Passages: "The Second World War" by Antony Beevor

Comprehensive Book Touches on Countless Poignant Details

The International Air Force, Chaos, Fear, and Stress

Poignant passages are a regular component

of Beevor's well-written text. GH

Introduction:

Dictionaries define 'poignant' in the following ways:

- evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret. "a poignant reminder of the passing of time"
- painfully affecting the feelings : PIERCING

- deeply affecting : TOUCHING
- designed to make an impression : CUTTING "poignant satire"

One online source states:

Did you know? Poignant comes to us from French, and before that from Latin-specifically, the Latin verb pungere, meaning "to prick or sting." MOVING, IMPRESSIVE, POIGNANT, AFFECTING, TOUCHING, PATHETIC mean having the power to produce deep emotion. 

The author of The Second World War, in his 783-page account, not only informs the reader but moves, impresses and pierces as well. A few excerpts are provided below.

From Chapter 8, Operation Sealion and the Battle of Britain, June - November 1940:

An International Air Force

In that momentous summer,

Fighter Command took on the character

of an international air force.

Out of the 2,940 air crew who

served during the Battle of Britain,

just 2,334 were British.

The rest included 145 Poles, 126 New Zealanders,

98 Canadians, 88 Czechs,

33 Australians, 29 Belgians,

25 South  Africans, 13 Frenchmen,

11 Americans, 10 Irishmen and

several other nationalities.

Thrown Into the Routine

...Fresh pilot officers arriving as reinforcements

eagerly questioned those who had been in action.

They were thrown into the routine...

The waiting was the worst part.

That was when pilots suffered from dry mouths

and the metallic taste of fear. Then they would hear

the dreaded sound of the field telephone's cranking ring,

and the cry of 'Squadron scramble!' They would run out

to their aircraft, their parachutes thumping against their back.

The ground crew would help them clamber into the cockpit,

where they ran through the safety checks.

When their Merlin engines had roared into life,

chocks were hauled away and the pilots taxied

their fighters into position for take-of;

they had too much to think about to be scared,

at least for the moment.

Keep 'Eyes Skinned at all Times'

Once airborne, with the engines straining as they gained altitude,

the newcomers had to remember to keep looking all around.

With a constantly swivelling head, necks were

rubbed raw by regulation collars and ties.

It had been drummed into them to

keep their 'eyes skinned at all times.'
Assuming they survived their first action,

and a number did not, they returned to base to wait once more,

eating corned-beef sandwiches washed down with mugs of tea

while their planes were refuelled and rearmed. Most fell asleep

immediately from exhaustion on the ground or in deckchairs.

When back in the air again, the sector controllers

would direct them towards a formation of 'bandits'.

A cry of 'Tally ho!' over the radio signified that a formation

of black dots had been spotted by another member of the squadron.

The pilot would switch on the reflector sight, and the tension mounted.

The vital discipline was to keep fear under control,

otherwise it would lead rapidly to your death.

Pages 132 - 133

Spitfires, Hurricanes, Bombers, and Chaos

The priority was to break up the bombers

before the umbrella of Me 109s could intervene.

If several squadrons had been 'vectored' on to the enemy force,

the faster Spitfires would take on the enemy fighters,

while the Hurricanes tried to deal with the bombers.

International Air Force: Czech pilot, FO John Vasicek, in an RAF Spitfire

Within seconds the sky was a scene of chaos,

with twisting, diving aircraft jockeying for position

to 'squeeze off' a rapid burst of gunfire,

while trying to remember to watch out behind.

Obsessive concentration on your target gave an enemy fighter

the chance to come in behind you without being spotted.

Some new pilots, when fired on

for the first time, felt paralysed.

If they did not break out of their

frozen state, they were done for.

If the engine was hit, glycol or oil

streamed back and covered the windscreen.

The greatest fear was of fire spreading back.

The heat might make the cockpit hood jam,

but once the pilot had forced it open and released his harness straps,

he needed to roll his machine upside down so that he fell clear.

Many were so dazed by the disorientating experience that they

had to make a conscious effort to remember to pull the ripcord.

If they had a chance to look around on the way down,

they often found that the sky, which had seemed so full of aircraft,

was now suddenly deserted and they were all alone.

Pages 133 - 134

Savage Exaltation, Exhaustion, Fear and Stress

The honest pilot would admit to 'a savage, primitive exaltation'

when he saw the enemy plane he had hit going down.

Polish pilots, told by the British that it was not done

to shoot German pilots who baled out, resorted in some cases

to flying over their parachute canopy instead so that it collapsed

in the slipstream and their enemy plummeted to his death.

Others felt a moment of compassion when reminded 

that they were killing or maiming a human being, 

rather than just destroying an aeroplane.

The combination of exhaustion and fear built up dangerous

levels of stress. Many suffered from terrible dreams each night.

Inevitably some cracked under the strain.

Almost everyone had 'an attack of the jitters' at

some stage, but pushed themselves to continue.

A number, however, turned away from

combat, pretending they had engine trouble. 

After a couple of occurrences, this was noted.

In official RAF parlance it was attributed to 'lack of moral fibre',

and the pilot concerned transferred to menial duties.

The vast majority of British fighter pilots were aged under twenty-two.

They had no option but to grow up rapidly...

Pages 133 - 134

FO John Vasicek, 'missing after air operations'

Photo - from the collection of Charles Vasicek

More information about FO John Vasicek can be found in an earlier post by Editor GH.

For more poignant details re WWII and Canadians in Combined Ops please link to Passages: Canadian Sailors in Convoys

Unattributed Photos GH