Air Stories — page 92: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AIR STORIES ‘‘ That’s exactly it,’’ replied Sinbad, happy in the thought that he was telling a flying officer something he didn’t know. ‘“'You see, in a submarine, our method when attacking is to get ahead of the target when we are still on the surface. Then we dive and wait till the enemy comes within range. Then we let go the torpedo. You see, we in the sub- marine being smaller and therefore less visible, can see the larger ship long before she spots us.’’ ‘‘Obviously,’? agreed Symes, ‘‘ and that’s where the aircraft comes in. So we really are doing some good in keeping submarines down P ’”’ ‘‘Certainly,’’ Sinbad assured him. ‘‘You flying blokes are foiling attacks all the time.’’ ‘‘T badly want to bag a Fritz,’’ said Symes. ‘‘I want to know their little ways, so that I can tackle them myself.’’ Sinbad emptied his pipe in an ashtray, refilled, blew a thick cloud of smoke into the air, and pointed to the chart. ‘‘ Fritz generally has a big area to cover,’? he went on. ‘‘ You’ very seldom find two of their boats working together, except when coming or going toa job. His life is pretty tough, and bad weather puts him out of action. Remember that. He either runs for shelter or lies doggo on the bottom. If there are high seas, his torpedoes are useless except at very close range. So keep your eyes open for sheltered waters during very bad weather—sheltered waters and lee shores.”’ ‘“Would he anchor?’’ enquired Symes. ‘No, he wouldn’t. to do a crash dive.’’ Sinbad looked at the clock and thought of the sing-song in the mother ship. ‘“Let’s get back,’’ he said impa- tiently. ‘‘ Why talk about this old war while the fun is on P ”’ He led the way, followed rather reluctantly by Symes. Up the dark conning-tower, on to the superstructure, and over the gangplank, and they were soon back in the mother ship. There was no difficulty in finding the wardroom. You could hear it miles He’d be ready away. They were all singing with terrific gusto, ‘‘ Let the great big world keep turning,’’ the while Billy Rowley was doing stunts with his lasso. He lassoed wine glasses, chairs, and even junior officers, and he wound up by spinning the rope into a circle and skipping in the centre. Then there was another song. Sinbad won tremendous applause for a sea shanty, and then Billy insisted on a grand finale. He button-holed the Commander. Symes knew what was coming. | ‘*No, sir,’’ he called out to the Com- mander, ‘‘ don’t take part in this trick, please. Billy, you villain, stop this nonsense. You can’t play that trick on the Commander.’’ But the Commander was quite game, and the Canadian, egged on by the Pay- master, persisted. ‘“ Now, sir,’’ he said in true showman- like style. ‘‘ Take off your jacket. Now raise your chin, and look well at the ceiling. Watch for my rope, and see it stand straight up like a stick. That’s it, sir. Your head just a little higher.’’ The Commander laughingly obeyed all instructions, and stood with head well back waiting for the rope. Billy then produced a funnel, inserted it in the top of the Commander’s trousers, seized a jug of water, and poured the contents into the funnel. There were roars of laughter, and the Commander hurried off to change his pants, while the Air Service bade their hosts good-bye. visit to he received WO days after Symes’ H.M.S. ‘‘ Maidstone ”’ orders to do a long patrol. His machine taxied out in biting wind, rain and sleet. The big boat bumped on the tops of the angry waves, throwing drenching spray over the open cockpit ; then slowly she turned into wind and took off with a mighty roar. Symes quickly decided it was no use climbing through the clouds, which were only at a thousand feet. Their job was to spot submarines, and to do that they had to keep within sight of the white-crested waves. 184 EO DOO) (C©