Naseby. Might as well help them get settled. They’ll be crewing the new SS blimps due in next week, so some of them will be yours at Polegate. Commander’s over in the corner, look.”

They ambled across and nodded to Finlay.

“Just the chaps! Right, gentlemen! Mr Fraser will be senior in the air at Capel and Mr Naseby at Polegate. Sublieutenants Harker, Tubbs and Bracegirdle will be going to Polegate, under Mr Naseby.”

Peter stepped back and waved his three to sit at a table. He signalled a waiter for tea.

“Have you got your rooms yet?”

“Yes, sir. All done and dusted. I’m Harker, sir. Joined six months ago and volunteered for RNAS last week. Been riding all my life, sir. Should find piloting a balloon easy, sir!”

“I’m glad to hear that, Harker. You will be crew for a few days until we have everything settled. You will need to learn the wireless and how to handle a Lewis and the other simple jobs a crewman has. Master them and we’ll teach you to fly and you will get your own blimp. Should not take long – can’t, in fact, we need the men as the new blimps are coming out of the factories now. What about you, Bracegirdle?”

“Just had six months with the Naval Brigade, sir. Promoted and saw the chance to volunteer to get out of the trenches. I’ll fly as high as you want, sir, to get out of that hell on Earth!”

“I have been told it’s bad, Bracegirdle. Is it that terrible?”

“Indescribable, sir. Dirty, foul smelling, infested with lice, rat-ridden, cold and wet. Bad food and stinking men – we all stank, going three weeks at a time up at the front with no chance to wash. The occasional shell and the machine guns firing overhead if they thought they saw movement – they were less of a threat. Twice we attacked, straightening out the line, marching over the mud at a crawl and going down to the machine guns before we tried to cut the wire because the artillery hadn’t done the job. Fifty percent losses each time, sir. We left the corpses of our men hanging on the wire because we couldn’t retrieve them.”

“Jesus! Sorry I asked!”

“It’s not good, sir. I’ll fly, happily!”

“So you will. Tubbs, what’s your background?”

“Dartmouth, sir. Appointed to Colossus in January ’12, sir, after getting measles and being unwell for weeks. Didn’t do so well there, sir. Couldn’t seem to get the hang of life aboard a battleship. All those bugles and things… I was made sub last week on condition I applied for the RNAS.”

Tubbs seemed an unfortunate mortal, a weaselly little fellow with nothing to recommend him.

“You’ve got the advantage that you’re lightweight, Tubbs. Makes for less of a demand on the lifting capacity. Can put another pan of Lewis ammunition aboard.”

Tubbs suspected that might be a joke. He was used to being laughed at.

“Right, gentlemen. Mess dress for dinner. Never anything more formal. You will be issued flying coats and should get yourselves warm gloves and scarves and a woolly waistcoat or jumper if you can. I am told the submarines issue their own sweaters, being cold machines, and I shall ask the Captain if we can have some.”

Peter had only just thought of that. It seemed a good idea now he considered it. He buttonholed Captain Fitzjames as they made ready to take off next morning.

“Submarine sweaters? What are they?”

“Polo necked, thick wool jumpers, sir. Pull over your head sort. Very warm up to the chin.”

“What a sensible idea, Naseby! I shall speak to the powers-that-be this morning. On the telephone. A good chance we shall be able to get hold of some. Another useful suggestion, Nasby! Keep ‘em coming!”

Peter took off for the second time ever, on his own, panicking over the placement of the crab pot, the exact setting of the horizontal fins, the sound of the engine, the direction of the wind – everything he could imagine. Nothing went wrong and he settled at two thousand feet, as recommended for the patrol, and set off for the west at a steady forty miles an hour into the wind. He saw the Isle of Wight and Portland Bill and worked his way down the Dorset and Devon coasts until he and Horrocks had travelled for four hours. He cautiously brought the blimp round in a long about turn until they were heading east, ten miles an hour faster for having the wind astern. He scanned the sea and saw nothing, other than water. Horrocks stared as well and saw the same.

At the end of seven and a half hours Horrocks dropped the trailing rope and the ground party caught hold and pulled them down and they hopped out of their cockpits.

“Saw nothing, sir.”

“Perhaps so, Naseby. I wonder what might have seen you and crept away, giving up its mission for today? I have put in the request for submarine sweaters. If we get them, they will be delivered to Polegate and Capel. Are you satisfied with your crewman, Horrocks?”

“Wholly, sir. Alert and on top of the job. Mr Finlay mentioned there was some consideration of commissions to the lower deck, sir. If so, I would recommend Horrocks. He would do very well with us, sir.”

“And after the war, Naseby?”

“I doubt he would find things easy, sir. But, assuming he makes full lieutenant, he will be in a good position to go into civilian life with the set of skills he will possess. If he stays with us in the RNAS, then he can be looked after, piloting blimps and making his way up in our service.”

“Sounds as if you are not thinking of going back to the other navy, Naseby.”

“So it does, sir… I hadn’t thought about, consciously, that is… You are right, sir. I think I have found a home in the RNAS. I always liked being at sea and sailing a ship, keeping a watch; not half as good as piloting my own Sea Scout all along the southern coast and back again, sir!”

“So say I, Naseby. You are one of us. Lucky thing, almost drowning C-in-C Portsmouth!”

“Fortunate, when you consider it, sir. I would never have considered volunteering otherwise.”

“Go in and get warm, Naseby. It’s cold flying. Cooks should have hot soup ready for men coming off patrol.”

Peter changed and wandered into the wardroom, heard Harker loudly telling the other new men how anxious he was to get up in his own blimp. Piece of cake, it would be!

So it would, he thought, wondering whether Harker was one of those who would break under the first strain. Some of the overconfident, loudmouthed types delivered everything they boasted about… Not all, however. There was a lower-deck expression for that sort – ‘all mouth, no trousers’; it had always seemed particularly apt for the overtly manly, jolly good chaps who shouted so loud and exposed themselves in process.

That could wait for a day, for the moment there was a bowl of hot oxtail soup coming his way, and very welcome after nearly eight hours up in the cold.

There were things called ‘thermos flasks’, he recalled. They had been about in the shops for two or three years before the war, expensive luxuries. They kept things hot for hours. Next time he went up to Town he would drop into Harrods, see what they had. Binoculars as well. A pair of strong glasses would do no end of good, he suspected.

What else?

He spooned in his soup and pondered.

Thick stockings, perhaps. Definitely another couple of pairs of fleecy long johns. The other navy had Arctic gear, issued to ships going far north. He wondered if that might be a possibility. The flying greatcoat was all very well, but it was definitely not sufficient. Come the winter, they would need to avoid frostbite, no doubt.

The Commander, Finlay, came sweeping into the wardroom, pinned a notice to the board and sat down beside Peter, called for tea.

“Weather forecast for tomorrow and Sunday says wet and windy. Spoken to Plymouth on the telephone and they tell me the rain’s reached them already. Cancelled all flying till Monday. If you get a move on, Naseby, you can be on the five o’clock train up to Town out of Brighton. Back for last thing Sunday. Take a break while you can, man! You will be busy at Polegate, running the flying side and having oversight of training. I shall give you a pair of experienced subs who have seen a bit of service; they can train up with the new pilots and four of the mids to hold their hands. We have put Horrocks’ name up for a commission, emergency provisions, and it will be through on Monday. Sort of thing we can get away with occasionally – you know, a nod and a wink, jolly good sort, shouldn’t stay as a mere rating. He’ll come in as a sub and we will make him a pilot after a single flight, as we have with you, and he will join you by the middle of the week. I know he has sat in the pilot’s seat several times, unofficially – that’s why we gave him to you at first, in case you needed a word of advice. You didn’t, of course. Anyway, run, there’s a Crossley waiting to take you and Fraser to the train.”

Corners cut and strings pulled – all the things that the units on the fringes of the Navy could get away with. It was said to be the same in the boats – the destroyers and torpedo-boats who made their own rules and lived a crazy life free of restriction, and died quite often, as well.

Not to worry!

There was a bag waiting on his bed, the servant who looked after him and Fraser showing his worth. He must remember to drop him half a crown when he came back on Sunday, and a ten bob note when he transferred out to Polegate.

The station was busy on the arrivals side, thin on departures and the train up to London was no more than half-full. In the other direction it would be standing room only as Londoners came down for a weekend at the coast. Wartime had still not changed the habit of stopping work exactly at five o’clock on Friday, it seemed.

Into Victoria station by six and then onto a busy train out to Ewell where his parents lived within easy distance of the City. He was home before seven, found the family about to dine, no guests and an extra place quickly set.

“Well, Peter? What’s the story? All sorts of rumours coming my way!”

His father seemed inclined to be amused.

“Well, simple enough in some respects, Father. Calliope ran down the barge of the Admiral commanding Portsmouth – the Second Sea Lord, no less – dumped him into the harbour. I had the watch at the time. Exit Calliope for me!”

“So I was told, my boy. I also heard that it was only because of your quick action on the bridge that he was not run under and drowned, that he was in a hurry and had ordered his barge crew to take a ridiculous manoeuvre.”

Peter nodded.

“He tried to cut under our bows when there was not a chance of making it. Appeared around the stern of a moored cruiser and gave us less than thirty seconds sight of him.”

“That was what my informant – a post captain, no less – told me. He said that your captain wanted an excuse to get rid of you?”

“Not ‘wanted’, sir, he was not persecuting me. He took the opportunity to clear his bridge of an officer better-bred than him and not inclined to be cowed by his ill-mannered tirades. Something of a bully and expecting all of his officers to toady to him.”

The elder Naseby grimaced.

“I was told such, Peter. Jacky Fisher has been informed as well, I assure you. All unofficial and nothing to be done, publicly. He will be watched and if he steps out of line so much as an inch he will be posted, probably as officer commanding to the smallest port to be found on the China coast. I have been told that you have volunteered into the RNAS, meeting the Navy’s urgent need for pilots there, and you have shown active and efficient already. Your name is high on the list of those young, go-ahead officers who may expect recognition at an early stage – so it has done you no harm. The opposite in fact, but you will be fairly much restricted to the RNAS for the rest of your career.”

“Having joined, force-put, one might say, Father, I am delighted with my situation. I am a pilot already, have taken my own blimp down the whole of the south coast and back again and will be senior on the flying side at Polegate – a new field – from Tuesday. Far better than Calliope, Father.”

The family was pleased it would seem. His elder brother, possessed of the mannerisms of a forty year old though barely twenty-five, ponderously agreeing that he had ‘fallen on his feet’ and his two younger sisters amazed that he might fly, of all things. His mother, approaching fifty and putting on an amount of flesh, still retaining much of her younger beauty, smiled and said she was sure it would end up for the best and what did he intend to do for the weekend?

“Harrods tomorrow, Mama. I must go shopping!”

They were suitably amazed and discussed his needs.

“No need to buy binoculars, Peter,” his father interrupted. “I have a pair of the best sat up in my room. German by Zeiss, I bought them twenty years ago when in Switzerland and wanting to see more of the mountainsides.”

They sat and talked after dinner and his father fetched the glasses – big and heavy and powerful, in their own leather carrying box and with a strong leather strap to hang around the neck.

“What else, now?”

“Thermos flasks, Father. To carry hot tea or soup. It is cold above two thousand feet and patrols can last longer than twelve hours in the long days of summer. As well, woollen stockings and a scarf and gloves. The gloves will be a problem, needing be thin and supple and warm as well.”

They agreed that would be difficult to find. The best thing would be for the girls and his mother to accompany him in the morning – they would be better at shopping in the nature of things.

“We have a dinner tomorrow, hosting some of the locality – two families in the banking line. You still have your dress uniform hanging upstairs, I think?”

Peter had, broached the matter of sending his trunk to Polegate.

“No use for the dress gear aboard ship, not in wartime, sir. Not expected of a lieutenant. At Polegate, settled into a wardroom ashore, it will be a different matter, perhaps. We might have to host local bigwigs and such. Not too often, I trust. If I am to be a senior man, then I must look the part.”

His mother agreed.

“I shall speak to Porson. She will deal with it and have it sent to the proper place. Polegate? Where is it?”

“Just in Sussex, not so far from the border with Kent. HMS Polegate the name of field, taken from the nearest railway station. There will likely be a village closer and the name of that I do not know.”

It did not matter, the housekeeper would deal with it.

Peter realised that both of his sisters were grown up young women. Nineteen and just eighteen, he thought, both of them of an age to be looking for a husband. He wondered how the war would affect the normal ways of courtship – there could not be so many dances and parties for them to be seen at. His brother was of an age to settle down as well. He smiled at his own words – Geoffrey had settled down before he was fifteen.

The family was changing, more so each time he returned, and he was less a part, more of a visitor when he came back.

“What’s it like here these days, Geoffrey? Plenty to do in your spare time still?”

“Little of spare time, Peter. I shall be sat down with Father much of tomorrow and Sunday going over American papers with him. A big loan to be floated in New York and used to buy into munitions factories in some place called New Jersey, predominantly. We need to ensure our sources of supply, being unable to produce all we need in Britain. With good management, all will be well. It does take time!”

It was obviously important, a better use of Geoffrey’s time and talents than in standing in a trench as a junior officer.

“I suspect you are contributing more than me to the war effort, brother. Without you to ensure they are made, I would have no blimps to fly in.”

His father was sure that was true.

“Even so, there are any number of unpleasant people, ladies mostly, who make themselves obnoxious to any young man they see out of uniform, Peter. Wiser that you should not wear civilian dress into Town tomorrow.”

“Heard of them, Father. The White Feather Brigade, is it not?”

“Just that. There are a couple to be found in town here. Old bats who have nothing better to do with their days than harass young men in the street. They were to be found hanging around the station for a time. I had a word with the local inspector of police and he had them arrested, taken up for soliciting – greatly to their indignation!”

The girls did not understand; the others roared with laughter.

The dinner party was tedious – Peter did not know the people and understood little of the conversation about banking. Both couples had daughters, girls of about his sisters’ age, neither outstandingly handsome or with anything in particular to say. The pair displayed considerable interest in Geoffrey, little in a younger son who was a mere lieutenant.

“What ship are you, Lieutenant Naseby?”

“None as such, Miss Graves. I am posted to HMS Shoreham, a RNAS field. I fly Sea Scouts there.”

“Fly?”

“Yes, Miss Graves. Anti-submarine patrols along the Channel, protecting the ships going to France.”

It did not sound very exciting – deliberately so – and flying was so new as probably to be unworthy of the attention of the upper classes. Miss Graves was delicately careful to do nothing that might not be proper for a well-born lady. She had no more to say to Peter.

The meal was good, better than wardroom cooking, and Peter enjoyed his food. He drank moderately and remained totally sober, which was more than either banker achieved, both a little noisy as they went out to their cars and their chauffeurs.

“What did you think of Miss Graves, old chap?”

Geoffrey was also sober. Peter could not imagine him ever to have been anything else.

Peter was warned by his brother’s portentous tones, chose to be tactful.

“Quite a pretty girl, in her way and sensible in all she said, Geoffrey.”

“So I think, Peter. I am considering her as my wife. Father agrees that she is suitable. Graves himself is big in merchant banking and the two houses are becoming closer under wartime conditions, you know.”

An alliance of financial interests as well as a romance. More than a romance, perhaps.

“I think she would do well in the position. Geoffrey. She would make an excellent banker’s wife, especially in the new world that is being created by the war.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that, old chap. Everything will return to normal afterwards, you know. One more big Push on the Western Front and all will be over. Just as soon as Kitchener’s New Army gets out there next summer, so they tell me. Then it will all be the same again, as it should be.”

His father overheard and agreed.

“Just an interlude, you know, Peter. We can all get back to business after this.”

“I am not convinced of that, Father. Too many are dying and too much is changing. Women going out to work, you know. The buses that passed us this morning, more of them had women conductors than not. There were women shop assistants in Harrods. I am told that there are women ambulance drivers in France, barely behind the Lines. I doubt that those girls will simply be content to go back to their kitchens, you know.”

That was all very disturbing, the bankers agreed, and possibly true. It was almost impossible to get domestic servants, despite offering doubled wages.

“Add to that, Father, so many more cars and lorries on the roads. People will not go back to the horse, you know.”

That also seemed rather probable.

“The streets smell of petrol, you know, Peter. We must be using tens of thousands of gallons of the stuff!”

“All of it brought in from overseas, is it not, Father?”

“Mesopotamia and Transjordan and some from Arabia itself and a large amount from the West Indies and Central America. There are wells in the United States, also.”

“Be a good idea to grab hold of some of those for after the war, would it not, Father?”

“Sensible indeed, Peter… More than a good idea, my son!”

Geoffrey was not so sure that they should become involved – it smacked too much of the new and untried for his taste.

“Better to let the Americans get their toes wet first, sir. Let them prove it, or fail, and then we can come into a safe market.”

“No. There is money in petrol, Geoffrey. Millions. We must be in the forefront for once. On Monday I shall talk to the proper people. Anglo-Dutch Shell and British Petroleum, I think. They can lead the way for a proper British influence in oil. More than money, Geoffrey. Oil will be politics if the motor car grows as big as I suspect. And politics means a seat for the Nasebys in the House of Lords within a few years. Time for the family to be properly recognised, I believe!”

Geoffrey was not at all sure they should take the risks of being first in any field; he rather fancied being second Baron Naseby.

“I say, sir, if that is to be so, do you think I should hold back on speaking to Miss Graves? Might be able to do a bit better in the market if we are to rise in the world. Only twenty-six, after all – I can wait another ten years before I really need to be married.”

“She’s dull, anyway, Geoffrey. I would say nothing against her while I thought you were set on her. She ain’t the brightest of sparks, however.”

They wrote Miss Graves off as a possible bride.

“What of you, Peter? Nothing in the air for you yet?”

Geoffrey considered that and thought he had said something rather witty, even if by accident.

“In the air, what?”

They smiled.

“Must not marry as a lieutenant. Their Lordships do not permit it. Can take a wife as a lieutenant commander. Better to wait for three full rings on my sleeve.”

They agreed it was wiser.

“What of the girls, Father? Anything in sight there?”

“Jennifer had a follower for a time last year – went as a lieutenant in the Kents. He died two months ago, in the trenches. Upset her a bit, but she’s getting over it. Minnie – Ermintrude, I should say – is still young though she has talked a little with young Edwards – son to the squire down the road a couple of miles. He is in the RFC, gone across to France. Pleasant lad and his father owns a goodly slice of land and much of the town here – must have a good income in rents to make up for the farms losing money.”

The RFC had a high casualty rate, possibly losing more young officers than the battalions in the trenches.

“Dangerous way of making a living, the boy’s chosen, Father.”

“I know, Peter. What of yours?”

They poured a final glass of brandy while Peter chose his words.

“Safer than the RFC, sir. In terms of losing men in the air, that is. Must say, however, that flying along in close proximity to seventy thousand cubic feet of hydrogen is not without its risks. A high wind can take control of the gasbag – we only have a small and not especially powerful engine. It is a risky business, in its way. Useful, however. If we can kill submarines, then we will do a lot of good. The Channel crossing must be kept safe – there’s probably ten thousand men going across every day, there and back. We cannot lose them.”

“Could submarines close the Channel to us, Peter?”

“Too easily, sir. We have no way of catching a submarine under water, you see. On the other hand, while a sub is submerged, it is slow and unhandy. They must travel quickly to the scene of action on the surface and then go under to make their final attack. If we can keep them down outside the immediate area of the convoy, they cannot do anything. They can only stay under for a few hours – not even a whole day and night I am told. One submarine sank the three Bacchante cruisers in the Broad Fourteens last year. Had there been an airship, the sub could never have got close enough. They are incredibly dangerous, if they can get in close.”

“I see. If we have eyes and bombs in the air, the submarine can be controlled.”

“In the daytime, that is so, Father. At night? They are building some sort of barrage across the Channel – I do not know the details. It seems likely to work. The best idea will be to close the Belgian ports to submarines and force them to travel greater distances on the surface where we can catch them. It can be done.”

“It must be, Peter. You go back to Shoreham tomorrow, do you not?”

“In the afternoon, Father.”

“Good… I shall see what can be done for you and your people, Peter. Always possible to speak to the right chap and suggest that a few more pounds be spent on the RNAS. Warmer uniforms. Permanent barracks. That sort of thing. The money will be spent somewhere – just a question of changing where it must go.”

Familiar enough to Peter – that was the way the world worked.

“The air is cold when you climb, sir. Travelling at fifty at two thousand feet it’s freezing out in the open cockpit. Arctic uniform issues, perhaps? I know that Captain Fitzjames has put in for submarine sweaters for us. All of the crews could do with them, and gloves and thick stockings and underwear. Coats with hoods, perhaps? Better it should be uniform issue than the better-off among us going to Harrods just for ourselves.”

That was certainly true, his father agreed.

“Issue thermos flasks as well – though that may be somewhat daring for the old men in the Admiralty to envisage!”

They laughed, Geoffrey somewhat uncomfortably; he could not like mockery of the great men who guided the war so well.

“It is not going at all well, brother of mine! We are close to defeat on the Western Front, you know!”

“Impossible!”

“Not at all, Geoffrey. A single successful attack could open up the road to Paris and that would drive the French out of the war. I am told the soldiers do not have the barbed wire, the machine guns, the artillery that is needed to guarantee the security of our line. We do have too much in the way of cavalry, sitting about in idleness and contributing nothing. Another fifty thousand men in the trenches would be useful – but the cavalry do nothing.”

That was impossible for either to comprehend. Horse soldiers won wars – that was known, it was a fact. The cavalry were vital.

It was not worth arguing. As soon suggest that the Grand Fleet should be set to work rather than left rotting away in Scapa Flow. They had cost too much to risk them being sunk in action – they must be protected.

Chapter Four

“Horrocks, you are going to be busy today, I gather.”

Horrocks showed blank.

“Commander Finlay wishes to speak with you, in any case. No flying today. Just delay a few minutes to show the three new subs the layout of the cockpit and tell them what to do. They have all been trained in Morse and know how to operate a wireless. They will have handled a Lewis as well. For the rest – well, they can pick that up as they go.”

Horrocks nodded – it was all of the introduction he had had when first starting out. Besides that, they were officers and must expect to accept responsibility and learn quickly.

“Which one will take my seat today, sir?”

“Oh… Harker, do you think?”

“Just the man, sir! A piece of cake, I expect!”

They shared a grin. It was a small station and everybody on it had seen Mr Harker and formed an opinion of him.

Peter called Harker across. The three new subs had been standing outside the wardroom, observing the preparations as five SS blimps made ready to go out in succession.

“You have the front seat today, Harker. Get your flying coat and gloves and a warm sweater of some sort. Run man!”

Harker seemed dazed – overcome with joy, no doubt. He doubled off to his room, came back bundled up and much bulkier.

“That’s the ticket! Just right, old chap. You are familiar with Lewis and Lee-Enfield, I don’t doubt.”

“I should say so, sir. Good shot too, though I say it myself!”

“Excellent. You have four pans for the Lewis and half a dozen clips made up for the rifle. Carrying your officer’s sidearm, I trust?”

Peter thrust his hip forward to show the heavy Webley he had been issued.

“Oh! No, sir. Thought that was for dress, sir.”

“No. Standing Orders are that it must be worn always when in flight. You should have read SOs by now, Harker.”

Peter turned to a rating, ordered him to collect sidearm and holster from Harker’s room.

“Right. You know your Morse?”

Harker seemed uneasy, responded slowly.

“Covered it in training, sir.”

“Good. You will be sat at the wireless. You will make contact with base when we reach five hundred feet and at hourly intervals and then when we are fifteen minutes out. Horrocks will show you how to wind the aerial in and out. Other than that, just keep a good lookout, Harker.”

Horrocks took Harker to the front and Peter sought out Captain Fitzjames, always present when Scouts flew out.

“I have one of the new subs with me today, sir. Harker. The noisy one.”

“Noticed him, Naseby. Might be no more than an ebullient sort…”

“Could be, sir. I hope so. A word to the wireless operator that he might not fully recall all he was taught as a mid, sir?”

“Will do, Naseby. Excuse me!”

Fitzjames fell into a violent coughing fit, was nearly two minutes before he could stand upright.

“Damned if I know what that was, Naseby! Felt a tickle in me throat all morning.”

“Probably just a cough and a cold, sir. There’s one going the rounds.”

“I expect you’re right, Naseby. Think I’ll go in out of the wind. Bit parky this morning.”

Peter thought it was a fine spring morning. He looked about, saw Finlay just outside the wardroom, trotted across to him.

“Captain’s not too spry just at the moment, sir. Keep an eye to him, perhaps?”

“Where is he?”

“Gone indoors, sir.”

“What, before the blimps have taken off? I will go after him, Naseby!”

Peter returned to his airship, Number Nine, the same as he had taken out on Friday. He glanced at the petty officer mechanic stood by the propellor.

“Are you my regular ground crew, PO?”

“Yes, sir. I go with old Nine, sir. Be going to Polegate with you tomorrow, sir. Baxter, sir.”

“Good. Always makes sense to keep a crew together.”

“So it does, sir. Is the Sublieutenant to be permanent, sir?”

The tone of voice alerted Peter. The PO did not like Harker.

“No. Familiarisation flight, PO.”

“Ah! Learning, sir. Quite a lot to learn yet, sir.”

That was all the criticism a petty officer could give of an officer. It was enough.

“Thank you, Baxter. I’ll bear that in mind.”

And that was as much as an officer could say in response.

Peter stepped up into the cockpit, glanced about him. Thermos flask wedged into the corner of the seat. Binoculars in their leather case tied to an upright in the low wooden and canvas wall. Packet of sandwiches, official issue bully beef and piccalilli, wrapped in greaseproof paper and tucked into a leather carrying pocket. Everything he required ready to hand. He sat down and checked the yoke, watching the fins, head craned around behind him to see them move. All correct. Ready to go.

“All in order, Mr Harker?”

“Yes, sir. I should jolly think so, sir!”

He made no reply, looked out to the Chief Petty Officer in charge of the ground party.

“Ready at your convenience, Chief.”

“You are next off, sir. You may start your engine.”

He checked the switches, shouted to Baxter to make the first swing.

The propellor turned and sucked in petrol. He set the magneto switches to ‘on’ and shouted again. Baxter gave a great heave on the tall propellor and the engine caught, the propellor spinning with it. Baxter gave a wave that all was well as he ran backwards.

A few seconds and Peter adjusted the mix, adding a little air, a process he would repeat over the first ten minutes until the engine was hot.

The Chief waved his flags and the ground party stood back and SS Nine started to lift away. Peter engaged the fins as he thought right for the wind and the nacelle lifted nose up in the rapid climb of a balloon.

A few seconds and he looked up from his few instruments and yelled to Harker to wind out the aerial.

The Sub did not move, sat rigid, hands grasping the coaming to either side.

“Harker! The wireless aerial! Now!”

“What? Yes. Sorry.”

Harker turned to the coil of wire beside him, tried to wind it in the wrong direction, shouted that it was jammed.

“Turn it the other bloody way!”

Two minutes and he had the wire trailing free.

“Inform base we are at height and commencing patrol.”

Harker sat uncertainly, tapping at the key on the transmitter.

“Put the earphones on!”

He picked up the headset and turned it round and eventually placed it to his ears. After five minutes or so he seemed satisfied that he had got through and turned to Peter, shouting over the noise of the engine.

“Don’t think much of the operator at base, sir. Ought to replace him. Kept asking me to repeat.”

“I’ll speak to him when we get back. For now, keep a lookout, front and starboard. I’ll take port.”

Harker seemed unwilling to lean forward, huddled back in his seat. Peter took up his glasses and scanned the sea as thoroughly as possible. He shouted again.

“We are on a course direct for the French coast, aiming for a point off Boulogne then down to Le Touquet and back to about three miles offshore of Brighton. Repeat the process in reverse and then go home.”

Harker showed no sign that he knew any of the locations.

Peter throttled back and they chugged across the Channel at a sedate thirty miles an hour, to aid observation, and then came back again, all the time with nothing in sight other than fishermen and a small gaggle of coasters working their way towards Dover.

“What’s the escort with that coastal convoy, Mr Harker?”

“Looks like an oily wad, sir. One of the old torpedo boat destroyers.”

Peter agreed. At least Harker’s ship recognition was adequate.

“What’s that out in the Channel, sir?”

Harker pointed to a very low ship, surrounded by spray, about five miles distant to starboard. Peter responded by hauling into as violent a turn as he could manage, setting Number Nine on a direct course for the vessel.

“It’s a sub. Going under. Make the sighting report.”

He thrust the throttle to full and urged the blimp forward, passed over the disturbed water a good five minutes after the submarine had disappeared.

Assuming four knots, the submarine should have made a bit more than three hundred yards, in any direction. If she had seen the convoy inshore, she would be turning towards it… He pulled the blimp round again and aimed for a spot about three hundred yards from the estimated point of submergence. He dropped two of the sixteen pounder bombs. The odds were that the old oily wad would not have a wireless set but the explosion of the bombs should alert her.

“Have you got an acknowledgement from Shoreham?”

“Not really, sir. Keep getting ‘repeat’, sir.”

“Send ‘engaged sub six miles off Brighton’. Clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

Peter waited until Harker looked up from the Morse key.

“Make, ‘escorting convoy eastbound’.”

Harker bent to the key again. The rattle sounded slow and unconfident.

“Have you got it, Harker?”

“Not really, sir. The man at the other end still keeps sending ‘repeat’, sir. I don’t think he knows what he’s doing.”

Peter kept close to the convoy, flying up and down to seaward for the remainder of the morning and early afternoon, binoculars quartering the sea in search for a periscope. They reached Folkestone and the ships turned into the harbour. The escort flashed a message by light.

“HMS Seaspite thanks us for our assistance, Mr Harker.”

“Oh, jolly good show, sir. Feather in our caps and all that.”

“Maybe so. A leg across the Channel and then it’s back to Shoreham for us.”

They saw nothing for two hours and eventually came in sight of the base.

“Request permission to come in, Mr Harker.”

A delay and Harker raised an exasperated face.

“It’s that same damned fellow, sir. All he will send is ‘repeat’.”

“Wind in the aerial. Carefully! That’s a green flare. We shall go in.”

Peter reduced speed to a crawl and pointed the blimp down towards the boundary of the field.

“Drop the trailing rope, Mr Harker. Grapnel first!”

Harker managed to get the rope over the side, coming close to following it as he struggled with its bulk. The ground party latched on and hauled SS Nine to the ground.

“Out you get, Harker. Our job ends here. Ground party will take her inside.”

Harker heaved himself over the edge of the cockpit and clumsily down, stamping his feet on the grass when he finally made it, as if relieved to be back.

“Indoors and get changed, Harker. Join me at the offices in ten minutes and we shall make our reports.”

Captain Fitzjames was sat at his desk, looking old and shrivelled, thoroughly unwell.

“Bit of a cold, Naseby. England in the spring!”

They laughed, Peter catching Commander Finlay’s eye and seeing the doubt there.

“Right, where’s this bloody sub got to? He’s had twelve minutes now and I heard you tell him ten, Naseby.”

The Commander was displeased – he expected better on active service. Another minute and he sent a rating to find Harker.

“Young Horrocks has accepted a commission, you will be glad to hear, Naseby. Had to speak to him – he had not thought about the possibility, had expected commissions for ratings to be no more than hot air. Anyway, he has put on a sublieutenant’s uniform and is discovering how he likes the feel of the wardroom.”

“Good. I shall sit him next to me at dinner, sir. Give him a friendly face at his side.”

Fitzjames thought that to be very good.

“A welcoming drink with the President of the Mess, no doubt.”

Finlay nodded – he had had that in mind.

Harker arrived, led by the scowling rating.

“I say, sir! Don’t expect to be told to hurry up by the lower deck, sir! Damned well told him so, too!”

“My rating was carrying my orders, Harker. I do not expect to wait on the convenience of a sublieutenant.”

Captain Fitzjames showed a cold face, sufficient to squash any bumptious young officer.

“Yes, sir.”

“Let us consider your patrol, Mr Naseby.”

Peter gave his report, the rating taking it down verbatim, displaying a facility with shorthand.

“Submarine submerging at five miles. Dropped two bombs across the track to the coastal convoy. Kept it down until the ships reached Folkestone. Exactly correct, Mr Naseby. Well done. Let us now consider the matter of wireless communications.”

The rating produced the logbook in which all messages in and out were recorded, exactly as sent.

“Your first message stated ‘SS9 bf ktrol 0635’. We translated this to mean ‘SS9 on patrol at 0635 hours’. One hour later we received the interesting information, ‘SS9 wxtrf’. Fortunately, Mr Harker, you remembered the Morse Code for the letter ‘S’ and for numerals. On request for repetition, you sent the same. At 0921, you sent what I now presume was a submarine sighting report. It made no sense at all. We were unable to extract any information from your message. Consequently, no report was made to Dover and no ships were sent to the location. Well, Mr Harker, what have you to say?”

Harker chose to bluster.

“I am sure the messages were correct when they left me, sir. It is not my fault that your wireless operator showed unable to read Morse.”

“He read every other message from the four other SS ships on patrol, Mr Harker.”

“Then the wireless set in SS9 must be faulty, sir.”

“It is being checked now. Two ratings have spent the past few minutes in messaging each other using SS9’s set and the main installation. They have discovered no problem.”

Harker was unprepared to admit fault, suggested that the problem only showed when the ship was in the air.

“I do not believe that to be the case, Mr Harker. You will spend the next week in the classroom at the Dover Patrol base. By the end of the week, you will show competent in Morse or you will find yourself transferred to the Naval Brigade. Mr Bracegirdle will be pleased to inform you of all you may expect there, Mr Harker. I have read the report from your last commanding officer, suggesting that you are idle and inclined to be incompetent. If you fail the very thorough test you will be given at Dover by so much as one mark, you will be sent to the Brigade, Mr Harker.”

“One week is hardly sufficient, sir. Not a fair chance, sir.”

“Not fair? You had six months as a wartime midshipman, Mr Harker. In that time you were taught Morse and were expected to practice and become wholly familiar with the code. Now you are to be given a week doing nothing else than to bring your knowledge up to scratch.”

Harker still thought he could wriggle his way out, could find a route to an easy life.

“It might be better if I did not join the RNAS, sir. Not what I thought it was when I was persuaded to volunteer, sir. My father told me it was an easy number, sir. Said I could be promoted quickly and then given a proper posting to a shore base at Gib or Malta or Alexandria, sir. Not unimportant, my father, sir. Might be an idea to talk to him before doing anything premature, sir. I can give you his private telephone number at Harker Industries, sir.”

“Can you really, Mr Harker? What a generous offer!”

Harker was unused to irony. He took Captain Fitzjames’ words at face value. He smirked as the captain reached for his telephone.

“Give me the Admiralty. Vice-Admiral Forshaw.”

Three minutes of silence, Harker starting to look puzzled, and the connection was made.

“Andrew, are you well? How’s my sister? Good, glad to hear it. Got a bit of a cold myself, nothing to worry about. A little problem here at Shoreham, Andrew. A sublieutenant with an important father who thinks that the rules don’t apply to him. He would benefit from a year or two with the Brigade in Flanders. You still need officers, do you not?”

Captain Fitzjames listened for a few seconds, made a reply.

“The name is Harker. Good… He’ll be there. I should be in Town next week, for the birthday. I’ll see you then, Andrew. Goodbye.”

Peter said nothing, permitted himself a smile. That was how influence should be used, by the backdoor, not with crass announcements of one’s father’s power.

“Commander, will you be so good as to send for the Chief Petty Officer in charge of the gates? He is to bring an escort of four ratings with him.”

Harker opened his mouth, was waved silent.

“You have spoken your piece, boy! Stand to attention! Keep quiet!”

Five minutes and the crushers arrived, fully uniformed, blancoed and polished and carrying Lee-Enfields. The Chief Petty Officer came to a rigid salute.

“Thank you, Chief. You will observe Mr Harker here.”

The Chief Petty Officer did, peering at him, examining him from head to toe. He made no comment on what he discovered.

“You will escort Mr Harker in the back of a tender to Dover. Report at the harbour gates and mention Vice-Admiral Forshaw’s name and you will be given a ship for him. Take him aboard and escort him to Calais and then to the headquarters of the Naval Brigade. You will need to organise transport on the other side. Having delivered him, you will use the transport to return to Calais and thus to Dover and pick up the tender again. Mr Harker will not have access to a telephone or be permitted to send any communications of any sort.”

“Aye aye, sir. Party, to escort the officer. Move!”

The four ratings placed themselves around Harker, waited for the order, performed an about turn, shouldering him into compliance, and marched him out of the office bleating that the lower-deck must not touch him.

“And that deals with that hopeless little shit, Mr Naseby.”

“Most effectively, sir.”

“What he did not realise is that the little self-contained units have a great deal of freedom, Mr Naseby. We are kings of our little castles, you know. Remember that at Polegate, young man, and do not abuse it.”

Peter showed respectful – making a play of listening to well-meant advice. It had not occurred to him that he would be in a position of power.

“What of this man Harker, sir? I have heard of Harker Industries. It is a big and rich company, more so in wartime, I expect. It will have some clout.”

“So it will, Mr Naseby. But so has the Admiralty and we look after our own, when it is convenient. Young Mr Harker has been posted to a place of honour where he will be able to distinguish himself in battle. What more can any man ask for? What more could I do for him? Lucky boy!”

“So he is, sir. It is a form of luck I could do without, perhaps.”

“Me too, man!”

Fitzjames started to cough again and Finlay nodded Peter to leave the room.

He made his way to the wardroom and sat with Horrocks who he discovered lonely there.

“I have asked for you to be one of my pilots at Polegate, Horrocks. I need experienced and able men. Tubbs and Bracegirdle are coming with us as well.”

He waved the pair across, made the introductions.

“Horrocks is replacing Harker. Following his day on SS9 he has found himself unsuited for the air and has transferred to the Naval Brigade instead. Look, there he goes, through the gate!”

They stared at the open Crossley and Harker squeezed between the four large ratings, not quite under arrest and seemingly in a state of shock, judging by his open mouth and blank face.

Tubbs cracked a grin.

“Poor chap, sir! He spent much of yesterday evening explaining to us that he was only staying here for six months or so, long enough to make his promotion and then be posted out to the Med. He was intending to spend most of the coming winter in the warmth of Malta or Alex, not here freezing in the cockpit of a blimp.”

“Well, he will certainly not be doing so. He’s right at that. A pity he did not have time to ask you for advice, Bracegirdle.”

“Is that really where he is going, sir? To the Brigade? From all he said to me last night, I pity the poor Hun, such a warrior as he must be! What comes next for us, sir? We have been through the classroom on the ground today.”

“Good, I found that helpful. Tomorrow, we transfer SS9 across to Polegate and wait for four or five others to be sent to us. They will come on lorries, deflated, and will be gassed up by our unit. As they are readied, the current plan – which may change according to circumstance – is that you will go out as front cockpit hands for two or three patrols, to get the hang of it. You will then be trained as pilots – very quickly. I want you in charge of your own blimps by next Monday. You will take mids or ratings as your front-end men and be on regular duty by mid-week. No choice – we are in a hurry. The submarines are demanding our presence. We expect to have a few pilots on loan to us for the week. They must go back to their own units then. They are dirigible drivers, in fact, waiting on the manufacture of their own craft. They have all had experience of blimps.”

“So… Ten days from today we will be on our own, sir.”

“Fewer if possible, Tubbs. Free as a bird and making your own decisions as circumstances demand.”

“Very good, sir.”

“So it will be. We will be running our own show, to a great extent. Buccaneers, you might say.” They turned blank faces to him. “You know about buccaneers, don’t you?”

Bracegirdle dropped into a poor imitation of a Cockney accent. “Yes, sir, they’re them fings either side yer buckin’ ‘ead.”

Peter had not heard that one before, was betrayed into a laugh, which was possibly not good for discipline.

The morning dawned bright and Peter was early to breakfast, looking forward to the independence the day would bring.

He spoke to the Chief Petty Officer on the field and arranged to fly for eight o’clock.

“Time to check with Polegate, sir. Make sure they’ve got a ground party ready.”

Peter took to the telephone. A juvenile voice answered.

“Midshipman Norris speaking.”

“Lieutenant Naseby here. OIC Flying at Polegate and piloting SS9. Are you ready for us to come in this morning?”

“I’m the only officer here, sir. The rest are due soon. I have two Chief Petty Officers and eighty men, sir. The Chiefs are organising them. There is a working set of kitchens, sir, and the wardroom is staffed.”

“What more can we ask for then? Inform the Chief in charge of flying that I shall come in sometime before nine o’clock.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

Peter hoped the boy was running for the nearest Chief rather than trying to take charge himself.

“Mr Tubbs! Go as front man to SS9, please.”

Tubbs ran.

“Mr Bracegirdle. Come across this morning when you can find transport. Talk to the Commander and organise yourself. Have a word with Mr Finlay about wardroom supplies.”

“Right, sir. That should be no problem. The Paymaster should have an eye to that sort of thing. He did with the Brigade.”

“Use your own discretion, Bracegirdle. Just don’t leave us thirsty.”

“A fate worse than death, sir.”

Peter laughed and left Bracegirdle to it. Six months in the trenches had left him far harder, more mature than the ordinary run of sublieutenant; he would make a good pilot, well able to take his own decisions. He turned to Tubbs, returned fully dressed, a rather different sort of officer.

“You know your Morse, Tubbs?”

“Yes, sir. Not as fast as a Yeoman of the Signals, sir, but competent.”

“Good. That’s all we need. You know what to do?”

“Yes, sir. I have been told what to do. Unwind the aerial, without tripping over it. Make the first signal. On patrol, another routine signal every hour. Signal coming in. Listen to the engine, sir. Be ready to change oily plugs if we stop and come down on the water. Don’t know how we restart the engine, sir, in that case.”

“We don’t, Tubbs. That was a legpull. You might be able to restart if we are on land. Really, you can’t expect to restart at all. Your job is running repairs – wrapping a bit of tape around an oil or petrol line, maybe.”

“Right, sir. I thought they might be laughing at me.  Lot of people do, sir.”

“Up to you to show you are no joke, Tubbs. Other than that, what do you do?”

“Keep a lookout, sir.”

“That’s the most important thing. See the submarines first.”

