Dux:

Pink footed geese? A Booted Eagle? You say your difficult to spot birds are now outfitted with pagers? Wizard idea Chum. Who'd have thought of such a thing? Next you'll tell me they all wear GPS bracelets and go to homing pigeon school.... ummmm, do they, really?

Sounds like the birds of England are unusually well shod. As far as I know, none of our birds in the colonies are so eloquently dressed. We had a completely barefooted parakeet perched on our clothesline once. I can hear you yawning. Well, Old Man, I’ll have you know the cats were pretty darn interested in it.

C51 reports that his Canadian birding trips of late have also been unproductive. I have seen several Nearly Nude Suncatchers down by the lake however I understand that they are not on the hard to find list even at this late time of year.

OK, speaking of it being late, it is now time to post chapter 2 of “A Nasty Surprise”. So that it will not be a nasty surprise to anyone, let me tell you that chapter 2 is not one jot better written than was chapter 1. Forgive me Zerosan2 AKA “The Magnificent” wherever you are.


A Nasty Surprise Episode Two
By JRT
HWH Original
Page Unknown
7/24/01

High above England, Major Werner Von Himmelraisermesser sitting uncomfortably in his BF109 squirmed to get a better view of the enemy fighters as they rose to attack the formations of Do17s lumbering on toward their targets. The British fighters were 12 Hurricanes from No. 11 group of 501 sqn. and 3 from No. 151. The Hurricanes were standing in for Spitfires of No. 65 Sqn. who were on the ground to refuel after an earlier skirmish.

At his signal Werner’s men were on them, tearing through them like scythes and creating a furious battle. Werner had taught his pilots well. They struck fast and hard. They were decisive in their actions. What a difference Werner could see in his Gruppe’s tactics. He allowed himself the luxury of a moment of pride. Then the smile turned to a grimace of stiff determination.

Werner got a Hurricane in his sights but the pilot was quite good. The major followed the hunch-backed fighter down through a large hole in a puffy white cloud, twisting and turning. He was able to get in the odd shot here and there but nothing fatal. All the way down from 12,000 ft. Werner clung tenaciously to the British fighter’s tail, sometimes having to throttle back to avoid overtaking him. An expert in the diving attack, Werner got a good burst in now and then and could see strips of fabric ripping away from the rear fuselage. Still the desperate Hurricane pilot kept on twisting and turning through an ever-widening arc until the German got in a good long burst at 4,000 feet. Werner saw the Hurricane nose over into what appeared to be a terminal dive. It was not.

Down around 3,000 feet Werner pulled back on the stick and did a 360-degree roll while searching the sky for enemy fighters, but saw none. He regrouped his staffeln. As they proceeded on he realized that they were headed toward an enemy airfield. Here is an opportunity to leave a real wake up call thought Werner. On his orders he and five of his men adjusted their flight path to come across the enemy airfield from the West.

As their BF 109s came roaring over the trees at the edge of the field all was pandemonium below. Having no bombs each pilot began to strafe the field and buildings with his machine guns and cannons. Bullets sprayed into the chaos below. Several aircraft were set ablaze and one building was visibly destroyed. So great had been the surprise that the ground fire was rushed and inaccurate. As they poured some lead into hangers at the far side of the field and rose to make their escape only Red three reported any damage.

Climbing swiftly into the beautiful blue summer sky Werner and his men congratulated themselves on their good luck. They were happily unaware that they had not been completely successful in their impromptu surprise attack. Twelve broad winged Spitfires had gotten safely off the ground ahead of the assault and had swiftly risen to an advantageous altitude and position from which to wreck vengeance upon the brazen enemy. They were in for a nasty surprise.
Even now they were falling on the unsuspecting Germans with justifiably murderous intentions.

To Be Continued

NOTE:
The recent tragic loss of a vintage Hurricane and its pilot are chronicled by our former squadron mate Bader. Photos included. Look here: http://www.simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2338658&page=1#Post2338658

The loss of the pilot is uppermost in our minds of course and we pray for the family. The loss of yet another warbird is also troubling. At this rate, soon there will be no more historic craft flying and that will all too soon be followed by a future when no one living has ever seen one of these beautiful warbirds soaring across the sky.