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#4322651 - 12/23/16 01:46 PM A Story for the Season, (my traditional OFF/WOFF Christmas post)  
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 4,879
RAF_Louvert Offline
BOC President; Pilot Extraordinaire; Humble Man
RAF_Louvert  Offline
BOC President; Pilot Extraordinaire; Humble Man
Senior Member

Joined: May 2012
Posts: 4,879
L'Etoile du Nord
.

"A Story for the Season"

1916: Christmas Eve at the Front. The War has dragged itself along on its steely, mud-caked claws for over two years, and the end seems no closer now than when it all began. At an RFC aerodrome not ten miles from the first line trenches, a group of airmen sit through the morning’s briefing, and prepare themselves for the day’s work. They are nearly all young men, at least in years. But with war comes age beyond a calendar’s mark, and one would find that each man is far older than first appearance would tell if a moment were taken to look into his eyes. As the meeting breaks the jovial banter can be heard amongst the group: the good-natured ribbing and warnings, the verbal jousting, the camaraderie and the closeness that bonds souls together in such tenuous and temporary times. Across the mud at a German aerodrome, a similar scene is being played out. The Jagdstaffel pilots there are also preparing themselves for the task at hand. To look at them, you might imagine they were schoolmates of their British counterparts, rather than enemies soon to be locked in mortal combat. For they too laugh and joke, and share that same bond. And they too are of the "old young".

The hour is at hand. On each side the signal is given and the small, fast scout planes skim along the cold, icy ground, and one by one lift into a winter sky as grey as the earth below. They form up, and after climbing to their prescribed altitudes, they head towards No Man’s Land and on to do their best; for King and Country; für Kaiser und Vaterland. They meet, and there is the initial gun pass as each sizes up the other. A few moments later and the aerial battle begins in earnest. To those in the fight it is a mind-numbing blur of action that runs in both accelerated and slow motion simultaneously. A split second given to pull the trigger as a plane zips across the sights: an eternity spent to try and twist out of the path of the bullets. An entire lifetime won or lost in less than an eye blink. To those on the ground it appears as a graceful ballet of the sky, the canvas-feathered birds turning and rolling and climbing and diving. But it is a dance to the death more often than not, and it will end when one or more has fallen.

And one has fallen. The long, slow, spiraling pirouette as the finale comes to the dance. The others have now tired and as if by mutual agreement or unseen signal the partners separate and turn away. The audience below does not understand how it can be over so quickly. They cannot see the fatigue and exhaustion of those in the air; cannot see their battered ships, or their bruised and aching bodies; or their tired, aging eyes. No, they can see none of these things, any more than the men in the air can see the pain or the agony endured by those who must fight on the ground. Each sees the other from afar, as through a glass darkly. It is an irony of war that in each case, either in the Sky or on the Earth, a man better understands and is more akin to the enemy he fights in his realm than to his own countrymen above or below.


Christmas Eve at the Front. Night has fallen and the pilots sit about the dinner table at their respective aerodromes, and talk of flying and fighting, and of family and friends. Wishes of the Season are shared, letters from home are read. Songs of hope are sung and toasts are made to fellow flyers, and to mothers and sweethearts. At one of the tables an empty chair stands in remembrance of the comrade lost that day, and to whom the final toast is made. He will be missed, and to a loved one back home he will forever be a young man with bright, happy eyes; forever a photograph, a memory of a life that could have been. It matters not which side he fought for. He was a man, a part of human kind, and with his passing we are all the lesser for it.

.

May you have safe and blessed holidays wherever you are, and may we each remember the true message of this season: Peace on earth, good will toward men.





.

#4322660 - 12/23/16 02:30 PM Re: A Story for the Season, (my traditional OFF/WOFF Christmas post) [Re: RAF_Louvert]  
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,086
MFair Offline
Senior Member
MFair  Offline
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Posts: 3,086
Thank you Lou, always look forward to it.


Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear or a fool from either end.
BOC Member since....I can't remember!
#4322702 - 12/23/16 04:12 PM Re: A Story for the Season, (my traditional OFF/WOFF Christmas post) [Re: RAF_Louvert]  
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 7,993
Robert_Wiggins Offline
BWOC Survivor!...So Far!!
Robert_Wiggins  Offline
BWOC Survivor!...So Far!!
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 7,993
Lindsay, Ontario, Canada
It wouldn't be a proper Christmas at WOFF SimHQ without your post Lou. It always brings reflection on humanity and our core values. Thanks for that.


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#4322703 - 12/23/16 04:17 PM Re: A Story for the Season, (my traditional OFF/WOFF Christmas post) [Re: RAF_Louvert]  
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 2,808
Adger Offline
Senior Member
Adger  Offline
Senior Member

Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 2,808
Thank you for your brilliant Christmas post Lou.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas cheers


They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
#4322704 - 12/23/16 04:21 PM Re: A Story for the Season, (my traditional OFF/WOFF Christmas post) [Re: RAF_Louvert]  
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 350
actionjoe Offline
Member
actionjoe  Offline
Member

Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 350
Nord, France.
Thanks for this, Lou.

Merry Christmas!

#4322845 - 12/24/16 01:29 AM Re: A Story for the Season, (my traditional OFF/WOFF Christmas post) [Re: RAF_Louvert]  
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 997
HumanDrone Offline
Just shoot me...
HumanDrone  Offline
Just shoot me...
Member

Joined: May 2012
Posts: 997
Near Pittsburgh, PA USA
Amen. You'd think we'd learn, but no, it seems we don't.

But some day...


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#4322857 - 12/24/16 02:02 AM Re: A Story for the Season, (my traditional OFF/WOFF Christmas post) [Re: RAF_Louvert]  
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 192
Mr_Dirt Offline
Member
Mr_Dirt  Offline
Member

Joined: May 2012
Posts: 192
Missouri USA
Thank you Lou, you tell the tale most eloquently. You sir have a great gift and I am glad you chose to share it with us. We are so fortunate to know you. Thanks also to the men and women of all the nations Armed Forces who have spent to many Christmas fighting and dying for their respective countries. Thank those who have served their countries and have been far away from their homes when the Holidays have fallen. Thanks and let us have Peace on Earth in our time.

#4322883 - 12/24/16 04:06 AM Re: A Story for the Season, (my traditional OFF/WOFF Christmas post) [Re: RAF_Louvert]  
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 2,105
Raine Offline
Member
Raine  Offline
Member

Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 2,105
New Brunswick, Canada
Lou, thank you for your wonderful annual Christmas gift. Brilliantly done (as always). And thank you for continuing your vital, central role in this splendid community.

#4322938 - 12/24/16 10:34 AM Re: A Story for the Season, (my traditional OFF/WOFF Christmas post) [Re: RAF_Louvert]  
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,743
Hasse Offline
Member
Hasse  Offline
Member

Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,743
CT aroundthetree CT


"Upon my word I've had as much excitement on a car as in the air, especially since the R.F.C. have had women drivers."

James McCudden, Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps
#4322986 - 12/24/16 02:01 PM Re: A Story for the Season, (my traditional OFF/WOFF Christmas post) [Re: RAF_Louvert]  
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 51
Lanzfeld Offline
Junior Member
Lanzfeld  Offline
Junior Member

Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 51
What a treat to read.

Thank you

Merry christmas to all.


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