Peter felt a fraud, playing the old hand, telling the new boys what to do and pretending to be on top of the job. It was part of command, the sole aim of all his long training – when given the job, do it confidently first, competently second. It was more important to give clear orders than to ensure that those orders made sense. Whatever else, never display doubt to the lesser mortals – one had been given command because one was capable of leading one’s juniors. Never let them have reason to suppose that one was unsure of oneself – even, perhaps especially, when one had very little of idea of what one was doing.

He smiled at Tubbs, nodded to him – he knew the youngster could do the job.

Tubbs wondered about that – he had never made a wholehearted success of anything he had tried since leaving Dartmouth. If his new officer believed he could do it, he would try his very best. He had memorised his Morse; that was no difficulty. He would learn the engine. He would watch his sector unflaggingly. Above all, he would not let down the officer who treated him as a competent man, not a fumbling boy.

They flew the few miles to Polegate and landed without problems, the ground party catching the rope and hauling them in without difficulty. Peter spotted a little boy in a large hat stood to the side of the field, next to a vast Chief Petty Officer with a hand-held megaphone, roaring out his orders.

The CPO stood well over six feet, carried a respectable beer belly and sported twenty years worth of black beard across chin and chest. He was, intentionally, an overpowering figure.

The midshipman was a very little boy in comparison, though likely of about sixteen and moderately well-grown.

“I suspect that is Midshipman Norris, Tubbs. Officer in command until I relieve him.”

“Much relieved he will be, I suspect, sir.”

Norris took the lead and offered a salute which Peter could not return.

“Thank you, Mr Norris. I will take over now.”

“Thank you, sir.”

There was a silence until the Chief tapped Norris’ shoulder and pointed to himself.

“Oh. Yes, sir. Sorry. This is Chief Petty Officer Yarney, sir. In charge of the field.”

“Right. Thank you, Mr Norris. Nine is the only blimp coming in inflated, Chief. The others – supposed to be five of them, might be fewer – will be brought in by lorry. The word was tomorrow. I don’t know that I believe the word.”

“Right, sir. We have two large hangars and one small to take five balloons, sir. There is a mooring pole as well, so we can handle a sixth, though the winds on the coast here might be too strong for my liking.”

“The field will be in your hands, Chief. If you need to send a balloon out for safety, I will support you. I will inform you the night before, whenever possible, of the movements planned for the next day. All pilots will conform to your instructions on the field.”

“Aye aye, sir. Beg pardon, sir. Does that include you, sir?”

“When I am piloting a blimp, yes. If I am grounded for any reason, I may choose to discuss matters with you, Chief. Basically, we cannot have two voices giving opposing orders when balloons are moving. The field is yours alone, Chief. I would like you to come to my office – or is it to be called a cabin?”

“Cabins, sir, on HMS Polegate.”

“Very well, Chief. Come to my cabin every week to discuss the previous week’s movements and any improvements or changes you may consider appropriate. I want to promote our own men where possible, so you must organise training, Chief. Importantly, I will need your word on the competence of pilots and front hands and the need to change them about if you consider it wise.”

There was a frown behind the beard.

“CPOs are not in the way of assessing officers, sir.”

“Officially, I agree. That is why we will hold such discussions behind locked doors. Sublieutenant Tubbs is not confident in himself, you will soon notice. He has had a bad start to his naval career. I think he is brighter than many, may be able to make something of himself with us. If I am wrong – tell me. Mr Bracegirdle has just had six months with the Brigade in Flanders. He will be somewhat harder than many young officers. Mr Horrocks was commissioned yesterday. He is able and experienced on balloons.”

Yarney said nothing. Officers made up from the lower deck were rare beasts and sometimes found it difficult to find a new balance with the ratings. An officer made through the hawsehole could often be too severe, standing too much on his new dignity; conversely, a rare few might tend too be too friendly, maintain too little distance from the messdecks. Horrocks might be a problem.

“We can expect four or five pilots to be posted in to assist for a few days, Chief. Men coming down from headquarters at Wormwood Scrubs, staying a couple of nights while they train our men and then returning to their home base.”

Transient officers could be a nuisance, having no allegiance to the field, too often drunk and noisy on holiday.

“Do you know if the senior officers are here yet, Chief?”

“Not yet, sir. Don’t expect them today. Word I have is that there will be one Commander, sir. Nobody else.”

That might be a nuisance, leaving administration for Peter to do.

“If that’s how it is, then there’s nothing to do about it. What about the hangars, Chief?”

“Completed as of yesterday, sir, the buildings. Still smell of wet cement. Complement arrived yesterday, sir. Four petty officer mechanics and a number of leading and able seamen mechanics, sir. Not using engineroom ranks, sir.”

Yarney did not approve. Mechanics were greasy-handed individuals and should therefore belong to the black gang. The RNAS was part of the Navy and should conform to established practice. There was no sense to having proper ways if they were not to be followed in all circumstances.

“Ours is not to reason why, Chief. If that’s the way the Admiral wants it…”

“That’s the way the Admiral gets it, sir.”

The old naval saw seemed to satisfy Yarney – it was the way things were.

“No officer-in-charge of the hangars?”

“Not yet, sir. Word is that a lieutenant is due at any time, sir. Might have been due last Friday, in fact. Could well be described as overdue, sir.”

That was bad news.

There could be any number of reasons for a man being late to take up his posting. Few of them would be acceptable. In time of war, being absent from one’s place of duty carried the spectre of an unsympathetic court martial, of unthinkingly severe punishment rather than any consideration of special circumstances.

Peter thanked the Chief – always wise with a senior man – and found his office, cabin, that was, he reminded himself. It contained a desk and a comfortable chair, much too good for the ordinary run of lieutenants, and several filing cabinets, as yet empty but threatening him with mounds of paperwork to fill them. It was a good twelve feet by twenty – vast for a single lieutenant. Much glory and the certainty of hours of hard labour. Piloting SS9 for most of the day and then chasing pieces of paper all night; not a wonderful prospect.

A slightly smaller office next door contained a leading seaman and three ratings, all Paymaster branch, two bespectacled, one old and the fourth pallid and ill-seeming. Normal for the branch – men who wanted to serve yet were not physically capable of holding a deck commonly ended up there. A few of the less-enthusiastic heroes also worked their ticket into the Paymasters, more commonly among the officers, or so it was said.

“Leading Writer Payne, sir.”

The ill-seeming rating, in his mid-twenties, clearly spoken and alert.

“Lieutenant Naseby, in command on the flying side.”

“Yes, sir. A signal waiting for you, sir, which you should read first.”

Never argue with a man who knew what he was doing. Peter picked up the message slip.

“Acting rank of Lieutenant Commander with immediate effect?”

“Yes, sir. Signal has been in since first thing this morning, sir. You have been assigned a servant, sir. I believe he has already modified the working uniforms sent over in advance in your suitcase, sir.”

“Thank you, Payne. Highly efficient!”

Payne smiled. He had been worried that they were getting a young pusher, a man who had made one quick promotion and would happily tread on everybody in pursuit of another. It looked as if this one would be a gentleman, as his servant had said.

“Where is my cabin, Payne? If I have a uniform, best I should change into it.”

Payne stood, showed a limp.

“Wounded?”

“Cressy, sir. Leg cut open and lucky to be put onto a raft. Healing, sir, but it was messy and had to have splinters pulled out and the calf muscle isn’t what it was. Chest is a bit painful, too – swallowed a bit of oil as well as seawater. Don’t like submarines now, sir, and asked to transfer to the Paymasters and come here to help in thumping them as I won’t be going to sea again.”

Peter nodded, having nothing sensible to say. Three big old cruisers destroyed in the same hour by a single submarine, two thousand men and boys dead – far too many boys, the numbers of the reserve cruisers having been made up from the training ships. The Navy had learned about submarines in that hour, though the reaction of many admirals had been to announce that they were ‘unfair’, as if that meant anything.

“Wardroom is in the Cottage, sir. Is the Cottage, in fact.”

A big old farmhouse was Peter’s first thought, rooms for a dozen officers and wooden huts out the back for midshipmen to share. Comfortable, especially when he saw downstairs where there were a pair of unnaturally large reception rooms.

“More of a dower house than a working farmhouse, Payne?”

“Gentry, sir, certainly. Left is the dining room, right is the anteroom, sir. There is a small bar, tacked on at the side. Large kitchens to the rear, sir.”

“Good. Just right for a small, self-contained base. If we have more than a dozen officers, the subs can double up. Plenty of accommodation.”

“Yes, sir. Your servant has taken a room for you, sir.”

Payne pointed across to a familiar figure waiting outside the anteroom.

“Oadby? What are you doing here?”

“Posted, sir. Volunteered across to the RNAS, sir.”

“Glad to see you. A known face is always welcome.”

“What I thought, sir. Got your gear hanging up, sir. Need to change you into proper dress, sir.”

Peter obeyed, knowing the unwritten rules that said the officer always fell in with his servant’s commands.

“You have been quick getting the half-stripe up on my coats, Oadby.”

“Forewarned, you might say, sir. Came through Shoreham yesterday, sir, and the commanding officer there spoke to me, gave me the braid to set you up, sir.”

“Nothing said to me…”

“Promotion comes with the job, sir. Can’t tell you until you take over.”

It was the Navy way.

“Can’t say I have any objections, Oadby. Lieutenant Commander at twenty-four and a good chance of another promotion if the war lasts two more years – which it could well do. Ten years as a commander sees me to post captain before I’m forty. That says a battleship command by forty-five and rear admiral three years later in the normal way of things. Good for the career! Except that, thinking on it, the RNAS don’t exactly have a lot of battleships.”

“Command of a flotilla of balloons, sir. Going into battle leading twenty blimps behind you, sir!”

A servant was privileged, was allowed to joke.

“We’ll see, Oadby. For the while, let us be content with what we have. You’ll need some cash to get us set up. Here!”

Peter pulled out his wallet, extracted a big white fiver which disappeared into Oadby’s pockets. Most of it would go to comforts for the cabin; an amount would keep Oadby lubricated in the nearest pub in the surrounding villages.

The Navy was old and many of its traditions were outdated. The relationship between officer and servant still worked well.

Peter changed coats, admiring the two and a half stripes around his cuffs. In peacetime a lieutenant had normally waited seven years for the first promotion. There was much to be said for the war. A chance of dying balanced against the opportunity for rapid promotion…

“Every swing has its roundabout – and there’s a bloody stupid concept, Oadby.”

Oadby agreed, wholeheartedly, had no idea what the boss was talking about. Far be it from him to say so, however. He busied himself with Peter’s shoes, not as shiny as they should be. Gleaming shoes announced a busy servant – everybody knew that the senior officer did not polish his own footwear.

“Lunchtime, sir. Working dress?”

“Definitely, Oadby. No time to change to mess dress in the middle of the day. I hope the President of the Wardroom will see the sense of that, when he gets here.”

That might present a difficulty, considering it. The commanding officer could not be senior in the wardroom. Peter, being in charge of flying, was in some ways a commanding officer and should not take the responsibility. That would leave the senior of the lieutenants in the role, inexperienced in a post that involved creating an efficient and friendly off-duty atmosphere as well as maintaining discipline in a fighting unit.

The CO could deal with that, when he arrived.

Chapter Five

The officers congregated in the anteroom, introducing themselves, few of them already acquainted with each other.

Peter knew the three subs he had brought with him from Polegate. There were two others already present, together with five uncomfortable midshipmen who did not really believe they belonged in the wardroom.

Time to break the ice. Peter coughed and called for their attention.

“Not the normal way of doing things, gentlemen – making speeches before lunch! However, just to save time, I am Lieutenant Commander Naseby, senior in Flying. I know my three subs from Shoreham – Mr Horrocks, Mr Tubbs, Mr Bracegirdle. I have met Mr Norris. Who else must I know?”

Sublieutenants Wiggins and Sargent announced themselves, followed by the mids, Davies, Leburn, Griffiths and Woods.

Peter turned to the two new subs.

“Are you both to be pilots, gentlemen?”

“I am, sir. Wiggins, that is.”

“Not me, sir. I believe I am to be junior to the Gunnery Officer, sir. In the magazine, that is.”

“Necessary, I must think, Mr Sargent. There are bombs and such to be dealt with and blimps to be loaded up each day. A lot to do in the magazine. Where is it, by the way?”

“Underground, sir. Carved into the hillside behind us by a quarter of a mile. We have a traction engine and its trailer as transport.”

Sargent seemed excited by the traction engine, would no doubt be found driving it whenever possible. Peter grinned – the boy was young yet.

“Very good. What of the mids – are you all to fly?”

The five affirmed that they were, with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

“I shall speak to you all later. For the moment, the senior steward appears to be beckoning us to the table. By the way, gentlemen, unless otherwise ordered, mess dress for dinner only.”

Half had changed, the rest were in working uniforms.

The meal was better than adequate, a vegetable soup of some kind followed by fried fish, locally caught that morning, with potatoes and spring greens and a tart to follow, probably made with canned raspberries but sweet and filling. There was coffee afterwards, tea for the very English, strong and to naval specifications.

They retired to the anteroom to smoke and break the ice, managing to talk more with full bellies.

Peter deliberately sat down with two of the midshipmen.

“Griffiths and Woods, is it not?”

They agreed it was.

“From your appearance – newish uniforms – I imagine you are wartime mids, not Dartmouth products?”

“Yes, sir. Two months in, sir, myself, and Griffiths has six weeks. Basic training, sir. Griffiths came onto the course late, sir, but he knew how to handle a Lee-Enfield already and had his Morse so he could catch up easily.”

“Cadets at school, Griffiths?”

“No, sir. My father was posted to West Africa, sir, back in ‘08. My mother and I went with him. There wasn’t a lot to do at the trading station, sir, inland from Freetown. I learned my letters from my mother and cacao and oil palm with my father and spent my free time with the native soldiers, sir, the guards. They manned the telegraph station as well. They were pleased to teach me how to use the key and handle a rifle. We got on well together, did a little bit of shooting in the bush. We came back to England just before the war, sir, my father being promoted to head office in London. It seemed strange to me, having to go to a school, even as a day boy, having to wear a uniform and pretend to be a child…”

Peter suspected the native soldiers had had daughters, some of them helping Griffiths to grow up far earlier than he would have in England. He nodded sympathetically – life in London’s suburbs must have been a shock to a boy from the West African bush.

“I could not get on at school, sir. I knew no Latin at all and was far ahead of the others in English, having read for pleasure from my father’s books since I was eight. I knew the mathematics, as well. I was tougher, too, and they bounced off me at rugby, helped by a knee or two. I was happy to volunteer when I was sixteen, my father’s firm giving me the good word with the navy. More volunteers than places for midshipmen, sir. I chose the RNAS for being less stuffy than the regular navy.”

“How did you know it was?”

“I looked at the different people going into the offices, sir, where they were recruiting. You could see what they were like.”

“Very good, Mr Griffiths. I suspect you will fit in well with us. We don’t keep to quite so many rules as the regular navy. I have found a difference since I came to the RNAS, I know. What about you, Mr Woods?”

“I was at school, sir, and couldn’t face two more years before I could join up and then training at a depot. I was afraid the war would be finished before I could get into it. Couldn’t be having that, sir, and I was thinking of buying a birth certificate, sir, to say I was eighteen – you can get them easily in Windsor, sir, if you go to the right public house – not in school uniform, of course!”

Peter gathered Woods was an Etonian, well able to find the ten or so pounds a forgery would cost.

“Then I heard that the Navy was taking wartime midshipmen, sir, and put my name forward. They accepted me – Eton and all that – and I was last on the list for the day, my name starting with ‘W’, and they said there were vacancies in the RNAS, the regular navy full up for the next two months. If I took the RNAS I could join in three days, on the Monday following.”

“So you hopped on onboard – a ‘pierhead jump’, we call it.”

“Yes, sir. I had begged a weekend off from school, an exeat, for a family funeral, memorial service, that is – plenty of them just lately – and just didn’t go back again. By the time they found out where I was, it was too late. My parents did not object. They had always wanted me to join the Army, to go to Sandhurst rather than up to Oxford when I left school, so joining young was the sort of thing they were in favour of. My father is a Major in the Foot Guards, sir, in France just now, so my mother had to take the decision. She told me to fight for the King, sir.”

Peter approved – they sounded like the right sort.

“We shall get you flying as soon as we possibly can. I want to start our patrols this week. Are you handy with a Lewis?”

“Not really, sir. We were shown one in training but only had time to fit a pan and take it off again, in the classroom. Not experience on the range, sir.”

“Right. Both of you speak to Mr Sargent and pass the word to the other mids. Tell him it is my request that you be brought up to speed on the Lewis Gun and as soon as possible.”

Peter retired to his office, worn out by enthusiastic youth, pleased to have them under his command, afraid that too much of their company would be tedious.

He called Payne to him.

“What have you got for me as yet, Payne?”

“All of the specifications for the blimps, sir, together with schedules of their equipment, all of which documents are to be signed for as received in good condition, sir. As well, there are the first requisitions for stores and Gunnery, sir, which come under your purview. Engineering will not be yours, luckily, sir – there is ten times as much for them in the way of lists of spares and consumable stores. You need to sign forty-one receipts immediately, sir, as having taken them over. You can read them if you wish, sir. I have personally checked them as good.”

If Payne was on the fiddle, then Peter was covering for him if he signed unseen. Did he trust Payne?

He picked up his pen and signed his career away if Payne was dishonest and so careless as to be caught.

Payne was aware of the calculations, accepted that he was being offered trust. He would keep faith.

“Wardroom senior steward wishes to speak with you, sir.”

Too important a figure to their comfort to be ignored – he had to be indulged with a meeting.

“Send him along, Payne. What’s his background, do you know?”

“Battleship, sir. Prince George for the better part of fifteen years. All service in home waters, sir. More time tied up in Portsmouth and Plymouth than at sea. She’s too old for much now – almost the oldest of the predreadnoughts still in service – and is on harbour duty, sir, with a reduced crew. They won’t write her off in case they need to put her twelve inch guns to use in the Channel, but the probability is she’ll only leave harbour to go to the breakers yards. He was posted out and we got him – luck of the draw, sir.”

“All we need! What’s his name, Payne?”

“Harris, sir. Roderick Harris, he informs us – I suspect Rodney was beneath his touch. Petty Officer – he never made Chief in Prince George.”

“He won’t with us. Wheel him in.”

Harris was predictable – very smart, very stiff in the back, excessively respectful.

“I have the dinner menus for the coming week, sir, for your approval. I have pencilled in Wednesday for Dining In, sir, being a shore station. I presume you will wish for a Guest Night as well, each week, sir. I noticed, sir, that many of the officers did not wear proper dress to luncheon.”

“They did not and will not, Harris. Officers will wear working uniforms throughout the working day. We are on a wartime footing and will be flying war patrols from the earliest possible day. As the evenings grow lighter, those patrols will become longer. You must make arrangements for officers to be fed a good dinner at whatever time they return to base. It will not be uncommon for some balloons to take off at six in the morning and others to return as late as ten at night, Harris. In effect, we shall be at action stations as a permanence. Forget about Dining In and Guest Nights for the next few months, certainly for all flying staff. The Commanding Officer, when he arrives, will make his wishes clear, naturally. While I think of it, never wine with lunch for flying officers and the bar to be locked until a reasonable hour.”

Harris did not approve.

“What of Wardroom Fees, sir? We will need a substantial addition, sir, having a wine cellar to stock.”

“They will be kept to the standard deduction from officers’ pay, Harris. I believe that few of the officers possess private incomes. The bulk will be wartime officers and living on their pay for the duration. We must make allowance for that.”

“But, what of the wardroom cellar, sir?”

“Navy issue only, Harris. Do ensure there is beer at the bar – to be paid for, naturally. Keep an eye on officers’ accounts and bring to me any that are excessive. Normal procedure there.”

That was a part of his job that Harris had always relished – watching the officers for excessive drinking and informing the Commander of their fall from grace.

“Aye aye, sir. It does sound as if we shall have a rather poor wardroom, sir. More suitable to a destroyer than to a shore station such as we are.”

“We will be an active station, Harris. It will be your function to ensure that all officers are well fed. Nothing else is of importance. We shall fly four or five, possibly six blimps every day of the week, out submarine chasing. That will demand many hours of painstaking patrolling, often in dangerous weather. The wardroom must reflect operational necessities, Harris. It is not to be a place for idlers from High Society to sip port and discuss hunting!”

Harris had never known of a wardroom that had any function other than to entertain the upper classes, who included the ship’s officers. A battleship was not the place to find poverty-stricken or career-minded lieutenants – they were kept for lesser vessels, preferably overseas in the grubbier postings. Shore establishments also were playgrounds for the fashionable far more than places of work. He did not know how to respond, fell back on tradition.

“We must Dine In, sir – that is de rigeur for all ships in port and shore establishments. Guest Nights are also to be expected. The local gentry will be most disappointed not to receive early invitations, sir.”

“We are at war, Harris. Operational necessity overrides all other considerations. We have no purpose other than to keep blimps in the air and on patrol. You will cooperate with that necessity, Harris. If you prefer not to, you will have heard that one sublieutenant was transferred to the Naval Brigade in Flanders yesterday. There will be a place in the trenches for a petty officer – if you prefer to take service there.”

It was not desirable to open one’s tenure in a posting by threatening the senior steward. It was generally a method of ensuring extreme discomfort, in fact. Peter decided he did not care. If needs be, he could break any petty officer, now having just sufficient rank for the purpose. Provided the CO was not a social butterfly, the wardroom would become effective for his needs – providing hot food at inconvenient times for flying officers.

Harris accepted defeat, bitterly.

“More like an other rank’s canteen such as one sees at Victoria Station than a naval wardroom, sir!”

“An excellent comparison, Harris. Tea and a wad at any time of day or night for tuppence? Try for slightly better quality than that, there’s a good fellow!”

Harris left in near despair, debating the courses open to him. He found he had a choice of volunteering for hazardous service, suicide or obeying the upstart lieutenant commander’s orders. The three options were almost equally undesirable. He was, he decided, too old for hazardous service and too young for suicide. That left obedience to command. He slouched into the kitchens and gave the orders for the week.

“Feed the bastards! As well as we can with the standard issue. Make sure there’s the makings of a hot dinner for any pilot flying late. Forget about anything fancy. Where’s the bloody cooking brandy?”

The cooks listened and obeyed – it mattered very little to them what they sent out, as long as the quality was good enough that they would not be posted out to a less comfortable number. None of them wanted to end up in the kitchens at the depots at Scapa Flow or in the galley of a destroyer. They were comfortable where they were.

Peter sat at the head of the table as senior officer aboard that evening. It was a new experience – he did not find it very exciting. The food was adequate, he thought, perhaps not up to Calliope’s standards – he was not sure and did not care, he was not an epicure. As for the wine – there was white with the fish and red with the meat and that was all he knew or cared about.

A couple of gins saw him through the evening. He was surprised that the boys all sat quietly talking with a single beer, supposed that few of them knew what was permitted in the wardroom of an evening. He noticed that none of the decks of cards were put into use. He had expected a bridge table at least; perhaps they were too young. He did not object to a quiet night.

It rained in the morning, visibility poor enough that training flights were not wise. They would have sent operational balloons out; there was no need to take the risk on training. Peter gave leave for the day to go into Folkestone, a bigger town and used to the navy, for shopping, allowing two of the tenders as transport. One of the remaining pair was sent to the railway station, in expectation of additional officers coming in, the second was given to the mechanics who needed transport to and from Shoreham during the day to pick up oddments of spares and tools, they said. The two lorries assigned to them, both steam Fodens, very slow but able to carry large loads, chuffed off to London, to Wormwood Scrubs, to pick up specific and bulky pieces of machinery that were essential to the running of the hangars.

Peter became aware of the extent of his ignorance that morning. He had been a deck officer, knowing nothing of the engineroom and very little of the guns, a capable seaman and efficient, though not a specialist, in navigation. He was not well-suited to the administration of a field where the mechanical side was of overwhelming importance.

He was relieved when the Crossley from the station pottered in and dropped off an untidy lieutenant and a large amount of baggage in the form of suitcases and bags, not a naval officer’s trunk. He could deal with people far better than he could with paper.

The lieutenant wandered in, shaking raindrops off himself.

“Crawley, sir. Dicky, that is.”

He seemed surprised that Peter did not immediately share his own Christian name.

“I am the Chemist, sir. In charge of the gas generation plant. Picked me up from the refinery at Middlesbrough last week. By order, like it or lump it! Told me I was to be a naval officer as well as doing my real job of producing hydrogen for the blimps and storing it safely and inflating when necessary. I think they have it in mind to have only the one plant along the coast here. From what they said, they will send all of the blimps here to be inflated as need arises. Simple enough. I should have time for other activities as well. There was talk of making flares and things. Should be able to keep myself busy. They insisted I must wear a uniform – pretend to be a sailor, of all things – but I have brought proper lab coats for working in. Can’t keep clean on site, you know.”

Peter was rarely taken aback. This was a new sort of officer.

“Right… Make yourself at home, Lieutenant Crawley, and then find the generating plant and inspect it and report on its state of readiness. I will need to know how it is manned and whether the people there are satisfactory. Hopefully the Commanding Officer will arrive today and you can report to him. I am senior body here at the moment but will be in charge of flying only as soon as the Commander gets here.”

“Oh, good to know that sort of thing. Thanks. Am I supposed to salute you now?”

“No. You can’t. We are in an office – a cabin, we call it, being Navy – and are both bareheaded. No salutes without hats on. The salute is to touch the King’s badge in respect, you see.”

“Oh! Is that right? Never knew that, old chap. Where do I live, do you know?”

“In the wardroom – the Cottage just next door. Payne will have you taken there, with all of your luggage.”

“Had to bring everything with me, old chap. I was in digs in Middlesbrough, gave them up and had to bring all of my books with me, and some clothes as well. Got some uniforms, too – they gave them to me last week. Didn’t tell me which was which or when to wear the different sorts.”

Crawley was a lieutenant and had no entitlement to a personal servant. He would never survive with just a shared man.

“Payne!”

“Sir?”

“Who is the CPO in charge of the establishment, the coxswain, as it were?”

It occurred belatedly that he should have met him on arrival at HMS Polegate.

“CPO Biggs, sir. He was at the naval hospital in Dover yesterday, sir. Ingrown toenails that had to be surgically removed, sir. Two of them. Both big toes.”

The three winced – that hurt.

“He has returned to duty this morning, sir. Wearing his boots.”

They winced again.

“Can you ask him to see me, please?”

“Yes, sir. He has a cabin just along from ours.”

As the most important of the lower deck on the field, he would be close to the CO’s location.

Biggs appeared inside three minutes, coming to the salute gingerly, not stamping to attention.

“Take a seat, CPO. I know it’s out of the ordinary – circumstances demand you take your weight off your feet.”

“Thank you, sir. A chair will be welcome.”

Biggs was middle-aged and going grey, slightly built and of medium height. He looked an ordinary, insignificant little fellow until he spoke, when he showed confident and commanding.

“Lieutenant Crawley here, CPO. He is our Chemist and will be in charge of the gas plant. He was a civilian until last week. He has had no officer training of any sort. He knows nothing of the Navy, including how to wear a uniform. He has been in the habit of giving his clothes to his landlady to launder.”

In other words, he did not know how to keep himself and his uniform presentable.

“As a lieutenant, he would not in normal circumstances be entitled to his own servant.”

“Can’t be having that, sir. He will need the odd word of advice as well, I must imagine, sir. Special circumstances, sir, such as occasionally occur. I shall get that all seen to, sir. I don’t know all of the men on the ship yet, sir. Soon will. I will have a suitable servant for the gentleman by lunchtime, sir. The CO is due in at eleven thirty, sir. I shall have all set up for Mr Crawley before then. I can show him how to wear a uniform myself, sir.”

Biggs rose, painfully, to his feet, turned to Crawley.

“If you would come with me, sir. No, go in front of me, sir, officers first through a door.”

They departed, Biggs managing to march and keep a straight back and a confident expression, all as was proper for his position.

“A good coxswain is a blessing, Payne.”

“True, sir. I expect he is not blessing his toes just now, sir.”

“No. Not quite, Payne!”

Another lieutenant appeared half an hour later, off the next train.

“Wilshere, sir. Officer-in-charge of the hangars, sir.”

“Very good, Mr Wilshere. I did hear a rumour that you were due in on Friday, in fact.”

Wilshere smiled – he had a ready smile, Peter noticed, his sole distinguishing feature other than an expensive uniform. He was otherwise an unnoticeable young man – neither handsome nor plain, short nor tall, fat nor thin, mid-brown hair and pale blue eyes. Ordinary, in fact, but with money; he sported solid gold cufflinks and tiepin and a massive and shiny wristwatch.

“Ah yes, sir. Friday. Not a lot of sense getting in on a Friday – can’t do much before the weekend. Add to that, not an operational field till Tuesday, so no great need for my services. Saw a couple of shows instead and kept my young lady happy and came down when it seemed right, sir.”

Peter did not like the implication of a mistress – not an uncommon perquisite for a naval officer yet definitely not to be boasted about.

“I am not the CO, as you will know. You are not under my direct command, Mr Crawley. I will leave it up to him how he chooses to deal with you. For the moment, you will wish to inspect your hangars and have a report on their readiness to present to the CO when he arrives. He is due at eleven thirty, I am told.”

“Oh. I expect I had better scoot, sir.”

Crawley left at speed, running towards the hangars. He had time to make acquaintance with his juniors and ask them what was needed to bring them up to efficiency. If he was very good, he would be able to put up a front before the CO and might get away with his dereliction of duty.

The rain grew heavier, encouraging Peter to stay in his office.

The Crossley came in, canvas hoods up and depositing a commander and his servant more or less dry at the offices.

Peter stepped out to the veranda that ran across the front and gave his official welcome to his senior.

“Good morning, sir. Naseby, sir, in charge of flying.”

“’Morning, Naseby! Let’s get in out of this bloody rain. Troughton. Been in the RNAS since its formation.”

“I have a week in, myself, sir. I had occasion to leave Calliope in Pompey after a minor mishap with the Admiral Commanding.”

Troughton bellowed with laughter.

“Nicely put, Naseby! He didn’t drown so it can’t have been serious – quite right! And none of your fault, I know, having seen the full set of reports, including the Admiral’s statement that he was in a rush and took an ill-judged risk. Some question of reinstating you in Calliope, if you wish?”

Peter had no hesitation in turning down the offer.

“No thank you, sir. I have flown my SS9 on two full patrols so far and want to do a lot more. The RNAS will do me, sir, as a permanence.”

“Thought it might. Talked with Fitzjames on the telephone yesterday. He said you were the right sort for us. Welcome aboard.”

Troughton’s servant took his baggage across to the wardroom and they went into the OIC’s office for a first briefing.

“No senior gunnery man to the magazine yet, sir. Officer in charge of the hangars, Wilshere, turned up an hour ago. Due in on Friday and fancied a weekend in Town first.”

“Did he now! Right of you to leave him to me rather than discipline him yourself, being as I was to come here within the hour. What’s your opinion of him?”

“Society darling, sir, very much the little rich boy. That don’t mean he can’t be a good officer, no way! I wonder just how much he knows about engines and rigging a balloon.”

Troughton picked up on the unsaid condemnation.

“You didn’t like him.”

“No. Add to that, sir… My parents are Society themselves – the Nasebys are old in banking, been accepted for half a century and more. I have not been too much in Mayfair myself, being naval, but I have never come across a family of Wilsheres.”

“Good point. I don’t hang about those circles – County, that’s us, down in Devon. I don’t much like those who claim to be something they are not, Naseby. I shall speak to the young gentleman, get my impression of him. I suspect he may be back in London very rapidly.”

Peter thought that to be likely.

“Senior steward, sir, is not a happy mortal just now. He came to me with demands for high wardroom fees and Dining In and Guest Nights every week. Most of our lads are wartime intake and living off their pay, sir. I sent him off with a flea in his ear. Told him I wanted a wardroom that produced hot food for men coming in off long patrols. Anything else was superfluous. He didn’t like it.”

“When the war is over, he can have whatever he wants. Until then, he fits in with our needs.”

“Thank you, sir. How do you want the field run, sir?”

They talked for half an hour before wandering across for lunch. In that time they agreed that Peter’s remit would be to organise the patrols and the fliers and nothing else. All administration would be done by others.

“What of deciding on patrol areas, sir?”

“I will lay down where we are to patrol each day. You decide who does which and how you are to be bombed up. I can’t make my mind up whether it’s better to have a single big bomb or the eight of sixteen pounders. Work it out for yourself. Send me a written report in a few weeks. The station exists to get you and your pilots in the air. Everything comes secondary to that need.”

It placed a burden of demand on Peter. He welcomed it; that was the function of a naval officer – to take orders and turn them into a reality. In this case, clearing their part of the Channel of submarines was his sole responsibility.

“Training tomorrow, sir. Take off and landings for the pilots, using SS9. Up, make a circuit and a wireless report and then come in. An hour or two and then the next man.”

“Four subs as pilots. You will be twelve hours at it, Naseby.”

“Then I shall sleep well, sir. I’ll organise a chair to sit behind the pilot’s cockpit. A wooden kitchen chair, with arms and a belt!”

“Well and good, Naseby. This fish is good – looks as if the cooks have no grudge against you, at least. Who is to be President of the Wardroom?”

“Wilshere is senior at the moment. If the Gunnery Officer has seniority, I will be happier.”

“I need to get on the telephone at soonest, Naseby. Don’t know why he ain’t here yet.”

“No Gunnery Officer, Naseby. He was posted and chose to ride down from Chatham on his motorcycle. An American thing, a Harley-Davidson that could reach sixty miles an hour, of all crazy speeds! Lost the road not so far from Ashford in Kent. Loose gravel. Killed him. Yesterday afternoon. He might have stopped at a pub for lunch. There will be another man as soon as they can locate one. For the while, what’s the youngster like?”

“Sargent? I cannot speak for his professional competence. He seems like a good sort. Very young. I don’t know that I would want him working on fuses for the bombs without an older head looking over his shoulder.”

“I shall get on the telephone immediately. If needs must, we can get an instructor petty officer from Whale Island to do the technical work, keep Sargent in command temporarily.”

It was better that the officer should be at least the technical equal of his underlings, could lead to awkward arguments otherwise.

“I will speak to Wilshere next, Naseby. I will want you in the office to witness all that is said.”

Wilshere had much to say, little of it relevant and a lot that was damaging to his future. He hinted at friends in high places and was very open about his father having money, much of which came to his son’s pockets.

“Interesting, Mr Wilshere, but none of which explains why you did not obey the order to report for duty on Friday last.”

“I have explained once already to Naseby, sir…”

“Lieutenant Commander Naseby is your superior officer and will be addressed as such, Lieutenant Wilshere.”

“If you insist, sir. I did think we were all gentlemen together, sir!”

“I know that I am, Mr Wilshere, and the Nasebys are known to all in Society, of course. The Wilsheres are a little more obscure, perhaps. Until we establish our credentials a little more soundly, Mr Wilshere, we shall be content simply to be naval officers, discussing a significant breach of discipline and the action that should be taken. Let us consider your personal situation, first.”

Troughton delved into the carboard box-file on the desk, lifted out the top sheet.

“An order attaching you to the RNAS and appointing you as Hangars Officer at HMS Polegate and clearly stating that you should report for duty at ten hundred hours on Friday last. What came before that, one asks?”

“My previous commanding officer was biased against me, sir. He did not appreciate that a gentleman had a certain way of life to maintain.”

“And as a result he requested that you be posted away from his command. What was that now?”

“Training ship, sir. In London, on the Embankment, for Reservists, sir. I had been there a year, sir, and my previous CO had shown entirely satisfied with my performance. The new man was a different sort.”

“The previous commander had in fact placed you in charge of the motorboat attached to your ship. That seems to be your sole qualification for a technical post. It is possible that your qualifications for the position of Hangars Officers were overstated.”

“I am sure I can tinker with an engine as well as any, sir. I had my own motorcar from the age of sixteen, you know, sir.”

“Bloody hell! Get out of my office and off this establishment, Wilshere! Report to HQ at Wormwood Scrubs for nine o’clock tomorrow. Failure will see you placed before a court martial. I shall recommend you for a position as assistant to the lavatory cleaner, Wilshere, on the grounds that you will be technically incompetent for the post without full training. You may, if you prefer, seek a court to clear your name of the many charges I shall place on your file. For now, just go away, Wilshere. Out of my sight!”

“I shall ensure that your unreasonable actions are brought under scrutiny, sir. My father knows Mr Lloyd George well, sir.”

Troughton was not one to be threatened.

“Oh, very well! Have it your own way, Wilshere. You are initially charged with being absent without leave from your post while on active service, Wilshere. You will also be charged with insubordination for threatening your commanding officer. Mr Naseby, please call CPO Biggs to take this officer away and hold him in the nearest set of naval cells until court martial.”

Peter marched out, formally, called Biggs to bring his escort and take Wilshere away to Dover where there were full facilities.

Wilshere was taken away, shaking in rage and calling down all sorts of revenge on their heads.

“I was not exaggerating when I said my father was close to Lloyd George, Naseby!”

“I did not mention that my esteemed parent is a close confidant of Mr Asquith, Wilshere. I think the two cancel each other out, don’t you?”

Troughton laughed at the response.

“I say, is that true, Naseby?”

“Near enough, sir. My father is a member of some sort of committee on wartime finance that meets every week in Number Ten. He is head of the bank, sir.”

“That will do me, Naseby. Why are you not gracing the bridge of a flagship with the other gentleman’s sons?”

“Never fancied the staff, sir. I like the Navy and always wanted to go to sea on the great ships. Too many staff lieutenants spend their days in London, never seeing the sea at all. Add to that, I’m an incompetent arse-kisser.”

Troughton maintained an admirable straight face

“In that case, you lack the prime requisite of a staff officer, Naseby. Quite right to join the working navy instead. What do we do for the hangars now?”

“Shout for help, sir. We cannot be left with no more than a PO in charge. The same as for the magazine, sir.”

The telephone was brought into use.

After half an hour promises had been made of replacements for the dead and the disgraced.

“Is this normal in your experience, sir? Two useless, rich idlers dumped before we could even start work – is that usual?”

“Not uncommon, Naseby. Not in this last year. The war has brought all sorts of bad hats into the service – idle youths who would otherwise have never put on a uniform, most of them, and unable to stay at home without raising comment but unwilling to risk their precious skins in anything resembling a fighting post. I must have seen a dozen this year who thought they would be able to find a ground post in the RNAS, safe in an office while they sent better men out to fly. Some of them I saw thrown out as medically unfit for the RNAS; having once volunteered, the Army snapped them up, much to my pleasure. Two I saw court-martialled and broken to the ranks and then posted as observers and gunners in our seaplanes. Three of them had strings they could pull and ended up in offices in the Admiralty, untouchable by a mere Commander. They account for a trivial minority, Naseby. The great bulk of youngsters have come in to fight and have shown more than willing. The few yellow-bellies are exceptions.”

“As it should be, sir. What was it Kipling said?”

“Some sort of nauseous, sentimental doggerel, I expect, Naseby. The epitome of English culture, my arse!”

Peter decided to forget his quotation.

“Do we know when the balloons are due in, sir?”

“Tomorrow at ten hundred hours, the first. They will then come in at twenty-four hour intervals, allowing us to inflate and rig each in turn. Without an experienced Hangars Officer, that may be fun. Best thing will be for you to walk SS9 out early and start your training with the subs and mids. We will release a ground party from the hangars each time you come in – say at hourly intervals. Thirty minutes to land, change pilot and front hand, allow you to come down from your chair for a cup of tea and a pee and get back up with the next victims. Have you thought how to assign crews?”

“At random unless they wish otherwise, sir.  I will take the leftover mid as mine and make the last flight of the day with him.”

“Can you guess which one that will be?”

“Griffiths, at a bet, sir. Father is something in trade – West African plantations and probably earning a damned good living. The boy grew up in the bush and hardly saw a school. Bright lad, speaks well and capable of looking after himself – but he’s never picked up a cricket bat in his life and knows none of the right sort. Odds are that he will be the outsider.”

“Capable of doing the job, you would say.”

“He knows how to get his hands dirty. Might be the best of the bunch for us, sir.”

“Good, in some ways. Useful that he is no schoolboy, pity if he’s not one of the group. Far easier if all of the officers are friends as well as colleagues. Can’t be helped!”

Chapter Six

The rain cleared and left patchy cloud above ten thousand feet, far higher than the blimps would consider. Breakfast was called for six o’clock, to the horror of all, including the cooks; Peter stood from his bacon and greasy eggs to inform those present of the order of the day.

“We shall all take our first flights in command today. Dress accordingly. In alphabetical order, gentlemen, Sublieutenants Bracegirdle, Horrocks, Tubbs and Wiggins and myself last of all. You will take a midshipman as crew, at your own choice or at random, as you prefer. At the field in fifteen minutes, all to observe the antics of those going before and after them. I shall fly with each of you. SS9 has been modified to allow for my presence – no bombload which will compensate for my additional weight. You will take off, achieve two thousand feet and fly for half an hour out over the Channel and then the same back again and land. We shall repeat the dose tomorrow. After that, I trust you will be on your own, in your own ships as they come in. Questions?”

Bracegirdle, his experience making him the most confident, suggested that it was all just a little hurried.

“It is, Mr Bracegirdle. Far more than I might wish. There are submarines out there and ships at risk. The sooner we fly, the fewer sailors will die. It’s as simple as that.”

“Then I must learn quickly, sir.”

“So must we all. I would recommend you to talk about your experiences, at length. Share the knowledge you glean. Don’t concern yourself about this nonsense of ‘no shop in the wardroom’ – we must become the best and as quickly as possible.”

Peter left them to talk among themselves for a few minutes. He was not used to this business of making speeches, of jollying the troops along – it was not the way the Navy worked, not as a general rule.

Troughton joined him as he went for his flying gear.

“Well said, just then, Naseby. They are all keen lads, but they need to know what they are doing and why. Keep it up – a few words of explanation and encouragement will do no end of good. They are none of them more than boys and need to be told they are doing well.”

SS9 was waiting, the kitchen chair tied on – firmly, Peter trusted.

There was no gain to delay.

“Ready, Mr Bracegirdle? Let us mount our trusty steed!”

They laughed, entertained by the comparison to knights in armour.

Peter led the way, making a performance of draping the skirts of his leather flying coat about the chair, as much like a king taking his throne as he could manage. Bracegirdle and Norris followed.

