Second Lieutenant Conway watched the three SE-5s as they came in to land. He'd finished unpacking and felt at a loose end, so he'd decided to look around until Major Stanhope returned from his patrol.
"That'll be Mister Osborne's flight, Sir."
Conway turned round to see a short, round corporal of about forty, wiping his oily hands with a rag, having wandered over from the hanger.
"How do you know, Corporal… um…"
"Mason, Sir; Corporal Mason", he smiled, "It's the sound, Sir; I can always recognise the sound of my own engines. You'll most likely be joining his flight, Sir."
"What makes you say that?"
Mason nodded at the aircraft taxiing toward the hanger, "Because there's one missing."
And with that, Mason turned and waddled back to his work.
* * *
Henry and I finally got to finish our third game for Sunday, 5th August 1917 with a furious dogfight over the trenches in the Bois de Jacinthes sector. All in all, 'Day 5' of the campaign has seen six aircraft shot down, two of which were from 76 Squadron.
Full AAR here: link
Nick
