The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

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The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

Postby cspyro21 » Sun Jan 08, 2006 4:34 pm

Part 4B here

As I crept around the house, I saw my saviour.....
Thunderclouds. Lots of thunderclouds.
At last, I thought, I could freely traverse land without such a large threat of being shot to pieces by the Messerschmitt's.
I felt a ray of hope in my currently terrible hope. but then I realised that I was still behind enemy lines, and by now the entire German Army was probably looking for me.
I decided to follow the road until I found something that would aid me in my escape. But what I found was much different. The wreck of my Hurricane. In the course of what seemed to be about 2 hours, I had come full circle. I truly was lost.
But then I heard it. The unmistakable purr of an allied engine:-

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At first I was unable to make it out, as the thunderclouds had come over incredibly quickly causing a tremendous thunderstorm. But I knew for a fact it was allied, the engine sounded British made.
It came closer. I could make out the shape, the wings were high on the fuselage and narrow at the join - this was a Lysander! They had found me!

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The Lysander glided down into the small field where I crahsed. A figure hopped out carrying a box of medical supplies. I instantly recognised him as Gerald McMiller, an optimistic Scottish reconnaisance and extraction pilot from RAF Tinwald Down, my new aerodrome.
"Aye laddie," he called to me over the howling wind and rain, "ye' had to crash in this weather, didn't ye?"
"Well," I told him as I chuckled, "those damn Gerries got me."
"Och aye," he acknowledged, "climb aboard, I'll have me mate Scotty fix ye' up."

I followed him on, trying to focus on something else than the sharp wind and rain, the searing pain in my head and my leg, and my arm, whih i just discovered, had a fragment of a bullet in it. I certainly was a terrible sight, I thought to myself.

I boarded the Lysnader, and, as it was buffeted around madly by the attrocious weather, it took to the skies. At last. I was going home.
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It was going to a lonely flight home. By the standards of the weather, it was also going to be a nerver-wracking flight home.
Every so often, I feel lonely, I feel like I want to be back home, in my comfortable armchair, reading my books, in the safety of the warm lounge, with a gentle fire crackling. This was one of those times.
My mind drifted into deep thought. I remembered my family. Ahh, their such sweet faces. I thought of my parents, who were probably sitting down to a wonderful dinner, cooked by my mother.
I thought of Rory, who was probably preparing his Hurricane for another sortie - Rory!! He could be in trouble!

I called forward to Gerald. "We need to go back and look for Rory, Gerald."
"Nay, lad, cannae do it. The Lysander'll run dry," he told me.
"I can fight off the Germans fine, and think of those years you had in the army, Gerald - if we run out of fuel, we fight our way back to Britain.
He paused. "Aye, if ye' say so, let's look for ya' mate." I could sense that Gerald was feeling rather patriotic tonight; usually he is sensible, but this mad decision must have been driven on for other reasons.
"Keep yer' eyes peeled, lads," Gerald told Scotty and I.
"Okay," we both said in unison.

It was a good 10 minutes before I saw it. There, burning in the hills, was Rory's Hurricane. "There!" I called out. I can see it!"
"I got her in my sights, coming in for evac now," Gerald stated.
Soon, the Lysander found an appropriate landing spot. I braced for the landing.
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The Lysander slipped to a halt on the sodden grass. There was the wreckage of once a majestic fighting aircraft.
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We all jumped out, picking our way around the fires, and pulled Rory out of the cockpit. "RORY!!" I called to him, slapping his face to try and awaken him.
"Dinnae do that, laddie," Gerlad told me, "you'll only make it worse."
"We have to leave. Come on!!" I shouted to the almost comical pair. They ran headlong back to the Lysander.

We were all onboard, as the Lysander was almost thrown off of the ground. The aircraft was getting increasingly difficult to control, as I saw Gerald fighting the controls.
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****

It was a good 4 hours before we arrived at the coast. for safety reasons, we were instructed to follow the East English coast up to Tinwald Down. The risk of being blown to smithereens by German Battleships was too great.
I was sat, looking at Rory. Such a good friend. He had to pull through this, he was the sort of character who had a positive look on life no matter what.
Then I heard the engine splutter. I looked up. "What was that?" I asked.
"Och aye, this dinnae look good to me, me lad. The fuel ran dry like a Haggis withoot moisture."
So.....can we glide to the shore from here?" I asked.
"Och aye, I'll do me best, I can see Scotland from here, I think I can make it........."

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Last edited by cspyro21 on Sun Jan 08, 2006 4:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

Postby killerbunny » Sun Jan 08, 2006 4:53 pm

Ah, the lysander arrived ;D

I really like your story :)
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Re: The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

Postby F3Hadlow » Sun Jan 08, 2006 5:07 pm

The adventure continues ;D
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Re: The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

Postby Papa9571 » Sun Jan 08, 2006 5:08 pm

And then....