“Ready, gentlemen?”

Both managed to say that they were.

“You have the command, Mr Bracegirdle.”

The young sub had memorised the orders and called them in a clear voice, his experience in the trenches enabling him to appear confident. He went through the procedure of starting the engine and of setting the fins to the angles he had learned in the classroom the day before and then called the ground crew to let go.

They rose in a clean line, the engine tugging the balloon forward properly and rising quickly but still in control.

“Aerial, Mr Norris.”

The boy wound the reel out and made his first report and received the acknowledgement, not too quickly, perhaps, but competently. He produced a small notebook and made a log of the calls. Peter noted that to be a sensible idea; he would indent for logbook and pencils to be placed in each blimp.

Norris was still short, could hardly see over the cockpit coaming. He stood for his lookout, unfastening his belt. Peter shouted for him to sit and do up the belt – any sudden manoeuvre, following the spotting of a submarine perhaps, could send the boy over the side and two thousand feet was a long way to fall. They might be able to work out some sort of leash or harness in place of the restrictive seatbelt; he did not want the boys to be in the habit of not wearing their safety gear, as little as it was.

Bracegirdle managed level flight and a competent turn back towards Polegate, Norris making his landing call as they approached. The trailing rope was almost too heavy for the boy to handle; it might be as wise to coil it in a lashing on the outside of the cockpit rather than have to actually lift the weight over the side.

They landed after their hour, all safe on the ground with no mishaps, Bracegirdle standing ten feet tall for having successfully piloted his own balloon.

“Do it again tomorrow, Bracegirdle. We shall practice at placing the crab pot for changing the attitude of the balloon for climbing and descending – that will take you months to pick up to your own satisfaction. For the while – if it came to an emergency, I would send you off on your own now, young man. You have a lot to learn, as do we all, of course. You are a highly competent pilot in the making.”

Bracegirdle managed not to swagger.

“Mr Norris, well done. We shall fit the Lewis tomorrow, give you the chance to fire off a few rounds.”

“Yes, sir. Beg pardon, sir, I won’t be able to change the pan without standing, sir. Need arms five feet long, sir.”

“So you would. We will have to look at that, see what can be done. For the while, remember the old sailing ships’ maxim – ‘one hand for the ship, one hand for yourself’. Don’t let go.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

It was almost impossible to change the pan on a Lewis with just one hand. It would be necessary to use both twice at least, more unless one was unusually strong. A rope around the second hand’s waist, perhaps.

“Horrocks, you’re next. What did you do for a belt when you were flying?”

“Didn’t, sir. Can’t be tied down when there’s work to be done. Grab hold tight and watch what you’re doing, sir.”

“Bugger it. Give me five minutes and I will be with you, Horrocks. Get your mid settled in. Who is it?”

“Davies, sir. The Taffy. He’s got a bit of an accent, like me. We fit together, you might say.”

“Makes sense, in its way.”

Given the choice Peter would have split the pair up rather than risk having a crew who stood out as different. He had allowed them to decide who worked with which – he must live with it.

Horrocks, unsurprisingly, was totally competent, setting the crab pot without asking and adjusting the throttle precisely as he wanted it. Davies followed his example, doing the job without fuss.

“The first of our balloons should be arriving any time now. You two should stand with it, watch through the process of inflating and rigging and take it for your own. Horrocks, you can see to any training Davies needs. I shall inform Commander Troughton that you are a pilot, Horrocks.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“And the next!” Peter tried to sound like a music hall chairman, calling the acts onto the stage.

Sublieutenant Tubbs stepped nervously forward, Woods at his side.

“I think I am next, sir.”

“So you are, Mr Tubbs. Hop aboard.”

Tubbs stumbled and fumbled climbing into the cockpit, Woods giving him a hand so that he did not fall over.

“Ready, Mr Tubbs?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Take command then.”

Tubbs licked his lips, made a quiet call to the ground crew, saw them respond uncertainly and managed a thin shout. He failed to catch the engine on its first spin, had to go through the process again, managing to open the throttle at the correct moment second time around and then nurse the engine up to full revs. He achieved the correct sequence of orders after that.

Woods released the aerial without command and made his report.

They levelled off too low and then fumbled for ten minutes before Tubbs was finally satisfied with his height. He gripped the yoke fiercely, frightened to let go in case it misbehaved.

“Relax, Mr Tubbs. We are at height and on course. Take it easy. Ten minutes and we shall make the turn to go back to Polegate. Are you happy with the crab pot?”

“Not quite, sir. I think it ought to move just a little around to starboard. Say five degrees.”

“You are the pilot…”

Tubbs seemed unconvinced of that. He leaned out and made a precise, finicky adjustment of the air intake, glanced up at the ballonets to see that they had taken the shape he thought best. He was able to throttle down a little as a result, the balloon holding the course and altitude he wanted with less power applied.

“That’s certainly better, Tubbs. How did you know?”

“It’s the mathematics of it, sir. The numbers weren’t right, sir, in my head.”

Peter did not understand the answer. He could not argue it.

“Turning in three minutes.”

Tubbs concentrated and achieved the turn without too many wobbles. He readjusted the throttle and twitched the crab pot again.

“To allow for the wind, sir.”

The landing was achieved without hitting trees or hangars. As such, it was successful if on the bouncy side.

“We shall do it again tomorrow, Tubbs. You have a bit to learn yet, on the practical side. Your command of the theory is better than mine. I will ask you to talk us all through the proper use of the ballonets and setting the crab pot so the intake of air is just right. I have problems with that but you seem to understand it fully.”

“Yes, sir. It’s just a matter of making sure that the numbers are right. It is an interesting example, in fact, sir. I am sure we could work out tables to give a setting in all conditions. I shall think about that, sir.”

“You do that, Tubbs. Why did you join the Navy, by the way? I would not have thought Dartmouth was the best place for you. Would you not have been better going up to a university and reading mathematics?”

Tubbs showed rueful. There was nothing he would have liked better.

“The family has always been Navy, sir. Eldest son remains at home to learn the estate he will inherit – he’s the unlucky one. The rest of us join as midshipmen at the earliest age. It has to be cadets at Dartmouth now, of course. No choice in the matter, sir. That’s the way it is done.”

Peter had heard of such families, few of them quite so rigid in their demands.

“What if you fail the entrance examination, Tubbs?”

Tubbs shuddered in horror at the prospect – it had been his fear for years as a little boy.

“God knows, sir. I doubt my father had ever considered the possibility. The sea is in our blood, sir, as far as he is concerned. I really do not know what he would have done… He was set ashore as a Rear, sir. Come back to the service now, of course, in wartime. Last I heard he was doing something in the West Indies, a shore station of some sort. My Uncle Vincent is a Vice, sir, in the Admiralty, and the youngest of the three is a post captain, has a predreadnought out in the Mediterranean, in the Dardanelles expedition.”

Reasonable careers for all three but not the most outstanding. Sufficient to make demands on the boy.

“Have you informed the family of your transfer to the RNAS?”

“Not yet, sir. I must write a letter. They may be surprised. Luckily, I have two elder brothers in the service, sir. Both lieutenants and aboard battlecruisers. They’ll add laurels to the family name.”

“Very good, Tubbs. Watch Wiggins and then myself as we go out and come back, get an idea of how to do three or four different things at once, which seems to be necessary in this piloting game.”

Wiggins was competent and Leburn needed to be shouted at for forgetting what to do next. Wiggins seemed to think that would be no great problem.

“Boy’s no genius, sir. Wartime entry, wouldn’t have passed into Dartmouth. Once he knows what to do, he will repeat it, I expect. Don’t know him well yet, obviously, but he’ll make a solid number two.”

The word solid seemed appropriate.

Finally, tired from his day, it was Peter’s turn, all of the crews watching him to discover exactly how to do it.

“Hop aboard, Griffiths. Let’s get the show on the road, as they say in the carnivals.”

Griffiths managed a smile, trying to disguise his nervousness. A day of waiting had done him no good.

Peter managed to show blasé, casual in his procedures, catching the engine and calling his commands to the ground crew in a clear, carrying voice, the benefit of years at sea. He made a show of stretching across to adjust the crab pot, placing it precisely to the setting he hoped might be right.

“Aerial, Griffiths.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

The answer was shouted correctly, most junior of midshipmen to the commanding officer.

There was nothing in sight out in the Channel, fortunately as they were wholly unarmed, and Peter brought SS9 into her turn and back to Polegate, setting her into the angle to land and nodding to Griffiths as he wound in the aerial and readied himself at the trailing rope.

They landed and stepped out while the ground party walked the blimp into the hangar for the night.

“Well done, Griffiths. First of many flights!”

“Thank you, sir. I shall be pleased to be your crew, sir.”

Not too pleased, Peter hoped. Might be as well to switch the pairings around, make them used to working with other pilots and front men. They might be affected by illness, could have wounds on active service even, should be flexible.

After they had had a few weeks of experience would be better for any changes. He found Troughton in his office.

“They’ll do, sir – to my amaze. Even Tubbs. That one is a mathematician by inclination, by the way, sir. Got the setting of the crab pot spot on – said the numbers felt right. I have tasked him to speak to us all in two or three weeks and explain how it should be done, simply, I hope.”

“Unlikely to see that one taking a lead, Naseby. Good thing that he can. Do his confidence some good – which he needs.”

“So he does, sir. Quiet and self-effacing by nature and been trodden on for the whole of his career. What does his Dartmouth record show, sir? Top marks in the classroom, scraping by in everything else?”

Troughton searched out the records, pawed through Tubbs’ thin file.

“Yes, just that, Naseby. Highest marks ever in the mathematics exams and in the theory of navigation and setting a course. Very good in his general subjects. Barest of passes outside the classroom, mostly awarded for trying his hardest and never giving up. Recommended for specialist training and service ashore. Posted to a battleship, probably due to family influence – bloody fools!”

“Very much a naval family, he said, sir.”

“Met them, Naseby, in passing. Distinguished by having nothing between the ears, the current generation. Tubbs must be a throwback.”

“Useful to us, sir. Might be able to use his mathematics to advise us on what we can load and where and what sort of winds we can tolerate and such things. Might be interesting to know what difference temperature might make, sir. Will the blimps behave the same in hot sun as they do in midwinter cold?”

“Bloody good question, Naseby. I’ve got no idea. I’ll head over to Shoreham tomorrow, have a word with Fitzjames – if he don’t know, nobody will.”

Dinner was noisy – the first big hurdle had been overcome. They had flown and nobody had been killed and they had all made a successful return. All of the pilots had had visions of failing repeatedly to catch the engine, of staying put for half an hour trying and trying again to get underway. None had faced that humiliation. All had been told there was a good fifty per cent chance of failing, that they could not expect first time success every time. They had done better than average.

“What’s for tomorrow, Mr Naseby?”

“Horrocks and Griffiths will stand by the first blimp in and watch it through inflation and rigging. I shall decide who gets the next tomorrow.”

Bracegirdle, Tubbs and Wiggins looked at each other, wondering who would be the winner; Peter could see that Tubbs expected to be last.

A procession of lorries reached the field early in the morning, bringing in the great mass of rubberised fabric that made up the envelope of the balloon and the sets of cables that would tie all together and the fuselage with its engine.

Peter watched in between supervising the second flights.

“Why don’t they fly them down from Wormwood Scrubs, sir? There was word that we were to receive the assistance of experienced pilots as well.”

“Ah yes! That’s gone out the window. They are too busy with other things. Developing the Coastals, which will be the successors to the Sea Scouts, I think. As for flying them down… Good question! Makes a bloody sight more sense that tying up a dozen lorries, each with two men, for a night and a day… Add to that, if there’s anything wrong, they can fix it a damned sight better up at the Scrubs than we can here. I’m off to Shoreham now, Naseby. I’ll bend Fitzjames’ ear while I’m there.”

Troughton drove out and two lieutenants came in, finding Peter as the senior man to hand.

“I can give you five minutes, gentlemen. I am flying then. Let me guess – Gunnery Officer and OIC Hangars?”

“Handsworth, sir.”

“Pickles, sir.”

Sounded like a pair of music hall comedians, Peter thought. Irrelevant! Both were no more than his age and showed well – reporting uniforms smart and tidy, alert and looking about them.

“Good. Handsworth, you have a sub, Sargent, who has taken command in your absence. With luck, he will not have done much.”

Handsworth laughed appreciatively.

“I shall want a choice of bombs for when we become operational, which may well be tomorrow. I would welcome an opinion on which is better for our work. Lewis Guns for each blimp as it becomes ready. For the hangars, Pickles, you will want to ensure that the engines are worked over every night, I don’t doubt. Take a look at your domains and report to Commander Troughton, who is off field at the moment, on your needs and readiness. I must fly – literally.”

They watched as he trotted across to SS9 and ensconced himself in the armchair high above the cockpit while Bracegirdle took the blimp into its climb away from the field.

“Bloody crazy, Pickles! Have we strayed into Bedlam’s outdoor wing?”

“Certainly shows a sense of humour, Handsworth. Not one I share. Look, the bloody fool’s standing up!”

They could just see the figures on the balloon, wondered what was going on.

“Thank you, Norris!”

Peter took the cup of hot tea Norris had poured from his thermos flask, sipped at it still standing, holding onto the back of the chair with one hand, admiring the view out over the chalk cliffs and the South Downs, free for the first time to actually enjoy the scenery.

“Green in the English spring! A land worth fighting for, don’t you think?”

They didn’t, having never considered the question of why they were fighting. They were naval officers, did not need reasons as well.

Peter sat down before Bracegirdle entered the turn home, there being a limit to his desire to inspect the scenery.

“Very smooth! You are a pilot now. Join Horrocks with the new machine. Get an idea of the various bits and pieces and see how they fit together. Might be your only chance. They may be flown in from now on.”

Ten minutes in his office, glancing at the various bits of paper Payne had put on his desk, and then out to Tubbs and another hour in the air.

“Much better this time, Tubbs. Are you happy with your flying?”

“Yes, sir. A lot to learn, sir. I can do the basics sir.”

“Good. I agree. You can call yourself a pilot now, Tubbs. Keep your eyes open and think all the time – as I know you do – and you will soon be promoted. Check on the operation of the bomb release, and you, Woods, make sure you are happy with the Lewis. Your next flight will be operational.”

It was far too soon. There was no alternative.

Wiggins went through the procedure and was given the same response – he was operational after two hours in the air.

Peter took Griffiths up and ventured no more than five minutes from Polegate, turning as soon as he had made height.

“You know how to use your eyes and all you need to practice is landings. Get ready now.”

Troughton had returned and Peter joined him as seemed proper after flying.

“I shall take SS9 out on operational patrol tomorrow, sir, with your permission. Horrocks then Bracegirdle as soon as their blimps are ready. The others can all follow at soonest.”

“Good. Three more blimps will come down over the next two days, flying in, Fitzjames having accepted our arguments. Five patrols out on Saturday.”

“Far too early, sir. No choice. Can we arrange for the second hands to have lessons on the engines in the hangars when the weather forbids flying?”

“I shall speak to Pickles. He seems the right sort, should be amenable. Better than the last man we saw!”

“Most would be, sir.”

“I have the first scream of outrage on my desk, by the way. From the Admiralty – some junior clerk wanting to know why I have interfered in his postings. I shall ignore him, naturally. Let it wait until there is a post captain involved before I send back any reply. Wilshere has been let off his court martial, by the way, on condition that he went out to Flanders. As far as we are concerned, he was so upset by his dereliction of duty – an unprecedented lapse – that he could only volunteer in order to clear his name.”

“They will know that is untrue, sir.”

“Of course they will, Naseby. How do they come back to me? Tell me I am wrong because they know Wilshere to be a coward?”

Peter began to laugh.

“Just one simple lie, sir, that they know is a falsehood and dare not challenge. Is that how the Admiralty works, sir?”

“Too often, yes, Naseby. There are too many strings to be pulled and all sorts of influence working, commonly against the good of the Service. Tubbs is an example. He should be sat behind a desk working on the mathematics of something or the other that I don’t understand because it’s far beyond my intellect. Gunnery or something… Ballistics! That’s it. Or Meteorology, I am told – lots of sums in that, somehow. Instead, he will be piloting a blimp over the Channel, and doing it quite well before too long. Any ordinarily competent officer could do that. You can. I could. We couldn’t work out the ballistics of the newest guns or whatever it is he could be doing, and whoever is doing that job may well not be as good at it as him. All because Vice Admiral Tubbs wants his nephew to shine on a battleship, which he is totally unsuited for. A waste of a good brain, Naseby!”

There were too many such, it would seem. The system did not work but was very good at protecting itself.

“Look at Beatty, Naseby! There’s an example of a man who has been promoted far beyond his ability because he has discovered all of the right strings to pull. The newspapers think he is marvellous because he gives them dashing photographs. Royalty loves him for being their loyal hero. All the reports tell you what a wonderful chap he was in the Boxer Rebellion. Talk to the men who were actually there – a glory hunter who did not care how many of his own men he killed as long as he got to be photographed standing on a heap of Chinese corpses! There’s a lot wrong in this Navy of ours, Naseby! And if you repeat a word of this outside the office, I shall deny it all!”

“What of Jellicoe, sir?”

“Commander in Chief of the Grand Fleet – the most important single personage in the whole Navy. He is wholly aware of the responsibility he bears, Naseby. He is brave and fairly bright – and he will do nothing for being paralysed by the knowledge that he could lose the war if he makes the wrong decision. He is a planner and should never be in his current position. He should be in the Admiralty offering a set of appraisals of all of the possible courses of action – which he can do well, better than almost any. Then a more decisive, possibly less intelligent man than him, could choose one of those courses and follow it. He will do nothing until he is forced out of Scapa Flow by the Germans and then will fight on their terms and at best manage a draw.”

Peter accepted that as true. The Navy seemed to be reacting rather than initiating conflict in the North Sea. The fleet on the back foot was not the one that would win. It might not lose, either. Was that good enough for Nelson’s Navy?

“Bugger it, sir! Nelson’s dead. So will we be if we don’t get this flying right. How are we to organise ourselves, sir? Do we run our own little show or are we to take day-to-day orders from on high?”

Troughton was not entirely certain – he had been told that ‘it was all being worked out as a matter of urgency’.

“That means we shall certainly have an answer by this time next year, Naseby… With luck. For the while, get the lads in the air and out on their first long patrols while the weather holds. Out over the Channel to the French coast will be best. Send them up at fifteen minute intervals, out of sight of each other, I would suggest. Bombed up and fused as seems best to this new man in the magazine.”

“Handsworth? He seems competent, sir.”

“Talks well. Apparently there are new fuses designed to explode a bomb underwater. Something about a membrane that gives way under pressure so it can be set for a desired depth, or maybe not. There was definitely a membrane involved, but I’m not sure what one of those is. Has to be done in the magazine. The pilot can’t make a choice in the air.”

“Set for one hundred feet as a rule, sir? On the big bombs at least.”

“Subs won’t want to go much below that if they can avoid it, especially if they are chasing coasters in the Channel. What about the sixteen pounders?”

Peter sat back in his chair, searching for the right words.

“Do we need them, sir? If we were so lucky as to come out of cloud directly above a sub, we might drop one down the conning tower. Exploding inside the pressure hull it must rip the crew to shreds. Other than that, sir, what damage would one do to the outside of a pressure hull? Too small, I suspect, to do any good at all. I think we should use the big bombs exclusively, sir.”

“A single attack. After that, our sole function will be to use the wireless and act as eyes for the destroyers and sloops.”

“That may be what we are best at, sir. High in the sky, two pairs of binoculars scanning for miles ahead and astern of a convoy, pottering along for hours, keeping the subs down.”

“Not very glamorous, Naseby.”

“Balls to glamour, sir. I’ll leave that to Beatty.”

“Well said – but not outside this office, for Christ’s sake!”

The laughed, nervously. The China Station loomed for those officers who spoke out of turn, or possibly OIC Port Stanley in the Falklands, as far from civilisation as was possible.

“What do we know about wind, sir?”

“Apart from the very obvious, Naseby?”

“I was thinking more of the effects on the balloons, sir. What wind can we fly in and does it make a difference if it’s abeam or ahead?”

“Bloody good question. No idea. If it’s abeam it must blow you off track to an extent. Leeway. You would have to turn into it to maintain your course. I wonder how much? Pass that across to Tubbs, if I was you, Naseby. I don’t know what the maximum force is you can fly in. I shall ask about.”

“Captain Fitzjames, perhaps, sir?”

“He’s not very well, just now, Naseby. In fact, he’s bloody ill! Didn’t like the look of him at all when I saw him yesterday. Skin and bone and grey in the face, under that beard. Not a lot more than a skull staring out at me. I don’t know what’s wrong with the man – I’m no doctor – but I wouldn’t give you tuppence for him lasting the month.”

“Pity, sir. An able man and dedicated to the balloons.”

“Too much so, perhaps, Naseby. Too busy with the blimps to look after himself. Might have been something that could have been cured if he had gone a doctor early. Too late now.”

They talked a while longer, agreed that Fitzjames’ passing might well lead to a new command structure over them, more formalised and awake to their day-to-day activities.

“Might end up with a lot more by way of orders from on high, Naseby.”

“It’s the Navy, sir. We are enjoying a quiet time at the moment. Let’s make the most of it.”

Tubbs thought it would be simple to draw up a table for compass corrections according to windspeed and direction.

“An anemometer here at Polegate, sir, so that we have our own information on windspeed immediately to hand. Then we can make allowance for the wind as soon as we take off. Mind you, sir, we will almost always be in sight of land, working in the Channel, so we won’t need to take a compass bearing very often. If we have to intercept a convoy out in mid-Channel, it might be useful, though the odds are high we shall see it simply enough.”

He said he would sit down for an hour or two that evening and work out the basics of a table.

“Should be easy enough, sir.”

Peter was glad to hear that.

The morning saw two Sea Scouts out on the field, Bracegirdle ready to take his new command out for her maiden flight.

“Excellent! An hour inland to see that the kinks are all worn out and then bring her back and make ready for an operational patrol west along the coast as far as the Isle of Wight. Circle around the Island and return. I shall be taking SS9 out for the day.” Peter turned to the other crews. “We expect the other blimps this morning. Mr Troughton will see to them and to allocating them to you and sending you all out. A busy day, I hope.”

He looked for CPO Yarney.

“We shall have five blimps operational by day’s end, Chief. Is all in hand?”

“It is, sir. I suspect I shall put in for more bodies for ground crew, sir. It seems likely that we will want bodies to handle two balloons at a time, sir. That will stretch us at the moment.”

“Speak to Mr Troughton, Chief. I will warn him and tell him I support your request.”

Peter had no choice but give his backing to Yarney. The Chief Petty Officer was vital to the running of the field, probably more than any of the officers.

Peter took SS9 up to five thousand feet on the way out, for the experience, never having done so. They could see both sides of the Channel, but nothing in detail, would have to be lower to pick out the dot that was a surfaced submarine. It was wonderful to be high, above everything, masters of the air. Pointless from the military sense. He would not repeat the adventure, unless he happened to be on posting, travelling rather than patrolling.

“Down we go, Griffiths. Is that a rifle you have with you? Not the standard carbine?”

“Yes, sir. My own, sir. Brought it back with me from Africa. Better range than a Lewis, sir, and very accurate. Might be able to put a bullet or two into the conning tower of a sub going down, sir. Drop one or two of the crew, sir, slow them in getting clear and shutting down their hatches.”

“Worth having, I suspect. Make sure you have a loose cord tied on so that you don’t lose it when turning hard.”

“Done that, sir.”

They patrolled to the French coast and back again, three times, saw few ships and no submarines. It was a peaceful way to spend a day, not necessarily productive from any naval viewpoint.

“Another nine hours in my book, sir.”

“Book?”

“I’m keeping a logbook, sir. Like a midshipman’s journal. To show the Board for my promotion.”

“Well thought, Griffiths. I had not considered that. I will instruct the rest of the snotties to do the same.”

Peter sat with Troughton, going over the day.

“We have our five blimps now, Naseby. Won’t be getting a sixth, I am informed. We are to provide cover for Channel convoys from tomorrow on. Where possible, we shall take a westbound as far as Portland and pick up an eastbound there to come back with. Won’t always be practical. Might have to turn around at Portsmouth if the convoy is very slow. Depends on the day-to-day workings of the Channel forces. That will normally account for three blimps. Two will go out on patrol of inshore waters, one west, one east, each day working up and down the coast, backwards and forwards over a stretch of thirty miles or so. Differing a bit each day. Sometimes very early, other days later on, into the evening. When we get bigger blimps, soon, that will be, then it will be patrols down into the Bay of Biscay and back, looking for submarines at sea, on their way towards the killing ground.”

It seemed clear and logical.

Next morning saw low cloud and a moderate wind, sufficient to make Peter wonder about sending the boys up. They were naval officers – risk was part of the job.

“In order, myself, Horrocks, Bracegirdle, Tubbs and Wiggins. The first three of us to patrol today. Tubbs, there should be a convoy, eastbound and somewhere off Chichester. Find it and escort it to Dover. Work out how best to do the job and report on your return. Wiggins, there will be a pair of troopships leaving Folkestone at about eight o’clock. You are escort. If there is anything coming back when they enter harbour, attach yourself to them; if not return to base taking a series of long sweeps port and starboard of the route.”

The pair acknowledged their orders.

“Horrocks, take the coast from here to Pompey, sweeping repeatedly up to about twenty miles offshore. Repeat for eight hours. Bracegirdle, cross-Channel from here to Boulogne, sweeping as appropriate, again for an eight hour patrol. I shall work up coast as far as Dover and then out to mid-Channel and repeat. You all have a single large bomb fused to explode on contact or at one hundred feet depth, Mr Handsworth tells me. Use it if you have the least suspicion of a submarine. A big bang will do a lot towards driving them away. If you do use your bomb, return to base to rearm and then go out again. Off we go.”

Peter took off first, so as to be able to ground the others if conditions were too dangerous.

The wind was an annoyance, no more, demanding that he set the rudder to turn against it. He still made leeway but was able to hold his course reasonably closely. The cloud was at fifteen hundred feet and he levelled off a couple of hundred feet beneath it.

“Griffiths, confirm to Polegate that flying conditions are practical.”

He set course along the coast to Dover, staring out over the sea, using the binoculars every couple of minutes to take a distant sweep. It was a long, tedious day, the first of many he suspected. It was valuable, he was certain, making himself visible to any submarine peering through its tiny periscope and keeping it underwater and far less effective as a weapon of war.

“Inform base that we are off Dover, turning out to mid-Channel, Griffiths. Also inform them that we have just passed over a pair of destroyers and that some twat is firing a rifle at us. Can’t tell a blimp from a Zeppelin!”

Peter leant out with the flare pistol, fired a pair of greens, turned SS9 so that the roundels on the rudder were more clearly visible.

The rifleman ceased his hopeful activity.

“Carry on, Griffiths. Let us hope that all other naval gentlemen are equally poor shots.”

“And more able to tell a blimp from a Zeppelin, sir.”

“Almost like the old joke, that, Griffiths. The Scotsman who couldn’t tell Madras from Elba? No? Perhaps they didn’t tell that one in West Africa.”

Chapter Seven

The wind was stronger the following morning, clouds driven before it, the Union flag crackling and flapping. Troughton stood outside the offices with Peter, staring out to sea.

“Beaufort Scale Five, I would say, Naseby. Moderate to fresh breeze. Ideal for a sailing frigate, they always said at Dartmouth. Spent a lot of time teaching us how a frigate should be sailed, and how to defeat the big Americans…”

Peter showed blank.

“The War of 1812, you know, Naseby? Captain in my time there was sure he could have done better, spent hours in the classroom explaining it. Fifteen years ago and not a sailing ship left in the Navy, but he did not seem to have noticed that. What he would have said to our blimps, I’m damned if I know!”

Peter smiled and looked out to sea, trying to decide on the size of the whitecaps and exactly what strength the wind might be described as.

Troughton thought it might be a strong Force Five, definitely not a Six, yet.

“Not so sure it will do a blimp any favours, Naseby. Borderline, sort of thing. Sou’westerly, which is normal enough for the Channel at this time of year.”

Commander Troughton was studiously noncommittal, making no attempt to push Peter to fly or stay on the ground.

“Could get on the telephone to Shoreham or Capel, if you want, Naseby. Not sure that Fitzjames will be up to giving an answer. What about Fraser at Capel?”

“Whistling Rufus? He’s got a month in on me, sir. His advice would be honest – but I don’t know that it would be valuable. Only one way of finding out, sir. I’ll go up with Griffiths. The rest are grounded until I send a wireless message. I’ll head down Channel, into the wind, for a distance and then turn as is practical and come on back. All men out on the field for landing, sir?”

“More than just the normal party. I’ll see to that, Naseby.”

They walked SS9 out of the hangar, slowly, holding her rigidly on line so as not to collide with the hangar doors.

“Tubbs! What do you recommend for the crab pot?”

“Oblique to the wind, sir, keep the air pressure high in the ballonets, nose up in flight. Compensate on the horizontal fins, sir, to keep her at her height. Adjust the crab pot when turning, sir. Watch for downward gusts, sir. From what I have read, the wind does not always flow in level, horizontal layers. It might be better if I took this flight, sir…”

“Kind offer, Tubbs. You know what they say about volunteers?”

Tubbs did not.

“Go and find out, young man. A generous offer but you should compare our cuffs.”

“Cuffs, sir?”

Tubbs did not fully understand.

“I’ve got two and a half rings. You’ve got one. That means that when in doubt, I go first, whether or not I am better qualified. Watch and tell me what I should have done differently. If I don’t come back, you are officially permitted to say ‘I told you so’.”

Tubbs thought that might be a joke.

Peter hoped it was.

Troughton disappeared into his office, came out ten minutes later as they were preparing to board the nacelle.

“Spoke to Wormwood Scrubs, Naseby. They say definitely not to fly in a Force Six or worse. Shouldn’t be any problems in a Four or less. If a Five is gusty then it might be as well not to go up in it.”

“Is this a gusty Five, sir?”

Both were experienced seamen, used to assessing wind conditions and their effect on a ship.

“Not too much so, I would say.”

“So would I, sir. We should fly if we possibly can. Can’t protect against submarines if we’re on the ground. In you get, Mr Griffiths!”

Peter ordered the ground party to tug them almost to the edge of the field, well clear of the hangars. He started the engine and built up the revs until he could feel the blimp snatching against the handling party.

“Let go!”

The blimp soared, bouncing and bumping under the wind, the nacelle swaying underneath the balloon. They achieved forward motion into the wind, full throttle giving little more than ten miles an hour over the ground.

“Take a look over the cables, Griffiths. Nothing working loose?”

Five minutes and they were still in sight of the field, angling gently out to sea and rising slowly. Rain showers came down the wind, almost blinding them and freezing cold.

“Ships, sir!”

Peter picked up his binoculars, identified a gaggle of colliers, six of them in a bunch, running empty to the east to enter the North Sea and return to Sunderland or Newcastle to load again. They had no naval escort, presumably of too little value to bother with.

Unladen, the colliers would be of shallow draught, difficult targets for a torpedo and not all submarines carried a deck gun. They could expect to be fairly safe unless a minefield had been laid overnight, which was highly unlikely west of the Straits of Dover. The colliers could be ignored.

SS9 bounced out into the Channel, holding two to three miles off the coast to cover the inshore shipping lane. Looking at the sea, the amount of white water seemed to be increasing, suggesting the wind was slowly strengthening. The forecast had suggested a decrease in wind speed over the next twenty-four hours; the forecasters talked of averages, not absolute figures.

Peter wanted to be two hours out before he attempted to cross the wind, to turn for home. With a tail wind his speed would increase to a probable fifty perhaps even sixty mph – two hours out might be less than half an hour back, barely time to complete the turn and lose height and prepare to land.

“Griffiths. Inform Polegate that I am about to turn in a slowly strengthening wind. Arriving at base in twenty to thirty minutes. Maybe.”

SS9 did not want to turn across the wind, the equivalent of making a tack. He was forced to swing her through nearly three hundred degrees in a great, wide curve to bring her round.

“Wearing ship, Mr Griffiths!”

Griffiths did not have Dartmouth behind him, knew very little of the theory of working a sailing ship. He hung on tight and smiled.

They bucketed and bounced and lost height and came in sight of Polegate at a furious fifty miles an hour and with no prospect of slowing down. Their cockpits were swinging from side to side, a good thirty degrees up and back again, unevenly, no sort of rhythm. Each time the fuselage reached its apogee it snatched on the cables, a great jerk that threw them back again. They wondered just how strong the ETA patches were that connected them to the balloon.

“Tell Polegate I shall go east of the field and make a turn and bring her in against the wind.”

He chose to head inland a little, hoping the wind would lessen, made a second long, slow turn, rising to a safe thousand feet and then pointing the nose down again, nursing the engine as he throttled up and down and prayed it would continue to fire reliably, that the plugs would not oil up. He crawled back to Polegate and Griffiths dropped the trailing rope, swore as it blew out almost horizontal and then began to pendulum. CPO Yarney ran forward and jumped, able to get one hand to the grapnel and swinging for a few seconds until a pair of ratings snatched his legs. Peter sighed in relief as a dozen men grabbed hold and heaved and brought her in. He let go of the rope leading up to the tear patch, glad he had not had to try an emergency deflation.

Ten minutes and they had her under control, were walking the ship carefully under cover.

Troughton was out on the field, waiting for them.

“Well done, Griffiths. Could have been a tight one.”

“I thought it was, sir. Don’t want one a lot tighter than that. Good thing we didn’t see a submarine, sir.”

Troughton nodded.

“Go up in a Force Five only for operational necessity, sir. Nothing more than a Four for routine patrolling. Engine failure would have been a disaster, sir. As it was, I debated ripping the patch to get in, sir.”

Deflating the balloon was a measure for absolute emergency, was not to be used except to save the lives of the crew. The envelope itself could be damaged in a hasty deflation, putting the blimp out of service for many days.

“Right. Standing Orders will include wind speed, Mr Naseby. Take the remainder of the day off. Go into Brighton or Shoreham or wherever to relax.”

“Thank you, sir. Shoreham, I think. Something for Yarney, sir? Brave to jump and grab that sharp grapnel – could have ripped his hands to shreds if he had become hooked up, sir.”

“I shall write him up in my report of the day, Naseby. Can’t do much else – not in the face of the enemy, so none of the gallantry awards are applicable. Can’t promote him – he’s got nowhere left to go.”

“An unofficial bottle of Scotch, sir?”

“Totally against all regulations. Bloody good idea! Don’t hand it over in person, give it to your servant to pass along to him – that way there’s less of a breach.”

Peter found his hands were shaking as he washed up and changed into his reporting uniform, good enough for walking out on a weekday with no particular engagement in mind.

There was a Crossley waiting for him, in defiance of regulations, Navy petrol being wasted on personal pleasures rather than duty. He was dropped off at the fishing harbour in Shoreham, the driver promising to be back for four o’clock. He leant on the railings, looking out over the river mouth, trying to make sense of his own feelings.

He had not been frightened when he was up; his belly had been churning when he had stepped out onto the turf, definitely acid and upset. Only when the danger was over had he felt scared by it.

‘Nothing to worry about there, old son’.

He stretched upright, turned away to wander up the main street and to pick up a midday snack. There was a figure waving to him, up the street. He waved back and stretched out toward her.

“Miss Hawes-Parker! How do you do?”

“Very well, Lieutenant Naseby… No, that is another curl of braid, is it not? Does that make you Lieutenant Commander?”

“It does indeed – unexpected and most pleasing! I am in charge of the flying at Polegate and have to have the additional rank to crush insubordinate pilots! I am off to find a bite to eat – are you free for lunch?”

She was indeed, very much so. She could recommend the Riviera Hotel – she ate there with her grandparents on occasion. It was a bare quarter of a mile distant.

“Too strong a wind for flying today, is it… What is the convention, do I call you Lieutenant Commander?”

“Far too formal – Peter will do.”

She blushed, wondering if that was not far too informal.

“I am Josephine.”

She was a tall girl, head almost level with his, strong as well, pacing easily at his side.

“As for flying, Josephine, I took my SS9 up for two hours this morning, trying to discover just how much wind was practical. We must fly whenever we can – a bit of a breeze won’t keep the submarines away. This Force Five and gusting is all of the wind a blimp can handle, we discovered. Not so very bad in flight but landing was not so easy. Luckily the Chief Petty Officer in charge of the field, Mr Yarney, is a very big man and he was able to grab hold of the grapnel as it swung past his head. We have to be hauled down to ground, you know, can only fly so low before we need to be manhandled. The problem is that our engine is just not sufficiently powerful. Not to worry – we know what we can do now. What have you been doing with yourself?”

Not a great deal, it transpired. Some knitting and sewing for soldiers’ comforts and an amount of work in the garden – it being patriotic to dig and grow one’s own food. Mostly, she had walked and read and talked with her friends in town. A quiet life, she feared.

Luncheon showed no signs of food shortage. The dining room was almost full, mostly of local professionals and businessmen taking their leisurely break. There were no signs of war, Peter displaying the sole uniform.

“All very quiet and peaceful here in Shoreham. What is happening at the field now?”

She had seen no activity since the balloons had flown out. The rumour had been that the camp was to become a training ground for sailors going out to fight with the Naval Brigade in Flanders, but she had seen no evidence of such.

They walked back to her grandparents’ house on the outskirts of the small town, a short enough distance. It was almost a mansion, at least a score of bedrooms and set in four or five acres of garden and lawns.

“My grandfather is worried that he cannot lay his hands on the gardeners he needs, Peter. There was used to be five of them, each with a boy, but the younger men have all gone off to war. He has been able to take on a pair of men who have come back wounded and unable to continue to serve. I suspect there will be more of them over the coming year.”

He feared she might be right.

“There is my grandfather, in the rose beds. Will you come across to meet him, Peter?”

Doing so implied an interest, even if she did not seem to notice it was so.

He had achieved a first necessary promotion and there was every chance of another inside the following two years – and she was an attractive young lady…

“I am Lieutenant Commander Naseby, RNAS, sir. With the blimps down at Polegate. Moved there from Shoreham a few days ago.”

“Hawes-Parker. Are you one of the banking Nasebys?”

“Second son, sir. My elder brother has joined my father in the hallowed halls of the City – and is far better suited than I am to that life. My function in life is to be the cadet, available against need, you know, but making an existence in the Navy – and thoroughly enjoying myself.”

“Piloting one of those balloons? Not for me, Naseby!”

“It is like sailing one’s own yacht, sir, free from the constraints of a great ship. I was in Calliope, light cruiser, last, sir, and that offered nothing like the sensation of command that a blimp gives. Add to that, of course, there are only a few of us in the RNAS so promotion is far the quicker. I have command of the five ships at Polegate. On Calliope, I was one of eight watch-keeping officers.”

“Much to say for that, Naseby. Likely to stay at Polegate, are you?”

“Unpredictable, sir! Where there are submarines, we may be sent to chase them away. I am far too junior to know what may be planned, sir. Some of us must be kept here on the Channel coast, of a certainty.”

The old man – well past seventy at a guess – straightened with a hand to his aching back.

“You will be welcome here whenever you wish to drop in, Naseby. Time I got back to these roses.”

Peter accepted his dismissal, turned to Josephine hoping that he might see her again in the next week or two. She smiled and trusted that he would – she had few friends in Shoreham.

He walked back to the town, wondering just how soon he would be able to arrange a visit.

Josephine entered the house, finding her grandmother in her workroom, as she had expected.

“Embroidery again, Nanna?”

“Tapestry, my dear. Who is the handsome young man?” She glanced out of the window.

“He is, isn’t he, Nanna? Lieutenant Commander Peter Naseby, in charge of flying at Polegate and with his own balloon as well. I think it very likely he will be promoted again soon.”

“And able to take a wife?”

Josephine’s cheeks flamed scarlet – she had not suggested such a thing.

“Well, my dear?”

“Well, yes, Nanna, but he has been nothing but a gentleman – he ran into me in town and we took a luncheon together. I have met him twice before and I am sure it was nothing more than politeness on his part.”

“Young men do not give up hours of their time for politeness, Josephine. He remained in your company because he wanted to.”

The colour flared again.

“He is of a good family, if he is of the Nasebys I know.”

“Grandfather asked if they were bankers and he said they were.”

“That’s them. Even a second son of theirs is worth getting your hooks into, my dear.”

“But, Nanna, I am doing no such thing!”

“Not intentionally, perhaps, my dear. No need for you to worry about a husband this next year or two in any case. If you fancy this one, you could do far worse. What did your father say in his last letter from Washington?”

She was surprised by the apparent change of topic.

“Just that he is busy there. Much to do with wartime purchasing and such but he has time for a social life. Not a town for balls, it would seem, but frequent dinner parties and musical evenings and such. He mentioned a Mrs Mortlake, a widowed lady, who commonly acts as his partner to make up the numbers at dinner.”

“I suspect she may be more than that to him, my dear. He might well be considering marrying again. His last letter to us hinted at the possibility. That could be awkward for you.”

“I had thought to join him in Washington, Nanna. It is possible to cross to Boulogne – there are supposed to be no civilian passengers but that can be overcome – and then take a train to the south of France and another along the coast to Barcelona. Then a neutral ship from Cadiz to New York is said to be perfectly safe. A long journey but not too difficult for us to arrange. I spoke to Cecelia Parker and she told me her brother and his wife had done the same only recently.”

“Oh! Did she perhaps explain why?”

It had not occurred to Josephine to ask.

“I wonder why a young man might choose to leave his country in time of war, Josephine.”

Josephine was silent a few seconds, was forced to answer.

“It sounds rather discreditable, does it not, Nanna. I do not know the family has business interests in America. They are very comfortable, I know, owning a deal of land locally. I remember Cecelia saying they possessed a ranch in Texas as well. Perhaps they have gone there.”

The old lady snorted, said no more on the topic.

“If my father is considering another wife in Washington, then a grown-up daughter joining him might be by way of a hindrance, do not you think, Nanna?”

“I fear so, my dear. Better you should stay in England. You can remain with us until you are of age, that will be no problem. After that, you inherit from your mother – not a lot, a small house and farm in the country behind Petersfield, not so far from Portsmouth, and an income sufficient to live on. You can be comfortable there with a horse or two and a quiet way of life. You do not have to hunt for a husband. That is not to say you should turn one down if a proper man comes your way.”

“Such as Peter Naseby?”

“He is one of many who will cross your path, my dear. If you feel you can love him, then he has much to recommend him. If not, send him on his way!”

She was left with much to think about, spent an hour in her room, pondering, came down to dinner with no decision taken other than that it was far too soon to send Peter Naseby on his way. She was quite upset at the prospect of doing so, she discovered, and chose not to pursue that line of thought any further.

The wind eased, as had been predicted and the five blimps entered into a regime of patrolling, busy in their stretch of the Channel.

At the end of ten long days none had seen anything other than the ships they had convoyed.

Troughton addressed them before dinner, bright and fresh in front of their tired faces.

“We have logged up just over four hundred hours of patrolling, gentlemen – which is good going in so few days. In that time, there have been no losses of ships in our sector. Not one of the ships we have convoyed has been hit. As well, there has been little submarine activity reported to our east, due, certainly, to you forcing them to remain underwater for the whole of their days. The submarines have been spotted out in the Western Approaches. They have not managed to penetrate the Channel. Dover and Harwich patrols both report the normal level of activity in the North Sea, so they are not staying home – they are simply keeping clear of us. Total success, gentlemen! In a normal week, one ship at least would have been lost in our part of the Channel and two or three might have reported sightings or unsuccessful attacks. Nothing!”

They thought that was wonderful news, had hoped he was announcing the onset of an Atlantic gale that would close them down for flying for a couple of days.

Dinner was a quiet meal and the majority had turned in before ten o’clock, needing sleep, not always finding it.

“The strain is getting to some of the boys already, Naseby.”

“Woods and Davies are showing some signs, sir. Insufficient to ground them, however. Of the pilots, Wiggins is showing worried by the responsibility. Horrocks is imperturbable; Bracegirdle rock-hard; Tubbs, surprisingly, seems more confident by the day. I had not expected that youngster to grow in such a fashion, I will admit, sir.”

“Nor me. First time in his life he has been set free to sink or swim, I should imagine. He is showing well under the pressure. Early promotion for that one. About Wiggins? I don’t know. Nothing wrong with a man being worried by his job, so long as it does not stop him doing it. Let it go for the while.”

Low, broken cloud and light wind next morning and Peter took SS9 up to two thousand feet, just high enough to tuck the balloon into the bottom of the clouds, her grey paint almost invisible. The nacelle was so small that there was a good chance that the blimp would remain unseen.

“Westbound convoy at three miles, sir. SS14 escorting.”

“Got them, Griffiths. I’ll go another five miles seaward of them and head west.”

Ten minutes had them in position, still hidden against the clouds, headreaching on the convoy and about ten miles offshore, south of Brighton in deep water.

Griffiths gave a sudden yell.

“Port bow, sir. Ten o’clock, at two miles. Submarine, sir.”

“Make sighting report, Griffiths. Submarine heading up-Channel, making perhaps six knots? Can’t really tell from her wake. Banking to port, Griffiths. Ready that rifle of yours.”

Peter opened the throttle, took the blimp from cruising towards her limited full speed.

“Diving hard, Griffiths.”

The boy grabbed hold of his handrail as the nose pointed down. He eased the rifle to his shoulder as they came within a mile of the submarine, still making her way unconcerned. He could see lookouts scanning the horizon, staring out to sea, none with their heads up. Attack from the air was still almost unknown. He cocked the Lewis, ready for the command.

“Spotted us! Fire, Griffiths!”

Perhaps a thousand yards, five cables, distant and at a height of six hundred feet, still diving in the leisurely fashion of a blimp.

Griffiths released four aimed shots from his magazine rifle, dropped it at his side and put his shoulder to the Lewis, emptied its forty-seven rounds in a sustained burst.

“Hits, sir! Men down in the conning tower. They can’t clear it!”

Peter reached across from the yoke, took a grip on the toggle of the bomb release, watched as he came over the submarine, just beginning its dive. He dropped from one hundred feet, the single one hundred and twelve pound bomb falling cleanly away, nose first.

Griffiths was hanging out of his cockpit, staring behind them.

“Hit, sir! Just in front of the conning tower!”

There was a loud explosion, a great cloud of spray and the submarine rolled onto its side before slipping under the water. A few seconds and the spray cleared and they watched as oil gouted up to the surface.

“Got her, sir! She’s sunk, sir!”

“Probably. Send the report. ‘Bombed surfaced submarine. Observed hit. Submarine submerged. Large oil slick forming’.”

Griffiths sat down to the wireless, standing as soon as he could to scan their scene of triumph.

“Acknowledged, sir. ‘Well done’.”

They circled the oil slick, watching for signs of movement. There was a sudden big bubble of air, as if the compressed air reservoirs had ruptured.

“Looks like a body, sir. Showing white.”

Peter peered and agreed that it seemed to be flesh.

He scanned the horizon.

“Destroyer closing at speed. Must be pushing thirty knots.”

A new ‘M’ class, he thought, coming to assist as necessary. Peter fired a green flare, to confirm his friendly status. He had not forgotten the destroyer that had mistaken him for a Zeppelin a fortnight previously.

The destroyer circled close to the oil slick and dropped a boat which recovered four bodies and some items of uniform and mess tins – it seemed that the submarine had been enjoying a late breakfast when they hit it.

“Light signal, sir. Can’t get all of it. ‘Sub sunk. U 22 on cap tallies. Good shooting.”

“Acknowledge – wave to them.”

They did not have an Aldis signal lamp, preferring not to carry the additional weight of lamp and batteries.

“Signal return to base to rearm, Griffiths.”

Peter put SS9 into her slow turn and climbed away from the scene of his victory, heading on a direct line for Polegate.

They landed to roars of cheering, men dancing and shouting on the field and almost fighting each other to take a grip on the nacelle and walk them in.

Troughton was there, waving his cap and yelling with the rest.

“Got one, Naseby. All our own! First battle honour for Polegate and for the RNAS, for any of the blimps.”

“Griffiths did well with his rifle, sir. Shot a couple in the conning tower so they could not dive fast. Hid up in the clouds, sir, and they weren’t looking for attack from the air. Dropped at about a hundred feet, hit her just in front of the tower. Bloody great bang!”

“I should think it was, man! Lucky it hit in front of the tower – shielded you from the blast, I would think.”

Pickles came across to say that he wanted to put SS9 inside where he could work on her.

“Picked up a few bomb fragments in the nacelle, towards the rear end, and I want to look at the envelope, see if there might be some tiny holes there.”

“Off the duty list for the rest of the day, Pickles.”

Peter was not displeased to be idle for a few hours. The shock of the sudden action was just hitting home, now that he had nothing to do.

“Tea, Naseby! And you, Griffiths. Sit down and write up your reports – they will be wanted soonest.”

They sat at tables in the mess to produce their accounts of the morning’s action, necessarily brief. Cooks and stewards vied with each other to run hot tea to them, quickly followed by toast and marmalade for a second breakfast. A carpenter appeared, one of the riggers from the hangar, and took measurements of a clear space on the wall.

“Honours Board, sir, for Polegate.”

It was all somewhat embarrassing, but done with the best of intentions, the whole base sharing in their great and only half-expected success. They had known they were keeping submarines down, had not really thought they might sink one.

Troughton appeared at five minute intervals, it seemed.

“Congratulations, Polegate, C-in-C Dover Patrol.”

“Well done, Polegate, C-in-C Portsmouth – makes a change from sinking admirals.”

Peter laughed – that story would never leave him – he would always be the officer who ran down the Admiral in his barge.

“From the Admiralty. Vice-Admiral in charge of Operations, Channel Coast, will visit this afternoon, with guest. Well done all. In the best traditions of the Royal Navy. Naseby and Griffiths, best working dress.”

“Why, sir?”

Troughton shrugged – he had not the faintest idea.

“You are to be smart but sea-going. I can only imagine they want a photograph. I wonder why?”

Word was passed to the CPOs – there would be brass on the field, of the most senior. Everything that could be quickly polished must shine.

“We are to recall the patrolling blimps, Naseby. All to be present on the field, crews in place, bombed up, Lewises mounted. Do you think they are bringing Royalty with them, Naseby? Putting on a display, sort of thing?”

It was possible.

They ran and swore and tucked everything unofficial out of sight and the cooks baked a cake and telephoned for fresh bread from the baker in Folkestone and dug out ham from their private stores to make official sandwiches for visitors, according to regulations.

“We’ve got nothing worth drinking in the cellar, Naseby! If there is Royalty, we can’t give him table wine, red, official issue for the drinking of.”

The prospect was appalling – they would never live it down.

“Who’s got a nose for a wine bottle?”

Crawley, the chemist, admitted to knowing his wines – his father had a cellar and had brought him up to appreciate a good glass. He was sent off in a Crossley with a blank cheque from Peter to quickly locate the best wine merchant in Brighton, a far more fashionable town than Folkestone, and bring back half a dozen cases of the best.

“Bloody good thing you’re a banker, Naseby! Helps to have a bit of money sometimes.”

It was unimportant, Peter responded.

“I don’t use a half of my allowance most years, sir. It just sits in the account, building up for when I need it. Be different when, if that is, I get married.”

“Oho! Thinking of taking the fatal step, Naseby?”

“Considering it, sir. Got to know the most attractive young lady just recently. Early days yet and she’s of no great age. Met her grandparents couple of weeks back – when the wind was high, you recall. Pleasant people. Mother dead, father in the embassy in the States.”

“Sounds good to me, Naseby. If you want my advice – and there’s no reason why you should – go for it. Better far married now than regretting in five years that you never quite got around to it. Not to worry! Is that your report? Good. I’ll tuck it in with mine and we shall have all the paperwork squared away. Fitzjames won’t be coming across, by the way. He was carted off to hospital yesterday, poor chap, at Haslar. From what they say, I doubt he will come out. I’ve sent a telegram – buck him up a bit to know of our success. Don’t know what’s to be done for running the bases now.”

They needed an administration above them, a setup that would organise men and materials to keep the show running. It would help if there was a senior man standing between them and the top brass. It would be even more useful if the post captain appointed actually knew what was happening down on the Channel coast – men from the Admiralty generally knew what should be going on far better than actually was the case.

Lunch came, haphazardly, the cooks with much better things to do.

The four blimps made their early returns, all given the news as they landed and were towed to holding positions around the field, CPO Yarney personally driving home the iron corkscrew stakes they were tied to, fixing them deep into the soil, down into the chalk itself.

“If the bloody wind gets up, sir, they’re going indoors where they belong, Admiral or no Admiral!”

“Forecast is for a calm day, Chief.”

“And you know just how reliable the forecasters are, sir.”

“They get it right more often than not, Chief.”

“Yes, sir. Let’s hope it’s one of their good days.”

A car drove in at two o’clock, disgorged four staff officers fresh from the Admiralty who inspected everything and were sure they had done their jolly best. Their actual function seemed unclear, particularly to them.

Crawley came back and supervised the careful unloading of crate after crate into the rear of the Cottage.

“Half a dozen crates, Crawley?”

“Well, sir, when we got down to it, the merchant had some remarkable stuff tucked away in his back store, too good for everyday customers, he said, but when I told him we were expecting Royalty he dug out his very best. Bit of a crawler, actually, almost dribbled at the thought of Royalty drinking his bottles. Fellow by the name of Wheatley. He asked me to send him a photograph of the occasion if I could. In the end, sir, he was truly open-handed. I only paid seventy pounds in total for some of the best wines I have ever come across. Included a half-case of Imperial Tokay, would you believe! Almost impossible to get hold of! Far too good to waste on a Prince or whatever – they say he’s got no taste at all for a good wine. Sort of thing we can get out for our own celebrations, on special days and whatever.”

Peter was in a state of shock again – he had no particular use for the seventy pounds in question, admittedly, but to spend it on wine seemed excessive. Crawley had no doubt it was money well used.

“If any of them know their wines, they will leave us happy people, sir. By the way, do we know who they are?”

They asked the staff officers, found they knew very little except that they had been told to come down to Polegate and make sure all was ready.

“Bound to be something interesting, sir! Can’t imagine they would have sent us out into the sticks for nothing. Time for the bar to open yet, sir?”

Troughton nodded across to the stewards. Dry staff officers were a menace to the whole of humanity.

A rating was stood on the front steps of the Cottage, his function to watch the gate for visitors.

“Commander, sir! Five cars at the gate. Leading two at least Rolls Royces. Gate guard offering full honours, sir.”

“Coxswain!”

Biggs shouted acknowledgement and the routine of honours swung into play.

Ten minutes saw a Vice-Admiral and three post captains and their assorted entourages, all fawning around the young Prince of Wales, dressed up as an Admiral of the Fleet for the occasion.

A second convoy had disgorged photographers and reporters from all of the national newspapers, all scurrying obsequiously to get their ‘shots’ and identify who was who among the insignificant underlings who were to be honoured that day.

“Lieutenant Commander Naseby, Your Highness, pilot of Sea Scout SS9 which performed the successful attack this morning.”

The Royal smile was awarded, cameras clicking and flash powder flaring.

“A fine piece of work, Naseby. The submarines are a menace to civilised existence and you have done well to destroy one single-handed. One of the banking Nasebys, as well! Jolly good show!”

A hook had been attached to the breast of Peter’s uniform and the Royal Personage hung a medal to it, all very efficiently.

“The Distinguished Service Order, Naseby and well-earned. You are also promoted Commander I understand. Substantive Lieutenant Commander and acting in the senior rank. No doubt you will soon earn the full promotion, sir.”

Peter saluted and stepped back, as previously instructed.

Griffiths stepped forward and was made full lieutenant, rather than sub, and awarded the DSC. He retreated almost in a daze.

“Two stripes, sir, not one!”

“Not unheard of in wartime, Griffiths. It means you can take over your own balloon at an early stage. Add to that, it’s tidier – can’t have subs running about with DSCs, you know!”

They were herded to one side and exposed to the reporters and their questions, few of which made sense. They agreed that they were glad to have done their duty and struck a blow against the Hun. That seemed to be a very good thing and was written down in the reporters’ notepads.

Had Peter a young lady whose heart would be gladdened by his valour?

“I hope I may, sir. Early days to tell yet but I hope…”

That was more than sufficient for the Press. Pencils came into play again.

“Naseby, sir, is that the City family?”

“Well, yes, my father is a banker.”

Wise looks came across the reporters’ faces and they mentally struck out the more lurid phrases – sensible men did not offend that particular family.

Wine bottles were opened for the Royal party and the reporters were given gin, both sets seeming satisfied.

An hour and they were all decanted back into their cars and were saluted ashore, all as it should be.

“Jolly good show, Naseby!”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Not sir, Naseby – not no more!”

“Neither it is, Troughton – I shall have to get used to that.”

“So will I, old chap. The Admiral said that Fitzjames is done for and they must tidy up. For the moment, no change, be ready for anything to happen in the next couple of days. Flying again tomorrow, of course.”

“Commander with a DSO at twenty-four – does a bit of good to my career, I think, Troughton.”

“A lot, I would suggest, old chap. Sets you up as a civilian, too, if you would prefer that when the war comes to an end. Lots to think about. Free to consider a wife as well – commonplace for a commander to marry. Much to be said in favour, in fact. As well, leaves you a degree of freedom in your future – I suspect you will not be restricted to the RNAS. Much to think about. Young Griffiths as well. Train him up as a pilot and see what he can make of himself in the service.”

Five minutes of excitement had effectively changed the whole of his life, and Griffiths’ as well, probably. His future had seemed simply laid out; now there were literally hundreds of possibilities.

Chapter Eight

“You should read this, Josie. Ought to be of interest to you.”

Her grandfather passed the Daily Telegraph across.

The headlines were in the normal bold type, flaring across the front page.

“’Submarine sunk off Brighton. Daring attack by British balloon’, Grandpa? Oh! Was it…”

She left the question unfinished, eyes fixing on the photographs, Peter with a medal on his chest, an unknown lieutenant as well. A larger picture of the Prince of Wales, boldly present at a base on active service, the balloons visible behind him, bombs and Lewises prominent due to a little of artistic touching-up.

“Oh! ‘Machine gunned the conning tower and made a daring diving attack and released his bomb from a bare one hundred feet, striking the pressure hull and blowing a hole through it, sinking the submarine instantly’. Four bodies recovered and to be buried with honours, poor men! I wonder how many others there were aboard, Grandpa?”

“Twenty or thirty, I should imagine. Submarines are small ships.”

“Yet doing a huge amount of damage for their size.”

“Exactly. They must be driven out of the Channel. If they were able to target the troopships crossing from Dover to Calais, that would be a disaster.”

Thousands of soldiers would be killed, she realised.

She turned to the inside pages which showed more photographs of the heroic naval officers and of their balloons resting on the field with bombs prominent. It would seem that the cowardly German nation must shudder in terror at the power that had been unleashed upon them.

“Are the Germans cowards, Grandpa?”

“No. Or no more than any of the rest of us. Why should they be? You can ignore that tosh in the newspapers – it is for the benefit of the foolishly unintelligent, who seem to include the great bulk of our politicians and generals.”

“I see. It does suggest that Commander Naseby was brave to make his attack in the way he did.”

“No doubt of that, Josie. To dive on an enemy vessel underneath a gasbag containing tens of thousands of cubic feet of hydrogen – that shows courage enough for any man!”

She had attended science lessons at school, and had stayed awake in some few, sufficient to have a recollection that hydrogen burned easily.

“They are only very small, their cockpits, as well. It must be cold out in the open, sat up with only their legs and hips covered, the rest exposed to the wind. I know they have leather flying coats but I am sure they are not especially warm.”

“Freezing cold, up at any height. I remember, years back, going to Switzerland and being taken halfway up a mountain there. That was cold even in summer.”

“I suppose I could knit a scarf…”

Her grandmother suggested it were better to buy one.

“You have not really developed the knack of knitting, my dear. Winter might be long past when you finally finished it.”

She was inclined to be indignant, decided the old lady was far more than her match, smiled weakly.

“What else does it say… ‘Commander Naseby hoped his young lady in Shoreham would be pleased at his prowess. This reporter ventures to suggest that any young miss might be proud of such a swain.’”

“How very vulgar, my dear. You may be assured that Commander Naseby said no more than that he has a lady friend in Shoreham, responding to a direct question and unable to deny your existence.”

“Mine?”

“Who else could he be referring to?”

She took refuge in her teacup, avoiding the question.

“Are the newspapers always so disgustingly intrusive?”

Her grandfather answered, his contempt overt.

“Unfailingly, my dear. They exist to pander to the vulgarity of the masses in order to sell their advertising. The so-called ‘free press’ hopes to make a profit each year, and that will be better achieved by offering titivation than cultured good taste. In time of war, their ability to cultivate the basest instincts of the mob goes untrammelled by any consideration of decency or honesty. Germany – the home to Beethoven and Goethe, and a vast number of other titans of the arts – is the land of the Hun, a cowardly race of back-stabbing barbarians, according to our wonderful newspapers. They devalue everything that is decent in England.”

Josephine could not disagree – she had no knowledge of the press. She wondered just why her grandfather was so bitter. She caught her grandmother’s eye and saw the minute shake of her head.

“Do you think I should address a letter to Commander Naseby, offering my congratulations, Grandpapa?”

“If he is one half of the man I think he is, he will be knocking on our door just as soon as he is free, probably before a letter could reach him. What is the weather like?”

“Windy and with low cloud. Rain on the wind, I would think.”

“Not flying weather.”

Commander Troughton agreed.

“Grounded today, Naseby. Westerly wind. Just been on the telephone to the Port Captain’s office at Pompey. Heavy rain showers there. Squally. It will reach us within the next hour or two. Damned good invention, the telephone, you know!”

Peter thought that to be true.

“Time to get ahead of the paperwork, Troughton. Piling up on my desk.”

Troughton shook his head in the most superior fashion.

“That will never do, old fellow! Have a word with Payne… Tell you what, we can do it together.”

He yelled for Payne.

“There you are, Leading Seaman. How long have you in the rank, Payne?”

“Just over a year, sir. Picked it up in the peace, sir, just before I was put across to Cressy when she came out of reserve with a thin crew and needing experienced men. Pity it wasn’t delayed by three months, sir!”

“A bad luck ship, that one, Payne. Your papers are going through for Petty Officer, seeing just how good a job you have done for us here at Polegate.”

“Thank you, sir. Been thinking of getting married, sir. The extra money would do very nicely.”

“Put the request through as soon as you want, Payne. It will be given my approval.”

Payne made his thanks again, waited for the sting in the tail, knowing that he was not being favoured for no reason.

“Too much paperwork coming across the desks, Payne, Mr Naseby’s especially, him flying for the bulk of every day. I remember that my first captain, years back, had a system organised – three trays on his desk. Labels on each. One said ‘Sign’; the second was ‘Take Note Of’; the third, and smallest, read ‘For Immediate Action’. Used to be able to clear his desk in half an hour every day.”

Payne nodded.

“That can be done, sir.”

“I was sure it could be, Payne.”

Troughton picked up the telephone, asked for a number at the Admiralty, waited for the exchange, always slow in wartime, to connect him.

“Johnny, how are you dear boy?”

Peter could just hear the voice from the other end.

“Well indeed, brother. Covering yourself in glory down at Polegate, I see.”

“A bit of luck and a damned good man in the right place, Johnny. The old story.”

“My congratulations to him. What do you need, Archie?”

“Other than the pleasure of listening to your voice, Johnny? I have a Leading Seaman here, Paymaster, recently transferred in, wounded on Cressy. Good man. I want him made up to PO, substantive. It’s early, but I need a bit of rank in my office. Name’s Payne, with a ‘y’.”

There was a slight delay while files were consulted.

“Got him, Archie. Consider it done, dear boy! Right place at the right time – nothing too good for Polegate today. Notification will reach you before the end of the week. Have you heard that your man Fitzjames has kicked the bucket? Just come through. Needs a post captain who knows his way around the system in the RNAS. Seeing what can be done, Archie! Toodle-oo now, old chap – busy with all this work you people put upon me!”

Troughton hung up the receiver, nodded his satisfaction.

“Elder brother by my father’s first marriage, Naseby. Twenty years older than me and a damned good chap. Looked after me all through my schooldays and always had a quid to spare when I was at Dartmouth. Hear a lot about stepbrothers and that, not getting on together – couldn’t ask for a finer brother than Johnny. Rear Admiral now and dealing with the admin side in the RNAS. He will look after Payne, no problems!”

“Pity about Fitzjames, Troughton. A strange sort of fellow but he had the good of the service in mind, that was for sure.”

“Very much so, Naseby.”

Troughton had had respect but no affection for Fitzjames – he was laid to rest with very few words from him.

“Right, now. You had better spend an hour clearing your desk – Payne has had time enough to get to it by now. Then you will want to wander off to Shoreham, I should imagine.”

“I would rather like to, yes, old chap. I expect Oadby will have a uniform ready for me to walk out in.”

“He will, for sure. Good man, that one.”

“Reliable. Can’t ask for a lot more than that.”

“Knows his way about as well. If he gives advice, it will probably be worth listening to, Naseby. My own chap, Silas, is the same. Been in the Andrew for damned near thirty years, been everywhere and done everything – a font of information.”

Oadby had a walking out uniform ready, correct rank markings and DSO ribbon precisely placed on the breast.

“Need to get hold of another pair of shoes, sir. These are a bit beyond it for walking-out, sir. Need to go to working use, sir.”

“Next time I go home, Oadby. The local man there has got my lasts made up. I suppose I could send a letter ordering a pair made for me, ready to pick up.”

“Yes, sir. Two pairs of black patent, sir. Might be as well to order up a pair of boots, sir. Liable to get muddy out on the field. Boots will be warmer in winter as well.”

“Calf high? Not up to the thigh?”

“Calf should do, sir. Might consider riding leathers, sir. Not uniform, though.”

“No. Too much of a good thing, Oadby. Stick to boots.”

The letter was quickly written and addressed. Oadby would take it to the post.

“Right, sir. Tender is waiting outside, sir. Mr Griffiths has gone off to the station already, off to London for the day, to his family.”

“As he should. The papers have made some mention of him using rifle and machine gun, ‘the skills of a sniper nurtured in the African bush’. True, in fact, but they make it sound so much more than life size.”

“That’s what they are there for, sir. If you want the truth, don’t read the newspapers.”

“What do you do, Oadby?”

“Ask somebody what was there, sir.”

“They’ll just tell you it was a cockup.”

“That’s right, sir. Nine times out of ten, that is. The tenth time, it didn’t happen at all.”

There was no gain to arguing with lower deck wisdom, especially when it came so close to the truth.

Mr Hawes-Parker was stood peering at the sky when Peter arrived.

“’Morning, Naseby. Do think it’s going to rain in the next hour?”

“Probably, yes, sir.”

“That’s what I thought. No cutting the grass today. Three rings up, I see, and a very respectable piece of ribbon! You did well, young man.”

“The right place at the right time, sir.”

“And doing the right thing. What’s the chance of getting another?”

“Almost none, sir. We are not really there to get them – our job is to be seen by them so that they stay underwater. They can only catch up with ships on the surface. They are too slow submerged. They go under to make their final approach. If we can keep them down at a distance, they will not catch our ships. We can force them to work at night only, in effect. In the Channel, that means they will sink very little.”

“Good. Long hours of patrol and nothing to show for it?”

“None of our ships sunk, sir. That’s all we need to show.”

“Are you too senior to pilot a balloon now?”

“In theory, yes, sir. While we are short of pilots, no.”

“Better come inside, I’ve kept you out here too long nattering. My granddaughter will be waiting to see you.” They progressed slowly to the door. “That midshipman of yours did well, Naseby. Brought up in Africa?”

“Went out to the Gold Coast with his parents – merchanting cocoa and palm oil, I believe, came back in early ’14. He grew up there playing with the locals and looked after by the guards. He’s a good shot with a rifle and knew what to do with the Lewis. Older than his years – I doubt he’s seventeen yet he carries himself like a man. I much suspect that the local girls taught him a lot more than one might expect a youngster of that age to know – he has that sort of confidence about him, you know, sir?”

“Saw it in some of my own ensigns, Naseby. Some of ours were country lads and had learned an awful lot in the hay barns with the lasses; others had come from a school and were very little boys. The difference was obvious, as you say. Saw a bit of Africa myself. Sent my papers in after the Zulu War. Not a lot of choice in the matter. My regiment was supposed to be guarding the Prince Imperial on the day the damned fool got himself killed, going out without orders and without his guard. The bloody newspapers howled for blood and had to get it.”

Peter made no comment – there was nothing sensible to be said.

Josephine was sat decorously at the worktable in the second sitting room, making a show of embroidery. She was not doing especially well, judging by the grin on her grandmother’s face.

“Commander Naseby! We hoped, that is I wondered if you might be able to call today.”

“Raining and gusty winds, actual squalls not impossible. The blimps are tucked away in their hangars and their pilots are at leisure, for the first time in two weeks!”

“Is it actually hard labour, flying a balloon? One sees pictures of the old sailing ships with men heaving on ropes and such…”

“No, not hard in that sense. Merely long hours of sitting in a cold cockpit, watchful all the time, trying to keep alert. It is not demanding in the physical sense. It is cold and the rain always trickles down the back of one’s neck and the wind finds some place where one’s pullover does not quite cover the skin. Tedious and tiring yet one must remain awake and watchful at all times. On a dry day with little wind, the sun shining on one’s back – then it is a pleasure cruise, a holiday excursion. For some reason, those days are rare in England!”

She knew that to be so.

“Are you to continue as a pilot despite your more senior rank, Commander?”

“While we are short of pilots, I must. We shall have the better part of forty blimps flying by the end of this month and we have one half of that number of properly trained pilots yet. I am one of the senior men – and I have fewer than two hundred hours of flight to my name. When I was given my watch-keeping certificate as a midshipman, immediately before I was promoted sub, I had, at a rough guess, more than two thousand hours in total on a ship’s bridge. We are inventing our skills as we go. I must continue to fly for many months yet, until we know what we are doing.”

“Chasing submarines all the while, Commander?”

The question came from old Mrs Hawes-Parker, sat back observing the formality between the two with some amusement.

“That is our main function, ma’am. There has been some talk of using us to spot for bombarding ships of the Dunkirk Squadron, I understand. That may come to something, or it may just be talk. In the same way, there has been speculation of the possibility of blimps accompanying the Grand Fleet in a reconnaissance role. I think that must wait until the new, bigger Coastals come into service.”

“Speculation, as you say, Commander Naseby. You expect to remain with the RNAS, for the remainder of your career?”

“Probably, ma’am, but in wartime I shall go where I am sent with nothing to say on the matter. The RNAS seems most likely and has the old advantage of the big fish in the small pool.”

“Very few Commanders and only one who has a submarine to his credit – that can only be useful to you, young man.”

“It must be, ma’am.”

“So it must. Come now, you should not be sitting around in here talking to an old woman. Take my granddaughter out for some fresh air and buy her a lunch as well. I shall see you later.”

Peter gained the impression that a decision had been taken. He had been accepted as a suitor, was regarded as a fit and proper person to marry into her family.

Josephine ran for coat and scarf, was ready to go in a bare five minutes, to the amaze of the menfolk.

“A walk to the hotel, Josephine?”

“No. To the fishing harbour and the little restaurant there. It is owned by an Italian family and does wonders with crabs and lobster and flatfish. It is a treat we sometimes indulge in. The distance is a little far for my grandparents to walk and so we have to arrange a cab.”

He found himself holding her hand as they walked, rather fast for so early in their acquaintance but very pleasant.

They passed a shop towards the harbour, closed down and windows boarded up, graffiti scrawled in red paint.

“‘Bloody Huns’. Who were they?”

“The tailor, Mr Schultz. He has lived here all his life. His father came from Germany in the 1860s, so my grandfather said. His windows were smashed repeatedly last year and he gave up and left the town. I cannot think that to be right, Peter!”

“It is not. I have heard of the little German dogs, the Dachshunds, being killed for being Huns. People can be extremely unpleasant on occasion, and remarkably stupid.”

Lunch was all that she had promised, a meal that brought recollections of the Mediterranean where his ship had cruised in 1912. His reminiscences provided plenty to talk about.

“A pity we have no Russian restaurants that I know of to bring back memories of St Petersburg, Josephine.”

She shook her head.

“No. The Russians have no food of their own, the cuisine was all French, and very good. Those of us who had access to food, ate well.”

“You mentioned bread riots, I remember.”

“There will be revolution before long, because of those riots, Peter. The peasants are treated like animals, like dogs. If you are cruel to a dog, sooner or later, it will bite.”

It was a simple analysis and wholly convincing.

Peter called for the bill. The waiter came with a copy of the Daily Mail, opened to a large photograph of Peter stood in front of SS9.

“If you would autograph this, sir, we will put it up on the wall. Shoreham’s own war hero, sir. There is no bill.”

It was embarrassing; there was no alternative except to be churlish. He could fling a ten shilling note down on the table and storm out – it would be a shockingly ill-mannered response. He managed a smile and took the proffered fountain pen.

“Across the corner, sir. Thank you, sir. We shall have this framed, sir.”

Josephine said nothing, aware of Peter’s emotions, unable to think of anything useful to offer.

They took their coats and smiled their best and thanked the proprietor and walked off to the harbour.

“I did not expect that, Josephine.”

“No more did I… You were right to sign it, and to smile kindly, difficult though that must have been.”

“It was. They meant nothing other than the best. How disgraceful I would have been to refuse them!”

A slow walk back to the house.

“May I call in future, Josephine. Often, perhaps?”

“You will be more than welcome, Peter.”

They said no more on personal matters, it was far too soon to make any expressions of affection. The Crossley arrived for him soon after returning, carried him off to Polegate reflecting on his day, on balance enjoyable.

“Beg pardon, sir. Mr Troughton would like a word on your return.”

Peter made his way to the office, found Troughton in process of putting together his personal belongings.

“Folkestone for me, Naseby. I am to be the Grand Panjandrum, in charge of the stations along the south Kent and Sussex coasts. They have given me a fourth ring!”

“Post Captain, sir. My most sincere congratulations.”

“Thank’ee, Naseby. You are to continue as OIC Flying and another body will come into this office. You will be senior on the flying side under me. I expect to be on the telephone to you most days. As yet, all is up in the air, literally. The weather is set foul for the next two days, so you should go home for a forty-eight hour pass. You will be busy on your return.”

That sounded much like an order. Peter wondered why he must go home. It was not worth arguing about – he might be reading too much into a simple offer of two days of freedom.

He took the train to Brighton next morning and then express to London, was knocking on the front door by mid-morning. A maid gave him entry, to his surprise. There had always been a manservant as well as the butler.

“Charles has gone to the war, sir. Difficult to find a manservant now, sir.”

He had not expected a maid to be so talkative either. Times were changing.

His mother and Minnie were sat in their workroom, labouring over a mass of small boxes which they were filling from various open cartons.

“Peter! I did not hope to see you so soon. Are you well, my dear?”

He could see no reason why he should not be.

“Whatever are you doing? Have you taken up smoking, Mama?”

He gestured at the literally hundreds of packets of Woodbines cigarettes, one of the cheapest brands.

“A Christmas present for the troops, from the Committee to go to every volunteer from the borough. The funds permitted a box each with sixty cigarettes and two bars of chocolate and a balaclava helmet and a woollen scarf. I have the privilege of packing the boxes, being Chairlady of the Committee. They must go as soon as possible, being some four months late already. The previous chair was not an organiser!”

It would be June by the time the presents actually got to the men; no doubt they would still be welcome.

“Jenny not with you?”

“She is training to be a nurse, is at the hospital six days a week now. She was more upset than I had realised at her young man dying. She wishes to do her bit, she says.”

That was wholly unexpected – his sister was to be a debutante, not a nurse caring for the wounded of the war. He could not like it, was not about to object.

“My father approves, Mama?”

“He could hardly do otherwise, Peter. There would be such a fuss if he moved to prevent her from serving.”

He said no more on the topic.

“What of you, Minnie?”

“I am learning to drive the car, Peter. When I am competent, I shall join one of the Auxiliary Services. I cannot be a nurse – the blood and the smells and everything! I can be useful, doing a job that will free a man to fight.”

Perhaps he had been sheltered from the changes that were affecting the country, too tied up in his own little world to know what was happening in the country as a whole.

“What of you, brother? Who is this young lady in Shoreham the papers made so much of?”

“Minnie! I told you not to plague your brother when he came home! He must be tired and in need of rest more than anything. After his experiences…”

“No need to worry about me, Mama! The whole business was over in a minute, just a sudden burst of activity and then all finished, a matter of tidying up, no more. The afterclap, the fuss and bother with admirals and the Prince and the newspapers has been far more wearing an experience than the brief fight.”

If her son said so, then she would not argue. She thought him to look older, leaner in the face, strained; he was working long hours and out in an open cockpit, from the photographs in the newspapers, all of which were safely tucked away on her shelves.

“Your face is weather-beaten, Peter. Exposed to the wind all day, it must be. Much like the old sailing ships. I remember my grandfather looking much the same, and he had been retired some little while when I was born. He was a post captain and had a sailing two-decker, one of the last not to have steam as well. Not to worry – there is nothing to be done about it. You look very fine with the three rings on your sleeve – an early promotion.”

“Ten years before I would have even hoped, in peacetime. As it stands, Mama, I am one of the high-flyers now, in both senses!”

They laughed, easing now that the first awkwardness was passed.

“What of your young lady, my son, now that your sister has broached the topic?”

“Miss Josephine Hawes-Parker. Her father is in the Diplomatic Corps, currently in Washington. Her mother is long dead and she remains with her grandparents in Shoreham. Early days yet to say whether it is anything more than acquaintance… I think you would like her, Mama.”

“Hawes-Parker – I know the name if not the people. Her grandmother was a Nisbet, cousin to my sister Elisabeth’s husband’s family. She is one of us.”

That went a long way to ensuring Josephine’s acceptance, if that occasion arose.

“Are you to remain with the balloons, Peter?”

“I hope so, Mama. I have no great choice in the matter, of course. If Their Lordships decide otherwise, I shall go where I am sent. It is unlikely that they will shift me out of the RNAS. Nothing is impossible in the Navy.”

An afternoon in idleness, mostly talking with his sister and discovering what her actual plans were.

“You were just a little evasive in front of Mama, Minnie!”

“Least said the better, Peter. I am to join the Field Auxiliary Nursing Yeomanry as a driver three weeks from Monday. All arranged – I took a day out with Jenny, as far as our parents know. I am only eighteen, still a minor, needing their permission to join. We forged the letter between us. They are short of drivers and are having to train most of their own, rather slowly. I am proficient behind the wheel now and shall be in France by the Tuesday. I am to drive an ambulance to Dover and board ship there. All has been confirmed, the letters sent to Jenny at her hospital. I shall be a trooper, not an officer, but drivers will be promoted corporal very quickly.”

Peter whistled, knowing that he should inform his father of his youngest daughter’s plans. He had no intention of doing so – Minnie was old enough to make her own mind up. Thinking on it, Minnie was older than Josephine by some months. His father would have no objection to her marrying at her age.

“Write to me at HMS Polegate, Minnie. Let me know where you are and what you are doing. Brother Geoffrey will be outraged, no doubt, and our parents will be upset. You are doing what you think is right – good luck to you. There was some mention of a young man in the Flying Corps?”

“Young Edwards? More my father’s hopes than my wishes, Peter. I have not heard from him since he went to France, know nothing of him these days.”

“From all we read, the RFC is in trouble in the air in France. Anything might have happened to him.”

That led to discussion of the risks of flying in the balloons. He had to admit there was danger in the job, did not think it was worse than going to sea in wartime.

“What of Geoffrey, by the way? Is he to remain in the bank? No chance that he will be so foolish as to go to war?”

Minnie was inclined to be disparaging of her elder brother.

“Not the least prospect of him straying out of the City! He will not take any risk that can be avoided – a very proper banking gentleman is our brother.”

“We cannot make war without money, Minnie. A balloon costs the better part of seven thousand pounds, I am told, and the envelope, the elasticated rubber skin that holds the gas, must be replaced at intervals of six to twelve months. Add in the cost of hydrogen gas itself and of the men needed to walk the balloon in and out of the hangars and of the mechanics and we demand a mort of money from the government. I have not included the cost of the bombs we so casually fling into the Channel at the least hint of a shadow beneath the waves – we do not come cheap.”

“No war without the financiers, brother? That might be an argument to shoot the bankers!”

He was shocked that she might even joke about such a thing. The Royal Navy did not include Reds in its ranks.

His father and brother arrived home off the five minutes past five train from London Bridge station, as always, their routine almost never to be broken.

“Peter, I had hoped you might be here tonight! We are to go to dinner with the Lancings, you know, and they are expecting you. Your people said you would be here. I am afraid that you will to an extent be the guest of honour – can’t be avoided in the circumstances. Dress, of course, ribbon rather than miniature medal. A good opportunity for you to meet local Society – it will be rather a large function. With any luck the eldest daughter won’t be there!”

Peter had met Lord Lancing in passing over the years, knew he had a vast family, one son and eight or nine daughters. The oldest girl came to mind – she had done something the year previously, just before war broke out – suffragettes or somesuch, he vaguely recalled. Threw a brick at Lloyd George, perhaps? Not a bad idea if she had – the man was a thorough-going bad lot, a womaniser and a bribe taker if all that was said was true. He had some points in his favour, certainly, had passed some valuable legislation helping ordinary people – he knew that the lower deck had a great respect for him – but the man was no gentleman! His father was not one to have time for suffragettes, brother Geoffrey even less so.

“Surprised he still acknowledges her, sir. Disgraceful sort, a traitor to our class, if you ask me.”

His brother became stuffier each time he met him; he had his good points however.

“Still busy, Geoffrey?”

“More than ever, Peter. Not making such an impact on the world as you though, Peter! I was so proud to see your name and face in the newspapers yesterday. Good to see that medal on your chest, and the promotion – you will be making the headlines while I remain a mere banker tucked away in a back office out of sight. I am so pleased for you – and respectful of your deeds, old chap! I know you will not want to spout off about it, so I won’t be asking you for all the details. You have brought glory to us all, you know. Lunchtime yesterday and today there were chaps asking was you one of us and I was delighted to say you was, outshining us all!”

True pleasure in his younger brother and not the slightest trace of jealousy that he was made lesser in the family. It was possible to forgive a great deal of stuffiness.

“Luck, Geoffrey. We came out of the clouds unseen at the right time and were able to put an end to that submarine’s killing of our merchant seamen. It’s a poor way of making war, sinking civilians from ambush, Geoffrey! I see it more like rat killing than fighting an honourable enemy, you know.”

“So it is, Peter! You are so right.”

His father was more restrained in his congratulations, no less sincere.

“Admiral before you are forty at this rate, Peter. What’s this of a young lady in Shoreham, my son?”

“Little more than an acquaintance yet, sir. Josephine Hawes-Parker – my mother says you know the family vaguely – still young and a friend, which is not to say she may not become more, sir.”

“Early days, in fact, Peter. Good family and faintly connected. Her father is in Washington, I believe – in fact, I am sure. Met up with the name dealing with American business recently. No objections from me if you look for a marriage there. Not that there would be if you choose to marry anywhere – you are old enough and ugly enough to look after yourself, young man!”

They laughed together, Peter’s mother inclined to be indignant – her son was not ugly.

“Oh, and well done for that bit of colour on your chest, my son. First in the family, us not being in the military line, generally speaking. Well-earned and does your future no harm. Good for the bank, too – not that that should be important to you. Any number of bigwigs catching my eye and offering a word of congratulation this couple of days. Very useful. You must do it again, my son!”

They parted to change, Peter swearing quietly that Oadby was not to hand to assist him with dress uniform.

Jennifer was not present to join them – apparently she worked long hours at the hospital, especially when a new batch of wounded came in from France.

“The figures are appalling still, Peter. Men going down by the thousand. Your Naval Brigade has been in the thick of it again.”

Peter wondered how the two unwilling recent recruits to the Brigade’s ranks had fared. He cared very little, he discovered. Neither man had been worthy of the name – he had no affection for the cowardly.

They took two cars to the Lancings, formal dress demanding space, for the womenfolk especially.

He had seen the Lancings’ seat before, a manor that had now been overtaken by the town, had new housing on three sides, all large, detached properties for the City men who travelled into Town every day, like the Nasebys.