And then???????

Great story. When I saw the first shot I thought there was a problem with my display.

It pays to read on..
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Re: The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

Postby C » Sun Jan 08, 2006 5:19 pm

Charlie, have you read "First Light" by Geoffrey Wellum. I wouldn't be surprised if you had, but by the style of you narration I'd almost be surprised if you hadn't.

If you haven't its
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Re: The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

Postby Clipper » Sun Jan 08, 2006 6:44 pm

Classic line C..."The fuel ran dry like a haggis without moisture". Great read as usual, your hero is some kind of target...the entire german army?....Lucky guy  ;)
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Re: The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

Postby cspyro21 » Mon Jan 09, 2006 2:31 am

Ah, the lysander arrived ;D

I really like your story :)


Yea, I was half inclined to call this "The Story of Charlie Dowzell 5: Just for Killerbunny" :D

The adventure continues ;D

And this is just the beginning! :)

[quote]Charlie, have you read "First Light" by Geoffrey Wellum. I wouldn't be surprised if you had, but by the style of you narration I'd almost be surprised if you hadn't.

If you haven't its
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Re: The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

Postby Alphajet_Enthusiast » Mon Jan 09, 2006 2:40 am

Hey Cspyro, be sure to keep this story you're sure to have to write one for English sooner or later!  ;D ;)
Very nice story and shots!  :)
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Re: The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

Postby cspyro21 » Mon Jan 09, 2006 2:44 am

Hey Cspyro, be sure to keep this story you're sure to have to write one for English sooner or later! ;D ;)
Very nice story and shots! :)  


I intend to do so Alphajet! :)
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Re: The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

Postby C » Mon Jan 09, 2006 2:49 am

Nope haven't read it... is it a good book and what is it about?


From Amazon

Surviving Battle of Britain fighter aces were thin on the ground even in 1941, so any new book more than 60 years later from a previously unknown pilot is bound to get noticed. And First Light is not just any book. It might not turn out to be a lasting classic, like Richard Hillary's The Last Enemy or Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, but it is a cut well above the bog standard wartime reminiscences of many retired military bods. For a start Wellum can write, but more than this he has an instinctive feel for a good story. He begins First Light as a fresh-faced, rather obnoxious public schoolboy keen to blag his way into the RAF in March 1939; just three years, two full tours on Spitfires, the Battle of Britain, nearly 100 escorts and fighter sweeps over occupied France and a Malta convoy later, Wellum was physically and mentally burnt out before the age of 22. An old man in a boy's body. His descriptions of the excitement, freedom and, at times, sheer terror of operating in a three-dimensional airspace are vividly powerful, but perhaps his greatest gift is to get across the way the fatigue and the emotional shutting off creeps up unnoticed.

At the start, the death of a friend leaves Wellum devastated and wondering when his turn will come; within the space of a few hundred pages, the failure of a pilot to return is dropped in almost as an afterthought. This is not the response of a man who cares too little, but of one who cares too much. Without being aware of it, he has experienced and felt too much and his mind and body have involuntarily separated. This comes into even sharper relief at the end when Wellum is stood down from active service; he is the only one not to see--quite literally, as his vision has become impaired--that his ailments are rooted in his psyche rather than his body. The only one false note is his desire to see his role as part of a bigger picture; written many years after the events he describes, Wellum sometimes interjects thoughts and feelings about the war that simply do not ring true. That aside, one is left wondering what became of Wellum the man between the war ending and the book's publication. What sense did the prematurely aged fighter pilot make of the post-war age and did he learn to love again? But that, maybe, is the subject for another book
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Re: The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

Postby cspyro21 » Mon Jan 09, 2006 2:54 am

Wow!! :)
You think I write like that? :o Thanks!! :o
By this patch of text on amazon, I wouldn't think I wrote like Wellum-  he seems too god. :D
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Re: The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

Postby Theis » Mon Jan 09, 2006 4:20 am

Thats a good part!
i love that lysander!
it just looks so... wierd! ;D

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Re: The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

Postby C » Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:05 am

[quote]Wow!! :)
You think I write like that? :o Thanks!! :o
By this patch of text on amazon, I wouldn't think I wrote like Wellum-
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Re: The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

Postby Hai Perso Coyone? » Tue Jan 17, 2006 11:34 am

Oh dear god...this is so exciting :o :o
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Re: The Story of Charlie Dowzell (5): Going Home

Postby The_Joker_Flyer » Tue Jan 17, 2006 12:31 pm

Fascinating story.. and only the beginning  :o

WoW

Keep up the great work my friend.. its worth the junior nobel prize (if it excisted!!! ::))  ;D ;D ;D ;)
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