“Will Lancing sell up, do you think, Father?”

“Get out of the area and let the developers pull down the old place and put up another hundred of ‘six-bedroom bijou mansionettes’ Peter? That is a quote from an estate agency, I would add, not my imagination!”

They savoured the ridiculous phraseology, almost admiring that sort of mind that could come up with something so pretentiously ridiculous.

“’Bijou’, Father? What exactly does that mean?”

“Small, delicate and elegant, I believe, my son. I looked in my dictionary, disbelieving, when I first saw it used for the redbrick monstrosities they are depositing all over Surrey and Middlesex.”

“Tasteless vulgarity taken to the nth degree, it would seem sir.”

“Well said, young man. Hush now, we must present ourselves, the Nasebys en masse, you at the front, Peter.”

“Not damned likely, sir. I may well walk in front of your coffin one day, but I shan’t claim superiority over you before then!”

“Well said. I stand rebuked – the fate of all fathers, they tell me.”

Lord Lancing stood next to his broad-hipped lady, welcoming his guests at the door, as was right. He was very slightly tipsy. Peter remembered that to be his normal condition at any time of day or night; he suspected that he took a double brandy on the hour, every hour, to maintain his condition.

“Good to see you, Naseby, and you, ma’am. Commander Naseby, you are most welcome to my roof, sir. Mr Naseby, Miss Ermintrude Naseby, I am glad to greet you.”

They made the appropriate mutters in reply and passed inside, leaving my lord to welcome the next comers.

At a glance Peter estimated a score of guests already present, stood in the large, old hall. It was unexpected to discover a country mansion in the town – inevitable, he supposed, considering London’s growth in recent years. Ewell had been a small market town, drowsily distant from the capital barely fifty years previously, was now a suburb of London. He suspected that the hall would very soon be demolished, almost as soon as the war ended and building started again.

His parents knew all those present, went through the series of introductions that brought him to their notice. Being Navy, he had been absent from local society for the previous decade and more, had become an unknown. Now, it seemed, all were anxious to meet him.

He spotted two other uniforms, both Army and general officers, well into their fifties, his father’s age. He came to attention as he met them, spotting breasts well adorned with campaign ribbons.

“Pleasure to meet you, Commander. Damned good job of work. Well deserved, that piece of ribbon!”

He made his thanks, said as little as possible. Stepping back, he found himself in the middle of a gaggle of young females, ages between seventeen and his own, he guessed. He presumed they were five of Lancing’s many daughters.

The eldest had a grin on her face, leading him to suppose his own emotions had been evident

“I’m Charlie Lancing. Surrounding you are Lottie, Mary, Effie and Silvie – we tend not to stand on formality. I’m Number One – the others are Three, Five, Six and Seven. Two is married and escaped our happy home and Four is male – according to rumour – and is elsewhere engaged in the military, staff officer to Sir John French. Eight, Nine and Ten are too young for company yet.”

They were overpowering, laughing, bright and enthusiastic. Fairly good-looking as well, he had to admit, all of middle height and prominent on bust and backside, definitely women, unlike the modern fad for the skinny, androgynous flapper. He much preferred females who were unashamedly that – sailors tended to be old-fashioned, he knew.

“Peter Naseby, ladies. I am pleased indeed to meet you.”

Charlie’s grin widened.

“I am to be your dinner partner, Commander, though there is such a shortage of males these days that we cannot produce a balanced table. I believe my father wants to marry me off – he has been introducing me to every single man he can discover, up to and including Colonel Wharton, ex-Indian Army, in his fifties, can’t be here tonight for his gout playing him up.”

“I don’t think I can compete with a colonel, Miss Lancing.”

“Not in rank, perhaps, sir. Do you have to go back to Polegate tomorrow? I am in London, I have a flat there, can’t stand the atmosphere here! I run a dress shop with a pair of friends – high fashion, our own designs. Drives my father mad that I can earn enough to make my own way. Do come and visit us for lunch on your way back.”

Peter was happy to agree.

Dinner was abbreviated as a gesture to wartime austerity, no more than five courses. Talking over port and in the drawing room afterwards, Peter was introduced to the bulk of the local and powerful, all of those with strings to pull in their own ways. He was accepted as more than another second son.

His father left the dinner very pleased at its success.

“Useful for after the war, my son. If you choose to come out of the Navy, they will have a lot of possibilities between them. When must you go back?”

“Tomorrow morning, Father. I can expect to be flying the day after tomorrow and there is much to be done beforehand.”

The excuse was accepted without question.

Peter was sure that lunch with Charlie would be more entertaining than a day at home helping his mother pack parcels for the troops.

Chapter Nine

The dress shop was just off Oxford Street, a most expensive location, with a window large enough for three gowns on display, the frontage brightly painted and prosperous, the showroom stretching back at least forty feet, discreetly lit by electricity. There were customers inside talking earnestly to their couturiers – it was in fact far more than a ‘little shop’ as even Peter could see.

A woman in her forties came sweeping up to him, smiling as he took an involuntary pace backwards. She was lean, blonde by choice, heavily made-up, dressed in a dark blue suit that to his eyes was almost masculine, the skirt divided to seem like trousers. Her earrings dangled almost to her shoulder, angular silver and amethyst, Art Something, he was sure. He was not at all sure what to make of her, did not think he had met her like previously in his sheltered Naval life.

“Ha! A Commander with a bright, shiny new ribbon! Must be Naseby! Charlie – your gentleman has arrived!” The last was spoken in a roar over her shoulder.

Charlie appeared from the back, dressed very modern, black and white, straight up and down, flounced skirt to her knees, a slightly over-size flapper.

“Got to dress the part, my dear! This is Adele, our creative genius. She makes ‘em, I sell ‘em! Henrietta out the back is the bean counter – division of labour, you know.”

He had never heard the term, was reasonably sure what it must mean.

“Time for lunch, Delly, I shall be gone some time. The girls can cope – no special clients due today, are there?”

“None, dear. Enjoy yourself!”

Charlie led him to a small restaurant in Soho.

“Marcel’s, Peter. All the rage. Everybody who is anybody eats here, this week. Do take a seat! Marcel, darling, your best for the Commander before he goes back to the heights in his balloon!”

Marcel, a Belgian refugee, Charlie explained, bowed and smiled and sent champagne to the table, complimentary.

“Not a bad bottle, Peter. Submarine bashing is worth a better vintage, it would seem. Something light, I think.”

Peter realised the last comment was addressed to the waiter, nodded his agreement.

There were no more than a dozen tables, all occupied, all known to Charlie, exchanging waves and little cries of joy with her.

“Be all around Town by this evening – Charlie hooked up with the naval fellow who sunk the submarine. Not to worry – none of the people here would ever speak to a banker!”

Peter did not think his banker father would care, said nothing.

They ate something unknown to Peter, his palate used to unimaginative naval cookery rather than to the creations of a chef. He enjoyed the meal and drank his share of the champagne and smiled at Charlie’s friends as they came to the table and made more or less sensible comments about his action in the Channel.

He took the bill and followed Charlie as she announced coffee, five minutes in a cab and into a large old house converted into flats for the fashionable. He found himself seated in a comfortable chair in another five minutes and undressed in a very large bed in ten.

They came up for air in mid evening, deciding that dinner was necessary, both being hungry.

“When must you go back, Peterkins?”

“Good God, Charlie! There is a limit, you know! Peterkins is well beyond it!”

She grinned in triumph, leaning back luxuriantly, displaying her gifts.

“I thought it would be. When must you report for duty?”

“I must be back for six in the afternoon. There are things I ought to do, people to talk to before I go out again in the morning. I should be in my cabin for one o’clock.”

“Duty calls, my dear. So it should. Dinner and a drink and then back here and I shall drive you down mid-morning. Bought a Sunbeam two weeks ago, been wanting to take it out on the open road, not just potter about Town.”

He bowed to a greater force.

They drove to Polegate far faster than he could have managed in his blimp; after the first five miles and three near-misses he relaxed in his seat, turning up the collar of his greatcoat against the slipstream and putting his trust in karma. To his amazement, they reached the gate unscathed, braking in a flurry of gravel and swearing from the driving seat.

“Misjudged that turn-in a bit, Peter. Could have been worse. Probably will be next time! Grab your bag. All ready to go? See you again… sometime! Toodle-pip, old chap!”

A growl from the exhaust and a mighty clang from the gearbox as she missed the double-declutch from first to second and she was gone, fishtailing up the lane and then achieving a straight line back towards London.

Peter glanced across to the gate guard. A rating trotted across to pick up his bag, officers being constitutionally incapable of carrying their own baggage, and he passed through, returning the salute of the petty officer.

“Latest secret weapon, PO. Guaranteed to strike terror into the hearts of the Hun.”

“Drove all the way from London, did you, sir?”

“An hour and a half, PO.”

“Jesus!”

“He was looking after us, I think. Someone must have been, the way she drove! Is the new Commander aboard yet?”

“Arrived this morning, sir. Nine o’clock.”

“Good. I must make my number with him. Freshen up and change uniforms first, I think. This one’s a bit dusty.”

He stretched out smartly to his cabin – must not be seen taking a leisurely amble at his place of duty – thinking back over the previous energetic twenty-four hours, grinning. Not the material for a naval wife, he suspected, and he was not what she would want in a husband – far too staid and conventional in his ways. He wished her the best of good luck in her future, wherever it might take her. She had talked of going out to the States after the war, making her way in a new environment. She would do well wherever she ended up, he hoped, was almost certain; she would not end up with him, that he knew full well, even if somewhat regretfully – she would add spice to an otherwise conventional life.

‘Too much of a good thing! An interlude, old son’.

He wondered how Josephine would compare between the sheets, decided she would certainly have far less experience.

‘Not to worry – there’s a difference between a tart and a wife. Pity, really.’

Time to face reality again.

The balloons were all in the hangars, the wind dying but still the occasional gust making flying too great a risk. They needed more powerful engines, or a pair rather than one, to give them more control, make it possible to risk typical English winter weather.

Oadby was waiting for him, the gate guard probably having sent a message to his mess.

“Good leave, sir?”

“Very. Useful to have a break away from the flying here. Working uniform, please. I must make my number with the new man and get on top of the paperwork. Looks as if we shall be flying tomorrow.”

He strolled across to the wardroom, took a cup of coffee and a sandwich before setting to work. There were almost none of the flying officers there, Tubbs sat lonely in one corner.

“Nowhere to go, Tubbs?”

“No, sir. My family lives down in Cornwall – a forty-eight is not practical, sir. No sooner get home than I would have to turn round again. I don’t know anybody in London, so I stayed here. Borrowed a bicycle in fact. Had a look at Beachy Head and along the flatlands of Romney Marsh – queer old place, that is.”

“Out of the ordinary, they tell me. I have only seen it from the air. Still a good chance to get some sleep in at least.”

“Yes, sir. Received a letter from my father, sir. He has just heard of my posting. Up in arms about it. Says he has contacted my uncle to get me out and aboard a proper ship as soon as can be. I have written back that I am doing well here in the RNAS and wish to stay, sir, but I think they will pull strings to get me sent back to a battleship – only place for a member of the family to be.”

“Bugger that, man. You belong here. Look, I will speak to Captain Troughton, see what strings we can pull in the opposite direction. Can’t guarantee anything, obviously.”

Tubbs made his thanks, explained how much he was enjoying himself, doing something that he succeeded in.

“Makes me feel useful, sir.”

“You are a valuable member of the flotilla, Tubbs. We would be less efficient if you were posted away. We need your ability.”

Not entirely true, but close enough.

Peter finished his sandwich, reflecting that it was strange how he had come to actually like bully-beef and piccalilli, the naval staple in storm and for a between meals snack. He had enjoyed the meals at the restaurants the previous day, admittedly; he would not feel the need to eat their like every day. Perhaps he was no gourmet.

To the office.

“PO Payne! Good to see the promotion came through. Anything urgent for me?”

“Nothing, sir. A number of signals from previous ships and acquaintances, sir. Congratulations, best wishes, that sort of thing. Nothing from HMS Calliope, sir.”

“Perhaps they have not heard up in Scapa Flow, PO. Possibly the captain has still not forgiven me!”

“Probably not, sir. Commander Cairncross is inspecting the field at the moment, sir. I will inform him of your presence when he comes in.”

“Do that, please. For the moment, can you get Captain Troughton on the telephone for me?”

The normal delays as the call was put through then Troughton’s voice booming in the earpiece.

“Naseby, you are back early, old chap. What can I do for you.”

They discussed the problem of Tubb’s family for a few minutes, Payne busy at his desk making a show of hearing nothing.

“Bloody nuisance, Naseby. The boy’s doing well where he is, for the first time ever. Pity they can’t leave him alone. I’ll have a word around, see what is to be done. We won’t be able to keep him if they really make a fuss, you know. We are pushing to keep RNAS personnel distinct from the wet navy, no interchange. Don’t know if it will come through in time. What I can do is ensure he goes where he might be useful. Naval Constructor’s Office, perhaps, or into the Gunnery section, though that is very clannish, don’t like outsiders who haven’t been through the Whale Island route. I shall see. Met your new man yet?”

“No, he’s out on the field at the moment.”

“Bit on the stiff side – ten years in the rank and passed over for promotion to post captain. By the book sort. No great harm in him.”

Peter wondered if there was any great good in him either. He made no comment, feeling at peace and charitable to the human race for the while. There was much to be said for a young lady like Charlie, should be more of them about…

He sat down to his in-trays, signed eighteen documents unread and then turned to the small stack marked ‘action required’.

Ten minutes saw a request for compassionate leave granted and two turned down and permission to marry granted to four ratings, all of whom had been transferred ashore after long commissions and wanted to settle down while they could.

The Navy did not like its men to marry, certainly not before reaching senior rank in their various fields. Peter thought this was a Victorian hangover and no longer appropriate. China was only twelve weeks away in this steam age – there was no need for men to go out on five or ten year postings as had previously been the case. In any case, they were at war – a marriage delayed might never take place at all.

That left the largest stack, ‘for information’, which he needed to read, ignorance never being an excuse.

Payne knocked half an hour later.

“Beg pardon, sir. Commander Cairncross is in his office now, sir, and is free to speak with you.”

Clumsily expressed, Peter thought, walking through after Payne, picking up his hat – they should exchange salutes at a first meeting.

“Come in, Naseby. How do ye do? Take a seat.”

A formal handshake – no harm in that.

“Bit of a difficult set up, Naseby – no direct line of command as such. You are OIC Flying and I cannot overrule you on operational matters. Trouble, is, what is ‘operational’ and what is not? I am in command of HMS Polegate in all other aspects. We need to work together, I think. As long as we accept that the single overriding need is to fly our patrols, there should be no great problem.”

It was easy to agree there.

“We have tended to be pretty much relaxed in everyday matters, Cairncross. The ten of us who fly do nothing else, with the exception of myself. No guard duty; no officer of the day; no duties at all when the blimps are grounded. Thing is, a patrol of ten or twelve hours can leave the boys exhausted – they are only youngsters, all of them.”

“Could lead to a sort of ‘us and them’ mentality in the wardroom, Naseby.”

“It does to a great extent already. The fliers see themselves as different. They are the whole reason for Polegate existing – every other man on the field is there to get us in the air and keep us there. Very easy for us to be an elite group – the little lords of creation, you might say.”

Cairncross could accept that. It was difficult to see how they could be other.

“I was talking to the wardroom steward, Naseby. Not a happy man.”

“Needs his arse kicking, Cairncross! Most of my lads are wartime entry, no money of their own, living on their pay – which ain’t very much for a mid or a sub. They can’t be forking out fees for a wine cellar and whatever – they haven’t got the cash. Simple as that. I really do not want them worried about living expenses when they should be giving their all to their flying. Can’t have formal dinners and such with wartime entry officers, Cairncross – it’s simply not possible.”

“Even so, we could do a bit more, don’t you think, Naseby?”

“No. The boys have spent out on warm scarves and gloves and extra sweaters – they simply don’t have even another five shillings a week to put into the wardroom fund.”

“I was thinking of more like two pounds, Naseby, and that is low compared to many ships.”

“It is. They haven’t got it. The mids are part of the wardroom and they cannot conceivably find anything from the few shillings a week they are paid.”

Cairncross shook his head. Without agreement, he could not go forward with his plans to make the wardroom a more respectable place.

“I was thinking we could put in for a gunroom to be built to house the midshipmen. Not really the thing, having them in the wardroom with commission officers, you know.”

“Useful, Cairncross. We can discuss the day’s flying over a relaxing beer last thing at night after they have eaten. All informal and easy, the crews together and learning from each other.”

“Talking shop in the wardroom, Naseby? Hardly desirable, surely!”

“We are at war, Cairncross. There is nothing more desirable than that we increase our efficiency in every possible way. That means we must talk to each other, the more the better. As well, we often need to discuss the bombs with Handsworth and young Sargent, the details of fusing, especially. We have already decided to modify the official fuses and have tried our changes out. Add to that, we need to make a decision on these little sixteen pounders. There is a lot to talk about and no time or place other than the wardroom available.”

Cairncross seized on the one point that seemed glaringly wrong to him.

“The fuses. They are the Admiralty pattern. You cannot simply modify them. They are the fuses you must use.”

“Not if we can improve them, Cairncross. If we can make them more effective, then we can tell our masters in the RNAS and they can speak to the gunnery people and we can argue it all out. If we don’t test out our changes, we cannot know if they will work.”

It was not done that way; Cairncross could not approve.

“Ah, well, old chap. That’s my side, operations, so it can all be filtered through me and any come-back lands on me.”

That also needed discussion – where their respective commands overlapped and how they could ensure they did not fall into dispute.

“Take it as it comes, Cairncross, and talk to Troughton when we have problems. He is a sensible sort of fellow, will be able to come up with a quick solution nine times out of ten. Keep it informal – so much easier, that way.”

It was not the Navy’s way of doing things – there was a proper procedure for everything and it was far wiser to keep to the book.

“More important to fight the war, Cairncross. We can write the book afterwards, if there is a Navy still. If we don’t put the submarines down, the book may be written in German, you know. All it would need would be for four submarines to get free in the Straits of Dover for a day and we could lose a whole division and its stores. A week of submarine activity and the war would be lost. You hear a lot about Jellicoe and the Grand Fleet being able to lose the war in an afternoon – that ain’t very likely, but the chance of submarines doing the job, cutting us off from France and America both, is a damned sight higher. We have no rulebook for using airships to suppress submarines, so we need to invent one, and pretty damned quick!”

Cairncross wondered if the strain might not be getting to Naseby.

“It will take more than a few submarines to put Old England down, old chap. No need to worry yourself about that!”

“Rule Britannia, eh, Cairncross? We need more than patriotism – we need effective weapons. At the moment, the blimps are the most useful tool we have against submarines in coastal waters such as the Channel. We need to make ourselves more effective every day. One thing you can bet on is that the Germans will be thinking of how best to counter us now. They won’t do it this week. Six months from now I would bet they will have some ideas and we will need be better to deal with them.”

Cairncross agreed – that was obviously true. It was the job of the boffins up at the Admiralty to think about those problems. Their own function was to take the tools they were given and use them, not to tinker with them and try to make them better.

“There are no boffins, Cairncross, not with knowledge of the air and its problems. It is us or nobody when it comes to tactics, to using the blimps they send us. We have to invent everything from scratch, you know.”

It was not the Royal Navy’s way of doing things. It might be better was the balloon service to be taken away from the Navy and set up as its own separate entity.

“Still, while you are part of us, better to do things in the proper fashion, don’t you agree?”

“No. Better to do things in our own fashion, which is the right way to use balloons to kill Germans.”

“Ah, yes, old chap. What about after the war? The war will be won sooner or later and the Germans will go away. The Navy will last for ever. We must not be short sighted, you know. The precedents we establish will set the pattern for the centuries to come, so we must be careful to change nothing without the best of good reasons. Wiser far to keep the midshipmen properly separate and not to talk shop in the wardroom. You ought to try to get your balloons back well before dinner, as well – I don’t really like this idea of men eating at any odd hour that is convenient to them.”

Peter smiled his best – he must not insult Cairncross on the first day. He must wait at least twenty-four hours in courtesy.

“Operational necessity, I am afraid, Cairncross. We must have all of the balloons in the air during daylight hours. That means taking off at first light and landing immediately before dusk, seven days a week. There must always be a full ground crew available on the field against need. If we drop a bomb then we must return to rearm, all to be done in a hurry. The effect is that the wardroom must offer breakfast before dawn and dinner whenever the men come in. We shall be making a maximum effort all through the summer months. I hope we shall have new and bigger balloons before winter, capable of breasting the stronger winds. That, of course, is far distant in operational terms. For the while, there can be no choice – my crews must be fed and must have the opportunity to share their experiences.”

Cairncross capitulated, unwillingly.

“I shall speak to Troughton. It might be wisest to construct a second wardroom, you know. One to maintain the proper standards of the service, the other for your balloon people.”

“You would only need a very small second structure, Cairncross. I would need the hangars and magazine people with me. That would not leave too many on your side.”

Peter returned to his office, mildly annoyed. He had met the attitude before – that the war was no more than an interlude and the Navy would soon be able to return to its proper functions of cruising the world’s oceans and showing the flag to the natives. Far more important to keep the brass properly polished than to consider operational efficiency. The war would be won because England did not lose wars – it was all very simple and straightforward in the eyes of so many of the longer-serving officers.

He wondered whether he could make a career in the Navy now that his own eyes had been opened. He would tread on so many toes, offend a plethora of vested interests and family groupings. The Tubbs were an example – the current generation recognised by all as second-raters yet still able to pull the strings because they had always been powerful in the service. Beatty was another case – a man of limited ability and overwhelming ambition whose greatest single skill was to toady to royalty – and he was vying with Jellicoe for supremacy.

He suspected the Army was just as bad – the casualty figures suggested a lack of military skill. It was already clear that the trenches were a brick wall, and the generals insisted on butting their heads against it.

It might be as well to look about him just as soon as the war ended, to find an alternative. His father had hinted that the possibility was there, that he could find something else that would be more congenial. Perhaps he might even consider working for his living rather than drifting along comfortably…

That was a shocking concept in itself. Naval officers were not expected to work at anything. Their job was to supervise as the lower deck performed their duties, to know how to do everything, of course, but not actually to get their hands dirty.

Almost drowning C-in-C Pompey had been beneficial to him, it seemed, had caused him to think for himself. Perhaps he should try it again, possibly drowning Cairncross instead.

A few more pieces of paper and he took a stroll across to the hangars.

“Pickles, old chap, the wireless set is powered off its own tiny little petrol motor, is it not? A generator, do you call it?”

That was so, Pickles agreed.

“Produces electricity, Pickles?”

“Yes, that is what generators tend to do, sir.”

“Excellent! Would it be feasible to work an Aldis signalling lamp off the generator, rather than having heavy batteries, which don’t last that long anyway?”

“Damned good question, sir. I am not an electrical man, myself, but I have a PO who is a wizard at all things sparking. Harrison! Over here, please.”

The petty officer was young and wore spectacles, a rarity in the Navy and instantly forbidding him from shipboard service. A man whose glasses were broken a thousand miles out to sea was a liability.

“Commander Naseby wants to run an Aldis off the generator. Batteries are too heavy for onboard use.”

“Don’t know, sir. Have to discover what the Aldis runs on – it might have different power requirements to the wireless.”

Peter vaguely understood.

“That’s those amps and volts things, is it?”

“Yes, sir. That’s one way of putting it.”

He had been long enough in the service to know that the PO thought he had made a fool of himself.

“That’s why we have people like you, PO. I’ll just fly the thing and pull the triggers. You make ‘em work.”

“Yes, sir. I can have an answer for you by tomorrow, sir, after flying. If it won’t work, I might be able to come up with an alternative. It might be possible to run a wire off the engine, sir, if the jenny won’t do it.”

“Good, it would be useful to be able to talk to a destroyer at sea, much better than having to send a message here then make a telephone call to Dover for them to send a signal out to the ship that I can see half a mile away from me.”

“Right, sir. We’ll see what can be done.”

Harrison bustled off to his own little workshop, leaving the officers to inspect the busy scene.

“Modifying the petrol tanks, using the couple of days off, sir. Slinging them higher under the envelope, gravity feed, no need for a pump. Made them lighter by a few pounds as well which means we can add a few gallons to them. It all helps.”

“It does. Any word on when these Coastals will come into service?”

“Not for a few months, sir. Bigger balloons by a long way, built as a triple lobe rather than a single like the SS. Might be able to carry six or seven in the crew and a second Lewis. Something like three times the weight of depth bombs as well. Should be in service by the end of the year.”

Peter was almost sure that they would spell the end of his career as a pilot. He would be too senior to fly, would spend his days ashore organising his flotilla, or whatever they decided to call them.

“A short life and a merry, somebody said, Pickles. I might even be sent back to sea, you never know.”

“On one of the seaplane carriers, perhaps, sir. I hear there will be more of them as well.”

“Heavier-than-air – I know nothing about them, Pickles. Very comforting, having a gasbag over one’s head and knowing that even if the engine cuts out, we shall still be flying. Blown where the wind takes us, mind you, but that’s a damned sight better than going straight down!”

He made his way across to the magazine, deciding it was time he actually poked his nose inside and saw what was what for himself. He found Handsworth and Sargent outside, sat astride bombs and working on their fuses, each with a cigarette in his mouth. It seemed a cavalier attitude to take to hundreds of pounds weight of high explosive.

“’Afternoon, sir. Come to see the troglodytes in their cave, sir?”

“Thought I should poke my nose in, just to be able to claim that I had been here, you know.”

“Not much to look at, sir. Bombs on racks in the main tunnel.” Handsworth waved his hand at a cavern, going back a distance into darkness in the chalk. “Lewis Guns stored dry in a wooden shack in the mouth here. Ammunition behind them. A few rifles as well as the official cavalry carbine we must carry. Some of the lads have bought their own sporting rifles instead, following Griffiths’ example. A very nice Holland and Holland express young Leburn has picked up – seems his father was into big game hunting. Double barrel, fifty-six calibre, rounds the size of my thumb! All most enthusiastic!”

“Not quite regulation, but not to worry about that. What is your opinion of the sixteen pounder bombs?”

“Valueless for our purposes, sir. They might be useful if ever you wished to indulge in anti-ship work, or for attacking a military camp, both of which are unlikely activities for us. The hundred and twelves are far more the thing. There is word of a one hundred and thirty pounder in the making, sir. Pickles thinks the blimp could carry it. Almost all of the extra eighteen pounds would be explosive, very little weight used up on the casing. A useful device, I would suggest, sir. The new Coastals will carry two of the one hundred and thirty pounders, sir.”

“Dropping them separately or together?”

That was a good question. They would enquire of their own people.

Sargent was a little upset.

“I was asked why I was wearing working dress at luncheon, sir. Seems it might be a disciplinary.”

“I will speak to Commander Cairncross, Sargent. For the while, continue with our habits.”

Peter reached his cabin just before five o’clock, found Cairncross packing up for the day, an eye to the large timepiece on his wall.

“Luncheon, Cairncross. Can’t afford to waste my people’s time changing in and out of mess dress, you know. Very much our habit to remain in working dress until work is finished for the day. For the men in the magazine, of course, that means from before dawn when they bomb up to after dusk when they disarm the blimps before they go into the hangars. Long days, the gunnery party works.”

“But they cannot conceivably enter the wardroom dressed in rags! They must look the thing, Naseby!”

“We are a working base, Cairncross. They must look like working men.”

“That was the problem. That was exactly what they did look like, gutter oiks from a factory, not naval officers.”

“Both wore working dress, they assure me, Cairncross. Sargent had an oil stain on the cuff of his shirt, from working on a Lewis. Handsworth had a faint smear of grease on one trouser leg. That is hardly the depths of degradation.”

“Mess dress demands snowy white linen and a precise uniform on top, Naseby. They are the standards which we as officers must maintain. What will the lower deck think if they see us oil stained?”

“They will be amazed to see that we have been working for our living, I expect, Cairncross. We are all in this war together, you know. We should all be doing our best.”

“Maintaining proper standards is doing our best, Naseby!”

Peter gave up the argument.

“As you wish. Operational requirements demand that officers from the hangars and magazine shall wear working uniforms to luncheon. Flying officers may do the same if they are about to fly or have come down from a flight. Only those officers not flying maybe expected to change into mess dress. As a general rule, they will be off the field in such leisure time, in any case.”

“I shall inform Troughton that you are being entirely unreasonable in your demands, Naseby. Officers who are not flying should be properly occupied. They should be inspecting the messdecks and parading their divisions at least once a week.”

“The pilots have no divisions, Cairncross. The midshipmen have a nominal responsibility for the lower deck, they need the training. Most of the time, they are flying and their petty officers take charge.”

“They are naval officers first, pilots second!”

“No. Not in wartime. If peace should come, then they can play the games again. While they are going out to battle, they are not to be harassed by the nonsenses of parades and such.”

“Parades are not a nonsense. They are essential to discipline, Naseby.”

“Then you hold them, Cairncross. Do not take any of my operational people from their duties to take part in such games. That must include my walking-in parties, of course.”

The effect was to declare that ninety of the one hundred and twenty on the base were operational and outside of Cairncross’ control.

“I shall speak to Troughton in the morning. I must telephone him in any case. We have no Chaplain and I discover that there has been no church parade since the base at Polegate was formed.”

“We are operational seven days a week, Cairncross. I cannot release my handling parties or mechanics from their necessary duties for an hour of a Sunday.”

“We shall see, Naseby. I am sure Their Lordships would be horrified by such an attitude.”

“Not if Jacky Fisher is still First Sea Lord, they won’t. My father said his days are numbered though – in dispute with Winston Churchill over this damned Dardanelles cock-up.”

Cairncross knew nothing of such things and had no doubt that the Dardanelles would be recognised as the victory it undoubtedly was.

“Not really the right sort to be First Sea Lord, in any case, Naseby. Say what you like, there’s a touch of the tar-brush there – not what we want in our admirals.”

Peter had heard the repeated claims of Fisher’s detractors that his grandmother was Ceylonese. It puzzled him why that might make him a less able admiral and administrator of the Navy.

“Oh, well, you know what they say of Churchill’s father. Poxed up, apparently. Might explain much about the son. All much of a muchness, these rumours, if you ask me. Any excuse will do to bring a great man down.”

“A man cannot be great if he is not a true Englishman, Naseby.”

“I stand corrected. I shall see you at dinner, no doubt. I have work to finish yet.”

“It is past five o’clock. Offices should be closed now, Naseby.”

Peter ignored him.

They met again at dinner, sat at the head of the table on either side of the president of the wardroom, Pickles, who was a month senior in the rank to Handsworth. The meal was adequate in Peter’s opinion, very much what one might expect of naval cooks – a brown soup, beef Wellington, some sort of suety pudding with cream – edible and probably nourishing. Cairncross was not pleased.

“Only three courses and them not of the best and the wines little more than vinegar. I do not know what guests would think of this!”

“No plans to have any, Commander,” Pickles assured him. “Can’t have guests when the balloons are flying – no officers in the wardroom to join them. No way of telling when we are going to be grounded by the weather, so no possibility of sending out invitations.”

Cairncross shook his head – a little of ingenuity could get round all such problems.

“Bearing in mind our recent great success, I would imagine that the worthies of the County will be awaiting invitations and their chance to rub shoulders with our fliers.”

“They will have to wait, Commander. Nothing we can do for them.” Pickles nodded to the waiters to draw the cloth and set out the port. “Must take a glass for form’s sake. Not my idea of a satisfying drink.”

Pickles filled his glass and passed the decanter along the table, waited till all had filled their own before lifting it to his lips.

“The Loyal Toast, Mr President?”

“We only bother with that on a Friday, Commander, and only then if the balloons are on the ground. Too much fuss and bother with trying to work out who is Mr Vice on the particular evening.”

“I would think the midshipmen would know their seniority and would be aware who was the junior!”

“No. Wartime entry. They don’t intend to stay in after the war and hardly expect to make much by way of promotion, so they are not concerned with the exact date on their papers. Not like us at all.”

“But, they damned well should be!”

It seemed to Peter that sentence summed up the whole problem.

Chapter Ten

“Not the best of beginnings with Cairncross, Naseby?”

Captain Troughton sounded ruefully amused.

“Got the same coming in from Capel and all of the other stations along my stretch of coast. Complaints that the fliers have no respect for all that makes the Royal Navy great on one side; moans that the old-school commanders are a bunch of stuffy bastards.”

“That was well expressed, sir. Couldn’t have put it better.”

“As I thought, Naseby. As ye sow, so shall ye reap, young man! I have spoken to the admiral and we have agreed that we are wasting scarce officers on the stations. No need for two commanders; a lieutenant commander can in fact command a station. The RFC has a single chain of command on its fields. So should we. There are predreadnoughts and monitors in commission, short of bodies, crying out for experienced senior officers. They will get them. You will take over command of the station, Naseby. Cairncross is off to sea, will undoubtedly be happier there as Commander in an old battleship. He will not be given the captaincy of a light cruiser, you will be pleased to hear.”

Peter was dismayed. He was tired, coming in from ten hours on patrol. To be greeted with the news that he was master of his domain was not what he wanted to hear.

“Can I have a Paymaster Lieutenant to sit at the desk and winnow through the mass of bumf, sir?”

“On his way already. I do want reports this month rather than next as a rule. Common sense said to get hold of a pen-pusher for you. Wartime entry, mind you. You will have to keep an eye on him until he gets a feel for the job. What’s the weather forecast?”

“Looks fairly good. I haven’t telephoned Plymouth, haven’t got any contacts there.”

“I shall see what can be arranged, Naseby. Might be possible to get a call made every morning to my office and then send the information out to the stations… I shall look into that. Your petty officer, young Payne, will have to greet the man tomorrow and settle him in. Shouldn’t be too difficult. Did you have a good leave?”

“Yes, thank you, sir. I was trotted out for the benefit of the old fogies on the first evening. Some sort of dinner party for the neighbourhood hosted by Lord Lancing.”

Troughton laughed.

“I know. Talked about it when my boss, who is Lancing’s brother, mentioned it to me. Introducing you to the great and the good, in case you decide to give the Navy the go-by after the war. Not trying to push you, Naseby, you could make a career in the Navy. You might do far better outside of it. You won’t ever make the very top in the Admiralty for being too intelligent. You think when you should be crying the name of Nelson. It is useful in wartime, having a man who possesses a brain and will use it; the peacetime Navy wants an officer who will keep the brasswork shining bright. If you want my advice – retire after the war as a young post captain, one of the bright stars of the Navy and with a great future ahead of him. There will be a sigh of relief when you go and a choice of opportunities in civilian life.”

Peter was inclined to be bitter.

“The Navy wants the Cairncrosses, you say, sir.”

“Until the next war comes, yes. That should be a long time – a century between the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the beginning of this one. Next war ain’t due till the year 2010 and you and me won’t be available for it. Do what you can now and leave the sea when the fun’s over, that’s my advice. Cultivate the old farts and fogies – they need bright go-getters to make their money for them and build a pile for themselves.”

“Probably good advice. I must get a meal, sir. Knackered from flying all day. I should make a polite farewell to Cairncross as well, I expect.”

“He will be gone, Naseby. I spoke to him mid-afternoon. He’s got a predreadnought stationed out of Dunkerque and will be on his way to Dover, delighted with the posting and to be at sea again. He thought he was to be shorebound for the rest of his existence, can think of nothing better than to be sent to a battleship. Said that it might be old but he would soon have it polished up and properly smart.”

“With those words, I shall leave you, sir. I can think of nothing to say.”

Dinner was waiting in the wardroom, slightly dry but hot.

Handsworth was sat at a table with Pickles and Sargent, pulled out a chair for Peter when he had finished eating.

“Mr Cairncross left us this afternoon, Commander. A short reign indeed.”

“Brief but merry, Handsworth.”

They thought that was a great joke.

“Who is to replace him, Commander?”

“Me. With the aid of a paymaster lieutenant to do the bulk of the paper-pushing, we shall have just the single command structure. Apparently, it’s the way they do it in the RFC – they have majors who command their airfields as well as fly their aeroplanes.”

“Busy men, Commander.”

“Might instal a desk in SS9 to do the paperwork in quiet moments when we’re out.”

They called for more gin and debated the possibilities.

The new body appeared, showed himself to be a peacetime bank clerk, a man of thirty who had been promoted in his branch, was in line to become a bank manager and believed himself more than capable of running what he considered to be a small office. He sat down with PO Payne and set up more efficient methods of dealing with the necessary reports and administration, assured Peter that he would have very little to do.

“Only items demanding a decision to appear on your desk, sir. I shall present a precis of all information you must know. Where your signature is required, sir, I shall place a separate folder which can be quickly dealt with.”

“Very good, Farnsworth, is it? Wartime entry?”

“Yes, sir. Thought I should join up to do my bit, sir. Discovered I was partially colour blind at the medical and could not be accepted as a deck officer. Ended up here in the Paymasters, sir. Necessary work and must be done properly, sir.”

“So it must, Farnsworth. While you are doing it, I am not, much to my relief!”

There were compensations to being in command, Peter discovered. Now if he thought something was bloody stupid he could take action to make it better, if he could work out how to do so. He had no spare time at all, spent three weeks of unbroken flying and deskwork before a spring storm blew through and grounded the balloons for two days and left him able to go to Shoreham.

Josephine was delighted to see him, stepped out with him to the fishing harbour despite the wind and rain, glad to take fresh air in his company.

He found himself comparing her with Charlie, something he had not expected.

‘Chalk and cheese – town sophistication, a free woman compared with a sheltered young girl. Unfair to set one against the other.’

Having said that to himself, he nonetheless did so.

For looks, the differences were obvious – Charlie was generous fore and aft, Josephine slender, far more in the prevailing mode. Charlie was shorter as well, and far darker, and bustling, active, energetic, mistress of her own fate, six or seven years older and much more mature. Josephine was more introspective, inclined to think about the world rather than simply enjoy it.

As a wife, someone to spend the next forty or fifty years with? Far less of a burden than Charlie might become with her need to have her own life. He was sure that Josephine would always put him first… A selfish reason for marriage, almost dishonest, making use of her. Normal for any officer, whose first loyalty must always be to his service, only secondly to his family…

He was making excuses to himself. That was truly dishonest. The reality was that he would have a comfortable life with Josephine, a quieter existence than Charlie could possibly offer. He was not one to ‘enjoy’ the Society existence – parties and balls, dinners and dances, premieres followed by the best restaurants – Charlie no doubt lived for them all and he would find them tedious. Add to that, she was undoubtedly artistic, and possibly literary, and he was neither. They would have lots to do in bed, no doubt, but little to talk about afterwards.

“I am busy now that the days are getting longer, Josephine. It means that I can only ever get across here when it is raining and too windy to fly, which is a nuisance. When is your birthday, by the way?”

“September. The fifteenth. My father always said I was a Christmas present… I don’t know why.”

Peter did, chose not to enlighten her. As well, he did not mention why he had asked her age.

“You will be eighteen then, will you not?”

“Yes. The years are flying by. We left St Petersburg when I was fifteen – it does not seem so long ago.”

“More than thirty months back – I was in the Med. Warm and dry, most of the time. Doing the pretty, cruising from one set of dances and dinners to the next. Rather different from our present existence!”

“Will it go back to that after the war, do you think?”

“Maybe. I do not think I shall be part of it though. I suspect I shall leave the Navy and seek an occupation ashore. I must talk it over with my father. Thing is, Josephine, the Navy is very exciting in wartime. I have just realised how very boring and idle the peacetime existence was. I don’t think I can go back to keeping a smart ship and sailing from one port to another with never a thought for what might be over the horizon. Perhaps I have grown up – always a shocking process!”

She could not entirely understand him, imagined that flying his balloon must always be exciting.

“It must be. In peacetime, I might fly once a week, and then for three or four hours at most, training. The remainder of the time? Parades and inspections and makework. Tedious stuff. Always the need to show keen and enthusiastic in front of one’s seniors, promotion coming as much from currying favour as from displaying efficiency. The life seemed natural, before the war. I don’t know that I could go back to it.”

Her own life was placid, living with elderly grandparents. She wondered what an exciting existence might be like, was not entirely sure she wanted to find out.

Peter changed topic, trying to lighten the conversation as well as making it less focussed on him.

“Great fuss and botheration at home, Josephine. A letter from my mother tells me that sister Minnie has run away to the war. She does not know the detail yet but rather fears that she might be driving an ambulance in France. My good Mama is appalled.”

“She is much the same age as me, is she not, Peter?”

“A few months older. She is eighteen already. She told me last month that she had learned to drive and would be joining FANY as soon as she could arrange. My sister Jennifer, who is nursing, was helping her with the details.”

Josephine had not heard of FANY.

“A women’s military group. The Field Auxiliary Nursing Yeomanry – originally meant to be horse-drawn, hence ‘yeomanry’, now driving motor ambulances immediately behind the trenchlines in France.”

“How very brave of her!”

“I think so. Certainly, I was not to inform my father of her plans and prevent them coming to fruition. I hope she will do well. I think she might show very successful, come back home in a few years as an officer. She told me that she will join as a trooper, expects to be made corporal as soon as she has her own ambulance to drive. After that, who is to say?”

Josephine admired the young lady’s bravery, did not really think it was the way forward for her.

“I have wondered if I should not go as an assistant at one of the hospitals. There is one here in Shoreham now, on the outskirts of town, and needing girls to work all the time.”

“As a skivvy in the kitchens or mopping the floors, Josephine?”

She had not realised that was what they meant by ‘work’, did not think it was quite the thing for her.

Peter agreed – she was not the bold, outgoing sort like Minnie, or Charlie for that matter. None the worse for it. That was how she was, how she had been brought up. It was not as if she was some shy, retreating flower to be protected from life – she was simply not the go-ahead sort. As a wife, she would always be there, committed to her husband’s interests and doing all she could to further them – and she was an intelligent, able girl, as well as most attractive…

He shied away from the word ‘love’ – it had too many implications. For the while, she was far more the sort he wanted at his side. He might, he suspected, occasionally in the future wish that he had Charlie in his bed; that might be up to him – the so-called ‘knowledgeable’ officers had always trumpeted that they could turn any girl into an enthusiast between the sheets. He had never listened to their boasts with anything other than a slightly disbelieving contempt. Perhaps they had a point to make. He was within reason experienced – though he had never found it necessary to inform a wardroom of his prowess – and believed he had generally played his part with competence as well as self-gratification. He suspected that as a husband he could do at least as well, the more for having a substantial degree of affection for the lady in question.

“Penny for your thoughts, Peter?”

He realised he had been silent some minutes, chose not to inform Josephine of all he had been thinking.

“Sorry! Miles away. Thinking about my sister and her life in France. Brave girl – I admire her.”

“And me. That is not to say that I might wish to do the same, Peter.”

“It is not for everybody, not by a long way. Horses for courses, they say, don’t they.”

He returned to Polegate satisfied in his own mind that he would propose to Josephine on her birthday. He thought she would accept him, was sure her grandparents would have no objections. His father had made it clear that he would support his choice, whoever it might be. He started to laugh, imagining the Old Man’s face if he turned up with Charlie on his arm. Brother Geoffrey would have a heart attack, for sure.

The wind was still blustery next morning and he grounded the five balloons and sent their crews off to Brighton for the day, to relax and enjoy the town and get out of the way rather than hang about the wardroom drinking too much.

Troughton telephoned.

“Free for the day, I presume, Naseby?  Come across to Dover, to the Castle. Meet you there for twelve, outside. I will escort you into HQ – you won’t get in without me to vouch for you. Tell you what it’s all about when we get to see the Admiral.”

There was a massive headquarters in Dover, much of it underground, in basements beneath the old castle. It was not impossible that there might be a bombardment from the sea, Peter supposed. The underground bunkers would be proof against anything that could be thrown at them from a battleship. He had heard, vaguely, of enormous German mortars and howitzers, greater than battleship guns; he did not see how they could be brought into play.

Captain Troughton was waiting for him when he arrived, carefully two minutes before the hour, neither early nor late, as was laid down in the rules for meetings.

“Take a bite to eat as we talk, Naseby. The Admiral is a busy man – the Dover Patrol is demanding of any commanding officer. Hundreds of small craft and a few of larger, all of which have to be kept up to scratch.”

Peter could see it to be a demanding task. The troopships and ammunition and ration carriers to the BEF all crossed the Narrow Seas under the direct protection of the Dover Patrol. A failure that allowed the submarines or destroyers even an hour free to attack could spell the end of the war.

“Admiral Bacon has recently taken over the Dover Patrol, as you will know. He has a number of ideas which he wants to put into effect. He is an incredibly clever man, a fact he is aware of, and expects assistance in implementing his schemes – not in improving them.”

“Mouth shut, in fact, sir.”

“Effectively, yes, Naseby. He will want technical advice, that is why you are here. That and the fact that you will be directly involved in carrying out whatever his scheme might be. I as yet know nothing, by the way – he would not wish to waste time repeating himself.”

They were passed through checkpoints manned by very large Marines carrying rifles with bayonets fixed.

“He doesn’t insist on the cutlass, I see, sir.”

“Hush! There has been a deal of argument in the Admiralty relating to the issue of cutlasses. I am informed that an order for all battleships to nominate a boarding party armed with cutlasses and revolvers was almost made earlier this year. It is believed by a significant faction in the Admiralty that our ships should look to exchange broadsides at no more than one mile prior to breaking the enemy line and taking them by boarding.”

“Ah! If it worked for Nelson…”

“Exactly. Fortunately, Bacon is not one of that sort.”

A final passage and set of doors and they were ushered into the presence. A tallish, spare man of about sixty glanced at his watch before nodding to Troughton.

“Ten past the hour. Precise to time, Troughton! Naseby, I presume?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. You did well with your submarine young man. Now, I have another task for one of your blimps, I presume with you in command.”

“Certainly for the first time, sir. I have four young pilots under my command, all of whom are capable officers. They are young, however. I will wish to break new ground and brief them as necessary, sir.”

“So you should. What I have in mind is a raid on Zeebrugge, on the harbour. A flotilla of six predreadnoughts, either with new twelve inch with the longer range or using their secondary batteries of nine point twos. They are to stand ten miles offshore for thirty minutes at dawn. Lead ship to be gunnery commander and give range and elevation figures to the others. A spotter to be in wireless contact to give the aim.”

Bacon turned to a chart of the harbour, pointing out the targets, most especially the lock gates to the ship canal leading inland to the submarine bases.

“Can’t reach the submarines themselves, Naseby. If we can destroy the lock gates, we can prevent them getting to sea for weeks, maybe months.”

“My blimp to be the spotter, sir? Offline of the shellfire at about three, maybe four thousand feet. Can be done, sir. Where is the nearest field with aeroplanes, sir? I have a Lewis for defence and seventy thousand cubic feet of hydrogen gas above my head. A single tracer round into the envelope might be sufficient, sir. Are there high-angle guns at the port, do you know, sir?”

“You think one of these Fokker things could set you afire, Naseby?”

“From all we hear from France, sir, it seems likely.”

The new Fokker with its forward-firing gun was said to be butchering the observer planes of the RFC.

“I have heard of so-called ‘anti-aircraft guns’, Naseby, able to knock down our aircraft.”

“We are much bigger than a plane, sir.”

“Humph! It won’t work without a spotter. Can’t get closer than ten miles offshore because of the batteries they are emplacing, and the destroyers they have on that coast. What about at night?”

“Possible, sir. We could take off in the last of the daylight and delay return until dawn – we have the endurance to do so. What are the techniques of spotting at night, sir?”

“Not easy. You have to use the flashes of the shells to see where they land. Bright moonlight might make it practical.”

“I would prefer to take a dummy run first, sir. Could we use the ranges off Shoeburyness for practice on a clear night?”

“Could you see destroyers leaving harbour to make a torpedo attack on the bombarding squadron?”

“Probably not, sir. Small ships and all oil-powered, not coal. Far less by way of funnel flame.”

“Can’t afford to lose a battleship. That would be a disaster…”

Peter could not see why. The predreadnoughts were of little value in the current war. He said nothing.

“Too big a risk, I fear. Brings me to a second possibility.”

Peter tried to look intelligent, head cocked, waiting for the Admiral to share his brilliance.

“Putting a man down with a wireless set to act as the spotter. Drop him one night, pick him up the next.”

“Batteries, sir.”

“What of them, Naseby?”

“Heavy, sir. Your man would have to carry them and his set into the town, or to the point chosen for him. Then he would have to set himself up, and erect an aerial, all unseen. Have to take everything down for daylight and hide up and then march himself back to the landing place. Carrying no bomb or Lewis and we could just make the weight to carry him and the set and the batteries. Have to land without a ground party and that would be demanding a lot. Two acres of flat grassland, say, without trees and no houses with hearing or view – the gasbag is big, sir.”

“How heavy are the batteries?”

They sent a flag lieutenant next door to the communications room. Ten minutes and he came back with a range of answers.

“If you want to be heard over twenty miles and for an hour of transmissions, sir, then the batteries would weigh at least forty pounds. The big ones you see on large cars, sir. The set itself will weigh eight or nine pounds and the aerial wire will add some more, sir. The petty officer said a total of half a hundredweight at the least. Bulky, as well, sir. Lead acid batteries which have to be carried carefully.”

Bacon showed his intelligence by accepting that his own plan would not work.

“Nice thought, bad idea! Can’t be done. What’s the chance of your five blimps dropping your bombs on the locks, Naseby?”

Peter took another look at the chart of Zeebrugge harbour.

“Diving attack over this big mole, sir, five of us in line astern. We could do it if we could see it. One bomb each, which is all we can carry. One hundred and twelve pounds, sir.”

“A quarter of a ton, in five separate explosions. Except by luck, you would do no damage at all. If you were lucky, then you would do very little. The lock gates are too big. We cannot make an attack on Zeebrugge, except in massive force. We must rely on the barrage and on convoys. Thank you for coming, Naseby. Take a meal before you go back. I had hoped we could talk through the plan of attack over a bite to eat, but there will be no attack.”

Troughton led Peter off to the wardroom.

“Did very well there, Naseby! Told him his favourite scheme was a no-go and got away unscathed – not many people achieve that! Interested that you think you could land without a ground party.”

“Not ‘land’ as such, sir. Couldn’t switch off and park up on a field without men to walk us in. What we could do is drop in and as you might say hover for a minute or two. Could drop off a man or pick one up, provided I could find the location at night. No wind, as well – be buggered in anything more than a light breeze.”

“Even so, old chap. We might be able to do a lot there.”

“Use one of the older balloons. The envelope gets dirty over time. Starts off quite a bright grey, gets grimier and darker over the months. Able to sneak through the night unseen and almost unheard in one of the older blimps. More accurately, one with an older envelope.”

Luncheon – nothing so undignified as a mere ‘lunch’ – was taken in the mess shared with Army officers and various civilians of senior status. It was a serious meal, designed for the benefit of generals’ and admirals’ bellies. There was wine with each course.

“Must be rich to pay the wardroom fees here, sir.”

“A couple of hundred a year, at least, Naseby. The staff do not pig it like the lesser mortals who actually fight the war.”

“Quite right too, sir. Where would we be if the aristocracy were not pandered to?”

“You sound like a Red, Naseby. An hour in company of the staff and I am too.”

Troughton accompanied Peter to his waiting tender, passing him back out through the gates.

“I shall be away to London to have a chat with some acquaintances tucked away in the less-known parts of the Admiralty, Naseby. Might be we could put you to, shall we say clandestine use.”

Peter smiled and showed enthusiastic, delighted to assist in any way to win the war. Troughton was a good fellow; he was still his senior officer and to be treated as such.

He saw a submarine a week later, dropped his bomb in its vague submerged locality and spent hours circling its possible location and assisting destroyers to chase it. He came away at nightfall, just making it into Polegate before sunset, swearing and stiff from a day of concentration. He entered the wardroom to eat a steak that had been kept warm for three hours since dinner, needing food, not especially enjoying it.

“What’s the score, Commander?”

“Submarine nil, Royal Navy nil. Light stopped play, Tubbs.”

They thought that was rather clever.

He relaxed with a gin and tonic.

“We need some way of signalling to the ships, Tubbs. A day of waving and pointing from the cockpit was rather frustrating.”

Pickles looked up from his beer.

“My Sparks has worked out how to run an Aldis off the jenny, Commander. We are waiting for the lamps themselves to come up from stores, will fit them overnight as soon as they get here.”

“Oh, well done, Pickles! That will be a godsend!”

“It was your idea, Commander. We have talked with the Torpedo Branch at the Admiralty and they have noted your name against it.”

“Torpedoes?”

“It’s electrical and torpedoes used electricity first so the Torpedo Branch took over all things relating to it, including wireless and electrically powered signalling lamps.”

“Of course. Obvious! I should have realised.”

It was how the Admiralty worked – and thought.

More long days of empty patrolling and Captain Troughton appeared one nightfall.

“Who of your subs could be promoted lieutenant and be put in charge of flying during your absence for three or four days?”

“Bracegirdle. His months in the trenches have turned him into a strong officer. Not necessarily the most able; easily the best at taking a decision. Horrocks is still not fully happy with command, though a damned good pilot. After him? Tubbs, surprisingly. He will always know the right thing to do and will try to give the correct orders. His manner is too diffident for my liking – an officer don’t apologise for telling a man what to do – but he is certainly able. What’s the position with his family, by the way?”

Troughton grinned.

“Stymied! Can’t do a thing. Their Lordships have declared that the RNAS is a specialist division and that its personnel should not generally be interchangeable with the wet navy. Exceptions are to be made for the seaplane carriers, and for the aircraft carriers they are thinking about. For us, however, the rule is clear – our officers and ratings belong to us and will not be posted outside of the RNAS, except they might volunteer for hazardous service or be found medically unfit for flying or somesuch. Tubbs cannot be pulled from us and stuffed aboard a battleship, much to his family’s dismay.”

“Good! I shall pass him the word. He will celebrate, I do not doubt. He is enjoying his service here, for the first time since he entered Dartmouth. He is one of the most useful officers and is often asked for his opinion and advice. Add to that, he has seen a submarine three times and has dropped his bomb twice, the second time leaving a moving oil slick on the surface which confirmed he had done some damage. I put him up for a Mention for that, by the way, a fortnight ago.”

“Gone through. He will receive official notification soon.”

That was pleasing – the boy deserved something. No doubt they could throw a party of some sort when the confirmation arrived. If they had a wet day, perhaps a meal in a big hotel in Brighton. He doubted whether the boy had been drunk in his life, and he had certainly never patronised a lady of the night. Brighton was a place where he could do both, and in safety, the tarts being of the better sort.

“Right, Naseby. Be so good as to inform Bracegirdle that he is your Number One and that he must get some idea of the administration of the flotilla. His promotion, substantive, will be notified tomorrow. At some time in the next fortnight, you will be requested and required to fly SS9 across to Flanders – you will be given a precise location, obviously. When there, you will be given a mission to cross the lines and drop off a large sum of money in Occupation notes and a pair of wireless sets. No batteries – they can supply the power themselves. Can’t be thrown over the side of an aeroplane on a parachute, the sets don’t bounce well. You will probably be given written reports in exchange. Details of finding the landing place will be given last minute. How is your boy Griffiths as a navigator?”

Peter shrugged.

“He can find his way, generally, sir.”

“I could replace him with a specialist.”

“No. Rather have Griffiths. He knows his way around the engine as well as being competent with a chart. Where have they got hold of the Occupation notes, sir?”

“Bank of England, Naseby. Printed them off ourselves.”

That seemed almost criminal. It was certainly not gentlemanly.

“Forgeries, sir?”

“Not in time of war, Naseby. The government has given itself almost unlimited powers under the Defence of the Realm Act and that includes the capacity to make war on land, sea and air in any way necessary.”

“Pretty much meaningless, that last, sir?”

“No. It allows for the use of poison gas, otherwise forbidden under the Hague Convention, which is part of British law, except where the government chooses it should not be. The same for the bombardment of undefended towns, which is forbidden but is now made lawful. A response to the German High Seas Fleet bombarding east coast ports, of course.”

“Yes… What was the point of those bombardments, by the way, sir?”

“Morale. They showed that the Navy could not guard British shores. Perfectly true, of course. If we are to hide our ships away at Scapa Flow then they cannot act to protect the country. Not that they could do very much about that sort of hit and run raid even if they were still stationed at Chatham and Portsmouth. Their Lordships think there might have been a line of submarines stationed out to sea, that the retreating battlecruisers were to have drawn any pursuit across them. Minefields as well. They might be right for once.”

It was not a gentleman’s war, it seemed.

“Is the Army proposing to station a flotilla of blimps of its own in Flanders, sir?”

“Doubt it. French does not approve of them. He says that reconnaissance should be done by cavalry. If it can’t be, then the aeroplanes have done very well so far. Haig, who is busy stabbing French in the back and will replace him soon, understands that the blimps are being used by Intelligence, which he disapproves of. Therefore, he will not countenance an Army Corps of Balloons, other than for static artillery observation purposes.”

“Why does he disapprove of Intelligence?”

“He’s a cavalryman. The very word is anathema to them.”

“I see.”

Peter did not understand at all. His service had not brought him into contact with the cavalry and he was unaware of their little foibles.

“This business with the money is being run by Intelligence, is it, sir?”

“Of course. They are looking at the possibility of using couriers to send hundreds of millions of marks into Germany, they told me. If they print vast sums of money, it will become valueless and destroy the German economy. If all of the factories are forced to close, the war will soon end.”

“Sounds good to me, sir.”

“And to me. I gather that Asquith is dead against it – says that devaluing money hits at the foundations of civilisation.”

“But poison gas don’t?”

“Hush, Naseby! You are almost guilty of maliciously thinking for yourself, a heinous crime for any naval officer. To be serious, word will come through within seven days and you will fly out immediately on receipt of the location of the base.”

“Not in a gale, I trust, sir.”

“They know that we cannot tolerate high winds. I have told them so. With luck, they will have listened to me.”

Peter farewelled Troughton and wandered unenthusiastically in search of his dinner. It was fish, hot and fresh, that day’s catch and cooked for him rather than waiting on a hot plate all evening. He sent a message of thanks to the wardroom steward, who had had nothing to do with the meal, the initiative having come wholly from the cooks.

“Griffiths! Pack a small bag, enough for three days away. We will be flying across to France somewhen in the next few days. I’ll give you the exact place when I know it. Bring your rifle with you. Where’s Bracegirdle?”

The sub was in the bar area, a pint by his side, came across instantly.

“You are lieutenant, substantive in the rank, from tomorrow morning, Bracegirdle. I shall be away on a special flight next week and possibly on occasions thereafter. You will be OIC Flying in my absence. Pickles!”

A copy of the Times was folded away and Pickles walked across.

“I shall be absent from the field on some sort of funny business next week, and after, perhaps. Bracegirdle here is promoted and will take over Flying. You are senior on the field otherwise, are you not?”

“Yes, Commander. I am to hold the fort, I presume?”

“Yes. Should only be for a few days at a time. Captain Troughton has told me almost nothing, naturally. Run the place by guess and by God – everything as normal.”

They laughed and had a second beer, the wardroom being a sober place when they were to start work at five in the morning, virtually with the sun.

Tubbs’ Mention in Despatches coincided with a spring storm, to the pleasure of all. Peter made the announcement before dinner, the wind beating at the windows of the Cottage and forcing him to raise his voice.

“Plymouth says the weather is getting worse down there.”

They cheered.

“No flying tomorrow. I have spoken to the Regency Hotel in Brighton and they will be putting on a dinner for us, six thirty for seven o’clock tomorrow. Best bib and tucker. Transport is arranged and there will be rooms for us all at the hotel.”

He passed the word quietly as they ate that all costs were to be covered by the wardroom fund – no need to worry about empty wallets.

“Does it include me, Commander?”

Farnsworth was not sure how he fitted into the wardroom, feeling that he was an outsider among the sailors and fliers.

“All officers, Mr Farnsworth. Bring along a thirst – nothing else required!”

Peter had arranged the celebration from his own funds, had sent a cheque across to the hotel that morning. There would be no mention of the source of that payment. A few of the more thoughtful might wonder just how the wardroom could afford such a beano; most would not argue.

“Promises to be a good evening.”

“I much hope so, Mr Farnsworth. The boys need to relax – they have been flying far too many hours for their own good.”

“I wish I could fly, Commander.”

“Goes against the regulations, Farnsworth. However, we have no spare second hand – if one of the boys gets a heavy cold, we have no way of replacing him, have to ground the balloon. Such being the case, needing to respond to emergency, it might be possible. How is your Morse?”

“Learned it as a Boy Scout, for a wireless badge.”

“Well done. Go across to the Magazine when you can, get Handsworth or Sargent to show you how to use a Lewis and the official carbine. I’ll ask them to issue a pistol. We can wangle flying clothing – bound to have some extras in stock somewhere. Be ready against need. Won’t be able to do much by way of a training flight – you’ll have to pick it up in the air. Should be possible to work the oracle, Farnsworth. Useful to have a spare hand and you are the only available officer – good of you to volunteer, in fact.”

“They told me the Navy was very much by the book, when I was in basic training, Commander.”

“It is. We, however, are the Balloonatics – ordinary rules apply to us only sometimes.”

Peter feared the Admiralty might not agree with him – it was as well they were not listening.

Chapter Eleven

The celebratory dinner was a success. Tubbs was formally toasted and went on to drink far too much and was tucked away in a warm bed, waking up to find he had female company and responding in approved fashion, rather to his own surprise. He had always been nervous in the company of women, had wondered whether he would fail there as he had so often in the rest of his life. All went well and more than once, to the apparent pleasure of the lady who had so surprisingly appeared in his bed.

He took a belated breakfast feeling very much pleased with himself, ignoring his hangover and wondering whether the others in the wardroom would know what he had been up to. Several of them were eating with him, most of them with grins on their faces. He thought they might all have enjoyed the celebration. He was inclined to wonder how it had all come about; for once in his life, he decided to ask no questions, to accept that he had, amazingly, been a success and had enjoyed himself.

A charabanc drew up in front of the hotel, a single deck motor bus used in peacetime to give holidaymakers a tour of the sights, and often their first ride in a motor vehicle. The hotel staff chased the late risers out of their beds and they pottered off to Polegate, most of them going to sleep in their seats, making up for a busy night.

Peter, who had enjoyed his evening with the rest, was content that morale had been lifted and that his officers were fit to go back to war again. It had been an expensive outing, he admitted; he had more money than he knew what to do with, so why not? The youngsters had needed a break from the long, tedious patrols. Now they had memories to keep them warm while they were out.

A Marine on a motorcycle rode through the gates in the afternoon, informing the guard he was carrying a despatch ‘what had to go to the CO in person’.

They admired his massive four hp Douglas bike, pointing the way to the offices and encouraging him to open the throttle. The noise would be good for the officers’ headaches, they were sure.

“Commander Naseby, sir?”

Peter nodded. There was no other commander within sight, he could be the only possible recipient of the despatch pouch.

“Sign, please, sir.”

The rider produced a blue pencil and a receipt book from a waterproof pocket up his sleeve.

“’Orders, one pouch, Commander Naseby, for the edification thereof’. Seriously, man?”

“I don’t write them, sir. Just gets them signed, sir.”

The Marine clasped tight to the pouch, making it clear that he would not let go short of a signature.

Peter chose to be edified, signed as indicated.

“Thank you, sir. Be getting back now, sir.”

“Where to, Marine?”

“London, sir. The Office, sir.”

He evidently assumed that Peter knew all about the Office.

“Payne!”

The PO appeared, eyebrow raised.

“Take this man to the cookhouse, get him something hot before he goes off again. Long way to London on a bike.”

“Yes, sir.”

Payne led the grateful marine away, chattering in friendly fashion. All that the man knew about the Office would be made clear in short time.

There was a lead seal to the pouch, needing to be cut away, at least preventing casual pickpockets from accessing its contents.

The orders were brief. He was to fly SS9 to a field outside Langemark, near Ypres, arriving there before noon next day. He shouted for Griffiths, knowing that one of the ratings in the cabin next door would run for him.

“Flying tomorrow morning, Griffiths. A course for Langemark, near the Salient. Exact location given here. A road and a railway line shown and a number of tramway tracks. Should be possible to spot the field. A flag will be flying to give a wind indication and there will be two companies of soldiers to act as a ground party. There are anchor points and ropes.”

Griffiths nodded. He could set a course for Ypres, he suspected. Close to the landing field and the tracks should give him a sufficient guide.

“Lewis and rifle loaded. No bomb. I’ll have a word with Pickles, see if he can fix up a carrying box in place of the bomb.”

Pickles did not think that was a good idea.

“Simpler to strip back the canvas behind your cockpit, sir. Make a small open hold. Hang four mail bags there to stick the load in. Anything fragile, sir?”

Pickles hummed thoughtfully on hearing of a pair of wireless sets.

“Bag of wood shavings underneath and on top, sir. Act as padding. Do all we need, well wrapped up. Carpenter’s shop will have a bin full of shavings and sawdust. Easy to get hold of. All be ready for the morning, sir.”

Peter made his way to the magazine.

“One cavalry carbine and rounds, if you would be so good, Handsworth. I feel the need to have something tucked away in my cockpit, a comforter, you might say.”

Handsworth simply stood and led the way to his small arms shed.

“One carbine, sir, if you wish. You might prefer an additional pistol. I have three Belgian made automatics, sir. Nine mil with half a dozen clips of eight rounds. Picked them up from a refugee coming through Harwich last year. Don’t know where he got them from but the crushers didn’t want him carrying them in England, passed them to me to dispose of safely. Tried them on the range, accurate up to fifteen yards, which is all you can ask of any handgun. Well made – as many of the Belgian guns are – their own design, owing a lot to the German models. Stick the issue Webley under the seat – in case you have to stand in front of senior officers and need to wear it – and put one of these on either hip. I have holsters.”

“Billy the Kid?”

“Just that, sir. Fastest draw in the West!”

Peter took the pistols, somewhat embarrassed; it seemed rather theatrical. He was nonetheless unhappy about playing cloak and dagger games in the night air above the Western Front and wanted something in the way of a weapon to hand, just in case.

Troughton telephoned before dinner.

“All ready to go, Naseby? Forecast for the morning is for near calm. Three days of light breezes, you will be glad to hear.”

“Delighted, rather, sir. All prepared, including a cargo place behind the cockpit.”

“Ah! Good thought that, Naseby. Didn’t occur to me… You’re right, of course, you will definitely need somewhere to put things.”

Peter hoped the men from the Office in London were less amateur. He recalled Captain Holder at Portsmouth saying that Intelligence had lost three officers and their boats on the Belgian coast since Christmas – that did not fill him full of confidence.

They took off early, soon after six.

Griffiths expected the run to take less than four hours at easy cruising speed.

“Can’t get too far lost, sir. They say the lines are like a great snake across the countryside with miles of devastation on either side. Impossible to miss.”

“So are we if they have aeroplanes up, Griffiths.”

“The Germans never cross our lines, sir. So the papers say – our boys have to go over to hunt them.”

“From what I have read about the Fokkers, I wouldn’t describe the process as hunting them, Griffiths.”

“It does sound peculiar, sir.”

They crossed the Channel, looking out for submarines as always, seeing nothing as was the case in all except a tiny percentage of patrols.

Peter wondered if unseen periscopes were tracking him, hiding away in fear of his bombs. He hoped so, though it seemed unlikely, the sort of thing the newspapers would say.

They crossed the French coast, not so far from Boulogne, they thought. There was definitely a busy harbour to the northeast and ships entering and leaving accompanied by the navy. It did not look like Calais to Peter’s vague recollection, so Boulogne was a likely identity.

“Course for Ypres now, sir.”

Peter turned slowly, pointed the blunt nose of the blimp more to the north.

Silence for some while, Griffiths scanning the land ahead with his binoculars.

“Got a railway line, sir. Come around five degrees north.”

Another prolonged silence.

“Got the trenches in sight, sir. Must be the Salient from the shape, sir. That battered town must be Ypres… I think. Lots of small gauge tram lines and a standard gauge railway track and a metalled road, sir. Come ten degrees to starboard and drop us to two thousand feet, sir.”

Nothing for two minutes.

“Got an open field, sir, with lots of soldiers on either side, dead ahead. Drop us in, sir… Belay that, sir! They’re playing football.”

Peter held course at a thousand feet.

“Hard aport, sir! I can see a flag and they are firing green flares, sir.”

Less than a quarter of a mile distant, too close to go straight in.

Peter made a curling descent, circling the field and then lining up into the breeze. It made little difference but looked as if he was performing a deliberate manoeuvre, not lost and diving in hopefully.

“Aerial in.”

Griffiths wound in the trailing wire.

“Ready with the rope… Let go!”

The rope dropped and soldiers grabbed it and heaved mightily, pulling SS9 to the ground. Peter hopped out and supervised the process of mooring the ship to four anchor points, checking each was firm and secure. He spotted a lieutenant colonel, put his hat on and saluted.

“Commander Naseby and blimp SS9, sir. My second hand, Lieutenant Griffiths.”

“Jolly good show! Secombe-Askey, you know. Supposed to be running this business. Don’t know a damned thing about it. Just supplied the bodies. There’s one of your people here somewhere who actually knows what’s going on. Just happened to have a battalion back on rest and a couple of acres of flat ground, you know. Big, ain’t it, that balloon of yours! Thought they was smaller, from what I’d heard. Zeppelins supposed to be larger still, they say?”

“Far greater, sir. We have seventy thousand cubic feet of gas and they are supposed to run over the million. Bigger in every aspect than we are. Carry a ton of bombs to our one hundredweight.”

“But your small load was enough to sink a submarine, I gather.”

“Luck, sir. Got within a hundred feet and dropped smack on top of the sub.”

“You can call that luck, if you wish, Commander. I’ve got another word for it! No matter – here’s your own boss man.”

A rumpled-seeming lieutenant commander, apparently slept in his uniform, came running across.

“There you are, old chap. They said you would arrive at dawn.”

“No, take off at dawn. We don’t generally play games in the darkness, not with a bag of hydrogen over our heads.”

“Ha! H’m. Yes. Thinking on it, I wouldn’t wish to either. Good point, that man!”

“So I thought. What is the plan now?”

“Can you take off after dark, if you must?”

“Probably. Better to get into the air in the dusk and head off south for a slow hour before reversing course. Build four fires on the field in a square and we can come back and take a course from them.”

“How high?”

“Below the cloud. It’s a clear day, at the moment. Five thousand feet, if you want.”

“High enough not to be seen from the ground or heard. There’s always noise near the Front – convoys coming up with stores after dark and a bit of shellfire. We want you to go the better part of fifty miles north of here, on low ground within reach of Brussels for men on bicycles. They have to be out of sight before dawn, can’t have a landing ground closer to us. They will light paraffin lamps when they hear you coming, so you need to drop lower for the last few miles if you are to see them. Drop the bags over the side and get out quickly. If possible, try to get in for midnight – better that the people on the ground don’t have to hang around too long.”

“Make height and head back across the Lines. It will be difficult, almost impossible to find this landing ground before dawn.”

“Have you got the range to go straight home, to England?”

“Easily.”

“Do so. The less you hang about here, the smaller the chance of information getting back to Germany. We aren’t the only ones to have spies, you know. If they hear that we have been sending airships north then they will have another search for spies in Brussels. Best to keep all quiet.”

Griffiths sat down with the charts he was given

“Taking off at ten o’clock, sir, going south and then taking a heading almost due north at forty miles an hour will take us to the landing ground for one o’clock. To get there for midnight demands a nine o’clock start; its still not wholly dark then.”

“Makes taking off and setting a course easier. Means we will be able to get a better idea of the wind as well, being able to see our leeway. Take off at nine.”

Peter turned to the man from Intelligence, asked when the load would be put aboard.

“Can do that now, if you wish, Commander.”

The sooner the better, in case anything went wrong.

“Have you petrol for us?”

“Got some from the RNAS station near Dunkerque. Can top you up now. Do you want some Number One Grenades? Picked up a dozen in case you needed them.”

Peter had not seen the little grenades before. They seemed to be one pound bombs with a thick casing that would fragment and cause harm to groups of soldiers. There was a fusing string to pull before throwing them, or in this case dropping them over the side.

“Put them aboard, please. Odds are we shall have no use for them. Might come in handy, even so.”

“Better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them, Commander.”

That was the sort of truism that sounded terribly profound, Peter thought. He smiled his kindest.

“We can feed you in the mess here, Commander. The Brigadier is located here so the food is pretty good. You can have a room after lunch to get your head down. Always spare rooms – battalions coming back from the Trenches to rest never have a full complement of officers. Dinner for seven o’clock and you can make ready to fly for nine.”

It seemed well organised.

Lunch was tasty and the room allocated was comfortable. Peter rose refreshed to go down to dinner.

“Happy with the course, Griffiths?”

“Yes, sir. There are canals and roads and railway lines to give checks, sir. Should not be too difficult. The bit that’s worrying me is spotting the landing ground. It’s all a bit vague. ‘Fifteen miles south of Brussels, on a road, by a railway line, close to the river to the left’. Paraffin lanterns in a pattern, not carbide bicycle lamps which cast a brighter beam. Should put out a fair bit of light even so. I hope not so much as to attract attention.”

“Let’s eat. Get a good meal in our bellies and the rest is in the lap of the gods. Don’t take too many glasses. Looks like a hard drinking mess.”

“Bracegirdle said they all were when they came out of the line, sir. They needed it to get rid of the memories so they could face going back up again.”

“The soldiers have got it hard from all I hear. Keep quiet about our job – they might not see sitting in a blimp as much like fighting.”

The balloon in fact made a topic of conversation during the meal. It was new and the soldiers without exception thought they were crazy to sit in a tiny cockpit suspended under tens of thousands of cubic feet of inflammable hydrogen and then to fly miles out over the sea.

“It will put the fire out if anything goes wrong, Major.”

They thought that was funny, and even crazier.

“You are the man who sunk a submarine, aren’t you, Commander?”

“Luck. We came out of cloud and it was there, pretty much underneath us.”

“The papers said you dropped the bomb from one hundred feet.”

“Didn’t want to miss. Only got the one to drop.”

The questioner said no more, lifting his glass in salute, joined by the rest of the table.

Peter felt acutely uncomfortable, certain they took greater risks every day up in the Trenches. He had been visible and his achievement had been more obvious. Nothing more than that, he was convinced.

“You are flying over the Lines, Commander?”

“Bit of an experiment. Seeing what is possible. Not convinced it’s a good idea. Not up to me to pass judgement on the orders I receive.”

That was obviously true. The orders might seem stupid and the men giving them certainly often were, and that mattered not at all. Until they became generals, they did as they were told. Even then, they suspected, there would be politicians to stand over them. The services obeyed orders; if they did not then England would become another banana republic with military dictators and that sort of nonsense.

“Quite right, Commander. We are English, not a bunch of dagoes who don’t know what discipline means.”

The whole table honestly agreed with their Colonel.

Peter remembered Bracegirdle speaking of marching into uncut wire defended by machine guns, of losing one half of the men in a single action. That was the other side of blind acceptance of one’s orders.

He said nothing, unable to think of a sensible response. That would require many years of thought and possibly a better educated brain than his. For the while he could only respect their integrity.

The table broke up and he and Griffiths changed into their flying dress, putting on their scarves and gloves and long leather overcoats and exchanging peaked caps for flying helmets.

Colonel Secombe-Askey wished them well before handing them over to his adjutant.

“How many men do you need, Commander?”

“We normally have fifty to hold the nacelle steady and control the blimp until we have engine power, sir.”

“Two companies will be best.”

“Thank you, sir. One officer to command the ground party, please. Keep everything attached until we have started the engine, then unhook the mooring ropes as quickly as possible. Keep hold of the single trailing rope until I call the release, sir.”

“I will do it. Sounds simple.”

“It is, sir. One strong man to swing the propellor as well, sir. I will tell him exactly what to do.”

Peter looked about him for the lieutenant commander from Intelligence.

“He left for London while you were asleep, sir. Said he could do no good standing around and watching you take off.”

The adjutant made it clear that he was unimpressed by the man’s attitude – it was not how they did things in his regiment.

“If you will come on out to the field, sir. I think we have everything ready for you.”

There were two captains and more than a hundred men, most of them looking interested in the balloon, a change from their ordinary routine.

“Light cloud cover, sir, and a half moon. Just right for a night journey. All ready here, sir.”

They produced a corporal standing well over six feet and built in proportion, a farm boy from his voice.

“First time, we simply prime the cylinders. I will call to you and you give the propellor a single slow spin. Then I will shout ‘switches on’ and you will heave the propellor as hard as you can and step back fast, out of its way. If the moving blade hits you, it will kill you. So you must keep your balance and step back. If all goes well, the engine will start on that first hard swing. If it does not, wait for me to order you to start again. Don’t step in close until I tell you it’s safe.”

“Roight you are, zur. Once round quiet like. You shouts switches and then I really give ‘er a sharp old tug and get out the bliddy way. If so be it don’t work, keep back till you gives I the word.”

“Just that, Corporal. Ready now?”

“Arr, no worries, like, zur.”

The engine started obediently and Peter shouted his thanks.

“Release mooring guys.”

The four ropes were unhooked in seconds, a sergeant who had watched the earlier mooring supervising.

“Let go the trailing rope.”

Griffiths heaved the rope in, the sole part of his job requiring any strength.

Peter set the fins to rise.

“Handling party, step back.”

They let go of the nacelle and the blimp made its normal rushing ascent, controlled by the engine. Peter managed a single wave as he steered due south to make height. Ten minutes later he came back over the field at three thousand feet, still rising slowly.

“Got the fires, Griffiths?”

“Spotted, sir. I reckon a wind of about eight miles an hour, sir. Sou’westerly. Crossing the Trenches in about ten minutes, sir.”

It was almost full night and Peter was fairly sure they would not be seen at height. No aeroplanes flew at night, he knew, other than a few experimental sorts which would be back at the factories. He need not fear ground fire above four thousand feet – he would be out of the range of the few machine guns that were set up on high angle mountings and invisible, he hoped, to anything bigger.

The sole problem was discovering their landing ground.

“Railway line, sir. Port, about two miles. Train coming south.”

The old main line from Brussels to Ypres was still in use on the German side of the lines. They had been told it was busy with troop trains and ration and ammunition carriers every night. Their landing ground was in sight of the line.

Peter adjusted course and followed the line north, passing over a few small towns, none of which he could certainly identify on his chart.

“A road to the east, sir. Busy, sir. Looks like lorries in a convoy, a dozen pairs of headlights spaced close together in a block. Quite a lot of weaker lights, single lanterns, maybe. Perhaps horse-drawn wagons, sir?”

It was reasonable to expect many more horses than motor vehicles.

The distance between road and railway was not much more than five miles, Peter thought. Close enough that traffic on one or the other might spot a balloon circling low.

They flew on, seeing no interruption in the flow of vehicles. It seemed likely that they might stop if they spotted a balloon, unless they assumed it was one of their own. Not very likely that the British or French would be sending balloons out in the night, after all.

“Should be coming up on the site, sir. Passing more small villages – the map shows more built-up areas as you get closer to Brussels. I can see a river near the railway tracks, sir.”

They needed to come in low if they were to pick up the weak lamps on the ground.

“Dropping to one thousand.”

Peter adjusted the fins and throttled back, gliding slowly and quietly down. The cloud cover was thinner, giving a little moonlight, possibly enough to disclose the big blimp, too little to show much underneath them.

There was a faint metallic rattle from the front cockpit.

“Lewis cocked, sir.”

Peter eased the pistols at his hips, wondering if he might need them.

“Lights, sir. Five of them, making a tee shape, three north south, one out either side at the north end. Close to the river, sir.”

“Good. Going down. Can you see anything further out?”

“No. Clear, sir.”

Peter aimed towards the southernmost light, brought the blimp in over it, the nacelle bumping on the turf. He glanced at his watch, just before midnight. Figures ran towards him, indistinct in the darkness.

“From the Office?”

It seemed unlikely that there would be other balloons wandering about the area. Peter called back that he was.

“We have a cart. Let us bring it across.”

“Keep clear of the propellor, to the front.”

The balloon was bumping and surging under the impetus of the engine. He could not switch off.

“Hurry!”

They scurried in the night; a darker, larger lump appeared, showed itself as a pony and trap. He pulled out the first sack, hauled it across at full stretch of his arms, not too heavy but awkward to handle from the cockpit with its limited space to turn.

Second then third and a shout from the distance.

“There is a patrol on the road. Coming this way. Quickly!”

He grabbed the fourth sack, pushed it across. They dropped it, wasted seconds picking it up again.

“Get clear. I am taking off now. Griffiths, ready to open fire.”

The cart moved away, slowly across the grassland towards a track to the south. There was more shouting and then a shot on the roadway leading across from the west, the direction of the railway line. Staring across, Peter thought he could see carriages stationary on the line, as if a troop train had spotted the blimp, halted and sent out a platoon, or more, to investigate.

Figures ran into the pool of light from the lamps.

“Soldiers, sir. Wearing pickelhaubes, sir.”

“Open fire, Griffiths.”

The Lewis crackled in a short burst as Peter opened the throttle slowly, taking care not to flood the engine. They began to bump forward.

“Closing, sir! Shooting at us.”

Right hand off the yoke, reaching for the cord in the corner of the cockpit, swearing as a bullet creased his shoulder. He heard a howl from Griffiths as he heaved on the thick line and released the water ballast, lightening the nacelle by three hundred and fifty pounds. The balloon shot up into the air, far steeper than the ordinary climb away, disappearing from the sight of those on the ground in seconds. The rifle fire ceased as he turned through one hundred and twenty degrees to port, coming onto a bearing well south of west and holding the throttle open at full until they reached four thousand feet and safety.

He reduced speed to forty miles an hour into the wind, probably a little more than thirty miles an hour over the ground.

“Griffiths! Are you badly hit?”

Five minutes gone since escaping, a safe distance from the landing field. He picked up the small electric torch carried in the cockpit, shone it forward on Griffiths.

The lieutenant was slumped forward over the Lewis, unmoving. There was blood splashed liberally, dripping down into the well of the cockpit. Shifting the torch beam he spotted three exit wounds in Griffiths’ back, bullets having torn through from his chest and side. There was no more blood coming from them.

‘Poor little sod’s dead. For sure.’

Peter could not climb forward from the pilot’s cockpit while in flight. He had to keep control of the yoke and throttle.

Landing in German occupied territory was forbidden to him. It would mean capture of him and most likely the balloon as he would probably be unable to get down and pull Griffiths out and to safety and then set fire to the gasbag.

Getting down behind the Lines was a possibility, but not until daylight when he would be able to select a flat stretch of ground close to an army unit that could provide men to control the balloon. Landing without the ballast aboard would not be easy and there would be no facilities to moor the ship.

If he increased speed to fifty, he could make Polegate for first light and have skilled hands to bring him in.

He sat back in his seat, opening up the throttle. If Griffiths was alive, he could do nothing for him. The odds were very high that he was dead. Three bullets through the chest would be fatal nine times out of ten. He pushed the pistols he had not used out of his way, tried to make himself comfortable for the tedious flight back to England.

His shoulder twinged as he shifted in his seat. He could see nothing, put a hand up to feel, came away with a trickle of blood on his glove. Probing with a bare finger suggested a trivial hole in his shoulder, a splinter sent flying by a bullet, most likely. An inch higher would have hit the collarbone and likely incapacitated him for a few minutes, leading to their capture. Three inches to the left would have ripped a hole in his throat. As it was, nothing – a quick wipe with carbolic and a pad taped on for a day and he would be perfectly sound again.

He wondered briefly how the Belgians had got on, suspected they would have been lucky to escape. Those taken would certainly be shot as spies from all he had read in the papers of the treatment of the conquered country.

Another great success for Intelligence, it would seem!

An hour and he could pick out the Channel, the sea much lighter than the land. The towns along the Belgian and north French coast were blacked out he knew, to give no navigation marks out to sea. He could see nothing that he recognised. He throttled down, needing to wait for first light to find his way back to Polegate.

He craned forward, playing the torch over Griffiths again. Still no movement.

He eased course a little southerly, having a feeling he was north of where he wanted to be as he crossed the coast.

Two more hours and he had light, could see white cliffs to his west, turned towards them, not knowing whether it was Dover or Beachy Head.

A few minutes and he picked out Dover Harbour, opened up the throttle and headed directly towards Polegate. He readied the Very pistol, a red flare, two more to reload.

In low, over the gatehouse at two hundred feet firing the flare as the men on duty ran outside. He circled as the field began to resemble an ant’s nest, men running from barracks and the Cottage, arms waving, parties assembling in quick order. He fired another red flare to confirm emergency. CPO Yarney appeared in front of the landing party, fired a green flare and waved him in. He spotted a sick berth attendant with a stretcher party at his side, all according to the laid down standing orders.

He had never landed without the additional weight of the water ballast, did not know what difference it might make. No trailing rope, either. The wireless aerial was out. He wondered if it was strong enough to be hauled on.

Throttle back to little more than ticking over, fins hard down, much more angle than he would normally apply. The nacelle thumped into the turf and bounced a good ten feet in the air, came down again, slewing to the side as the wind tried to turn the balloon broadside on and bouncing a second time. Down again and hands grabbing at the cockpit coaming, the first few swinging their feet off the ground, putting their whole weight onto the nacelle.

“Got her, sir!”

“Get the medical team to Griffiths. I think he’s dead.”

“You’re covered in blood over your coat, sir.”

“Just a scratch. Check the front first.”

A few seconds and Yarney appeared shaking his head.

“He’s a goner, sir. Three rounds in his chest and two more lower down. Can’t have lasted a minute, sir. Let’s get you out, sir.”

Peter stood and staggered, unexpectedly weak.

Bracegirdle ran across, having taken the time to put on his uniform, unlike many of the men present.

“The Commander to the sickbay. Mr Griffiths as well. Chief, take SS9 into the hangar. Mr Pickles to take her over, obviously. Payne, telephone to Captain Troughton, tell him what we know at the moment, which is not bloody much! Inform him that Polegate will patrol as normal this morning. Cooks! Early breakfasts! Get hot cocoa on the go as well for soonest. We all need something at five o’clock in the bloody morning!”

“Half past four, sir.”

“Even worse!”

Peter refused a stretcher, walked across to the medical hut reflecting that six months in the Trenches had turned Bracegirdle into a fine young officer, liked as well as respected by the ratings. He must make sure Troughton knew to promote him rapidly.

He was sat down on an upright wooden chair.

“Just taking your upper clothes off, sir. You stay still and we’ll get them off without hurting too much.”

“It’s no more than a scratch. Bullet or a splinter more like, just nicked the flesh.”

“Beg pardon, sir, but there ain’t no hole at the back of your coat. Good chance you’ve got a bullet stuck in your shoulder. Just going to have a look…”

Silence for a while.

“Yes, sir. Gone in under the collar bone and travelled a bit. Reckon maybe it hit something first, got slowed down before it hit you. I’m not touching this, sir. Needs a medical officer, a doctor, not a Sick Berth Attendant One what I am. Jonesy!”

A lean, tiny fellow who Peter vaguely recognised as part of the sick bay, stepped forward.

“Run across to Mr Bracegirdle and say as how the Commander ‘as got to go to the hospital. Ask whether to call an ambulance, what will take the better part of an hour to get here, or to send him off on a stretcher in the back of a Crossley.”

Jonesy ran.

The SBA found a white gown and draped it over Peter’s upper body.

“Cold in early morning, sir. Even late in May, it is.”

They waited less than five minutes, heard a petrol engine outside.

Jonesy appeared.

“Stick the Commander up on a stretcher, SBA.”

Peter grinned as he heard the formality that would never normally be used. The three men in the sickbay would certainly be on Christian name terms with each other, but not in front of the Commanding Officer.

Twenty minutes saw them into the hospital at Eastbourne, the elderly duty doctor half awake and ordering Peter to the operating table.

“Try to do it with a local anaesthetic, sir. Looks as if it is a straightforward low velocity entry wound. What happened and when? This wound is a few hours old.”

Peter explained that he had flown his balloon back from Belgium, being unable to land at night.

“What? What were you doing in Belgium? Forget I asked! None of my damned business! What is the world coming to? Shot in Belgium and flying back to Eastbourne for treatment. Didn’t happen in my day! Still, I have seen enough bullet wounds lately that I remember well what to do with them. Nurse!”

Two nurses moved into action, stripping Peter of his remaining clothing and quickly washing and disinfecting the skin around the wound. One of the pair produced a huge glass hypodermic and advanced on him.

“Don’t look at it if you are going to faint, sir!”

“Sorry, nurse. I hate those damned things!”

“Tut! Dropping bombs on submarines from one hundred feet without turning an eyebrow then going all pale at the sight of a needle!”

The doctor showed interested.

“Are you that one, sir? Well done. A couple of minutes for the injection to take and then we shall see what can be found.”

An unpleasant quarter of an hour disclosed a deformed bullet and scraps of leather, wool and linen from his coat and uniform.

“More dangerous than the damned bullet, sir. All cleaned out and made tidy now. No damage to the bone, or not worth talking about, anyway. Muscle tear that will be annoying, will take longer to heal than all the rest put together. No sense telling you to stay in bed for the next week. Just keep the arm in the sling for at least a fortnight and then exercise carefully. Don’t go out flying for a month – you need to rest and build up your strength. You ought to stay here for two days at least, but you would only be a nuisance to yourself and everybody else. Keep off your feet for a few days.”

The Crossley was waiting and they eased him into the front passenger seat and sent him on his way quietly swearing to himself. He would not have objected to a couple of days rest in a hospital bed but that was for ordinary men – heroes had to be seen to rise above mere wounds.

Troughton appeared as he sat to a breakfast, carefully cut up for him by his steward.

“Sit down, man! What happened? I know Griffiths was killed. Damned bad luck, the boy had a good career in front of him.”

Peter recounted the day’s doings, taking some pains to point out that Intelligence had sent him out with the minimum of briefings and had not even waited to see him take off.

“Bloody hell! That’s poor behaviour. I shall tell the Admiral so. They could and should have done better than that. They can whistle for the use of our balloons in future, Naseby!”

The captain listened to the story of the actual landing and escape.

“You made your delivery and were shot at by a patrol that appeared coincidentally, you believe.”

“I thought I saw a train stopped on the line a half a mile or so distant, on an embankment crossing the river valley.”

“Saw the balloon, stopped and came to investigate? Bad luck and a bright officer combined. Bloody stupid place to have you land, in sight of a busy line!”

Peter agreed, wholeheartedly. The anaesthetic was starting to wear off.

“Griffiths opened up with his Lewis and was hit by return fire, as were you. You then dropped the water ballast and took off fast and hard, very wisely. Nowhere to land in the dark, so you came home.”

“A bit like a stray tomcat, had a night on the tiles and back home bedraggled in the morning, sir.”

“Not how I would describe it, Naseby. You saved the balloon, and that is important to us. Pity about the Belgians – nothing you could do for them, or for Griffiths. Bracegirdle tells me that he had five wounds in chest and upper legs, would have died within seconds. Bad luck for the lad.”

“So it was, sir. A good youngster. Could have done a lot.”

“So could so many others killed in action, Naseby. Home for you for two weeks. Leave Bracegirdle here in command for that time?”

“He is more than competent, sir. Make him acting lieutenant commander now and give him one of the new bases we are opening along the East Coast when I come back.”

“Will do. I shall send a staff car across this morning, Naseby. You and your servant to go home. Come back fit in a fortnight.”

Chapter Twelve

“This is Oadby, Mother. He is my sailor servant.”

She was not entirely sure of the significance of the term; she knew how to make accommodation for the servants of guests. She also knew to remain calm and collected, as was proper, at all times. The sight of her second son, pale faced and haggard, arm in sling, did not alter her show of composure.

“Porson will see to his comfort, Peter. You must come in and sit down. You are wounded. I shall call our doctor to you – he will know better than your mere service people. Porson!”

The housekeeper, quietly in the background, having glanced out of the kitchen window as the knocker rattled, stepped forward and took charge, leading Oadby upstairs with the suitcases and sending a message to Cook to feed another servant and look to the younger son’s comfort while he remained, wounded in service. Cook must discover what, if any, special dietary needs the young man might have.

“Have you taken a luncheon yet, Peter?”

He had not. They had travelled directly from Polegate in the staff car. He had not really eaten since an early dinner on the previous evening, taken near Ypres.

“Ypres! Whatever were you doing there? That is the Salient we have heard too much of, especially in the lists in the newspapers.”

Every newspaper bore a black-bordered list on its main news pages, the names of the fallen of the previous twenty-four hours, as released by the War Office and often days out of date.

“At least, your name is not there.”

“Young Griffiths, my lieutenant, will be, Mama. He died at my side last night.”

“Poor lad! No more than a boy, surely, from the photographs I saw.”

“Barely seventeen. I cannot explain all that we were doing, Mama. I am not permitted to. Suffice it to say that we made a landing in occupied Belgium to deliver certain supplies to the brave Belgians who still defy the Germans. We were caught on the ground and Griffiths was killed by rifle fire as we made our escape. I was hit by a single bullet which did little enough injury to me – it likely spent most of its force on the woodwork of the cockpit. I am home for a fortnight, if that is convenient to you.”

“Convenient? This is your home, Peter! You are always and ever welcome.”

He supposed that to be true. He had grown away from the house at least. The people were family still.

In part it was war and the effects it had upon him – he had to be his own man, could no longer be merely his parents’ son. He wondered where he would end up, what house he would eventually purchase and in which town, where he would put roots down, assuming he ever did so.

Being wounded made him gloomy, it would seem.

He ate his lunch and talked and tried to calm his mother’s fears – he had only been a little hurt and that by bad luck.

“Should you go up to your room to rest for the afternoon, Peter?”

He agreed with little argument. Flying all night had left him tired and he had not been able to rest comfortably in the car coming up from Polegate. He allowed Oadby to assist him into pyjamas and demanded a bath for five o’clock when he must rise to be ready for the arrival of his father and brother.

Six o’clock saw him sat in working uniform, as was proper in his own home. He would not wear mess dress for dinner unless there were guests, his parents not demanding formality for family meals. His father and brother would be wearing no more than lounge suits to dine. Oadby had changed the bandages and sling, made sure everything was clean and tidy.

The elder Nasebys arrived from their normal train. His father showing surprise and some distress. Menfolk were allowed emotions, in their own home.

“Peter! I did not expect to see you, heard nothing down the grapevine. What has happened, an accident?”

“A rifle bullet, Father. On a job for Intelligence in Belgium. It went wrong.”

“How many times have we heard that said of Intelligence these last few months! They need a few businessmen in their ranks to show them how to organise themselves!”

“I lost young Griffiths, my lieutenant.”

“Bad luck that, my son. He went well, I presume?”

“Manning his Lewis. Gave me the chance to get us into the air.”

“Well done, the boy! Can’t ask for much better than that, Peter.”

“Small comfort for his parents, Father. I must discover their whereabouts and at least send them a letter.”

“Not an easy task, Peter.”

Geoffrey managed to say a few sensible words – Peter supposed he must have had practice in condolences, the way the casualty lists were mounting.

“How badly are you injured, Peter?”

“Not much. A hole in the shoulder is all. The bullet had lost much of its force when it hit me. I was lucky.”

He did not mention his growing suspicion that the bullet had passed through Griffiths to hit him – he could offer no proof, had no need to feel guilt.

Dinner was a quiet, ordinary meal, Peter’s mother taking pleasure in cutting his beef for him, her little boy again.

“A silent table without the girls, Mother.”

“It is indeed. Far too much so, Peter. Jennifer lives at the hospital now, in something called ‘Nurses Quarters’, with a proper housekeeper to watch over them. She sometimes calls upon us of a Sunday afternoon, has almost no other free time, from the little she says. She seems tired and older now.”

Geoffrey agreed – the life was not good for her and he really thought she should stand down from it.

“Done her bit now. Ought to settle back to a proper life for a girl.”

His father shook his head, gravely rebuking him.

“We must all be grateful to Jennifer for the work she does for her country and for the poor men who pass through her hands. I believe she intends to study as a doctor when the war ends – if it ever does – and she will have my wholehearted support. The days of the sheltered young miss are gone, Geoffrey.”

He could not agree – what was right and proper could not change merely to accommodate a war.

“And as for Minnie! Words fail me, Father!”

“Do they? I am rather proud of her, my son. She is in France and driving an ambulance of her own already, I am told. She is doing very well. What she will be after the war, I cannot imagine. Not a simpering, blushing debutante, that is for sure!”

“Most likely one of those damned flapper suffragettes, sir!”

“Quite possibly, Geoffrey. I am assured that women will be given the vote after the war, by the way, so we should see little more of suffragettes. They have won their cause.”

“A shocking dereliction of his duty by Asquith if that be so, sir. He should know better!”

Peter was mildly amused. He could see no reason at all why Charlie, as an example, should not have a vote; he was sure she would know far more about politics than he did. As for Josephine? She was intelligent and educated – who was he to claim superiority over her in matters of government. She had seen Imperial Russia and had thought deeply about the state of affairs there, while he knew almost nothing about England.

“I cannot see why women should not have the vote, Geoffrey. With a few women in the House of Commons and joining the government, we might not have had this damned war.”

That smacked of heresy. Geoffrey put it down to the effects of the recent wound on his younger brother’s system.

“How long are you to stay with us, Peter?”

“Two weeks at most, Geoffrey. Less if I heal quickly – it is not a major wound. I could be useful in my office even if I am not to fly for a few more days.”

It was the call of duty – no man could deny that, Geoffrey agreed.

“Can’t say I like hanging back in the City, you know, Peter. Fewer and fewer young men to be seen there these days.”

“You should serve where you are most useful, Geoffrey. You can do much more for the country in your City office than you could waving a revolver in a trench. Any young man leaving school can go as a second lieutenant. Very few can master the complexity of banking at its highest level. You should do what is best for the country – and if that means suppressing your natural urge to go out and fight, well, so be it. We must all make sacrifices in these hard times.”

Peter thought that was sufficiently platitudinous to penetrate Geoffrey’s brain. It was not that his brother was stupid – far from it, in fact – he was, however, determined to reject anything and everything that even faintly smacked of novelty. Peculiar, though to give Geoffrey his due, his own experiences at Dartmouth had left him much the same. It was only since taking up ballooning that he had started to think for himself, and that was all down to accident, after all.

“Will there be more of these Intelligence jobs, do you think, Peter?”

His father seemed concerned, perhaps for knowing that the Spies were a law unto themselves. They were outside of the normal nexus of favours and string-pulling, went their own way with no concern for what was proper. He had no contact with them, other than the occasional demand coming across his desk to provide information upon a particular person he had come into contact with when negotiating a foreign loan. He had always provided the information asked for, wondering sometimes why, accepting that some things were outside his scope.

“I doubt it, Father. My people are angry at the offhand manner in which we were treated. Their man behaved to me as if I was no more than a cabbie, hired to provide transport for his betters. Not the way people treat the Navy!”

“I might let that complaint be heard, Peter. Just a comment doing the rounds to the effect that the Intelligence people were underbred these days. Amazing what a word in passing can achieve.”

“I would be glad if you would, Father. They let brave Belgian men die because of a half-baked scheme, poorly thought through and casually executed.”

“That also can be heard where it will do some good. A quiet mention at the Committee tomorrow that I am worried about you, injured in a most untidy and unnecessary affair slapped together by Intelligence. A waste of the life of a brave young lieutenant recently decorated for his part in sinking a submarine – lost because Intelligence was damnably inefficient. Asquith will hear and will make his displeasure known, in his understated, ineffectual fashion. His aides will take the matter up, to do me a favour, and there will be a furore at the War Office, the generals wanting some control of Intelligence, which they have not got at the moment. It will provide them with an excuse to slap the Spies down and force them to be more open in their dealings with government and the Army.”

“Will that not make them upset with you, Father?”

“Very likely, Peter. They can then think of what they might be able to do to me, and what I could do to them if it came to outright conflict. Government needs me, just at the moment. Not me alone, the City as a whole. We are financing their war for them and finding foreign exchange to buy munitions from the States.”

“I thought America was neutral, sir.”

“Much of America thinks the same. The reality is that American business will sell to the highest bidder, irrespective of the purchaser’s location. Germany cannot transport American goods across the Atlantic; the country has too few ships and we have too many cruisers out on blockade. The Americans therefore sell to us and it is up to us then to bring the goods across the ocean. Nine times out of ten, we can do it. German purchasers have tried to work out of Mexico and ship from Caribbean ports aboard neutrals. To our knowledge, not one of those cargo ships has yet got through.”

“So, neutrality means that the Americans treat both sides equally, but we are the only ones who can actually buy from them.”

“Just that, Peter. As well, inevitably, some American firms will extend us credit so that we can continue to buy from them. They will not be repaid if Germany wins.”

“By trading with America, they are forced to favour us. Eventually, they will join the war, will they not?”

“They will have to if they are to protect their own economic interests.”

“What if they were to refuse to trade with either party, Father?”

“They would not make their present high rate of profits.”

All became clear.

“Their President Wilson tries to take the moral high ground, does he not?”

“He does – a most honest gentleman, one who seeks the best for his country. He has not a chance in Hell of prevailing – those who seek profits for themselves overrule him every time.”

“To what extent does that reality prevail here, Father?”

“Not at all, Peter!” Geoffrey was irate that the very suggestion might be made. “We all in the City act for the true good of the country!”

Mr Naseby gave a short bark of laughter.

“There are none so blind, Geoffrey! You refuse to see what is happening around you. Indeed, you will not acknowledge what you are doing yourself. Those New Jersey contracts we completed last month are to provide the War Office with a steady flow of the chemicals it needs for its shell factories; they also bring us three per cent per annum, indefinitely.”

“A fee for making the most complex arrangements, Father! Avoiding the neutrality regulations was a difficult task.”

“If all goes as expected, they will put a million into our pockets over the next five years, Geoffrey. That is a very substantial fee for our services.”

“We shall pay tax upon the sums, Father. A great deal of that income will go to the Exchequer.”

“No it won’t, Geoffrey. The payments will be made into our branch in Port Royal, Jamaica, opened for that purpose. From there, they will be transferred to our Jersey accounts. None of that money will pass through the taxman’s hands.”

Geoffrey, who had turned a careful blind eye to anything that smacked of tax evasion, showed embarrassed.

“It’s for the benefit of the family, Father. We cannot be expected to impoverish ourselves just so incompetent politicians can engage in warfare.”

“Perhaps not, my son. One can argue for the greater good – we have enabled the country to make war by overcoming much of the shortage in munitions. A minor tax arrangement on the side is not to be cavilled at.”

It meant little to Peter. Tax was for the wealthy, not for naval officers.

He slept early and long, idled for two days, submitted to the examination of the family doctor, an expert on measles and childbirth, no doubt, lacking experience in bullet wounds, however. He satisfied Peter’s mother that all was well, which was his main function.

“A walk in the fresh air would do you good, Peter.”

“It might well, Mama.”

“A stroll around the local shops, perhaps?”

He acquiesced, suspecting that the main function was to display him, a wounded hero son.

“Uniform or civilian clothes, Mother?”

“Better in uniform, Peter. There are a few of young widows and more of bereaved mothers who will not like to see a young man in civilian dress. Geoffrey avoids the town when he can, I know. He is embarrassed not to be seen in uniform. Also, to give him his due, he wishes to fight for the right.”

Mrs Naseby had never felt quite the affection for her elder son that she did for the younger. Geoffrey had been inflexible even as a very small boy, unwilling to engage with her without a knowledge that he would receive a fair exchange. She hoped he might fall in love one day, rather doubted he would permit himself any untrammelled outpouring of emotion; she thought he did not have it in him to give unreservedly.

“Best he should never join up, Mama. He is not the most flexible of sorts. He would seek a commission in the Guards and be out in the Trenches in a very few weeks. I cannot imagine he would live too long there.”

“No. He is not one to duck his head down. That would not be proper.”

“Exactly. Could he be sent across the ocean, perhaps? A permanent representative of the bank in New York?”

“I shall speak to your father. It might well be possible. I know he is worried for Geoffrey.”

They said no more on the topic, wandering the half mile into the town centre and greeting other matrons seemingly at a loose end. A number of middle-aged females with daughters in their train took pains to come near and be introduced to Peter. Most managed to gush foolishly on the topic of sinking a submarine one month and wounded in the next.

“Yes, ma’am. I am on my way to winning the war single handed.”

That seemed to be the most exquisite of jokes. Their equally dim daughters laughed merrily with their mamas.

Peter’s mother was unsympathetic to his complaints.

“You are known to be unwed, Peter. It would be remiss in them not to display their daughters to you.”

“That final female, the enormous one, had only the one girl and her no more than fourteen, surely!”

“Mrs Jenkinson, widow to a quarter of a million, I believe, held safely in trust to descend to her girl. You might bear her in mind for the peace, Peter. Never too young to be displayed. In any case, she was a pretty little girl, growing up to be most attractive.”

“Not to my taste, Mama! What if she grew up to emulate her mother?”

Mrs Naseby admitted that to be a daunting prospect.

“Always as well to know the family before becoming close to the young lady, Peter. What of your Miss Hawes-Parker?”

A different matter, she discovered.

“She will not know that I have been wounded, Mama. As well, she knows that when the weather is favourable I will be flying dawn to dusk. She will not look to see me on her doorstep except on a rainy day – and not all of them. She is, I think, a sensible young lady as well as most attractive. I shall marry her, if she will take me.”

“We must arrange to meet her, Peter. I do not doubt that I shall love her as a daughter!”

He laughed – it was good of her to say so, despite the qualms she must have.

“Oh, my Lord, Peter! Across the street. It is that terrible Lancing girl! The eldest.”

“Who, Charlie? Good fun and bright as well, Mama. Not really the material to make a wife, I must agree.”

Charlie closed on them at a run.

“Peter! Wounded? So dashing in a sling, do not you think, Mrs Naseby?”

Mrs Naseby did not.

“Fell out of your old balloon, Peter?”

“Shot on hush-hush service, Charlie. I literally can say no more than that.”

“Then mum’s the word, old bean! They say that London is crawling with spies – all of these refugees from Servia and wherever as well as the Belgians – no way of telling who is listening to what! Must rush – shouldn’t be here, Sister Effie’s birthday, couldn’t miss it, just buying her some chocolates on the way, must be back in Town for six!”

She ran for her car, rocketing out into the thin stream of traffic and heading for the family home.

“Modern manners! Might do for her family but not, I think, for mine, Peter!”

“No, Mama. There is a good heart underneath the affectations – but not for one of us!”

He did not say that a night in Charlie’s company would do Geoffrey a lot of good. He did not think his mother would approve.

“Bustling and busty! Not our sort at all, Peter!”

He agreed, not saying that it made her a remarkably good handful in bed. He did not think his mother would approve of that either.

A week and he was bored. Ten days saw him ordering Oadby to pack.

“Take the cases back to Polegate, Oadby. I shall follow by way of Shoreham, will be in for dinner.”

Less than three hours later he was knocking on the door in Shoreham, was welcomed with a substantial degree of enthusiasm, Josephine smiling her delight, the grandparents making him welcome.

“Broken your arm, Naseby?”

“Took a bullet to the shoulder, sir. Stupid business in Belgium – Intelligence making a mess of things!”

“When did they ever do anything else, Naseby? I presume you must not say more about it.”

“Should not have said so much, sir.”

“Thought so. Always the same – make a complete mess of everything they touch then announce it is all top secret and no questions to be asked. You read these spy stories and think they are infallible creatures, powerful in their back rooms; the fact is very different when you actually come in contact with them. Couldn’t organise a… Never mind, Naseby! You know what I mean.”

Peter nodded, he had heard the expression frequently in the Navy.

“You hear this stuff about the Great Game, Naseby, and you wonder just what it’s all about. I never did any time in India – served in the West Indies and Africa but never posted out to the Raj. Talking to others who spent their years there, this business of spying across the North West Frontier is very much overblown by the newspapers and the books. Bunch of theatrical types dressing up as wogs, if you ask me!”

Peter knew exactly what the old man meant by ‘theatrical types’ – Oscar Wilde had done the world of drama few favours by his public escapades.

They talked a little before the pair walked out slowly to take lunch, making as far as the restaurant at the harbour to enjoy lobster. As threatened, the photograph was prominent on the wall in a massive oak frame. The waiter was almost overcome that his hero should have been wounded in another action, was inclined to make far too much of it, ordering Josephine to take good care of her man.

“Are you ‘my man’, Peter?”

She asked the question lightly, wonderingly almost.

“If it is your wish, Josephine, most certainly so.”

“Oh! What an emphatic way to express the business of romance. Possession, each of the other… It implies that I am ‘your woman’, does it not?”

“So it does. I hope it might.”

She was silent a few moments, a mouthful of lobster giving her time to think.

“How very strange it is. I must write to my father, inform him that I am in proud possession of a suitor, a bold naval officer. I have mentioned you already, of course… Are you proposing to me, Peter, in a roundabout fashion?”

“I had intended to wait until your birthday to do so. I have wished to marry you almost since first I met you.”

“What an excellent thing! I feel the same. I accept, without reservation. Better to wait until the birthday to make everything official – I think my grandmother would wish me to delay a while before making a formal commitment. She is wise in such matters, I suspect. A betrothal party and a birthday in one… Will your family be able to come, Peter?”

“They will. We might have to delay the official party to a Saturday to allow for the demands of the bank – my father and brother are remarkably busy just now and he must attend some committee with Mr Asquith every week, unfailingly. I know nothing of it, am told that wartime finance is incredibly complicated and that my father is integral to it. My brother Geoffrey understands it all – he is very clever – I am no more than a sailorman. We can arrange well beforehand to go into Brighton to speak to a jeweller and settle on a ring – the best London houses all have branches in Brighton. I shall talk to your grandfather when we get back to the house.”

The old gentleman was not at all surprised that Peter should wish to speak with him.

“I am standing as guardian in absence of her father, of course, Naseby. Normal for the Diplomatic – made the arrangements soon after her mother died. Sad business that. They were out in Athens at the time. She picked up one of the local fevers and was gone in less than a week. One of the risks, I suppose… Lovely girl – you would have liked her, Naseby. Not to worry, done and dusted, all long gone. You have my formal permission as guardian to seek my granddaughter’s hand in marriage, which I gather you have already done. You want to take her into Brighton to pick up a ring – makes sense. Some quality places there. What about money, Naseby? I should imagine you are more than able to support a wife?”

“I can live, just, on my naval income and have a thousand a year settled on me, sir. I think we can survive on that.”

“You can. The more because you have no need to buy a house. Josephine has a small farm from her mother, supposed to come to her at twenty-one. That can be organised to be hers on marriage. Not so far from Portsmouth, in fact.”

“Kept in her name, I think, sir. What she does with it then is hers to determine.”

“That’s the modern way of doing things, Naseby. Makes sense to me.”

“And me, sir. My father says that Asquith has agreed to give women the vote as soon as the war ends. No general election till then, so it don’t matter at the moment. That being the case, no sense to keeping to the old ways of the husband being the keeper of the family finances. On that topic, finances, that is, I doubt I will stay in the Navy after the war. Seen too much of the way it’s run for my liking, and it’s getting little better. Polishing the brass and going on cruises won’t do for me, sir. I don’t know what I shall do, obviously. My father will have some useful advice, I expect.”

“I must imagine so. Going to make money, are you, Naseby?”

“Possibly, sir. Work for my living, certainly. Peacetime service in the Navy is a lot of things, sir, but work is not one of them, not for the officers.”

“Same in the Army, as I recall. A lot of flapping and flustering but I don’t recall ever working four hours in a day for most of the year. A couple of weeks out on Salisbury Plain, on manoeuvres, each year, but even that was at half-pace. Different out on campaign, but in twenty years in, I cannot have been actually near a firing line for more than a dozen days. Wartime, now, is not the same!”

“It is not, sir. For the Navy, up at Scapa Flow is just an extended peace of brass and bull; elsewhere, the North Sea and Channel, it’s action stations all night, every night. They tell me they are busy in the Med and we know they are submarine chasing in the Atlantic. For the small ships, a different world. For the balloons as well. I do not think I can go back to the days of keeping a smart ship and ignoring everything else.”

“No. I think the better of you for that. Anyway, the important thing is that you have my formal blessing and I wish the pair of you happy. You have a better chance than many, I would say – both of you sensible and level-headed, except when it comes to diving your balloons to within a hundred feet of the enemy, young man!”

“Wartime, sir. Do what is necessary and sweat about it afterwards.”

“I have been told that myself. I never did believe it.”

A pound hired a taxi to Polegate, far more comfortable than using local trains and changing at least twice.

Bracegirdle welcomed Peter, relinquishing a neat and tidy office, all paperwork up to date.

“Farnsworth and Payne have looked after me, sir. I have left nothing for you, not knowing whether you might be longer than your two weeks. Captain Troughton tells me I am to go to one of the new bases on the North Sea in command, sir. I hope there will be the equivalent of those two to hold my hand!”

“Offer your office people trust and they will not, generally, let you down. If they do, of course, you are in deep trouble! Nine out of ten are like those two – they wish they could be out on the line and make the best of what they are forced to do instead.”

“Payne has talked to me about Cressy, sir. Cruel to put so many boys to her crew!”

“They thought the big cruisers – the Bacchante class – would be safe. I was told the Admiralty thought it would be adventure training for the youngsters, giving them seatime, valuable experience for their future careers.”

“Bloody old fools!”

“Who am I to disagree with that judgement? In their favour, they had none of them any idea of all a submarine could do. I doubt we any of us had. It was a different world in ’14. Still, enough of that. When do you go?”

“When you are fit to take over again, sir.”

“I’ll speak to Troughton in the morning, tell him I have resumed command. I should imagine he will get you out quickly. Pity – I don’t wish to lose you. Tubbs to become senior in your place. Which of the mids is to train as a pilot for your ship?”

“Davies, sir. Horrocks has trained him well. With your permission, sir, I would like to take Norris with me, retain him as my second hand. We work well together.”

“Provided Troughton gives the nod, it is right with me, Bracegirdle. I will speak to Horrocks and Davies in the morning. I need a replacement for Griffiths, too.”

“Been here a week, sir. He has flown two patrols with Horrocks. I assumed you would want him to get some time in and was sure that Davies would become a pilot. As it is, you can keep the lad or give him to Horrocks, whichever you wish.”

“Well thought. What’s his name?”

“Adams, sir. Generally called Fanny, for obvious reasons.”

Peter did not approve of nicknames; he was inclined to doubt that he could do anything about this particular example. Sweet Fanny Adams was beloved of the services, and of the general population, he understood.

“Don’t like names for officers. Adams is an exception, I expect.”

“Sweet F. A. – I must have heard that twenty times a day in the Trenches, sir. That was when it was abbreviated – the men’s language was not refined under pressure, sir. Can’t say that mine was when the machine guns were firing.”

“I saw the Trenches when we crossed them into Belgium, Bracegirdle. Even from four thousand feet they looked like hell.”

“It’s the smell I recall most, sir. I wake up some nights with it in my nostrils. Rotting flesh; human ordure; high explosive – all mixed in together.”

“No sanitation in the lines?”

“Men shit themselves under fire, sir, quite a few. Add to that, a bullet in the belly can empty the guts out. Always that whiff, sir. HE stinks as well, the chemicals are rotten. Bodies get lost out in no man’s land, a few hooked up on the wire, others down in the mud; on top of that, the rats pulled food down under the duckboards and left some uneaten. Always that stink, sometimes stronger, never going away. Most of the men smoked – the tobacco drowned the stench. Never got into the habit myself. I don’t know why. Good thing I didn’t. I don’t think smoking in a blimp would be a good idea.”

“You might be right at that. I cannot imagine that any of our men would be so foolish – and do not wish to know if they are! I shall have to ask Troughton for another mid to replace Norris as well as Davies. That will be no problem, mids are ten a penny, always too many of them hanging around and needing employment.”

Bracegirdle nodded, old beyond his years, a senior man who had yet to see nineteen.

“What of you, Bracegirdle? Are you happy to take on the responsibility of your own base and four or five blimps and their crews?”

“It has to be done, sir. I could continue working to you, sir – I have nothing but respect for you. Other senior officers I have seen, less so. Whistling Rufus as an example. A good enough man in his way; show him a corner and he will cut it. I don’t want to work for a lazy man, sir. Best way of avoiding that is to be the boss myself. I know that everything will be done right on my field, sir – I shall make damned sure of it!”

Peter nodded.

“As I hoped to hear, and as I feared, Bracegirdle. There are twenty-four hours in a day and some of them must be spent sleeping. Don’t work yourself into the ground. Do trust your subordinates. Most of them will not let you down. The few who do can serve as examples.”

“Easily said, sir, by a leader like you. I am not your match with men, sir. I try though.”

“Don’t try so hard you kill yourself. You will have a telephone. Feel free to use it any time you feel the need to speak to me. Piece of advice?”

“Always, sir.”

“Find yourself a young lady. Have someone to go to when you need a shoulder to lean on. You are young for a wife. A lady friend who will become more in time makes a deal of sense. You will have the opportunity to meet local society when weather grounds you. A good chance there will be invitations sent into the wardroom to attend local functions. Make use of them. I know that some of the officers here have gone out among society in this area, limited though it is. Join them when you can.”

Bracegirdle nodded gravely. It was wise advice, he was sure.

Dinner was quiet, as ever, four of the blimps still out on patrol. Peter sat afterwards and called the new man to his table.

“Adams, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Commander.”

“Sit down. What are you drinking?”

“Just a beer, thank you, Commander.”

The boy knew the rules for the wardroom, addressing other officers by rank or surname, never as ‘sir’.

Peter raised a finger to a steward, called for two pints of bitter.

“What’s your background, Adams? Wartime entry?”

“Last Dartmouth intake to be released to sea, three months ago. Six months early and most of us sent out to battleships where we would be out of the way and could learn, Commander. I was not popular with the officer in charge of my year – there was an accident in a sailing race in the dinghies. He thought he had right of way. I disagreed. His bows rammed my side, which proves I was ahead of him and had the right to tack across him, Commander!”

Peter grinned in response.

“Cadets never have right of way over lieutenant commanders, Adams! He had you sent to the balloons, I presume?”

“The RNAS wanted four bodies. They got me, two Australians and the cleverest cadet in the College who knew the right answer too many times. We were given a choice of balloons, seaplanes or aeroplanes. I wanted balloons. My father took me on a trip to France the year before I entered Dartmouth and I saw one there, flying around Paris. Fascinating things, sir. I have been out for a patrol twice so far. Mr Horrocks said I was satisfactory.”

“His judgement will do for me. Horrocks knows exactly what he is doing in a balloon. You are my second hand with effect from the morning, Adams. I became a balloonist because I ran down C-in-C Portsmouth on watch in a light cruiser – we have much in common! I must talk with Mr Davies, if you will excuse me.”

Adams trotted back to the group of midshipmen, sat decorously in the corner. Peter heard a suppressed cry of ‘Made it! I’m in!’. He beckoned to Davies.

“Ready for your own blimp, Davies?”

“I am, Commander. Mr Horrocks has really helped me learn the ropes.”

“Good. As soon as we get a body you can start to train him up. On patrol within a couple of days, I hope.”

“We will not let you down, Commander.”

“I never dreamed you would, Davies. Work with Adams tomorrow, just local training flights. I shall be back in the driving seat the day after.”

“All will be well, Commander. We shall see that Adams knows all he should.”

They were too old for their years. What would become of them when the war ended, ancients in the bodies of youths?

Chapter Thirteen

A foul dawn with heavy rain and three quarters of a gale. Just the morning to sit in the office. Peter telephoned Troughton.

“Fit and raring to go, Naseby?”

“As much as I ever was, sir. In need of bodies to replace Davies and Norris, sir. With your permission, I would wish to keep Bracegirdle and Norris together as a crew. Davies is to go as pilot in place of Bracegirdle.”

“Make Davies as sub, Naseby. As for mids – they proliferate, crawling in their thousands like maggots! Permanently underfoot and looking for something to do. Far too many of them taken on and now we have them and can’t use them. Not much choice other than send the less likely objects across to the Brigade in Flanders and I don’t like doing that – too much like a death sentence!”

“The casualty figures are high again, sir.”

“Climbing all the damned time. No reason to suppose they will lessen. Two bright little buttons, Naseby, will be hammering upon your door this morning. Train them up and get them going – there is some suggestion that submarines are passing through the Channel to get out into the South Atlantic. Most of the long range boats are thought to go northabout presently. They could save a week in transit by passing through the Channel. Capel will concentrate on the waters towards Dover. You should send your lads out towards Biscay. Convoy cover will be taken over by other stations. It was felt that your people would do best on the distant patrols.”

“I am flattered, sir.”

“Rightly so, Naseby. Can we make Bracegirdle acting lieutenant commander?”

“I have heard tell of eighteen year old captains out in the BEF in Flanders, sir. If the army can do it, so can we.”

“Unbelievable! Before the war a man was outstanding if he made lieutenant commander at twenty-five!”

“Bracegirdle is good, sir. Can I have the privilege of telling him?”

“Do so. Send him across to me, with Norris in trail, and I shall organise transport to his station. A place in Yorkshire, Howden. God knows where it is – never heard of it myself. North of the Thames, somewhere – in the wilderness! Not so far from Hull, I think. Up to him to make a go of it. Original man was too much inclined to shut up shop if a wind began to blow – couldn’t get him up in anything more than a Force Two, believe it or not. Off that coast, it meant he was shut down four days out of five!”

“Not what we want, sir. Not what Bracegirdle will deliver!”

“Exactly! He has done a good job these few days. Arrangements have been made for an experienced Paymaster to take over as well. He’ll hold the boy’s hand as needed.”

“Excellent. Just as long as he does not try to be too helpful.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem. The man in question is experienced and tactful as well. Years in on the old cruisers, from China to Cape Horn recently, chasing the Tsingtao Squadron and lucky not to catch them. Not up to weeks out on the blockade between the Orkneys and Iceland in sub-Arctic conditions – he’s more than forty. He will be happy to have a shore posting and pleased to be useful, not just pushing meaningless bits of paper.”

“Very good, sir. What’s the word on the Coastals?”

“Next year before they roll out in numbers. One or two problems to be ironed out yet. When they do come, we will probably send the surviving SS ships out to the Mediterranean, even to the Red Sea. You won’t be going with them, according to current plans. More of that on a later day.”

“Can I make Tubbs and Horrocks up, sir?”

“Tubbs, certainly. The right sort and it might placate his family – they are still shouting for blood, halfwits that they are! Horrocks… Well… Different kettle of fish there, you know… Up through the hawsehole and barely had weeks in the rank yet… Don’t know what people might say, you know.”

“Make Tubbs first, so that he is senior and must stand in for me if I am absent. Horrocks will not be so visible then. He deserves the rank if any man does.”

“Very well! Against my better judgement it is! I shall be calling in the favour one day, Naseby, probably when you make rear admiral over my head! Give them my strongest support and best wishes – if it is to be done, then it must be done well!”

A brief conversation on routine and they hung up, Peter calling for Bracegirdle.

“You and Norris are to go across to Captain Troughton at Folkestone today. In the next hour. Bags and baggage. You are bound for Howden, up on the Humber. You will take over in the rank of lieutenant commander, which is yours as of now. Go and get a half ring put up. Congratulations – very well deserved. Ask Davies to poke his head in my door.”

Davies arrived at the run, hoping to hear of promotion, delighted when told it was real.

“Might overtake old Horrocks yet, sir!”

“Possible but unlikely. He is among the next in line to be made up. Six months at least before you can look for a second ring, Davies. Ask Tubbs to come over, please.”

A very short wait – the word was out that promotions were in the air.

“Two things, Tubbs. Most important, to you, you are substantive lieutenant with immediate effect. That makes you number two to me as Bracegirdle is off to the depths of darkest Yorkshire. More significant, to me, is that we have a change in operational orders. We are instructed to patrol out towards the Bay of Biscay, searching for ocean-going submarines that have broken through the Channel and are en route for the Atlantic. They will be making speed on the surface as much as they can and we are at minimum to drive them under and slow them. A day of submerged travel will cut a hole in the length of time they can remain out on station. I want a proposal from you for how best we can organise five blimps on patrol without unnecessary overlap. I will be happy to listen to unconventional suggestions. A full, written scheme for tomorrow, if you please.”

“That’s not much time, sir!”

“It is all the time a lieutenant needs, Tubbs!”

The boy managed to laugh as he made his departure.

Horrocks came in, was promoted and shook his head in amaze, wondered if he might not end up an admiral.

Bracegirdle left, sat solemnly in the front seat of a tender; Norris, balanced behind, tucked in between suitcases and a trunk under the canvas tilt, yelled his goodbyes and prophesies of good hunting in the North Sea. The boy managed to crouch into a half-stand and salute as he passed Peter but he could not control the grin on his face.

“I knew an American a few years ago, sir. Relative of sorts who came across to England for a couple of months. Said it was called ‘going off to see the elephant’ where he came from.”

“Let’s hope the elephant doesn’t trample him, Farnsworth. The North Sea is big and cold and has German seaplanes over in the east.”

That was true, Farnsworth conceded.

“I took a couple of patrols out while you were absent, sir. Just to see what it felt like. It will be useful to have a spare body over winter – never know if the ‘flu might hit us. Bound to be colds and that…”

“Officially, it’s still no. If operational needs arise then it may be all hands to the pumps. Is your Morse up to scratch?”

“It will be, sir. Slow at the moment.”

“Improve it. You are happy with a Lewis?”

“I know what to do but I haven’t fired one much, sir.”

“Have a word with Handsworth. Chances are you will never need to. If you do, you must be handy.”

It would be useful to have a spare body available. Peter thought a few minutes, returned to the telephone.

“Captain Troughton please.”

A short delay and the connection was made.

“Sir, you said you had a plethora of mids going spare. Just occurred to me that we might make use of a spare hand or two to rotate among the crews. If we get an epidemic, ‘flu or something, very useful. These patrols out to Biscay may be very long as well. It might make sense to be able to rest the men occasionally.”

Troughton almost wept with relief; he could find a use for the sprogs infesting his offices.

“Two more will reach you this afternoon. I have sent the first pair off already. Makes good sense and I can get rid of a dozen of the little buggers around the other bases with a clear conscience. Leave the offices far less cluttered. What are you planning for the new patrols?”

“Tubbs has a scheme in hand for me – all very mathematical, no doubt, and making best use to cover as much area as possible and thoroughly. What will there be in the way of surface ships, sir?”

“Insufficient, I do not doubt. I hope to have a light cruiser and half a dozen destroyers made available. If it can be arranged, you will be given wireless contact with the cruiser. Not Calliope, by the way.”

“Wiser that way, sir. I doubt very much that I am a favourite of old Savage, particularly now that I match him for rank.”

Troughton laughed.

“He won’t like to hear that he put you in the way of two rapid promotions by throwing you off his ship. I wonder… Might be possible to ensure that word reaches his ears. I must know someone up at Scapa who can accidentally bump into him and mention your rise to glory. Do him no end of good!”

Another naval feud – the service was full of them, possibly because of the boredom of sitting in idleness at anchor for months on end. The Grand Fleet barely shifted from Scapa, occasional squadrons going out to gunnery practice and nothing else to give them an interest. Peter was delighted now that he had avoided Scapa.

“Any word on the Big Smash, sir?”

“The meeting of the two fleets and the second Trafalgar that must result? Increasingly unlikely. Neither high command wants it – one miscalculation on the day and the war could be over. If the Germans lose massively, it will be possible to send a fleet into the Baltic to end the Swedish iron ore trade and bombard in support of the Russians; we might possibly land an army on the Friesian shores. If we lose, then the blockade is finished and German surface warships will enter the Atlantic, ending all trade with the States. Too big a risk for either side to take. Add to that, Jellicoe is not a man to take a chance and Beatty is incapable of commanding a battle fleet, as he showed at Dogger Bank. No big battle unless the Germans choose to come out into the North Sea. If the blockade starts to bite – as it will increasingly – they may be forced to make a sortie. Two chances out of three favour us.”

Peter could not entirely follow that logic.

“If we win – we are on top. If we fight a draw and force them back into harbour, the blockade remains unbroken, which is a win for us. Only if we are defeated in battle, losing a substantial number of battleships so that we cannot hold the blockade, will Germany win.”

“So stalemate, as it stands at the moment, is victory for us.”

“Just that, Naseby. We win as long as we don’t lose.”

“That was the reality from 1805 to 1815, was it not, sir? The blockade was not broken and there was no major battle for the ten years.”

“While we can blockade Europe, we cannot be defeated.”

“Nice thought, sir. Can we win the war?”

“Different matter, Naseby. Too complex for a mere captain.”

“And for me, sir. I see a Crossley coming through the gate with brand spanking new uniforms in the back. I suspect I am to be descended upon by midshipmen.”

Two bright, shiny, keen objects were ushered into the office. Neither looked more than ten years old to Peter’s jaundiced eye.

“Midshipman Kirby, sir.”

“Patterson, sir.”

“I presume you are senior, Kirby?”

“Yes, sir. By one day, sir.”

“Sometimes useful to know that sort of thing. Not very important here. You will be flying as second hands to Lieutenants Davies and Horrocks.”

Kirby leaned forward in confidential fashion.

“I say, sir, I did hear that Horrocks was a matelot, a rating turned into a sort of officer. Not the type for my family! If you don’t mind, sir, I would prefer not to fly with him.”

“Why, that can certainly be arranged, Kirby! Coxswain!”

Peter’s bellow brought Biggs at the run.

“Be so good, Mr Biggs, as to take this little shit and deposit him outside the gate with his baggage. If a tender happens to be passing by it can dump him at the railway station. Immediately, if you would be so good, Mr Biggs!”

Biggs summoned his best disciplinary roar and marched the boy out, delaying only to call a rating to discover his bags and throw them after him.

Peter reached for the telephone.

“Captain Troughton? Awful line, sir. can barely hear your voice. The horrible little object Kirby objected to the thought of flying with an officer from the lower deck. I have had him kicked out of the gate. He may well be able to make his way to the station. I do not want him, sir. Do with him as you will.”

“A bloody midshipman thinking he can choose his officers for himself? He can lose his damned warrant and the Army can have him as far as I am concerned. The tender with the extra pair of boys should reach you soon. Put him on it rather than leave him to wander around the countryside. He might not have a fare in his pocket.”

Peter sent Payne to inform the gatehouse that Kirby should wait for a tender to pick him up.

“He can stand out in the rain, Payne. He will remain outside the gate.”

Payne grinned and ran.

“Never heard the like in my life, Patterson! A midshipman daring to object to the nature of a lieutenant? Outrageous!”

Patterson fought back a smile.

“I believe Mr Kirby is very well bred, sir. The second son of a viscount and only going to war because it is the proper thing to do. He told me that his elder brother has joined a Guards battalion and is in Flanders just now. He thought there was a good chance he would become heir as a result. That was why he had joined the Navy, sir, so that he could serve in some safety. He did not expect to be sent to the RNAS, thought he would be placed aboard a battleship, being who he was.”

“Poor lad! Such a comedown for him to be posted into the balloons. Still, he need have no further fear of lowering himself so far – he will be found surplus to our requirements, an administrative decision, and will be given the old heave-ho. I suspect he will not be permitted to return to civilian life having once volunteered. I do not know where he may end up. There is a strong possibility he may be broken down to the lower deck and sent as a rating aboard a ship out of Dover, that being conveniently close. Ordinary seaman on an armed trawler is not unlikely.”

Patterson struggled even more to suppress his smile.

“Didn’t like him, Patterson?”

“No, sir. Not my type at all, sir. My family are shopkeepers, though I never mentioned the fact to him. My father owns more than twenty stores now, in the London suburbs. Greengrocery and provisions. He agreed that I should join up before the war ended, was able to speak to an acquaintance and get me accepted in the Navy. I asked for the RNAS, sir. I wanted to fly an aeroplane. A balloon will do very well.”

“I don’t think they accept pilots for training on aeroplanes until they are eighteen, Patterson. If you still want to try it, we might be able to organise something in a couple of years.”

“Will the war last that long, sir?”

“I see nothing to stop it doing so, Patterson. I hope I am wrong, mind you.”

The boy was upset at the prospect. He squared his shoulders and showed all the signs of making the best of an unexpectedly bad job.

“Gives me the chance to make my promotions, sir. They say that rank comes more quickly in wartime.”

“So it does, Patterson. Go across to the Cottage now, that’s the wardroom. One of the ratings will have taken your bags across and put them in a room – the mids are in the huts at the back. Still so few of us that you will get a single room. Much preferable to a shared cabin.”

“Thank you, sir. Which officer will I fly with, sir?”

“The two will speak to you and come to their own decision. Where possible, I prefer the pairing to be decided between you – you are very close in the air and it helps if you like each other.”

Two very different youngsters, Peter reflected. He expected Patterson to settle in and do well. Unlike Kirby, that one was likely to be a pain in the fundament for whoever got him next. If he ended up on the lower deck, he would be sporting bruises within the week if he did not change his attitude.

“Farnsworth, will you put Patterson on the roll. Note that a Midshipman Kirby was rejected as unsuitable for the service.”

That entry on Kirby’s record should suffice to damn him for all of his time in the Navy, carrying connotations of personal inadequacy and perhaps cowardice.

Two more mids arrived, Bacon and Lapstone, neither of them distinguished by vast intelligence or idiocy, either probably capable of doing a good job. Horrocks chose Lapstone, on the grounds that the nearest place to his home in Hampshire was Lapstone Farm and it was pleasant to have a familiar name. Patterson was pleased to be taken by Davies on the grounds that his grandmother was Welsh.

It seemed the right way of doing things, all agreed.

“Patrols, sir.”

“Yes, Mr Tubbs.”

“It seems to me that the ideal is to run two of eighteen hours and three of twelve each day. The two longer runs to be taken in rotation, of course. One balloon to take off at two o’clock and head directly towards Ushant at a steady forty miles an hour. Something like six hours places it in sight of the French coast. From there a sweep out to sea and back in a box pattern. One hour northwest followed by thirty minutes due easterly and then a line southeast almost to the French coast. Then half an hour due east and the same nor’west and back to the coast again. Repeat twice and make course for the South Coast, probably making land somewhere towards Portland. Wind will have an effect. From there thirty minutes out to sea and a run back to Polegate. Covers a broad area. The second balloon takes off at four o’clock. Being summer, it can just get home in daylight having followed the same pattern. As we get into the autumn we make the patrols progressively shorter.”

Peter followed the pattern shown on the chart. It seemed overly complex but Tubbs was sure it would cover a given area thoroughly.

“Have we the petrol for that long a patrol?”

“Just, sir, since Mr Pickles worked on the fuel tanks.”

Peter was not entirely pleased with the idea of coming home with no more than half an hour left in the tank. It was wartime, they must accept it.

“What of the other three?”

“Take off within minutes of each other around dawn on a line for Normandy. Off the tip of Normandy head directly across to Plymouth then make their way back along the Channel, zigzagging out to sea. Wind will cause them to drift apart, increasing the area covered. Take off at about six o’clock, return for six. Being twelve hour patrols, they can use a higher speed, up to fifty, perhaps.”

“Long hours for the crews.”

“If we are unlucky, we will have a blistering hot calm summer which will mean flying every day. More likely, being England, the summer will have its storms. I expect us to be grounded on average one day a week, sir. Young Bacon will rotate around the balloons to give one day in six off for the second hands. Nothing to be done for us pilots, sir.”

Peter shrugged. There were men in the Trenches who would be more than happy to change places with his pilots.

“Right. I shall inform the Captain that we will introduce the new rota at his convenience. He has to arrange for the coastal convoys to be covered. We have the new Aldis lamps now – are all of the second hands familiar with them?”

“Yes, sir. I shall be training the new mids this afternoon.”

Tubbs was taking his position as second-in-command seriously, was looking for ways to be useful.

“Well done. We shall see you as lieutenant commander with your own station in no time, Tubbs.”

“Unbelievable, sir! The family will be irate, of course.”

“Why? I would have thought they would be delighted at your success.”

“The youngest brother has no business being senior to his two elders, sir. That is not the correct way of doing things.”

“If we ever get leave, Tubbs, do you intend to go home?”

“Not bloody likely, sir! I have a respectable allowance on top of my pay and I have had no chance to spend any of it. If we get a week, then it’s up to London and see what might happen!”

“If the day comes, I will give you the name of an acquaintance of mine, one of Lord Lancing’s daughters. I am sure she would make sure you enjoyed a leave.”

Peter was fairly sure that Charlie would be kind to the lad, at minimum introducing him to one of her friends. She was a big-hearted lass, among her other attributes.

The mind-numbing routine of patrols commenced; within the week they were praying for rain. Two patrols of eighteen hours followed by three of twelve then start again with no break. Hours of staring out at an empty sea, nothing in sight other than the occasional fishing smack or drifter and the rare sighting of the surface ships also on patrol. The Channel looked small on a chart; it was one hundred miles wide from Normandy to Portland and two hundred and fifty from Polegate to Ushant. Thousands of square miles of sea for a submarine to be lost in.

Staying awake was the greatest problem. The blimps almost flew themselves at cruising height, making few demands on the pilot. The second hand sat up front had even less to do, physically. Scanning the sea, brain active, examining every change of colour that might be a distant submarine – it was too easy to fall into a daze, the brain failing to register what the eyes saw.

“Thirty minutes, sir! Next leg.”

Fanny Adams was in charge of the course, noting the time of each change in his log. It helped keep him alert, gave him something to do.

Peter responded, bringing SS9 slowly round onto the new track.

“North northwest, sir! Eleven o’clock. Something on the sea, sir! Distant maybe two miles.”

Binoculars up on the bearing given and all fatigue forgotten.

“Sighting report, Fanny! Time and position, ‘surfaced submarine. Attacking’.”

Down in a hard, turning dive, bringing the blimp bows on, reducing the apparent size of the balloon, hopefully harder to spot. Throttle full open and fins at maximum elevation, the blimp bouncing and juddering against the sudden tug on the cables.

“Report made, sir. Submarine has guns, sir. Something like a twelve pounder deck gun – a three inch perhaps. Looks like a machine gun mounted in the conning tower, sir. I can see a number, sir… U 38, I think – it’s a bit faded. No flap in the conning tower yet, sir. They haven’t spotted us yet… Acknowledgement from base, sir.”

The sighting report was in and the destroyers would be working up to something close to thirty knots; they might be sixty miles distant.

“Ready on the Lewis, Adams!”

Peter saw the boy stand and tuck the rifle butt of the Lewis Gun into his shoulder, working the cocking lever.

They were at a thousand feet and it was time to start persuading the blimp to level off – she changed attitude and course very slowly. He knocked the crab pot to an oblique setting, reducing the intake of air into the ballonets and changing the shape of the nose to assist in bringing the dive under control.

“Seen us, sir! Out of range yet.”

A few more seconds, Peter waiting to see the foam as air was expelled from the submarine’s tanks in a crash dive.

“Two men on the machine gun, sir. Opening fire, sir.”

He heard the hard, fast rattle. No tracers, he had no idea where the rounds were going; hopefully neither did the submarine. Less chance of setting the gas afire with common rounds.

“Inside one thousand yards, sir.”

The theoretical range of the Lewis was set at five cables, half a nautical mile or thereabouts. Its accuracy was limited over one hundred yards and the pan held only forty-seven rounds.

“Hold!”

Machine gun fire sprayed across the nacelle, scattering splinters.

“Effing Hun bastards! I’ll effing well get you for that!”

“Adams! Mind your language!”

Peter was genuinely shocked – he did not expect to hear those terms from a young officer.

“Sorry, sir.”

He pushed hard against the throttle, hoping for another few revs, even the tiniest increase in speed.

The machine gun came back on line, hitting the envelope, dropping, rounds ranging across the nacelle.

“Fire, Adams!”

The boy emptied the pan in a sustained burst, heaved the empty clear and slammed a replacement onto the breech, working the cocking lever and firing again.

“Got the bastards, right into them, sir!”

He changed the pan again, looking back to see Peter slumped over the yoke, heaving himself upright.

“Are you hit, sir?”

“Keep on your gun!”

Peter swore, very quietly so Adams would not hear him; he must not sound the hypocrite. He stretched across to the bomb release, tugged on the lanyard and snatched at the water ballast cable close to it.

The bomb fell and SS9 shot upwards, losing nearly five hundred pounds in weight in the one second.

“Close alongside, sir. Towards the stern. Machine gun is out of commission, sir. She’s submerging. Under control.”

“Make your report, Adams.”

He heard the key rattle, started to assess his own condition.

Wounds to both legs, no more than a crease to the right calf, painful but trivial; left leg broken just above the ankle. Bleeding heavily, pieces of white bone in sight. He fumbled for the medical kit, pulled out a dressing and slapped it in place and almost fainted as he bent forwards. A few seconds to recover, the gauze already saturated, and he leant over with a bandage, tugged it tight, stopped the bleeding, cut it to a dribble, at least.

His belly hurt as well. Pulling his flying coat open he saw a long gash, no deeper than a fingertip, running from left hip upwards for nearly six inches. That was a lucky one, fractions of an inch from opening up his guts. He used up the remaining gauze pads to make a cover, keep the wound clean.

They were at three thousand feet, rising only slowly, the fins set for a dive still and countering the weight loss.

“Course for nearest English naval base, Adams?”

“Either Portland or Plymouth, sir. Pretty much equal and about sixty miles distant. Portsmouth is another half hour, sir”

“Plymouth has better facilities than Portland.”

“Due north, sir.”

Peter turned the balloon’s head, fighting the lassitude of blood loss. Adams took to his binoculars again.

“Sir, there’s an oil trail on the sea, sir. The sub’s leaking!”

“Inform base.”

An instant response.

“Orders to track the sub, sir. Remain in contact. Surface craft at fifteen miles, sir.”

Half an hour, at least.

“Track her for me, Adams. I cannot stand to see.”

“Come port ten degrees, sir. Slow down now… We are nearly over her, sir. Oil still coming up, sir. Might be we cracked a diesel tank, sir, just a trickle which they don’t know about.”

“Diesel? What’s that?”

“It’s a sort of petrol, sir, used for some different type of internal combustion engines. So they told us at Dartmouth, sir. We are wandering off course, sir. Can you reach your Thermos, sir? A hot drink might help.”

“Too far down. I can’t stretch that far.”

“Wait, sir.”

A few seconds and Adams came wriggling over the top of the cockpit, holding onto anything he could grab. He made his way over the coaming, picked up the flask, wiped it clear of blood spatters.

“Christ, sir! Your foot’s half gone, sir. Still bleeding. Take the flask, sir.”

Adams unscrewed the top and Peter took a swig direct from the flask. It was warm rather than hot, heavily sugared, carried a slight tang from the flask itself. It was nectar.

“Thanks, Adams…”

The boy was gone, just a pair of feet visible. A minute and he crawled back with his own medical pack, eased his way down headfirst over Peter’s lap and started to bind his foot.

“Best I can do, sir. We should head straight for Plymouth, sir. That needs a hospital.”

“We stay until the destroyers come. Thank you. Go back to your own cockpit now. Carefully!”

Twenty long, slow, painful minutes, the flask emptied and his head a little clearer for the fluid.

“Destroyer in sight, sir.”

“Fire a flare.”

A green light arced out over the sea.

Peter dropped the blimp slowly and carefully to two thousand feet.

“Destroyer signalling, sir. Too fast for me to read, sir.”

“Reply. ‘Submarine on course – whatever it is. Send slowly.’”

“Acknowledged, sir.”

Ten minutes, a little less, and the destroyer had picked up the smear of oil, was above the probable location of the submarine.

Adams made another signal with the Aldis.

“I’ve told them you are seriously wounded, sir.”

Initiative on the boy’s part. Peter should have thought to give the order. His head was fuzzy.

“Reply, sir. ‘Go home. Many thanks.’”

“On their heads be it. Course for Plymouth?”

“Due north, sir.”

Peter pulled SS9 onto the course and opened the throttle, turned the crab pot to fill the ballonets and maintain a high pressure, glanced up and saw a faint sagging in the envelope.

“Losing gas, slowly, Adams. Report in that we are on course for Plymouth. Pilot wounded. Balloon perforated.”

The key rattled and there was an immediate response.

“Acknowledged, sir. Handling party will be waiting.”

Peter wondered where. He did not know Plymouth, had never used the port in his whole career. They had no charts aboard.

Adams appeared again, crawling across the nacelle.

“These bullet holes are handy to grab hold of, sir. My flask is still half-full, sir.”

Peter had to stay awake.

“Thanks, Adams. A life saver – might be literally. Can you see the destroyers still?”

“Three of them there now, sir. One of them is crossing at speed and throwing something over the side… A depth bomb, sir. Blowing now, in her wake. Two others must be watching the oil track. They are waiting, sir. Two of them signalling something, flags going up. I expect they are back on the oil. The sub must be changing course and the oil is giving her away. Bombing again, sir.”

“Looks like they will get her, Adams. Good. We are losing height, very slowly. Be ready to throw out anything that has weight. Lewis first. Spare pans after that. Try to keep the Aldis. Not much else to dump, when you think of it.”

They were at five hundred feet and sagging when Adams identified Plymouth harbour.

“Give them three red flares, Adams. Emergency.”

“They are signalling us to come to the quayside, sir, in what looks like a fishing harbour. About half an acre, sir!”

“Sod it! Better get it right first time. Be ready with the trailing rope. Aerial in.”

Narrowly over the masts of anchored fishing smacks and the rope dropped onto land and grabbed by dozens of hands.

“Engine off, sir!”

Peter had dropped into a half doze, snapped awake, performed the necessary acts, switches off and petrol cock shut.

The nacelle was hauled to earth and Peter tried to stand.

“Can’t get up. Adams. Going to have to be lifted.”

He heard voices.

“Like a bloody abattoir in the cockpit! Pull him out. Carefully!”

He was tugged up and onto a stretcher, felt men running him to an ambulance.

A few minutes and he was in some sort of hospital, he could not tell what. His clothes were being cut off, to his indignation – that had been an expensive uniform.

“Don’t worry, sir. You won’t be needing that again. Now, you will feel a sharp prick and we shall take you to the table.”

He fell asleep, wondering what the voice had meant.

He woke slowly in a hospital bed. He hurt. There was a face to his left. He turned a little and blinked.

“Josephine! How did you get here so quickly?”

“I have been here for a day – you have been asleep for two.”

That seemed very silly, somehow. He managed a smile.

“Your mother is at the hotel. We have been taking it in turns to sit at the bedside.”

“Oh. Did you think I was going to die?”

“You lost a lot of blood and your leg was badly injured. It was possible…”

She did not say that at one point it had seemed likely.

“Oh. Things seem to hurt a bit… Do you think…”

“I have called for the nurse already. She came in and left to find a doctor, a couple of minutes ago. You dropped off to sleep again for a little while.”

A bustle and a senior doctor arrived, ward sister and three nurses in his train to emphasise his importance.

“Commander Naseby! You are with us again. We had wondered how much longer you could sleep, sir!”

“Needed it, doctor. Eighteen hour patrols. Too many of them.”

“One is too many of that sort of thing, sir! Ridiculous to demand that of any man! Not to worry, you will not have to consider them again. Might as well be blunt – you are not the sort I need to pussyfoot around!”

It occurred to Peter that the doctor was a pompous oaf. He thought it wiser not to say so. He smiled politely, indicated the doctor should continue.

“We have taken your left foot, just above the ankle. The ankle and the bones on either side of it were shattered, impossible of repair.”

“I saw bits of white sticking out, sir. I wondered what I would have left.”

Josephine was green in the face, the imagery too much for her.

“Nurse! Best escort the young lady out. She needs fresh air.”

They watched Josephine as she walked away, straightening her shoulders, gulping in a deep breath.

“Been at your side since she got here, Commander. Strong girl. You are a lucky man, sir.”

“I have long thought so, doctor. So! No left foot. What else?”

“Laceration to the abdomen – stitches, sore, leave a scar, unimportant. Rub goose grease on it to keep the skin supple – old fashioned but it still works. A single bullet hole on the right calf which is a damned nuisance. Leaves the right leg weakened for the while, just when you need it to compensate for the left. Other than that, nothing. You will experience considerable pain for a few days, lesser for months. I will give you a morphine injection today which will take all of the pain away. I shall probably repeat the dose tomorrow, and then it will be finish. Morphine is a dangerous friend. Far too easy to become addicted to the stuff! Thousands, literally, in the States after their Civil War. Many hundreds – how many we don’t know, never counted – after the Boer War. Too damned many already in this war. You won’t be one of them! There are pills, and I shall prescribe them. They work to an extent. Live with pain for six months, Commander. It will go away in that time. The alternative is to live with morphine for perhaps five years and die a useless wreck, no good to yourself or anybody else!”

“That is plain speaking, doctor. Thank you. I much prefer that to, what did you call it, ‘pussyfooting around’.”

“Thought you would, Seen one or two of your sort already this war. Not many – there are very few like you, Commander.”

“What is the chance of an artificial foot, sir?”

“A prosthesis? We shall supply one. It will take a shoe and seem normal under a pair of trousers. You will not walk freely on it – no ankle! Regrettably, you will walk less easily for the rest of your life. Resign yourself to sitting whenever possible. Watch your food. It will be easy to grow fat.”

“So it will. If you don’t mind, doctor, I might appreciate that morphine just now.”

“Good idea. Back to sleep. You will feel lousy when you wake up in the morning. It will get better.”

Chapter Fourteen

“Vice Admiral Molyneux, commanding Plymouth.”

Peter looked up at the large braided and ribboned figure stood beside his bed at the head of a train of flunkeys.

“Sorry, sir, I can’t sit up straight yet.”

He was laid back in a nest of pillows, a cage over his missing foot to protect it from the weight of blankets.

“Don’t be a bloody fool, boy! Of course you can’t! Ridiculous to expect you to. Even an admiral wouldn’t demand that!”

There was a subdued titter from his staff.

Peter noted that the admiral was a humourist who must be allowed his little jokes.

“Wanted to get a look at you before they cart you off out of my domain. You did damned well, you know. My three destroyers finished your submarine – it couldn’t get away, leaving a trail of oil wherever it twisted and turned. They bombed it until it had to come to the surface; finished it off with the guns then. As far as we are concerned, the glory for the kill is yours. If you had not remained on site, despite your foot being blown off, they might never have found the oil – it was only a trickle. You are finished for the Navy now, more’s the pity. You could have picked your own command after this, you know. The newspapers are having fits about it, naturally. I believe you are to be promoted post captain before they give you the old heave-ho. Retirement to the Sick and Hurt, they used to call it. Main thing is, it will give you a far better pension, which is always a thought. What else they will do is not up to me to say.” He gave a theatrical look over his shoulder, to more titters. “I’m off, because if I am not much mistaken that is your good mother, who looks like you, and a young lady who don’t look like your sister. No need for me hanging around the place. My congratulations, boy!”

The admiral thrust out a hand to shake and then came to the salute before turning away bowing and smiling to the pair of ladies and the nurses accompanying them. His mother responded graciously, evidently regarding bumptious admirals as not quite the thing.

“The doctor says you can be transported to the hospital in Ewell, Peter. He wants you to stay in for another week, just in case. It is possible, it seems, that there might be a splinter of bone or some foreign material in the leg just above the amputation point. Not very likely, but if there is it must be removed as soon as it shows, so they want you in and having the dressings changed twice a day for the week.”

“As well to be there as anywhere else, Mama. It seems I have nothing else to do at the moment.”

She ignored his depressed tone – no doubt it was a mere, temporary aberration.

“Nothing at all for these few days. Your father will wish to discuss possibilities with you as soon as you are ambulant. You will be on crutches for some considerable time, it seems, which will be an irritation to you. You might need a walking stick for the rest of your life – a minor inconvenience.”

His mother was deliberately casual, all understated, her emotions buried under her training. She made it clear that she did not expect drama from her son – he must accept the minor vicissitudes of life.

“Geoffrey is deeply upset that he cannot possibly find the time to come down here. Eight hours by train from London, a day spent here, another night of travelling to get back. He knows he must not leave his office for so long and yet is torn between two duties. He ordered me to send his best wishes. I have not bothered so far. You know your brother and need no words second hand from me.”

Peter managed a smile.

“None at all, Mama. I have the greatest affection for him, and know he has the same for me, even though neither of us has ever understood the other. He is the best of brothers.”

She showed pleased, always worried that her two boys, so unalike, might fall out.

“We must travel this afternoon, Peter. Josephine and I are to take the night sleeper to Paddington Station. We must both return home. You are to go by motor ambulance, I believe – the sort of thing that your sister is driving, which I still do not approve of! You may be in Ewell before me as I must accompany Josephine to Shoreham, having promised her grandmother that I should not have her travel about the country alone. With your approval, we may discuss matters while I am there.”

Peter wondered exactly what those matters might be, knew better than to ask or conceivably raise an objection. If his mother had wished to explain, she would have done so. His ‘approval’ was no more than a courtesy form on her part. He assumed she would be setting a date for the wedding, having decided that Josephine would do for her son. He agreed with her assessment – coming close to death had served to clarify his mind on a number of issues, the most pressing being that he definitely had fallen in love with Josephine. It was, perhaps, a good thing that he was to leave the Navy – sailors were officially expected to love the sea and that alone.

The journey by motor ambulance was tedious, long and boring, a nurse accompanying him who had no conversation and was an indefatigable knitter. He remained comfortable, sleeping most of the way, albeit somewhat embarrassed by the use of a bottle when he woke up uncomfortable.

The hospital at Ewell was an old manor house, donated by its owner and rapidly crumbling under the onslaught of the military; ancient brickwork had little to say to army boots. Peter had a single downstairs room, apparently because he was to stand on crutches and walk a little before he might leave.

“Well, Peter? You at least will survive this bloody war!”

“Hello, Jennifer. Are you to be my nurse?”

“No, not right that I should look after a brother. Susan has responsibility for you.” She nodded to an older nurse who had come in with her. “How is the pain?”

“Bearable. It is far less than it was last week. It is an ache now, not a burning, stabbing anguish as it was for the day after they stopped the morphine injections. I was close to begging them for an injection. I am glad I did not.”

“Dangerous stuff, morphine. I am glad you had little of it. We know so little of the drug and many doctors are inclined to dispense it almost carelessly, their concern only that it ends pain. When I qualify, I might hope to take part in research upon opioids and all of their ramifications.”

“You will definitely study medicine after the war?”

“I have started already. There is a course available for educated nurses who wish to enter into medicine. Part time, but if the war lasts another three years, I shall have completed my first two years of study, may enter a medical school in the third year.”

“I must wish you joy of your endeavours, Jennifer. You know what you are to do with your life.”

“While you do not now. I do not doubt that father will assist. I must say I do not see you as a banker. The name on your door says Captain Peter Naseby. An achievement at age twenty-five, possibly currently unmatched, I am told. I do not doubt you can do as well in another field. Indeed”, she smiled suddenly, “I understand from Mama you are to marry soon, so you must find a profitable occupation.”

“I must. As you say, I shall have to. I much wish to be wed, so I have no choice. Not banking, I am not to tread on Geoffrey’s toes, and obviously the law demands years of study. The Church is not an ambition. The professions are not available to me so I must become a Captain of Industry. I wonder what I am to do?”

His father visited that evening, Geoffrey at his side and almost in tears when he saw his brother sat proudly in a comfortable armchair by his bed, his left leg ending in a bandage.

“I am out of bed, do you see. Crutches tomorrow. Release from durance vile on Friday, if only I can manage to walk forty paces.”

“Good. You will prefer walking to a wheelchair, I do not doubt, Peter.”

“Very much so, Father.”

“Good. You have not lost the fighting spirit even though the Navy is no longer for you, my son. If you wish, I can find an additional thousand a year to add to your existing allowance. With your pension, you may retire to the life of a country gentleman, presumably on your wife’s farm.”

“Kind offer, sir. I hope you will not be offended that I refuse it.”

“Anything but, Peter! What do you know about oil?”

“Not much, Father. I presume you mean the stuff as it comes out of the ground, black and smelly and needing to be refined by some process I do not understand? I saw a newsreel at the cinema in Portsmouth which pictured an American oil well. The oil was loaded into tank wagons on the railway to go off to a refinery.”

“Exactly! We are to build a modern refinery from scratch in Britain. An expanse of mud by the side of an estuary in South Wales just now. The oil will be brought by ship from the West Indies or Arabia and Mesopotamia. Two years and it is to be the newest and most efficient in the world, producing the petroleum we shall need in increasing quantities. I know nothing of the technicalities, either. We need an overseer, one might say, to bring all together, to be the master of ceremonies in the construction process. You have no experience in such a function. Neither has anybody else in this country. Do you want it?”

Peter was instantly enthused – so much to do and he knew he could bring engineers and people together to do it.

“Very much so, Father! What a wonderful job! King of all I survey – and not George III either!”

“It is yours, my son. I do not know whether I have given you a blessing or a curse, by the way; it is a massive job. The first meeting relating to the construction takes place on Wednesday next week in my offices. Will you be there?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Good. We shall discuss your appointment and title and salary then. I cannot see that we shall be talking less than six thousand pounds a year, with expenses in addition. Can you drive?”

“Damned if I know, Father. A hand throttle rather than an accelerator pedal… I shall have to talk to a motor salesman. Let us assume that I shall be able to, sir! I might need a chauffeur for a few weeks, not for long.”

Friday morning saw Peter proudly crutching from his room down the long hall to the front door and back again, to the applause of the staff. They produced a uniform and assisted him to put it on, full post captain’s parade dress, he noticed. Just before eleven o’clock they made a performance of taking him down to the receiving room by the front doors. He wondered why – there was obviously a reason.

Captain Troughton appeared, pleased to see Peter standing.

“Well done, my good and faithful! I have given Polegate to Tubbs, acting lieutenant commander, God help us all! Your boy Fanny Adams has a DSC for his performance, by the way; he certainly saved your life by dancing between the two cockpits. I have made him sub; a few weeks and he can go as a pilot. It will probably take him that long to get over his hangover – the wardroom was pleased with him and made their delight very clear. Remember that brat Kirby? He was stripped of his warrant the day after you were wounded – they had been dithering but anything you demanded was to be given that day! I had him sent to Dover as an ordinary seaman boy and he was put onto an armed drifter on the Dover Barrage. Won’t last of course – the family will be wild and pulling every string they possess. I doubt they will get him out entirely, though, and they won’t get his warrant back; can’t be done. Probably find him a shore posting of some sort. Amusing, anyway – I gather the horrible little sod is not enjoying his current existence. I have all sorts of messages from Polegate – consider them delivered. I think every man on site had something to say. You will be missed there.”

“I shall miss the balloons, sir.”

“Not ‘sir’, old chap. Two post captains together are we.”

“Crazy, is it not, Archie!”

“Just so, Peter. Hush, now. I hear vehicles outside. Can you stand for another ten minutes?”

“Probably. Catch me if I fall.”

On the second of eleven o’clock there was a great scurry and flurry as the doors were flung open and a party of dignitaries appeared, uniforms shining bright with braid and medals, the civilians in old-fashioned frockcoats and top hats.

“His Majesty the King!”

Civilians disappeared into bows and curtseys while the uniformed stiffened to attention, Peter doing his best.

Troughton made the presentation.

“Captain Naseby, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you. How do you feel, Captain Naseby? A silly question to a man who has just lost a foot! I hope you will soon be more the thing.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. A few weeks and I shall be rid of these crutches and walking freely again.”

“Well done, sir. You are brave indeed, as we all know. Decorated twice for gallantry within a very few months and promoted rapidly. A pity that you can no longer serve in the Navy, sir.”

“I am to work in the new oil industry, Your Majesty. I believe there will be a deal for me to do there.”

The King had obviously never heard of such a thing, gave it his grave approval.

“So there will. I have no doubt you will do much to make Britain a world leader in the field. I shall look forward to hearing of your achievements over the years. For now, I have the greatest of pleasure in awarding you my grandmother’s medal for gallantry, the Victoria Cross, Captain Naseby. The citation makes it clear that you placed the demands of duty in front of your own life, sir. I am proud that you are one of my subjects, sir.”

Peter had not noticed the little hook on the breast of his uniform, was startled, his amazement showing from the ripple of laughter among the watchers.

“Your Majesty!”

The King stepped back and was introduced to matron and senior doctors of the hospital before being taken away.

The Press descended.

Being wounded, they demanded fewer poses for photographs and permitted him to sit for questioning. He took pains to play up the role of Midshipman Adams, bravely tending to his pilot in mid-air, saving his life with his bandaging; anything to lessen the idiocy he was faced with.

“What next for you, sir?”

“Civilian life, obviously. I cannot serve without a foot. I do not doubt that I shall be able to find a useful occupation, building our nation’s industrial might to fight this war.”

“Have you considered a political career, sir?”

“No.”

There were a few, well-hidden grins. Very few of the war heroes they talked to ever seemed to want to be politicians.

“When will we win this war, sir?”

A malicious question with a sting in the tail. He spotted Troughton’s frown, thought quickly.

“We are fighting a determined, militaristic enemy. Ours is a peace-loving country and it must take us time to turn our hands to the war Germany wanted. We are not Prussians and must be thankful for it!”

That, he thought, was as meaningless an answer as the question deserved. Several of the reporters were grinning openly as they went away.

“What was that about, Archie?”

“The Daily Mail is backing General Haig to take over from Sir John French. A headline to the effect that our latest VC thinks the war is not being prosecuted as it should be would be another blade in French’s back. As it stands, they have nothing from you that will aid their cause. Well thought, by the way – you need to be quick on your feet when those bastards are about!” He stopped for a second, face showing shocked. “I’m so terribly sorry, old chap! That must be as tactless as I have ever managed!”

“What?”

“Bloody hell – you might at least have noticed when I put my foot in my mouth! Oh, Christ! Did it again! I said you need to be ‘quick on your feet’.”

“Oh! So you did. Not something I shall ever be again. It don’t matter at all, Archie – I am not to go looking for slights and demanding extremities of tact from all who come into contact with me.”

“No. Even so, it was unnecessary on my part. What are you doing next, do you know? You can’t remain with us in the Andrew – the days of pegleg sea captains are gone. There are other possibilities, you know. Intelligence are always looking for bright young men to man their desks.”

“Bugger them! Not my cup of tea, Archie. Talking of which, is that refreshments I see?”

He spent the next five minutes discovering that it is almost impossible to manage a teacup on crutches, came close to losing his temper.

“A third hand would be useful, Peter. Not to worry. Here. If you stand by the table, all will be well. Better still if you sat down, you must have been on your feet long enough.”

It was sensible advice. He forced himself to welcome it.

Next morning saw him at home and faced with the problem of stairs. Trying to achieve something he had never thought about before was annoying, again. He had a choice, he suspected, of simply facing a series of challenges or of becoming a bad-tempered, whining invalid. He climbed the stairs.

He called for a taxi on the Monday and made his way to the premises of the sole motor showroom in the town, unprosperous and on the verge of closing its doors under wartime restrictions on petrol usage. People were not buying cars.

“A vehicle to be modified for a driver with a single foot, sir? Oh, I should think we could rise to that problem, sir. It is not, sad to say, unprecedented in our country. Too many young men have come home to stay in a sad condition!”

The salesman was well into his forties and saw no prospect of being called to the war, had a vast wealth of sympathy for those less fortunate than him.

“We must retain a clutch, operated by the foot. A hand throttle is simple enough. The brake to be operated like that on a motor cycle and we have solved the entire problem, sir. A car with a larger engine, one that does not require the double declutch, will make the driver’s life simpler.”

And substantially more expensive, Peter did not doubt. He had driven a car, was sure that he could master the relatively minor change demanded of him. They discussed models, settling on the Lanchester that happened to be the most costly vehicle in the showroom.

“Four weeks, I am afraid, to make the modifications, sir. They must be done at the factory.”

It was reasonable and he suspected he might have regained much of his independence by then.

“I must imagine that you would like a deposit?”

The salesman could think of little he would like better.

Peter wrote a cheque for one hundred pounds, in process turned the showroom’s account temporarily from red to black, much to the bank manager’s pleasure.

“A cab, Captain Naseby?”

“Not just now, thank you. I shall walk into town – it’s only a couple of hundred yards and the exercise will do me good. It will be pleasant to be out alone, as well.”

The salesman was not sure he approved, was in no position to argue.

Two hundred yards, a bit less than a furlong, was no great distance. It took Peter ten minutes, much to his annoyance. Reaching the town centre, he ventured into a teashop to take a seat and recover from the strain. He then discovered that every mama and daughter he had ever met in town was out shopping and so delighted to greet him again. Most displayed a degree of tact and a little, at least, of common sense. A few were simply very jolly. All were even more determined to display their daughters – he was now the catch of the town. He resorted to the underhand.

“Just come into town to look in the jewellers, you know, ma’am. A little gift for my fiancée, an apology for upsetting her so.”

They fumbled and stumbled in saying that no young lady should be upset that her man had again shown himself the hero. One or two of the daughters showed genuinely disappointed, having found the young captain a romantic figure.

He glanced in the jeweller’s window, the idea seeming right now that it had occurred to him. His eye was caught by a display of second-hand pieces, old Victorian or earlier keepsakes that had not caught the heir’s fancy and had been turned into cash on grandmother’s death. There was a bracelet in pale gold with heavy stones, garnets, he thought. They were cut to catch the light and he thought they would stand out against Josephine’s pale colouring.

The jeweller recognised him and was flattered to have attracted his trade. He went through the familiar process of hauling out the local newspaper and showing Peter his photograph, VC at his breast.

“Was you to sign it, Captain Naseby, I should be most proud. Delighted! In a frame, on the wall. My most esteemed client, sir.”

Peter signed and then discussed the bracelet.

“American gold, sir, the bracelet made in New York, from the markings, soon after the Civil War. I think it most attractive but not at all in the current taste. It has been in my window these three years, in fact, and consequently is available at a substantial discount.”

They agreed on eighty pounds, Peter wondering just how much of a bargain he had made. It mattered very little, he supposed. If he was to earn as much as six thousands a year in his new occupation, then it was nothing at all.

Could he take the lead in building something as massive and modern as an oil refinery? He knew nothing about construction. He had known nothing about balloons and had learned in less than a week. He could find out all he needed in his new place in life. It could not be too complex – he did not have to learn the skills, he must provide the leadership and that was simple enough.

He walked a few more yards, stopped by the estate agent’s window, wondering where he would be living when he had taken the job. Close to the site or in London, working out of the City – he did not know. Should he rent a house or buy? Again, he was unsure.

“Ha! Peterkins! What are you doing out on your own? Shouldn’t you have a minder with you?”

“Hello, Charlie! What brings you into the hometown at this time of day? Should you not be minding the shop?”

“Closed on a Monday, dear boy. Thought I should visit the family – got to do that in the morning while the Old Man’s sober enough to recognise me!”

He snorted with laughter. Geoffrey, he thought, might have been outraged at such disrespect for the paterfamilias, a peer of the realm, as well.

“Enjoying my freedom, arranging to purchase a motor car and buying a little gift in the jewellers while I am here. A bracelet that caught my eye.”

“For your young lady in Shoreham?”

“Now my fiancée, Charlie.”

“Bloody good thing too! You are too much of a man to stay a bachelor. I am glad you don’t think that a foot blown off makes you a half-man or nonsense like that!”

“You know, that never occurred to me, Charlie.”

She grinned, showed almost uncomfortable.

“Good! If it had, I was intending to take you back to my flat and show you how wrong you were.”

“Almost a pity that I did not show self-pitying, Charlie.”

“Almost! You stay faithful to your young lady, Peter. Far better for a man of your stamp. Can’t have you feeling guilty – more’s the pity!”

He laughed, the first real outburst of mirth since he had woken in hospital.

“I start work on Wednesday. The bank is taking the lead in the building of a modern oil refinery and I am to be the, what would you call it? The gangmaster?”

“You will do well, Peter. Knighthood for services to industry inside ten years, peerage in twenty. A millionaire before you retire as a great man.”

“What of you, Charlie?”

“Oh, I shall smile at your wedding and design the bride’s gown – well, Adele will, in fact, but I shall be seen as the couturier. A few years and it will be a place in the States, of a certainty. I shall then become very American – six husbands and a divorce every second year! Don’t fear for me, my Peter!”

“I might even envy you the wild life instead, Charlie.”

“No. You have had your mad days and have come out the other side. I doubt I shall achieve your happy ending – but it will be fun getting somewhere near. Toodle-oo, old pip! I have things to do, and so do you!”

Copyright

Copyright © 2020 Andrew Wareham

KINDLE Edition

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This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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Content

Andrew Wareham
THE BALLOONATICS
A Tale of the Great War

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Copyright